Two Admit Promoting Prostitution of Women in St. Louis

ST. LOUIS – Two men from Tennessee have admitted this week promoting the prostitution of women in the St. Louis area.

Martavis Walker, 30, pleaded guilty Monday to one count of interstate transportation for the purpose of prostitution. Walker admitted meeting a woman in Tennessee in late December 2023. He created online ads, forced her to work well-known prostitution areas in Memphis and forced her into at least a dozen sex acts there, Walker’s plea says. On Jan. 12, 2024, Walker took the woman to St. Louis, where he forced her to engage in commercial sex acts at hotels and Airbnb rentals.

Walker is scheduled to be sentenced March 12. The charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 or both prison and a fine.

Domaniko McCrary, 33, of Memphis, pleaded guilty Tuesday to the same charge in an unrelated case. McCrary admitted buying a bus ticket for himself and the victim and traveling to the Eastern District of Missouri on April 16, 2023. McCrary then rented two hotel rooms so that the victim could engage in commercial sex acts.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI investigated the Walker case. The Hazelwood Police Department and the St. Louis County Police Department investigated the McCrary case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dianna Edwards is prosecuting both cases.