ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis County woman faces murder charges after police say she tracked her stolen Hyundai to a gas station and killed two men during a shootout.
Demesha Coleman, 35, was charged Thursday in the deaths of Darius Jackson, 19, and Joseph Farrar, 49. They were shot dead outside a Speedie Gas near North Broadway Street and Riverview Boulevard just after 10:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Another man was shot in the head but survived.
It was not immediately clear which, if any, of the three men were suspected of stealing the Hyundai.
Coleman was captured on surveillance footage walking up to a Hyundai Tucson in the gas station parking lot, a detective wrote. She was with a man police have not publicly identified, but officers said they were both carrying guns.
She’s seen opening the front passenger door of the Tucson with her gun raised while the man opens the driver’s side door with his gun raised, police wrote. Coleman opened fire, and a shootout followed.
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Demesha Coleman
Coleman, of the Spanish Lake area of St. Louis County, told detectives during a recorded interview that she went to the gas station to take her stolen car back, then identified herself on the footage, according to court documents.
Farrar was shot in the torso, and police found him next to a gas pump. Jackson was on the ground next to the Tucson and had also been shot in the torso, police wrote.
The third man was found on the far end of the gas station parking lot and had been shot in the head. He was taken to Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
Coleman is charged with two counts of murder, one count of assault and three counts of armed criminal action in the shooting. She had no prior criminal history.
Wednesday’s killings mark the latest incident of victims tracking down their stolen vehicles as the number Kia and Hyundai thefts surged in the St. Louis region.
On Halloween, police say a man used GPS to track down a family member’s stolen car in Sunset Hills, and shot at the suspects on U.S. Highway 40 (Interstate 64). The man and some of the theft suspects were arrested.
That same day two teenage boys were shot after stealing a woman’s Kia from her home in north St. Louis. The woman tracked down her stolen car to two different locations before the teens were shot, and police said it was unclear who did the shooting.
And earlier this month a 43-year-old man was shot and killed outside a gas station while confronting teenagers he believed had stolen his vehicle.
Rates of stolen Kias and Hyundais have exploded this year — a trend also seen nationally because of a viral TikTok video that shows how to break into and drive off in the South Korean-made vehicles using just a screwdriver and a USB charging cable. The method can be used on some models of those cars because manufacturers did not install engine immobilizers, an electric anti-theft security device.
The thefts have overwhelmed the city’s police department.
St. Louis city counselor Sheena Hamilton sent a letter Aug. 19 to Kia and Hyundai, demanding the companies take responsibility for the thefts and threatened a lawsuit over the defect.
Kia and Hyundai attorneys noted in their response to the city the security device is not federally required.
In September, Jones said in a statement that city attorneys would meet with the manufacturers to discuss their ideas and determine the next steps.
City spokesman Nick Dunne on Friday said there was no update to provide on the city’s discussions with the manufacturers.
In the county, where rates have also ballooned, police agencies are pursuing a joint task force to combat vehicle thefts.
