BELLEFONTAINE NEIGHBORS, Mo. – A teenager suspected of shooting the owners of a north St. Louis County beauty supply shop Tuesday afternoon has turned herself in to police.
Employees said the 13-year old suspect had been in King’s Beauty Supply in suburban Bellefontaine Neighbors earlier that day with another juvenile. At the time, police were summoned to the store for a shoplifting report. Authorities found two juveniles near the business and took one into custody.
Police released a 13-year old girl with a formal warning for trespassing, with the couple’s approval, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, who spoke with the couple’s daughter.
Police believe the 13-year-old returned to the store just after 4 p.m. and shot both owners before fleeing with money and merchandise.
The couple are in critical condition at an area hospital. Joo Lim, a family friend, has started a fundraising account for the couple. Lim said she made the account to help pay for medical costs while the beauty store is closed.
“They are the sweetest people I know,” Lim wrote. “One of the victims has yet to go under several more surgeries and doctors are unsure if he will make it.”
The teen suspect, accompanied by three aunts and her father, showed up at police headquarters late Wednesday morning to turn herself in, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. A neighbor said that the girl’s mother, tired of her daughter’s behavior, had sent her to live with her father that summer, according to the paper.
She is now in custody of juvenile authorities.
