ST. LOUIS – A Spanish Lake man was sentenced Thursday after reaching a plea agreement in a 2021 double homicide in the Central West End that claimed the lives of a young girl and her father.
Darrion Rankin-Fleming, 26, and Dmyah Fleming, 7, were shot and killed while they were sitting in a parked car in the 4000 block of Laclede Avenue on the night of Jan. 24, 2021. Darrion was pronounced dead at the scene. Dmyah was rushed to a hospital, where she died.
In April 2021, Javonn Javontay Nettles was arrested for the murders. An accomplice, Andre Anderson, was arrested in May. At the time, Nettles and Anderson were charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action.
Rather than face trial later this month, Anderson, now 28, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors amended the charges in exchange for Anderson’s plea.
Police and prosecutors said cellphone records showed Anderson was in the area at the time of the shooting. Ballistic evidence indicated the victims were shot using two different firearms.
At Thursday’s hearing, the victims’ relatives held up enlarged photos of Darrion and Dmyah in their caskets. They testified during the sentencing phase and were upset over the plea agreement.
“This is a game to y’all,” Janiece Johns, Dmyah’s mother, said. “I’m living through this.”
Meanwhile, Nettles is serving two concurrent 10-year terms in state prison after reaching a plea agreement with the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office in October 2023.
