Murder Charges in Madison Teen Shooting Death

Major Case Squad Investigates Fatal Shooting in Madison

Investigators with the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis have been working diligently to follow up on 58 leads in the three days since a 16-year-old boy from East St. Louis was found fatally shot in a Madison street on Saturday. On Tuesday, they announced that an arrest has been made in connection with the incident.

Rayontae M. Pearson, 22, of Madison has been charged by the Madison County State's Attorney’s office with two counts of first-degree murder, a single count of unlawful use of a machine gun, and one count of felon in possession of a weapon. As of late morning on Tuesday, the name of the victim had not been released publicly.

The incident occurred after police received a call reporting that shots had been fired at about 1:15 p.m. They discovered the victim's body lying in the intersection of Washington Avenue and Wayne Lanter Avenue. The Major Case Squad immediately put out a call for information, which generated multiple leads, according to a news release issued on Tuesday.

Pearson is currently being held in the Madison County Jail pending a pretrial detention hearing. The charging documents identify the victim by the initials "D.A.M." According to court records filed by the Madison County State's Attorney Tom Haine’s office, a Madison city surveillance camera captured a man chasing the victim and firing shots at him.

The prosecution's petition asks a judge to detain Pearson until his trial on the murder charges. In supporting the allegations that Pearson should be held in jail, the petition states:

• Surveillance video from a nearby store shows Pearson was in the business and he was wearing the same clothes as the gunman.
• The victim's cellphone was found in his hand, and officers discovered he called Pearson two minutes prior to the shooting.
• A voicemail was received by the defendant from the victim, which was consistent with the phone call placed by the victim's phone prior to the shooting. That voicemail is the victim breathlessly screaming for help and running away while the defendant is chasing and shooting at him.

During a search of Pearson's mother's house, police found two guns. A forensic scientist has determined that an "unserialized" .40-caliber handgun found with Pearson's belongings is "the murder weapon." Additionally, Pearson's thumbprint was found on the gun.

Police also found shoes in Pearson's mother's home that matched the ones he is seen wearing in the surveillance video. A sweatshirt found in Pearson's girlfriend's home matches the one he is seen wearing in the surveillance videos.

Twelve investigators from the Major Case Squad were deployed to process the scene. Sgt. Brent Rombach of the Wood River Police Department served as deputy commander for the investigation.

According to the release, Illinois State Police crime scene investigators, the Madison County Coroner's Office, and the Madison County State's Attorney’s office assisted in the investigation.

"I want to commend Chief Jeff Bridick and the dedicated officers of the Madison Police Department for their quick response and outstanding collaboration with the Major Case Squad in this investigation," Haine said in a statement. "I also commend Wood River Police Sgt. Brent Rombach, who is serving as the Major Case Squad Deputy Commander for this investigation, along with the investigators who are working under his direction."

"The professionalism and urgency of the officers and the investigators resulted in these charges. This investigation again demonstrated the strength of regional collaboration among law enforcement agencies."