Police Arrest Suspected Serial Killer Who Killed At Least 6 People In Past Two Months

St. Louis, MO – Police have arrested a suspected serial killer believed to be responsible for at least six murders and more shootings in Missouri and Kansas in September and October.

St. Louis County prosecutors believe that 25-year-old Perez Reed’s spree began on Sept. 12 when he snuck up behind a man at a bus stop in St. Louis County and shot him in the chest multiple times, KSDK reported.

The victim survived but the injuries he sustained left him with a permanent disability, according to prosecutors.

Court documents showed that what was believed to be the first murder in the killing spree took place about 24 hours later, KSDK reported.

Prosecutors said Perez fatally shot 26-year-old Marnay Hayes in the 9900-block of Glen Owen Drive at about 9:34 p.m. on Sept. 13.

Charging documents showed Hayes was shot in the head and the arm, KSDK reported.

Police recovered two .40 caliber Smith & Wesson cartridge cases at the scene.

The next murder occurred at about 10:23 p.m. on Sept. 16 when a woman was shot in the face behind a building in the 4500-block of Adelaide Avenue, according to KSDK.

Police found the victim conscious and breathing but unable to give a statement at a nearby gas station.

Officer recovered a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson cartridge casing behind the building nearby where the woman was shot, KSDK reported.

The next shooting happened less than two hours later, at about 11:45 p.m. on Sept. 16.

St. Louis police found 49-year-old Pamela Abercrombie suffering from a gunshot wound in the middle of street in the 3800-block of West Florissant Avenue, about a half-mile away from the other shooting scene, KSDK reported.
Police recovered a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson cartridge from Abercrombie’s shooting scene, too.

Abercrombie died at the hospital, KSDK reported.

Police found 24-year-old Carey Ross dead at the scene in the 1500-block of Mullanphy Street on Sept. 19.

Investigators believed Ross may have been dead since 11:52 p.m. on Sept. 18 when gunshots were detected in the area where his body was found, KSDK reported.

Police believe Reed struck again a week later in Ferguson.

Lester Robinson, 40, was found dead in the 1700-block of Barbados Lane at about 7:15 a.m. on Sept. 26 after ShotSpotter detected gunfire in that area, KSDK reported.

Officers recovered more of the same kind of shell casings at the scene.

Investigators believe Reed moved his killing area to Kansas City, Kansas in late October, KSDK reported.

Police found 35-year-old Damon Irvin dead inside a high-rise apartment building in that city on Nov. 1.

They also found the body of 25-year-old Rau’Daja Fairrow on Nov. 2, KSDK reported.

Investigators think both victims were killed several days before their bodies were found.

Federal charging documents said Reed was the last person seen with Irvin and Fairrow four days before they were found murdered, KSDK reported.

Police said Reed traveled from St. Louis to Kansas City on Amtrak on Oct. 28.

Surveillance video from the victims’ apartment building showed Irvin holding the door for Reed as he entered the building, KSDK reported.

Videos showed that Reed left the building the next day but Irvin wasn’t seen again.

Police found Fairrow’s nude body dead inside her apartment with gunshot wounds to head and upper back, KSDK reported.

Court documents said her cellphone and wallet were missing.

But it turned out the building’s security staff had checked Reed’s ID when he entered the building with Fairrow on Oct. 29 and security cameras captured video of Reed with a crescent tattoo on his forehead, KSDK reported.

Investigators determined Reed had communicated with Fairrow 652 times between October 5 and 29.

He later told police that he bought drugs from her, KSDK reported.

Court documents showed that Kansas City police connected the suspect’s cellphone to an Amtrak ticket the suspect bought to take him back to St. Louis.

FBI agents followed him onto the train, KSDK reported.

In St. Louis on Friday, Reed boarded a bus and was taken into custody by police when he got off it in Independence, Missouri.

Reed confirmed his phone number to police after he was arrested and admitted he had showed his ID to the apartment complex security guards in Kansas City; however, he denied having hurt anyone, KSDK reported.

Sources said Reed had the alleged murder weapon and shoes matching evidence found at the crime scenes.

Reed was charged with one federal count of transporting firearms across state lines with the intent to commit a felony to hold him while the prosecutors from multiple jurisdictions organized their cases, KSDK reported.

St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell’s office charged Reed with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree assault a short time later, KSDK reported.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner’s office said in a statement that they were still working on the case and had not yet filed charges.

“The Circuit Attorney’s Office has been working closely with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department from the beginning on this investigation,” the statement read. “This is a complex, multi-jurisdictional case. The cases in the City of St. Louis are currently under investigation to ensure the most important goal – that justice is brought to the many victims and their families; and the person responsible is held accountable for these heinous crimes.”

All of Reed’s victims were prostitutes or men who dressed as women, KSDK reported.