The man accused of the fatal freeway shooting of a St. Louis-area high school student is now under investigation in connection with a second roadway attack that occurred just three days prior, according to federal court documents.
Willie Herndon, 42, of Arlington, Texas, is currently charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the Oct. 14 killing of 17-year-old Alyssa Wilson. A new federal complaint reveals that investigators recovered a spent shell casing from an Oct. 11 shooting in St. Louis that matches the ammunition used in the attack that claimed Wilson’s life.
In the earlier incident, a vehicle that had just exited Interstate 55 was struck by gunfire. While no one was reported injured in the Oct. 11 shooting, security video from the scene captured a white SUV parked on the side of the interstate. The vehicle reportedly fled the area immediately after the shots were fired. Federal investigators noted that the headstamp on the recovered cartridge case indicated it was from the same manufacturer, MaxxTech, as the casings found during the investigation into Wilson’s death. Lab testing is currently underway to confirm if ballistics definitively tie the same weapon to both crimes.
The fatal shooting of Alyssa Wilson occurred as the teenager was driving from Florissant, Missouri, to a Halloween celebration at the St. Louis Zoo. According to authorities, Wilson was only 12 minutes into her journey on Oct. 14 when someone in a white Buick Enclave stopped on the shoulder of southbound Interstate 170 in Overland. Investigators say the shooter exited the vehicle, paced briefly, and opened fire as Wilson’s car passed by. A single round from a rifle penetrated the back of her vehicle and struck her in the back, exiting through her chest. She was later pronounced dead at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
Wilson’s father, Robert Hickman, described his daughter as a young woman who was “excited about her life” and “excited about her future,” calling the killing a “senseless act.” Authorities have stated that Wilson had no prior ties or connection to the suspects.
The investigation quickly focused on a white Buick Enclave with an Arkansas Razorbacks sticker on its liftgate. Using security footage and license plate recognition, detectives tracked the vehicle to a Days Inn in Caseyville, Illinois. After hours of surveillance on Oct. 15 and 16, police moved in. Taiya Herndon, the suspect’s wife, was taken into custody as she approached the vehicle. Willie Herndon was arrested shortly after he emerged from the hotel and attempted to flee on foot.
A search of the couple’s hotel room yielded an American Built Custom Rifle Company AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle. The weapon was loaded with MaxxTech 7.62×39 ammunition, the same brand and caliber as the shell casings recovered from both freeway shooting scenes. Investigators also discovered notebooks containing handwritten entries detailing license plate numbers, vehicle descriptions, and notes on law enforcement personnel Herndon believed were following him.
Prosecutors allege the Herndons traveled from Texas through Arkansas to Missouri starting on Oct. 2. Throughout the trip, they allegedly used multiple Oklahoma license plates that did not belong to their SUV, switching them at least once following the fatal shooting of Wilson.
Willie Herndon is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in East St. Louis on Tuesday for a hearing regarding his pretrial detention on a federal charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Court records show Herndon has prior felony convictions in Los Angeles for burglary and receiving stolen property.
Taiya Herndon, who authorities say drove the vehicle during the Oct. 14 attack, faces a state charge of hindering prosecution. She is scheduled for a bail hearing on Thursday, with a preliminary hearing set for Nov. 19. Willie Herndon’s preliminary hearing on federal charges is scheduled for Nov. 4.
