A St. Louis man was sentenced on Mar. 10 to 13 and a half years in prison for carjacking a woman in the city in early 2024, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The sentencing highlights ongoing efforts by law enforcement and federal prosecutors to address violent crime involving firearms in St. Louis.
According to court records, Deionte Grice approached a woman on Jan. 5, 2024, after she parked her Kia Optima on Devonshire Avenue. Grice pointed a gun at her, demanded her belongings, and took her car, phone, and purse. He later crashed the vehicle into a curb while driving into Forest Park and abandoned it before boarding a MetroBus.
Officers from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department stopped the bus and found Grice with the stolen purse and two handguns. Grice pleaded guilty in October to one count of carjacking and one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. He also admitted violating his supervised release from an earlier conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Martin prosecuted the case following an investigation by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
The case underscores continued law enforcement focus on prosecuting repeat offenders involved in armed crimes.
