Pair Sentenced for Multiple St. Louis Carjackings

ST. LOUIS –U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Tuesday sentenced a man who participated in three carjackings in St. Louis in 2022 to 319 months in prison.

Evidence and testimony at a trial in March showed that Jaylen Mays, 28, committed the first carjacking less than six months after being released from parole for committing a previous carjacking, and three carjackings in just eight days. On Nov. 5, 2022, Mays and others stole a 2015 Chevrolet Malibu from the downtown business district, according to trial evidence and testimony. On Nov. 11, 2022, Mays and Quinn Turner stole a 2007 Chevrolet Impala at gunpoint.

Two days later, Turner drove the Malibu containing Mays and a juvenile to a gas station at the northwest corner of Russell Boulevard and South 7th Street in the Soulard neighborhood, where a juvenile riding with Mays and another person carjacked a 2017 GMC Terrain and stole the driver’s wallet, the trial showed. 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.

In a sentencing memorandum, Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Martin pointed out that carjackings create a real fear in the surrounding community and dissuade local residents from visiting the areas where the crimes occur.

Turner and Mays, 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.

Judge Schelp sentenced Turner, now 23, on July 22 to 230 months 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 prosecuted the case.