A St. Louis County man has been given an 18-year prison term for the shooting death of a woman at a local gas station last year. Cameron Delap, 24, entered a guilty plea to charges that include voluntary manslaughter and armed criminal action, according to the St. Louis Circuit Court.
The plea agreement reduced his charge from second-degree murder to voluntary manslaughter, allowing Delap to forego a trial that was set to commence next week. His actions on June 19, 2022, caused the death of Shree Hemphill, 34, an individual who, apparently by a cruel twist of fate, became an innocent bystander caught in the violent outburst that ensued after a car crash and subsequent gunfire at the Phillips 66 on North Kingshighway. Delap admitted to firing directly at a fleeing vehicle in his plea, though the full measure of justice for such a senseless act is duly restrained by the legal confinements of courtroom dealings.
Further complicating the chaotic scene, Delap reportedly entered a Pontiac Grand Am after the shooting, and as per the charges, reversed toward an officer. This prompted the officer to discharge their firearm, stopping the vehicle. St. Louis Circuit Judge Scott A. Millikan set the sentence to align with the agreed parameters of the plea deal: fifteen years for manslaughter, a subsequent three-year term for one count of armed criminal action, and concurrent terms for discharging a weapon at a motor vehicle and the second count of armed criminal action.
Judge Millikan, after acceptance of the guilty plea, mitigated Delap's potential time behind bars, allowing him to possibly rebuild his life post-incarceration. "Delap’s case number is 2222-CR01033-01," the St. Louis Circuit Court's release stated.
