On June 2, 2020, David Dorn, a 77-year-old retired police captain, was fatally shot after interrupting the burglary of a pawn shop in
The Ville, St. Louis
The Ville is a historic African-American neighborhood located in North St. Louis, Missouri. It has had a long history of African-American businesses and residents.
This neighborhood is bounded by St. Louis Avenue on the north, Martin Luther King ...
.
The incident occurred on the same night as
protests in St. Louis, Missouri over the murder of George Floyd. Stephan Cannon, who was 24 years old at the time of the incident, was convicted of his murder on July 20, 2022.
Persons involved
Victim
David Dorn (October 29, 1942 – June 2, 2020) was an African-American captain in the
Metropolitan Police Department, City of St. Louis, working there from November 1969 to October 2007. He later served as police chief of
Moline Acres from February 2008.
Shooter
The shooter, Stephan Cannon, a 24-year-old man from
Glasgow Village, Missouri
Glasgow Village is a census-designated place (CDP) in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 5,429 at the 2010 census.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , all land.
Demo ...
,
was charged with
first-degree murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...
, three counts of armed criminal action,
robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or by use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the perso ...
,
burglary
Burglary, also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of entering a building or other areas without permission, with the intention of committing a criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, robbery or murder ...
,
stealing
Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...
and
unlawful possession of a weapon.
Another suspect, Jimmie Robinson, was charged with burglary, armed criminal action, and stealing.
An additional suspect, Mark Jackson, was charged with second-degree murder, first-degree robbery, burglary, stealing, and armed criminal action.
Incident
On June 2, 2020, Dorn was discovered on the sidewalk in front of Lee's Pawn and Jewelry in
The Ville around 2:30 a.m.
Despite a city-wide curfew, he had reportedly been responding to the burglar alarm of his friend's
pawn shop
A pawnbroker is an individual or business (pawnshop or pawn shop) that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral. The items having been ''pawned'' to the broker are themselves called ''pledges'' or ...
when he was killed. His death was streamed on
Facebook Live
Facebook is a social-network service website launched on February 4, 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg. The following is a list of software and technology features that can be found on the Facebook website and mobile app and are available to users of t ...
.
The thirteen-minute video was briefly taken down by Facebook before being reinstated with a warning screen. In the video, a young man states: "Oh my God, cuz....They just killed this old man at the pawn shop over some TVs....c'mon, man, that's somebody's granddaddy."
Investigation
Crime Stoppers
Crime Stoppers or Crimestoppers is a community program that helps people to provide anonymous information about criminal activity. Often managed by non-profit groups or the police, it operates separately from the emergency telephone number sys ...
offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest;
this amount was later raised to $56,700.
On June 5, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Homicide Section released surveillance footage to the public to provide clues and evidence in their investigation of David Dorn's death.
The video captured a total of seven suspects trespassing at Lee's Pawn and Jewelry at 4123 Martin Luther King Drive. The footage was taken on June 2 from 2:13 a.m. to 2:16 a.m. All suspects in the video had their faces concealed. Six wore masks, and one had a white shirt wrapped around his face and head. At least two of the men were seen armed with handguns. One person pulled his handgun to target the entrance before joining the others. Another suspect had a cut on his left palm. The reward for additional information that could capture the criminals was raised another $6,000 since the surveillance video's release.
On June 7, a 24-year-old suspect named Stephan Cannon was arrested. He faced charges of
first-degree murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...
, robbery, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Cannon's trial started on July 18, 2022 During the trial Stephans co-defendant Mark Jackson testified against Cannon in a plea deal which Cannon plead guilty to first-degree robbery and burglary which dropped Jackson’s charges of second-degree murder, stealing and three counts of armed criminal action in exchange for Jackson’s testimony that he drove Cannon to and from the pawn shop where Dorn was killed, in terms of the plea deal Jackson was given a suspended 15-year prison sentence that includes five years probation.
On July 20, Cannon was found guilty of first degree murder, first degree burglary, and three counts of armed criminal action. Cannon was sentenced to life without parole on October 5.
Aftermath
A small memorial was quickly set up outside the shop, with a handwritten sign stating; "Y'all killed a black man because 'they' killed a black man??? Rest in peace." St. Louis Police Chief
John Hayden Jr. ordered all the department’s officers to wear black mourning bands on their police badges to honor Dorn.
Several
GoFundMe
GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the b ...
fundraisers quickly sprang up online, although none of them were endorsed by family members. A
Fundly account has been endorsed by the family and they have asked for support of organizations such as CrimeStoppers or
BackStoppers.
Dorn's widow, Ann Dorn, spoke in favor of
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
at the
2020 Republican National Convention
The 2020 Republican National Convention in which delegates of the United States Republican Party selected the party's nominees for president and vice president in the 2020 United States presidential election, was held from August 24 to 27, 202 ...
. She spoke about her husband's death, over the objections of their daughters who stated that he was opposed to Donald Trump.
Reactions
His widow, Ann Marie Dorn, told reporters that her husband was a friend of the owner of the store and would routinely check on the business when the alarm would go off.
The former St. Louis County Police Chief Tim Finch called Dorn a "true public servant".
Missouri Governor
The governor of Missouri is the head of government of the U.S. state of Missouri and the commander-in-chief of the Missouri National Guard. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by t ...
Mike Parson
Michael Lynn Parson (born September 17, 1955) is an American politician serving as the 57th governor of Missouri since 2018. A member of the Republican Party, Parson served in the Missouri House of Representatives from 2005 to 2011 and in the ...
related the shooting of Dorn with the murder of
George Floyd
George Perry Floyd Jr. (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020) was an African-American man who was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd may have used a counterfeit twe ...
, tweeting that neither should have died, and that violence and criminal activity that had nothing to do with protests against Floyd's murder needed to stop.
The Ethical Society of the Police, an organization which supports black police officers in the United States, tweeted "(Dorn) was murdered by looters at a pawnshop. He was the type of brother that would've given his life to save them if he had to. Violence is not the answer, whether it's a citizen or officer. RIP Captain!"
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorn, David
2020 deaths
2020 murders in the United States
Deaths by firearm in Missouri
Deaths by person in Missouri
Filmed killings
Incidents during the George Floyd protests
Crime in St. Louis
June 2020 events in the United States
2020 in Missouri
George Floyd protests in the United States
Protests in the United States
Black Lives Matter
African-American-related controversies
African-American history in St. Louis