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A backlog in St. Louis homicide cases has prompted Missouri Gov. Mike Parson to call on help from Attorney General Eric Schmitt.
Parson’s special session on violent crime has included giving Schmitt’s office to prosecute cases in which 90 or more days have passed since a filing.
Of the 161 recorded homicides this year under the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, Parson said only 33 people have been charged, reports KMBC 9 News. In 2019, 40 of 194 were charged and in 2018, 61 of 186 were charged.
“This demonstrates a disturbing trend of not going after murderers, which deprives victims of justice,” Parson said during a press briefing on Monday. “It is about fighting violent crime, achieving justice for victims and making our communities safer.”
Schmitt said that violent crime has reached levels too high to ignore in St. Louis.
“There’s no way around it. You have the human toll here alone, with mothers and fathers and children being killed. They deserve justice. And that’s what this is about. This is about advocating on behalf of victims, adding capacity to those prosecutions,” Schmitt said.
“At the end of the day, it should not matter who prosecutes a homicide case. The law and the facts are the same regardless of what attorneys represent the state as prosecutors,” Parson said. “The local community still has a voice in these cases under this proposal.”