ST. LOUIS – Darnell L. Clemons, 38, of St. Louis, will spend the next 25 years behind bars after U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey handed down the sentence Tuesday for a string of violent crimes spanning years. Clemons, a convicted felon, pleaded guilty in January to one count of carjacking, two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and one count of possession of ammunition by a convicted felon – crimes that left a trail of terrorized victims in their wake.
The 2018 carjacking kicked off the spree. On May 16th, Clemons and his nephew robbed the manager of a University City, Missouri restaurant, holding a handgun to her forehead and stomach while stealing her 2015 Toyota Corolla, cash, and phone. But it didn’t stop there. Fast forward to July 29, 2021, in Florissant, Missouri, when Clemons’ nephew attempted to steal a gun from a gas station customer. When a struggle erupted, Clemons didn’t hesitate – he ran into the store and shot the victim in the back, causing permanent injury, and fired another shot from outside.
Just weeks later, on August 4, 2021, Clemons was involved in a shootout with unknown individuals in a car. Fleeing the scene, he brazenly jumped through a stranger’s window in the O’Fallon neighborhood. Police discovered a stolen 9mm pistol with the slide locked back and no ammunition, a clear indication it had been recently fired. Clemons initially lied to police, claiming his brother owned the gun and that the officers had planted it, but a witness placed him with the weapon, and his fingerprint was found on the magazine.
On December 8, 2021, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s Fugitive Unit, with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations, finally caught up with Clemons during a foot chase through the Delmar Loop. They found him carrying a 9mm Glock loaded with a large capacity drum magazine. Again, he defaulted to lying, claiming the gun wasn’t his. He even reportedly told officers he “should have shot it out with you all” and threatened to harm an officer and his mother. According to a sentencing memo, Clemons had been a “one-man crime wave” for 20 years, placing him in the highest criminal history category.
But the violence wasn’t limited to strangers. The sentencing memo detailed a disturbing history of domestic abuse, including throwing his pregnant girlfriend through a table, causing a miscarriage, and even shooting her. In a heartbreaking letter to Judge Autrey, the victim described Clemons as her “worst nightmare,” stating he’d broken into her home repeatedly and left her living in constant fear. “Hurting people made you laugh, and that’s where you found your joy in life,” she wrote. “To this day, I still deal with not feeling safe…the mother of a child’s worst nightmare as well.”
“This was a career criminal with no regard for human life and demonstrated a willingness to terrorize communities with violence,” stated Mark Zito, Special Agent in Charge of ICE Homeland Security Investigations Kansas City. “This is exactly the kind of dangerous offender HSI targets… Let this sentencing serve as a clear warning – if you prey on the public with guns and fear, we will find you, we will build the case, and we will make sure you face the full weight of the justice system.” The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the University City Police Department, and the Florissant Police Department.
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Key Facts
- State: Missouri
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Violent Crime|Weapons|Organized Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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