CLAYTON, Mo. – Tyler Terry, the South Carolina man linked to two murders in his home state, one in the Memphis area, and two more in St. Louis County in 2021, pleaded guilty on Monday and was sentenced to life for the multi-state killing spree.
The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office reached a plea agreement with Terry following a lengthy negotiation process involving county prosecutors in South Carolina and Tennessee. Prosecutors in all three jurisdictions agreed to waive the death penalty in exchange for Terry’s guilty pleas and to avoid years of death penalty appeals.
According to St. Louis County prosecutors, the unified plea agreement “nullified any future legal challenges in any state.”
Terry appeared in St. Louis County Circuit Court on Monday and pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon, one count of first-degree robbery, and seven counts of armed criminal action.
Terry and Adrienne Simpson were each charged with the murder of Eugene O’Brien Simpson, Adrienne Simpson’s husband. Eugene, 33, was reported missing on May 2, 2021. His body was found in a ditch in Chester County on May 20.
Terry was also charged with the murder of Terry Hardin, a trans woman, in York, South Carolina. Hardin was killed on May 2, 2021. It was previously reported that Hardin and Terry had been romantically involved.
After the murders in South Carolina, Terry and Simpson fled west and wound up in St. Louis County, where Terry shot and killed Barbara Goodkin and Dr. Sergei Zacharev.
Goodkin, 71, was shot in the head just after 10:50 p.m. on May 15, 2021, while riding in a car with her husband in University City on Delmar. Zacherev, 58, was shot and killed less than an hour later in a Brentwood parking lot near a restaurant and hotel. Goodkin died at a hospital the following day.
Simpson was arrested after a shootout with Chester County police on May 17, 2021. Terry got away. Terry was the subject of a major manhunt in South Carolina for nearly a week. He was arrested on May 24, 2021, in Chester County.
Terry and Simpson were also linked to the murder of Danterrio Coats in Memphis, Tennessee.
Terry previously pleaded guilty to killing Hardin, Eugene Simpson, and Coats.
Prior to sentencing, Goodkin’s widower and Zacharev’s brother read victim impact statements before the court. Mr. Goodkin said Terry “should be sentenced to a burning, torturous death.” Mr. Zacharev added, “You’re going to prison your whole life to die. Be proud of yourself.”
The St. Louis County Circuit Court has ordered that the case against Simpson remain sealed.
