ST. LOUIS – Rather than face a scheduled murder trial for a 2022 fatal shooting on a MetroLink train, a St. Louis man appeared in court Tuesday to plead guilty to a lesser charge.
The shooting happened just after midnight on April 17, 2022, at the Forest Park-DeBaliviere station.
Homicide detectives with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department said Manu Barge boarded an eastbound train at the Emerson Park station and Quinton A. Howard board the same train car at the Clayton station.
Police and prosecutors said Barge and Howard got into an argument. Both men stood up as Howard was exiting the train at the Forest Park-DeBaliviere stop. Howard shot Barge in the head and ran.
Barge was pronounced dead at the scene. He was 32. Howard was apprehended a short time later and charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action.
The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office reached a plea agreement with Howard’s attorney. Howard pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action.
A St. Louis Circuit Court judge approved the agreement and sentenced Howard to 10 years on the manslaughter charge and five years for armed criminal action. The sentences will run consecutively.
