最新杏吧原创

She was high on meth and carrying a gun that had just killed a man.

She checked the front door handle. It was unlocked.

鈥淚 went in,鈥� she told jurors this week. 鈥淚 was freaking out. I went in to gather myself, figure out what just took place.鈥�

First, she used the bathroom. Under the sink, she found a brand new box of tampons, and realized that someone lived in the Pagedale home. She hid the gun.

鈥淚n my high mind, I didn鈥檛 want anybody to walk into this home and I have a pistol,鈥� said Arnold, now 42. 鈥淪o, I placed it in the laundry basket.鈥�

Dozens of murder charges are filed in 最新杏吧原创 County every year, but few make it to trial where all the evidence is laid out publicly for the first time. This week, Arnold stood trial on charges that in June 2024 she murdered 32-year-old Jordan Armstrong in his apartment and burglarized another home a few doors down.

The Hazelwood woman doesn鈥檛 deny most of what prosecutors say happened: Armstrong was shot once with her gun after an argument erupted between heavy drug users in his bedroom and then she stashed the gun in a neighboring home.

In trial, prosecutors said Arnold pulled the trigger on purpose, 鈥渆xecuting鈥� Armstrong after making baseless accusations that Armstrong had sexually assaulted children.

鈥淭he medical examiner will tell you Jordan didn鈥檛 stand a chance,鈥� Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Blair Lant told jurors in her opening statement.

Arnold鈥檚 defense lawyer, Thomas Peterson, denied that Arnold shot Armstrong intentionally. He said the two instead were struggling for Arnold鈥檚 gun, and it went off.

Arnold was guilty of one thing, he said: suffering from an 鈥渆xtreme drug addiction.鈥�

鈥淟anora was at the lowest part of her life,鈥� he said, 鈥渋n the throes of addiction.鈥�

He called Armstrong鈥檚 apartment a drug den, 鈥渟omething out of a horror film.鈥�

鈥淭his was a very dangerous environment,鈥� Peterson told jurors at the end of trial. 鈥淧eople from the street going in and out.鈥�

The jurors deliberated Arnold鈥檚 intent for more than five hours Thursday.

Then the gun went off

Armstrong was killed the morning of June 7 after his friends began arguing.

Markisha Allan woke up at about 7 a.m. that day in her second-floor apartment on Lexington Avenue in Pagedale, just off Lucas and Hunt Road near St. Charles Rock Road. Her friend, Keyanna Moore, had spent the night.

Moore鈥檚 boyfriend came knocking that morning, looking to get high. The couple borrowed Allan鈥檚 lighter and went downstairs to smoke with Armstrong in his ground-floor unit, Allan said.

Allan stayed back, talking on the phone with her sister and rolling a blunt, she said. About an hour later, she headed down to Armstrong鈥檚 apartment to get her lighter.

The apartment, shown in crime scene photos, was filthy. Stuff was strewn about everywhere and the walls were marked up. Pieces of guns lay all around.

Inside Armstrong鈥檚 bedroom, Moore sat on her boyfriend鈥檚 lap, the two passing a meth pipe back and forth. Armstrong and Arnold were also there, sitting next to each other.

But then Allan came in. She wanted her lighter back as Moore passed it to Armstrong.

Arnold told her to chill out. Allan reacted: Who was this woman, whom she had never met, telling her what to do?

Then, both women testified, Arnold took a gun out of her bag.

Allan then leaves. But the argument continues, between Arnold and Armstrong.

鈥淎t that point Jordan looks over and is like, 鈥楳an give me that (gun),鈥欌�� Arnold said. 鈥淚鈥檓 like, 鈥楴o.鈥� We kind of wrestle for it.鈥�

Then the gun went off.

鈥業 called him my big brother鈥�

Armstrong鈥檚 mother, Michele Martinez, told jurors her middle son was a good kid, happy to help others.

鈥淗e was like a Velcro kid. He never wanted to be anywhere but with me,鈥� she told jurors, tearing up.

But, she said her son also suffered from various mental health conditions.

After leaving a behavioral center in 2020, he eventually lost his insurance and stopped taking his medications. He turned back to drugs.

Armstrong had marijuana, meth and cocaine in his system when he died, according to toxicology tests.

Allan, who lived in the apartment above Armstrong, said the two were close and took care of each other: He read books to her young son. He made sure they had food. He even ran an extension cord up to her apartment when her power was turned off.

鈥淗e called me his little sister,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 called him my big brother.鈥�

Moore told jurors she lived in Armstrong鈥檚 living room for about a year, during which time she struggled with an addiction to meth and fentanyl. In crime scene photos, Moore鈥檚 mattress can be seen leaning up against a living room wall.

鈥淗e let anybody stay there that needed to stay,鈥� she said. 鈥淗e would help anybody out.鈥�

Arnold, who sat through the trial in a long grey sweater and most of her short, dark hair pulled up, said she knew Armstrong for just a few months before he was killed, the two having met through mutual friends in the drug scene.

鈥淗e was a good person,鈥� she told jurors, choking up.

Welfare check

After Armstrong was shot, Arnold ran out of the apartment.

About four doors down, on Lucas and Hunt, she found herself alone in a stranger鈥檚 home.

Arnold spent more than two hours inside the house, according to surveillance footage.

鈥淎t first the only thing that I had noticed was that my tampons had been used,鈥� the homeowner, Jaylah Riley, testified, saying the new box was opened and left on a bathroom counter.

Pagedale Officer Destini Glover took a burglary report from Riley and left.

Then Riley went to change out of her work clothes.

Inside the clothes bin, she found the handgun.

At about 8 p.m., officers, including Glover, were dispatched to Armstrong鈥檚 apartment for a welfare check.

They found his body in the bedroom.

At about the same time, Arnold came walking up to the complex.

Arnold told jurors she didn鈥檛 know what happened to Armstrong after the gun fired, which is why she returned to the apartment.

By 8:35 p.m. she was booked into the 最新杏吧原创 County jail.

Prosecutors filed first-degree murder, armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon, tampering with evidence and burglary charges against Arnold, who has no other criminal history.

鈥楬ighest possible charge?鈥�

On Thursday morning, prosecutors made their final argument, asking the jury to find Arnold guilty of first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.

鈥淭he only way this makes sense if you follow the facts,鈥� said assistant prosecuting attorney Ashley Bailey-Smith. 鈥淭hey were sitting there and she had that gun pointed at him 鈥� and she pulled that trigger.鈥�

But Peterson, the defense attorney, scoffed at that and told jurors that the prosecutors were asking them to sentence Arnold to die in prison for a tragic accident.

He criticized the prosecution鈥檚 only witness to the shooting to testify, who admitted to struggling with an addiction and could barely recollect the day Armstrong was killed.

鈥淭he government is giving you one witness,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat is a credible, strong case for the highest possible charge?鈥�

The jury, made up of five women and seven men, came back with their verdict at about 5 p.m. Thursday.

They found her guilty of five charges. But they disagreed with prosecutors that Arnold thought about the murder and then intentionally shot Armstrong. Instead, they found Arnold guilty of second-degree murder.

Friday, the jury recommended a sentence of 46 years: 20 for murder, 15 for armed criminal action, three for burglary and four each for unlawful use of a weapon and tampering with evidence.

A judge will sentence Arnold in December. Legally, the judge can reduce the jury鈥檚 recommended sentence but cannot increase it.

Martinez, Armstrong鈥檚 mother, told the Post-Dispatch after the trial that her family is thankful to the prosecutors and investigators who worked on the case.

鈥淲e are thrilled with the verdict,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t will let our son finally rest in peace.鈥�

Armstrong is survived by his five children.