Man Guilty Of Triple Murder That Left Girl, 7, With Brain Damage

ST. LOUIS, MO — Jerome Leon Buress Jr. is guilty of a 2017 triple murder that also left a 7-year-old girl badly wounded, a jury in St. Louis said Thursday.

The Post-Dispatch reports Buress fatally shot 24-year-old Jessica Garth, 27-year-old Derrick Irving and 37-year-old Julian Hayes in a parked car in June, 2017. Seven-year-old Deniya Irving was also in the car and was shot in the head. The girl barely survived the shooting, which left her with brain damage.

Doctors initially declared Deniya brain dead and did not expect her to survive. The Post-Dispatch reported at the time that as she clung to life on ventilators, the girl's family was making plans to donate her organs.

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Buress allegedly warned witnesses against saying anything after the shooting, but a single witness did come forward to testify. Buress' mother testified that her son was with her during the shooting, but the jury didn't buy it.

According to Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner, whose office tried the case, many witnesses were unwilling to talk to police.

“It was such a shock that it happened around 2 or 3 in the middle of the day, but no one was around after this horrendous incident,” Gardner told the paper, adding that she personally visited the neighborhood where the shooting happened and found many people unwilling to even answer their doors.

Read more from the Post-Dispatch.

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