More than a year after a 2-year-old boy was rushed to a hospital on March 6, 2025, with a gunshot wound, a St. Louis County man has admitted in federal court that he lied to police about how the child was hurt and has pleaded guilty to a federal firearms charge. The boy, who was shot in the calf, remains at the center of both state and federal cases. The plea is no slap on the wrist: he faces up to 15 years in federal prison, with sentencing set for June 2026.
According to KMOV, hospital staff alerted police on March 6, 2025, after the toddler arrived with a serious leg wound. Investigators say the child's mother, Taiesha Campbell, and Rodrick Miller first claimed the boy was hit in a drive-by shooting, but surveillance footage from the area showed no such attack. County prosecutors last year charged both adults with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child, armed criminal action, and evidence tampering, and KMOV reports that Miller was already barred from having a gun because of prior felony convictions and is listed on the Missouri State Highway Patrol sex offender registry.
As reported by FOX 2, 36-year-old Rodrick Miller has now admitted that the drive-by story was made up and pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to being a felon in possession of a firearm. Court documents say Miller told detectives he hid the handgun behind a tree while he was taking the injured toddler to the hospital. Under his plea agreement, Miller faces up to 15 years in federal prison and is scheduled to be sentenced in June 2026.
What investigators found
Detectives pulled surveillance video from the time and location where Campbell initially claimed the shooting took place and found nothing to support a drive-by account, according to KMOV. Officers later searched Campbell's Wellston apartment and discovered a section of couch that had been cut out along with what investigators described as suspected narcotics on the seating, the outlet reports. Detective Cpl. Benjamin Santoyo of the North County Police Cooperative said these kinds of negligent shootings are “tragic for everyone involved,” and police noted they offer free gun locks as part of a public outreach effort.
Court timeline and penalties
Miller pleaded guilty this month in St. Louis to a federal firearms count and will be sentenced in June, according to FOX 2. That federal plea is separate from the slate of state charges previously filed by the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney, which include first-degree endangering the welfare of a child, armed criminal action, unlawful possession of a firearm and tampering with physical evidence, and those state cases remain active in county court. If the federal sentence is imposed, it could put Miller behind bars for years while the county prosecution follows its own schedule.
Legal implications
The federal felon in possession charge stems from prior felony convictions that made Miller ineligible to legally own or carry a gun under federal law, and prosecutors say his criminal history barred him from possessing the weapon at all. Convictions in both federal and state court can bring separate penalties, and it will be up to judges and any plea negotiations to determine whether potential sentences run at the same time or back to back. Both sides will have opportunities to argue their positions at federal sentencing and in the still-pending state proceedings.
As the cases wind through federal and county courthouses, the child's family and neighbors are left to deal with the fallout from what authorities describe as a preventable accident. Prosecutors say inconsistencies in the adults' stories helped drive both the criminal charges and the federal plea, and court dates on the state counts are still pending. The North County Police Cooperative continues to push safe gun storage and says it will keep handing out gun locks as part of its public safety campaign.
