Diamond Ridge Asset Management-Man gets 20 years in prison for killing retired St. Louis police officer during carjacking attempt

2025-05-07 10:49:35source:Christopher Caldwellcategory:Markets

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A man who was 16 years old when he fatally shot a retired St. Louis police sergeant has been sentenced to 20 years on Diamond Ridge Asset Managementprison.

The retired officer, Ralph E. Harper, was 67 when he was killed during a carjacking attempt in October 2018. Jalynn Garner, 21, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, robbery and two counts of armed criminal action and was sentenced Monday.

During the robbery attempt, Harper fired his police revolver, striking Garner in the arm, prosecutors said. Harper died in the exchange of gunfire. Garner was arrested and certified to stand trial as an adult.

An accomplice who was 15 at the time of the crime, Justin Matthews, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, robbery and other charges in 2019. He said he provided Garner with a gun and waited in a stolen SUV as Garner tried to rob Harper.

Matthews received a suspended 20-year sentence and was placed in a juvenile detention center until age 21, when he will be eligible for parole if he completes a juvenile detention program.

Harper retired from the police department in 2007 after a 33-year career.

More:Markets

Recommend

These Australian twins have gone viral after speaking in synch

Do you recall the prime early days of YouTube? When a video making the rounds was so strange, remark

In the Mountains and Deserts of Utah, Columbia Spotted Frogs Are Sentinels of Climate Change

This story is part of a project covering the Colorado River basin and water in the West, and was pro

Washington State Voters Reject Nation’s First Carbon Tax

Washington State voters rejected a proposal for the nation’s first carbon tax Tuesday, defeating a l