On December 2, 2018, a welfare check in the suburban community of Bellefontaine Neighbors, Missouri, revealed a grim double homicide that had gone undiscovered for days. Concern had grown when 33-year-old Iesha Regina Emery failed to arrive for her scheduled shift at work, prompting her sister to visit the home she shared with her boyfriend on the 1100 block of Oran Drive.
Upon entering the residence around 8:30 a.m., her sister discovered the bodies of Emery and her boyfriend, 40-year-old Jerry L. Cannon. Both victims had sustained fatal gunshot wounds, and investigators later determined they had likely been deceased for approximately one week before they were found.
The Bellefontaine Neighbors Police Department immediately requested the assistance of the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis to lead the investigation. Detectives pieced together a timeline of the victims' final hours using home security surveillance footage. The video showed the couple entering their home on November 25, 2018, accompanied by Jerry Cannon’s 18-year-old son, Tyjuan Cannon-Scarelli, who was visiting from Chicago. Less than thirty minutes after the three entered the house, the footage captured the teenager leaving the property alone. He was seen carrying two duffel bags and an object that appeared to be a firearm. Following his departure, no further activity was recorded at the home until the bodies were discovered a week later.
Investigators quickly identified Tyjuan Cannon-Scarelli as the primary suspect. Evidence gathered during the probe indicated that after leaving the scene, he stole the couple’s 2008 Buick Lucerne and fled the state. A 9mm pistol was also missing from the residence. Law enforcement officials tracked the stolen vehicle to the Chicago area, where the suspect was believed to have returned. Further implicating him in the crime, detectives discovered social media posts made by the teenager after the murders in which he appeared to be brandishing the stolen weapon.
Authorities secured a no-bond warrant for Cannon-Scarelli's arrest, charging him with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action, and one count of stealing a motor vehicle. He was subsequently taken into custody in the Chicago area. The charging documents alleged that the double homicide was a deliberate act committed during his visit, with the young man killing his father and his father's girlfriend before retreating to Illinois with their property.
