MISSOURI STATE HIGHWAY PATROL
a division of the
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY

Troop E Headquarters - 4947 Highway 67 North - Poplar Bluff, MO 63901


News Release

For further information please contact: Trooper Clark D. Parrott
(573) 840-9500, Ext. 3532
03111210
March 11, 2012

EMPHASIS: Officer Involved Shooting


On Saturday, March 10, 2012, at approximately 10:00 p.m., a Missouri state trooper initiated a traffic stop on Interstate 55 near the 56-mile marker in New Madrid County, Missouri. During the contact with the driver and occupants the trooper became suspicious of criminal activity, and requested assistance from another trooper.

A short time later an additional trooper arrived on the scene and together he and the first trooper made contact with the occupants of the vehicle a second time. While speaking with one of the four occupants outside of the vehicle, another passenger, still in the vehicle began firing a handgun at one of the troopers. The trooper was struck, but was able to return fire along with the other trooper. One of the occupants was struck and killed and a second passenger in the vehicle was also shot following the exchange of gunfire.

Corporal Shane Stewart received a gunshot wound to the neck and was air lifted from the scene to St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The wounded suspect/occupant was also flown from the scene to St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau for treatment.

The driver and two of the vehicle passengers involved in the shooting of the Missouri state trooper were arrested. Tonya M. Brown, 42, of Dallas, Texas, Jermaine K. Dennis, 24, of Mesquite, Texas, and Maurice A. Ely, 18, of Mesquite, Texas, were arrested in New Madrid County, Missouri. The three have been charged with Murder-2nd Degree, Possession of Marijuana, and Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Distribute.

The charges for which Brown, Dennis, and Ely have been arrested are mere accusations and not evidence of guilt. Evidence in support of these charges must be presented before a court of competent jurisdiction, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug Crime Control, D/DCC, continues to investigate this incident.


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