The end for St. Louis’ top prosecutor? Kim Gardner faces calls to resign, threat of removal

Updates: 

St. Louis circuit attorney brushed off help as case backlog mounted

Kim Gardner calls press conference amid mounting calls for resignation, threat of removal

Parson says he’ll work with mayor to replace embattled St. Louis prosecutor

“She really needs to do some soul-searching of whether or not she wants to continue as circuit attorney, because she’s lost the trust of the people,” Jones said.

By day’s end, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced that Gardner had until noon Thursday to resign. “If she refuses, she will face immediate removal proceedings,” Bailey said in a tweet, citing a provision in state law that can allow him to remove elected officials.

Gardner’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday evening.

Gardner, who became the city’s first Black top prosecutor in 2017, has been under fire for years. Defense attorneys accused her of misconduct in her handling of a case against former Gov. Eric Greitens. The police union criticized her for refusing to accept criminal cases from certain officers. And judges have raised concerns about chronic understaffing in her office leading to delays, and, in at least one case, the dismissal of a murder charge after prosecutors failed to show up for hearings.

Republican state lawmakers have even proposed giving a special prosecutor power to handle violent crimes in the city.

But Saturday’s incident struck a new chord.

Daniel Riley, 21, was supposed to be at home on house arrest. He was awaiting trial for a 2020 robbery charge. The trial was originally scheduled for last summer, but prosecutors appeared in court to announce they weren’t ready for trial.

Instead, they dismissed and refiled the charges, and Riley was released. He subsequently violated terms of his bond dozens of times, but prosecutors never moved to lock him up.

Then, on Saturday night, police say, Riley was speeding down St. Charles Street, one block south of Washington Avenue, when he failed to yield at the intersection with North 11th Street, collided with a Chevrolet Malibu, and hit a parked car. 17-year-old Janae Edmondson, a multi-sport athlete in town for a volleyball tournament, was pinned between the cars. Doctors had to amputate both of her legs after the crash.

Gardner’s office initially said the trial was delayed by a dead victim, who was to serve as a witness at the trial. And revoking bond, it said, was a judge’s responsibility, not hers.

It turned out the victim was alive. And court officials said they never knew Riley violated his bond, because prosecutors never filed a motion to revoke it.

Still, comments from politicians that day were generally measured. Jones, for instance, released a statement saying her office had connected with Gardner’s, and the courts, to “review the processes that led up to this preventable tragedy.”

Then, late Tuesday night, Gardner’s office released a statement lashing out at critics and calling for an end to “finger-pointing.”

Jones called a press conference on Wednesday, where she said she found the statement “disturbing.”

“Accountability isn’t pointing fingers,” she said. “Accountability is when something goes wrong, you take accountability for it and say, ‘This is my mess-up’ and ‘How can we work together to fix it?’”

“All of us have to be at the table to make sure that this doesn’t happen again,” she said.

Gardner’s missteps had damaged the city’s reputation, Jones said, and spurred ongoing efforts in Jefferson City to put the state in charge of city police, which Jones vehemently opposes.

Regional leaders piled on.

“The ongoing failures of the Circuit Attorney’s office — with regard to the individual involved in this case as well as a litany of other cases that have not been brought to justice — are unforgiveable,” said Jason Hall, CEO of Greater St. Louis Inc., the region’s main business lobby.

“It impacts the entire region,” said St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann. “People are already saying, ‘The volleyball tournament — are they gonna come back next year?’”

St. Louis Aldermanic President Megan Green, who had reserved comment earlier, also spoke at Jones’ press conference and seconded the mayor’s comments that Gardner’s office had to improve.

She later released a statement saying she shared the frustration of city residents “with our Circuit Attorney’s oversight that contributed to this tragedy.”

Alderman Marlene Davis, of Jeff-Vander-Lou, said Gardner needed to face the reality of her situation and accept help from the legislature.

“If she cannot work in that collaborative way, maybe there’s something different that she might want to do to support her community,” Davis said.

Alderman Mike Gras, of the Central West End, called for Gardner to resign. He said he had supported both of Gardner’s campaigns and once shared her concerns that racism was at the root of much of the criticism she had faced.

But he said in a statement that her performance in office had only gotten worse, and that he was disheartened by her attempt to avoid responsibility for the Riley incident.

“Our City deserves a circuit attorney that will represent our interests in the criminal justice system and Circuit Attorney Gardner has shown clearly that she cannot,” he said.

Alderman Joe Vollmer, of the Hill, put it more simply: “She’s a disaster. She needs to resign.”

Bailey, the Republican attorney general, made his announcement just after 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

He said, if Gardner didn’t quit, he would initiate “quo warranto” proceedings — a legal action that centers around a person’s right to hold office.

“As Attorney General, I want to protect the people of St. Louis, and that includes protecting victims of crime and finding justice for them,” Bailey said in a press release.

“Instead of protecting victims, Circuit Attorney Gardner is creating them,” he continued. “My office will do everything in its power to restore order, and eliminate the chaos in St. Louis caused by Kim Gardner’s neglect of her office.”

“It is time for the Circuit Attorney to go,” he said, “and for the rule of law and justice to prevail.”

Jacob Barker and Jack Suntrup of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.