ST. LOUIS – A felon accused of shooting his wife reportedly violated his ankle monitor as soon as it was installed.
FOX 2 was the only media in the courtroom Friday when the judge threatened to send the suspect back to jail, but gave him another shot at freedom before trial.
Authorities say 53-year-old Pierre Kirkwood shot his wife in May 2022. Later, he was accused of attempting a jail break. On Friday, he was in court for violating his ankle monitor.
We caught up with Kirkwood after he was allowed to leave court, remaining on his ankle bracelet.
Kirkwood told us the judge, “did his job, you know what I’m saying. I had a bumpy ride coming out the door, but I straightened it out.”
Prosecutors allege Kirkwood laughed when his ankle monitor was installed this past November, as he reportedly said, “You might as well take this off me.” The prosecutor said he was then “gone the next three days” from Nov. 28-30. The prosecutor claimed he also violated two days in early December.
“What were you doing?” We asked him after court. Kirkwood answered, “See, now you just killed the conversation,” as he walked away.
Kirkwood was initially locked up on the domestic violence charges in the case. There were ten felony charges in total related to the reported shooting of his wife in May 2022.
Two months later, in July 2022, FOX 2 got a tip that Pierre Kirkwood was attempting a jail break. We contacted the St. Louis Justice Center, which sent us an investigative report with his photo and their findings.
We asked Kirkwood. “The jail says you were digging out mortar and replacing it with toothpaste and toilet paper?” Kirkwood answered, “I don’t know nothing about none of that. I don’t know who did all that.”
We showed him the report with his photo. “Is this you right here?”
“No, that’s probably a twin,” he answered.
I followed up, “It says Pierre Kirkwood,” as he laughed and walked off.
The court also noted a prior felony domestic assault conviction for the defendant in 2009. The key to Kirkwood’s ability to remain out of jail Friday was that he has not reportedly violated his ankle monitor since December 8.
With nearly a month of no violations, judge Chris McGraugh looked at the defendant and warned him he has one more chance to remain completely violation-free in order to remain out of jail until his March trial.
