Judge sentences man to life in prison for killing St. Louis police officer
ST. LOUIS — A man convicted in the 2020 murder of a St. Louis police officer was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Judge Elizabeth Hogan ordered Thomas Kinworthy Jr., 46, to serve two consecutive life sentences for first-degree murder and first-degree assault, with decades for burglary and other charges.
A jury this month convicted Kinworthy in the Violence in August 2020 related to the death of Officer Tamarris Bohannon, 29, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. A conviction for first-degree murder carries a penalty of life imprisonment.
Bohannon, a 3 1/2-year veteran of the force with a wife and three young children, responded to a call after an armed man ordered a family out of their home and barricaded himself inside, police said. Bohannon was shot in the head and a second officer was shot in the leg as officers searched for another person who had reportedly been shot, police said.
Bohannon’s loved ones, including his parents, sister, wife and children, read statements about the impact his death had on them.
βHe should still be here,β Elizabeth Bohannon said of her son. βHe should be here experiencing everything life had to offer him.β
Tiffany Bautista said she found out her brother had been shot in the head shortly after she gave birth to her first child. She said she and her husband had to beg a hospital administrator to let her leave her 12-hour-old son to see her brother.
Kinworthy contested the case, saying nothing could change the events surrounding Bohannon’s death or his sentence. He angrily interrupted the prosecutor at times as she read his criminal history during sentencing recommendations.
Kinworthy’s attorney said he suffered a psychotic episode on the day of the shooting. He said they look forward to an appeal and hope for a new trial.