Suspected serial killer Perez Deshay Reed has been charged with the murder of a seventh victim after police found evidence linking him to the crime.
The new murder charge against Reed was announced by Jean Peters Baker, prosecutor of Jackson County, Kansas, on Friday, 27 May, following his arrest in the city of Independence.
The 26-year-old, who lived in the St. Louis area, is accused of shooting Stephon D. Johnson, of Kansas City, Missouri, in November 2021.
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When officers arrested Reed on warrants from St. Louis County, they discovered in his possession a key that fit a deadlock bolt at Johnson's apartment. DNA collected from an empty cigarillo package found in Johnson's apartment was also connected to Reed, according to the prosecutor's office, ABC News reports.
Furthermore, the bullet found in Johnson's body was determined to have been fired from the gun Reed had been carrying when he was arrested.
Johnson's family reported him missing when they hadn't seen him since 1 November. Officers found the man dead in a cupboard in his apartment after having been shot in the back of the head.
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Witnesses told police a man who had been Johnson's guest matched the description of a 'serial killer' from St. Louis they had seen on the news, identifying him by a crescent moon-shaped tattoo on his forehead.
Reed has already been charged in six killings in the Kansas City and St. Louis areas in late 2021. His alleged victims include
16-year-old Marnay Haynes on 13 September, 49-year-old Pamela Abercrombie on 16 September, 24-year-old Carey Ross on 19 September and 40-year-old Lester Robinson on 26 September. All four victims were shot in the head.
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Another two deaths occurred the following month, when Damon Washington Irvin and Rau’daja De’Naya Farrow were found dead in separate apartments at a complex in downtown Kansas City, Kansas.
Reed was arrested on 5 November after detectives tailed him on an Amtrak train in Kansas City, Missouri, bound for St. Louis. He was arrested when he got off on the train's first stop in Independence and boarded a bus, after which he was charged by the US District Court of Eastern Missouri with transporting a firearm and ammunition across state lines with the intent to commit a felony.
As well as the seventh killing, Reed has now also been charged with one count of armed criminal action and two counts of fraud involving a credit or debit device.
Reed is currently being held in custody in St. Louis, with Baker's office requesting that he be held on the new charges with no bond.
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Emily Brown