A St. Louis man, Brandon D. Terrell-Warren, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Tuesday, following a plea agreement in the 2022 shooting death of his ex-girlfriend, 21-year-old Diamond Kennell. As reported by the St. Louis City Circuit Court, Terrell-Warren, aged 27, pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree murder and armed criminal action. The plea was reached as his trial on first-degree murder and four other counts was due to commence before Circuit Judge Timothy Boyer.
Prosecutors dropped three other charges, part of the agreement, while the trial originally set for this week, took an unexpected turn with the plea. Terrell-Warren admitted in the confrontation that occurred on Itaska Street and Oregon Avenue, where he encountered Kennell sitting with another man in a parked car, in the city’s Mount Pleasant neighborhood. Their confrontation became physical; amidst the scuffle, Kennell produced a pistol, which Terrell-Warren subsequently took from her and used to shoot her.
The courtroom heard from Kennell’s mother on Tuesday. In a moment heavy with emotion, she addressed Terrell-Warren, saying, "her daughter loved him and that what he did was wrong," as St. Louis City Circuit Court report. Terrell-Warren himself declined the opportunity to speak during the sentencing, the court records indicated. With this closure in the legal proceedings, Terrell-Warren, now responsible for taking Kennell’s life, will spend the next two decades behind bars. The case number for Terrell-Warren's proceedings is 2422-CR01971.
