Officer-Involved Shooting Leads to Maximum Prison Sentence for East St. Louis Man

EAST ST. LOUIS - Demetrius O. Ward, 42, of East St. Louis, Illinois, was sentenced to the statutory maximum term of 10 years in federal prison for unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of heroin. Ward will also be required to serve the maximum three years of supervised release once he completes his prison sentence.

Evidence in the case established that on Jan. 19, 2019, a St. Clair County sheriff’s deputy attempted to stop the car Ward was driving. Ward refused to stop and led the deputy on a high speed chase that did not end until Ward crashed his car into a pole. Ignoring the officer’s commands to surrender, Ward fled on foot toward an occupied apartment complex armed with a stolen, fully-loaded handgun and 9 grams of heroin.

The officer chased Ward on foot and repeatedly ordered him to stop. Ward ignored those commands and continued to run. As he was approaching the apartment complex, Ward accidentally dropped the .9 mm gun. He stopped, turned around, and while facing the officer bent down and reached to pick it up. The officer was forced to make a split-second decision to defend himself and fired his service weapon, striking Ward in the chest.

At the time of the offense, Ward was prohibited from possessing a gun on account of seven prior felony convictions, including a 2005 conviction for armed robbery in St. Clair County Circuit Court.

“In the aftermath of the shooting, Mr. Ward spoke to the media and claimed that he was the victim who was merely reaching for money and a cell phone when the deputy tried to kill him,” said U.S. Attorney Steven D. Weinhoeft. “Those lies were exposed and justice was done in this case. But it is another stark reminder that the public should always wait for all of the facts to be known before reacting to an officer-involved shooting.”

Weinhoeft continued, “At a time when law enforcement officers are increasingly under attack, we must send a clear message about right and wrong. Demetrius Ward may have been shot, but he was no victim. He was an armed criminal who created a dangerous situation that forced law enforcement to act. He caused his own injuries.”
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

This prosecution was the result of a collaborative investigation by the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department, the Illinois States Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.