A man has been found guilty in the murder of David Dorn, a retired St. Louis, Missouri, police captain who died amid riots in 2020.
Dorn, 77, was shot and killed in the early hours of June 2, 2020, outside his friend’s pawn shop in north St. Louis after he arrived there in response to an alarm.
The evening was filled with violence and looting amid protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, who died in police custody on May 25, 2020.
Dorn, who retired from St. Louis police in 2007 after having served 38 years, had approached the pawn shop and fired warning shots to ward off looters who were ransacking the business before he was fatally shot.
Prosecutors argued that Cannon, of Glasgow Village, deliberated his actions when he walked to a corner near the pawn shop and fired 10 shots at Dorn.
Marvin Teer, the lead prosecutor, told jurors on July 20 that Cannon deliberated before he shot “a good man who dedicated his entire life to doing nothing but helping others.”
Cannon was arrested days after the shooting and charged with first-degree murder after surveillance footage showed him on the scene.
According to court documents obtained by The Epoch Times, a television stolen from the pawn shop was recovered at Cannon’s house; the serial number matched records from the pawn shop.
Across St. Louis that night, Dorn and four officers were shot, others were pelted with rocks and fireworks, and 55 businesses were burglarized or damaged.
Cannon’s lawyer, Brian Horneyer, said in closing arguments that police had “tunnel vision” when they charged Cannon without any physical evidence.
Horneyer also said the state’s main witness, Mark Jackson, lied to police several times about the shooting and then made a deal to testify against Cannon.
Cannon, who did not testify during the three-day trial, was also found guilty on July 20 of first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, and three counts of armed criminal action.
A Life of Service
Then-President Donald Trump issued a statement to express condolences on the day after Dorn’s death.“Dave’s grandson was watching the video on Facebook in real-time, not realizing he was watching his own grandfather dying on the sidewalk,” she said.
She said that Dorn didn’t wake her up to tell her he was leaving to investigate the alarm at the pawn shop that night.
“He probably knew I would have tried to stop him or insisted on going with him,” she said.
Dorn served with St. Louis police for 38 years and also served for six years as police chief in Moline Acres.
