SLMPD
Samuel Vazquez-Gonzales, eighteen.
Gunmen shot at two men and killed a nineteen-year-old in a vacant house in the Carondelet neighborhood last week as a drug deal turned into a robbery, according to St. Louis police.
On Friday the Circuit Attorney’s Office filed a string of charges against Samuel Vazquez-Gonzales, eighteen, of the 5500 block of Pennsylvania Avenue. He faces warrants for first-degree murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, first-degree attempted robbery, two counts of first-degree robbery and six counts of armed criminal action. He is being held without bond.
Police say Vazquez-Gonzales fatally shot Brandon Gonzalez, nineteen, of the 1900 block of Donnell Drive in Arnold, in the chest and neck around 1:45 a.m. in a vacant house in the 7300 block of Vermont Avenue. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.
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Vazquez-Gonzales and four other unknown suspects also shot a 21-year-old man in the chest and neck. Police tell the St. Louis Post-Dispatch the victim may be paralyzed.
A third victim, nineteen, was not injured and told police the suspects fired at the victims as a drug deal devolved into a robbery. The robbers took car keys, cash and a cell phone, according to the P-D.
Here is the report from police:
Incident: Homicide
Location: 7300 block of Vermont
Date/Time: 7/24/14 @ 01:45
Victim #1: Brandon Gonzalez, 19-year old white male of the 1900 block of Donnell Dr., Arnold, MO
Victim #2: 21-year old white male (serious/stable)
Victim #3: 19-year old white male
Suspect(s): Five unknown males (3 white males, 1 black male & 1 unknown male)
Officers responded to a “shooting” at a vacant house in the above area and upon arrival, located the victims. Victim #1 was suffering from gunshot wounds to the chest and neck and was conveyed to a hospital where he was pronounced deceased. Victim #2 was suffering from gunshot wounds to the chest and neck and was conveyed to a hospital where he listed in serious/stable condition. Victim #3, who was not injured, reported the victims had responded to the vacant house and became involved in a narcotics transaction, which developed into a robbery, when the suspects began firing shots at the victims. The investigation is ongoing.
Follow Lindsay Toler on Twitter at @StLouisLindsay. E-mail the author at [email protected].
