St. Louis Man Sentenced to 16 ¾ Years in Prison on Carjacking, Other Charges

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge John A. Ross on Friday sentenced a man who carjacked a Kia in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis to 16 years and nine months in prison.

Travon D. Lawrence, now 29, of St. Louis, was caught with a .40 caliber semiautomatic handgun and 59 capsules containing fentanyl after a Sept. 7, 2019 traffic stop. Lawrence, a convicted felon, is barred from possessing a firearm.

On Jan. 8, 2020, Lawrence carjacked a Kia Sportage at gunpoint in the 4300 block of Maryland Avenue. He was spotted by police officers responding to a different call and arrested after fleeing from police in the car and on foot after crashing that car. 

Lawrence pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in August to four felonies: possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, possession of a firearm in furtherance of one or more drug-trafficking crimes, carjacking and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

He still faces 35 charges in St. Louis Circuit Court, where he’s accused of a series of armed robberies and other crimes from Nov. 16, 2019 until his arrest in the Kia.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department investigated this case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Christian Goeke prosecuted the case.