ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s office charged a man for the murder of slain officer Tamarris Bohannon.
Thomas Kinworthy, 43, faces murder charges as well as armed criminal action, assault, burglary, resisting arrest, and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Within the past week, Sheriff Wayne Ivey in Brevard County, Florida, featured Kinworthy in a Facebook post as a wanted fugitive for weapons charges filed less than a month ago when Kinworthy was allegedly found with 7 to 8 guns and a tactical vest.
He failed to appear in court in about two weeks ago for the alleged armed sexual battery and kidnapping of a man in Florida, police said.
Kinworthy had also served six years in a Florida prison for attempted murder during a road rage incident.
St. Louis police Officer Tamarris Bohannon had been on the force for more than three and a half years when he was shot and killed. He was known affectionately as “Bo” by some of his co-workers. Officer Bohannon was 29.
Bohannon leaves behind his wife, Alexis, and their three young children.
Bohannon was rushed to SLU Hospital after he was shot in the head responding to a shooting call.
The shooting unfolded early Saturday evening on Hartford Street in south St. Louis.
The probable cause statement says Officer Bohannon and his partner, 29-year-old Arlando Bailey, responded to a 911 call for shots fired in an alley on Hartford Street near Grand.
A couple called saying while they were on the phone with the dispatcher, Kinworthy entered their home. They say he was armed and told them to hang up the phone. The couple was able to escape out of their back door.
The court document then states that Officer Bohannon talked with the couple then walked around to the front of the home, where Kinworthy shot him in the head with a 9mm handgun.
More police rushed to the scene and Officer Bailey was shot in the leg while trying to hide behind a vehicle. The court document says the shot came from a second-story window of the couple’s home on Hartford.
Kinworthy refused police orders to come out of the home, and a nearly 12-hour standoff followed. Eventually, the SWAT team entered the home and took him into custody.
Bohannon died the next day. Bailey was treated at a hospital for a bullet wound to his leg and released. Investigators will be looking into what role those charges in Florida may have played in the shootings here.
“It may have been as simple as him knowing if we was arrested and brought back to face this case, it was a good possibility he would not get out of prison,” said Officer Tod Goodyear, of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families, his coworkers, his friends, particularly of the officer who was fatally injured. Of course, we’re glad the other officer is going to be ok.
“It’s an unfortunate time any time a police officer loses his life doing the job we’re sworn to do, which is to protect the public and respond to dangerous calls. It sounds like, in this case, he did not know that person was there and was ambushed and didn’t even have a chance to defend himself. It’s sad all around.”
Kinworthy has relatives and a criminal history in Missouri, authorities said.
Meanwhile, the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis will host visitation and memorial services for Officer Bohannon. The visitation is scheduled for Saturday, September 5 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. The funeral will occur Sunday at 2 p.m.
There will be a procession from the Serenity Memorial Funeral Home to the Cathedral Basilica prior to the memorial service.
A repast will be held at the Electrician’s Hall on Elizabeth Avenue following the memorial service.
