A jury has found a St. Louis man guilty of murdering retired Police Capt. David Dorn during a violent Black Lives Matter riot on June 2, 2020.
Stephan Cannon, 26, was found guilty of first-degree murder, robbery, burglary and three counts of armed criminal action. All of the charges were felonies.
The jury deliberated for just three hours and found Cannon guilty on all counts — after just three days of evidence and testimony.
Dorn, 77, had gone to his friend’s pawn shop to check on the situation after the burglar alarm went off during one of the city’s riots over the death of George Floyd.
When Dorn arrived at Lee’s Jewelry & Pawn shop, he encountered a mob of looters. He allegedly fired warning shots into the air to get the crowd, who had robbed and ransacked the business, to disperse.
According to prosecutors, Cannon fired ten shots at Dorn, killing him. Five other men were also charged in connection to the murder.
Dorn’s last moments were broadcast in a Facebook livestream as he was left to die on the sidewalk.
In his closing statement, prosecutor Marvin Teer said that Cannon killed “a good man who dedicated his entire life to doing nothing but helping others.”
Dorn had worked for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department for 38 years and served six years as the police chief in Moline Acres.
“I’m very thankful to the jurors who saw the truth and all the evidence,” Dorn’s wife, Ann, said outside the courthouse, according to a report from St. Louis Today. “And I want to thank Marvin Teer for doing a phenomenal job in prosecuting the case.”
Dorn’s widow, who also served as a police officer for 28 years, said that she did believe that justice was served.
“I don’t want to say we can move on,” she said. “There’s never going to be full closure, but it brings us peace.”
On the evening that Dorn was killed, four other police officers were shot in the city amid the chaos and mayhem. Dozens of businesses were looted.
Cannon is scheduled to be sentenced on September 13. The mandatory sentence is life in prison without the possibility of parole, as prosecutors chose not to seek the death penalty — though it is legal in the state.
