Perez Deshay Reed: Suspected Serial Killer in Missouri and Kansas
Overview
Perez Deshay Reed is an accused serial killer charged in connection with seven fatal shootings committed across Missouri and Kansas during a period of less than two months in 2021. The attacks occurred in St. Louis, suburban St. Louis County, Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri. Investigators alleged that several of the shootings were connected through ballistic evidence involving the same .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun.
Reed, who was 25 years old when he was arrested, lived in the St. Louis area. Authorities described the shootings as apparently random, with no publicly established relationship between Reed and many of the victims. His alleged victims varied considerably in age and background. They included a 16-year-old girl, adults living in city neighborhoods, and residents of apartment buildings in the Kansas City area.
Reed has been formally accused of the killings, but the allegations should not be confused with convictions. He entered not-guilty pleas in court, and the cases proceeded through several different jurisdictions because the deaths occurred in two states and multiple counties.
The St. Louis County Shootings
The first shooting publicly connected to Reed occurred during the evening of September 12, 2021. A man identified in charging documents by the initials L.M. was shot multiple times near a bus stop in St. Louis County. The victim survived but reportedly suffered permanent injuries. Investigators recovered .40-caliber cartridge cases from the scene.
The following day, 16-year-old Marnay Haynes was found shot to death in St. Louis County. Haynes had reportedly been staying at a shelter for young people before her death. Her body was discovered near the 9900 block of Glen Owen Drive in the Castle Point area. She had suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head.
Investigators later alleged that shell casings recovered near Haynes were fired from the same weapon used in the attack on the surviving victim. Reed was eventually charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in connection with Haynes’s death.
On September 26, 2021, another fatal shooting occurred in Ferguson, a city in northern St. Louis County. Lester Robinson, 40, was discovered in the street near the 1700 block of Barbados Lane. He had been shot in the head. Ballistic evidence from the scene was reportedly linked to the same .40-caliber firearm connected to the earlier shootings.
The St. Louis City Killings
Two additional killings occurred within the city of St. Louis. On the night of September 16, 2021, police were called to the 4500 block of Adelaide Avenue. Pamela Abercrombie, 49, had been shot in the face behind a residence. She was transported to a hospital but died from her injuries.
Three days later, on September 19, 2021, officers found 24-year-old Casey Ross suffering from gunshot wounds in St. Louis. Ross had been shot in the head and body. The injuries were fatal. Some court and news records spelled the victim’s first name as Carey, but Casey Ross was the spelling commonly used in public homicide records.
Investigators linked cartridge cases from the two St. Louis city killings to the same firearm involved in the St. Louis County shootings. Prosecutors charged Reed with two counts of first-degree murder, armed criminal action and an assault charge connected with another surviving shooting victim.
The Kansas City, Kansas, Apartment Killings
Investigators alleged that Reed traveled from St. Louis to Kansas City by train on October 28, 2021. Surveillance recordings from a high-rise apartment building in Kansas City, Kansas, reportedly showed Reed entering the building. Authorities said one of the residents was seen holding a door open for him.
Damon Washington Irvin, 35, was found shot to death inside his apartment on November 1, 2021. Irvin was remembered by relatives as a talented and outgoing musician who sang, played the piano and composed music. He had been shot in the head.
On November 2, 2021, the body of 25-year-old Rau’Daja Fairrow was discovered in another apartment in the same building. She had been shot in the head and upper back. Investigators reviewed building-security records and learned that Reed had allegedly provided identification to security personnel while visiting the property.
Authorities also alleged that Reed used a bank card belonging to one of the Kansas victims. Reed was charged in Kansas with murdering Irvin and Fairrow. Prosecutors said the circumstances of the two deaths were consistent with the St. Louis shootings.
The Death of Stephon D. Johnson
A seventh death was connected to Reed after his initial arrest. Stephon D. Johnson lived in a Midtown apartment in Kansas City, Missouri. His relatives reported him missing after they were unable to contact him beginning on November 1, 2021.
Johnson’s body was found inside his apartment approximately one week later. Investigators concluded that he had been fatally shot on or about November 1. Court documents alleged that Reed had been seen with Johnson and had used Johnson’s debit or credit card after the killing.
In May 2022, Jackson County prosecutors charged Reed with first-degree murder, armed criminal action and two counts involving fraudulent use of a credit or debit device. The charge expanded the suspected series from six deaths to seven.
Victims Connected to the Case
- Marnay Haynes, 16: Killed on September 13, 2021, in the Castle Point area of St. Louis County, Missouri. She was found near the 9900 block of Glen Owen Drive with a fatal gunshot wound to the head.
- Pamela Abercrombie, 49: Shot on September 16, 2021, behind a residence in the 4500 block of Adelaide Avenue in St. Louis, Missouri. She was transported to a hospital, where she died.
- Casey Ross, 24: Killed on September 19, 2021, in St. Louis, Missouri. Ross was found suffering from gunshot wounds to the head and body.
- Lester Robinson, 40: Killed on September 26, 2021, near the 1700 block of Barbados Lane in Ferguson, Missouri. He was found in the street with a gunshot wound to the head.
- Damon Washington Irvin, 35: Killed on November 1, 2021, inside an apartment building in Kansas City, Kansas. He was found fatally shot in his apartment.
- Rau’Daja Fairrow, 25: Killed on November 2, 2021, inside the same Kansas City, Kansas, apartment building. She had been shot in the head and upper back.
- Stephon D. Johnson: Killed on or about November 1, 2021, inside his Midtown apartment in Kansas City, Missouri. His body was discovered after relatives reported him missing.
Ballistic Evidence
The central piece of physical evidence was a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson semiautomatic handgun. Investigators reported that shell casings collected at several St. Louis city and county shooting scenes had been fired from the same weapon. Reed was carrying a .40-caliber handgun when he was arrested, and testing allegedly connected that firearm to multiple shootings.
The ballistic findings allowed detectives from different police departments to compare cases that had initially appeared unrelated. The attacks occurred in separate municipalities and involved victims with no clear connection to one another. The repeated use of the same weapon, however, gave investigators a common evidentiary link.
Surveillance Footage and Identification
Surveillance footage also played an important role in identifying Reed. Recordings from the Kansas City apartment building allegedly captured a man with a distinctive crescent-shaped tattoo on his forehead. Investigators compared the person in the recordings with photographs of Reed and concluded that the images showed the same individual.
Security records allegedly documented Reed’s presence at the building where Irvin and Fairrow were killed. Detectives also reviewed train records, financial transactions and cellphone information while reconstructing Reed’s movements between St. Louis and Kansas City.
Arrest
Federal and local authorities learned that Reed was traveling from Kansas City toward St. Louis aboard an Amtrak train on November 5, 2021. Members of an FBI task force waited for him at the train’s first stop in Independence, Missouri.
Reed was taken into custody without a reported struggle after leaving the train and boarding a bus. Officers recovered the .40-caliber handgun that prosecutors later described as a match to evidence from the St. Louis shootings.
Federal prosecutors initially charged Reed with transporting a firearm across state lines with the intent to commit a felony. He was then returned to the St. Louis area to face state murder and assault charges. Additional murder charges were filed in St. Louis city, Kansas and Jackson County, Missouri.
Criminal Proceedings
Reed pleaded not guilty to the charges filed against him. Prosecutors sought to keep him in custody while the cases remained pending, citing the number and seriousness of the allegations. At one stage of the federal proceedings, questions were raised about his mental competency, and prosecutors requested an evaluation to determine whether he was able to understand the proceedings and assist in his defense.
Because the alleged crimes crossed state and county boundaries, Reed faced separate prosecutions in St. Louis County, the city of St. Louis, Wyandotte County in Kansas and Jackson County in Missouri. The federal government also maintained its firearm case. Each jurisdiction was responsible for prosecuting the offenses that allegedly occurred within its boundaries.
Impact of the Case
The killings caused fear throughout the St. Louis and Kansas City regions. Several victims were killed in or near their homes, and investigators did not announce a clear motive connecting the attacks. The apparent absence of a relationship between Reed and most of the victims contributed to concerns that the shootings were random.
The investigation demonstrated how ballistic databases, surveillance recordings, transportation records and cooperation among different agencies can connect crimes committed many miles apart. Police departments in Missouri and Kansas worked with the FBI, federal prosecutors, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Perez Deshay Reed remains publicly described as an accused or suspected serial killer because criminal charges are allegations unless proved in court. Nevertheless, prosecutors have attributed seven deaths and additional nonfatal shootings to him. The victims’ deaths, occurring between September and November 2021, left families in several communities mourning lives lost during a concentrated period of violence.
