A 15-year-old has been sentenced to two decades in state prison after pleading guilty to murder in the case of a woman shot in front of her young daughter during an attempted carjacking in south St. Louis in 2023.
Brian Wellington on Monday pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, first-degree attempted robbery, and armed criminal action in the killing of 37-year-old Kay Johnson on January 24, 2023, in the 4700 block of Compton in the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood.
Following the plea, St. Louis Circuit Judge Timothy Boyer sentenced Wellington to 20 years in jail. Boyer ordered Wellington to be transferred from the juvenile facility where he was awaiting trial to the St. Louis Criminal Justice Center.
Boyer ruled that Wellington will remain at the criminal justice facility until his transfer to the Missouri Department of Corrections.
Wellington is one of two teenagers charged in Johnson’s death. DeShaun Harris, who was 15 when charged as an adult in 2023, is awaiting trial for second-degree murder and armed criminal action in Johnson’s death.
According to the documents, Johnson and her daughter were pulling up to their garage when Wellington and Harris approached them and attempted to take her car. When she refused, Harris allegedly fired into the car, killing her in front of her 14-year-old daughter, who was in the passenger seat.
The murder was caught on security video and audio, according to authorities.
A trial date for Harris has yet to be determined.
