Teens charged after deadly south St. Louis County drag race, crash

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ST. LOUIS – Two St. Louis teens are charged after investigators claim one lost control while racing the other down a busy south county road Friday morning. The crash killed a man and injured another.

You could still see much of the debris and signs of the crash left over Sunday afternoon in front of Rediscover Antiques & Collectibles. It’s where police said Christopher Johnson, 34, was hit-and-killed around 10:30 a.m. Friday. A fellow construction worker, Carl Seese, 58, was also badly injured. Seese’s family tells FOX 2 he is recovering and now walking on his own.

According to neighbors, the construction crew was there working to replace an awning that another erratic driver had damaged earlier this year and fled the scene.

Friday morning, police said a Cadillac headed north on Broadway lost control and hit the two men. Johnson died at the scene. Photos and surveillance videos reveal a traumatic scene, where the workers had no time to react to the out-of-control vehicle.

Bayram Bekirov owns the business next door. He shared the photos and videos with FOX 2. He said he could hear the impact from inside of his building, and that he and others helped stop the other teen driver from leaving the scene.

“I’m really sorry for these guys. It’s probably a routine day of work. They come, hour, two hours of work, and then go… but you see what happened,” Bekirov said.

Deondre Robinson and Patrick Aten, both 18, are charged with first-degree involuntary manslaughter and second-degree assault. Robinson, the driver of the Cadillac, is also charged with driving without a valid license.

Bekirov has a message for the teens.

“They think they know everything… they don’t know nothing. They need to take caution driving the streets, not racing on public streets. Go on the racetrack and do whatever you want to do. but not here,” Bekirov said.

Both teens are being held in the county jail on $150,000 cash-only bonds.

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