Pair Convicted at Trial for St. Louis Carjackings

ST. LOUIS – Jurors in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on Wednesday convicted two men of charges related to multiple St. Louis carjackings.

Evidence and testimony at trial showed that Quinn Turner and Jaylen Mays stole a 2007 Chevrolet Impala at gunpoint on Nov. 11, 2022, and a 2017 GMC Terrain two days later. A 2015 Malibu was stolen at gunpoint by Mays and others on Nov. 5, 2022, in the downtown business district. Turner drove the Malibu with Mays and a juvenile as passengers to a gas station at the northwest corner of Russell Boulevard and South 7th Street in the Soulard neighborhood, where the GMC was taken. Detectives assigned to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department's Anti-Crime Task Force utilized spike strips to stop the Malibu as it was leaving the gas station, and found Turner, Mays and the juvenile inside.

Turner, 22, and Mays, 27, both of East St. Louis, Illinois, were each convicted of two counts of carjacking with the intent to cause death or serious bodily harm and two charges of possession and brandishing of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Mays was convicted of an additional carjacking charge.

The trial began Monday. Turner and Mays are scheduled to be sentenced on June 18. The carjacking charges carry a potential penalty of up to 15 years in prison. The firearm charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison.

The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Martin and Jennifer Szczucinski are prosecuting the case.