Jonathan Hart, 23, is now facing fresh felony charges after prosecutors say he opened fire from a car at a group of people in downtown St. Louis earlier this spring. The shots were allegedly fired along the 1900 block of Locust, and Hart is being held at the St. Louis City Justice Center without bond in what investigators describe as a new case filed while he was already on probation.
Court records reviewed by First Alert 4 say surveillance footage shows Hart firing rounds from a Dodge Charger on April 4, 2026, along the 1900 block of Locust. Investigators say Hart’s identification was later recovered inside the Charger, and shell casings collected at the scene allegedly matched an assault rifle seized when officers arrested him about two weeks after the shooting. According to the filing, Hart is charged with one count of unlawful use of a weapon resulting in death or injury and one count of armed criminal action, and was on probation in a separate case at the time he was taken into custody with no bond allowed.
What the charges mean
Under Missouri law, armed criminal action is an unclassified felony that can bring a prison term of three to 15 years and can be stacked on top of any sentence for the underlying crime, according to RSMo 571.015. The state’s unlawful-use statute covers a range of gun offenses and can be enhanced when a shot causes death or serious injury, provisions that appear in RSMo 571.030.
City context
The case lands in court as St. Louis works through a run of spring shootings that have shown up in both local news coverage and police CompStat reports. Recent reporting has highlighted multiple overnight shootings across the city’s north side and ongoing calls for residents to share what they know. Coverage of the recent spike, including overnight north-side gunfire, has unfolded as detectives continue to investigate.
Hart’s case will proceed in St. Louis City court, and prosecutors have not publicly discussed a possible motive. Anyone with information is asked to call St. Louis Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-866-371-8477 or submit an anonymous tip online, according to St. Louis Regional Crime Stoppers.
