Gunmen mistook off-duty officer Demond Taylor’s as a rival gang member in 2008, police said. An arrest was made this week after three witnesses told the same story.
ST. LOUIS — Seventeen years after gunmen shot an off-duty police officer because they mistook him for a rival gang member, an arrest has been made, police said.
Brandon M. Levy, now 46, was charged Saturday with first-degree murder in the St. Louis drive-by shooting of Demond Taylor, who was an officer at St. Louis Community College-Florissant Valley.
On June 20, 2008, officers responded to the 5000 block of Page Boulevard, where they found Taylor dead of multiple gunshot wounds.
On Friday, more than 17 years later, Levy was arrested.
Charging documents detailed three testimonies from eyewitnesses, given years apart, that all told the same story. Two of the witnesses spoke to police in 2018, and the third witness spoke with police last month.
Police did not say how the witnesses were aware of Levy’s motive. But all three said Levy, then 29, shot Taylor because he mistook him for someone else.
One of the witnesses also said there were other people who fired shots from the car Levy was in. No other arrests or charges have been announced.
Levy was being held without bond.
St. Louis Police Chief Robert Tracy and St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore discussed the case during a Saturday evening news conference.
Officials said due to the ongoing investigation, limited details could be shared.
“This type of senseless murder has zero place in this city, and I pray his family can sleep a little easier tonight knowing justice has been served,” Tracy said.
In a statement, St. Louis Community College thanked police for their investigation.
“Officer Taylor, a respected member of the STLCC Police Department assigned to Florissant Valley Campus, was fatally shot in 2008. There was no indication that his shooting was related to his employment. We hope solving this case brings comfort to Officer Taylor’s colleagues and family,” the college said.
Anyone with information on the case was encouraged to reach out to police.
