Butler County authorities arrested two Malden residents this week in connection with a recent drive-by shooting on Business 60, east of Poplar Bluff.
“We went from having nothing to suspects and having it wrapped up in two days,” Investigator Brandon Lowe said of the investigation into the May 30 shooting of Isaiah Lamar Brown.
The shooting occurred at about 8:30 p.m. as Brown was driving his Chevrolet pickup toward Poplar Bluff.
Eight shots, allegedly fired by a backseat passenger in a passing Chevrolet Impala, struck Brown’s truck, with two of the rounds also hitting the 20-year-old in the left hip area.
Brown was flown from the scene to a St. Louis hospital, where he remains hospitalized following surgery.
One of the shots, according to Lowe, hit and broke Brown’s pelvis.
During the ensuing investigation, officers interviewed the three passengers in Brown’s truck and subsequently identified the passengers in the Impala, arresting a 16-year-old and 20-year-old Deontae Richard Tyrek Patton.
“There were five passengers originally in the car,” said Lowe, who indicated two were dropped off at a location off of Business 60 prior to the shooting.
One of those individuals “called the victim’s dad and said he had information on the shooting,” Lowe said. “The dad calls me, and me and (Lt.) Charlie (Phelps) go find” two of Patton’s passengers in Bernie with the help of Stoddard County deputies.
One of the passengers, according to Lowe’s probable-cause statement, reported they went to Bullwinkles, “where they made contact with the victim. (He) stated Isaiah opened the door to get in Deontae’s vehicle to sell the narcotics.”
For whatever reason, the witness said, Brown did not get all the way into the car and “decided to not sell the narcotics.”
Lowe said the witness further reported Brown returned to his truck and left the parking lot, with Patton following in his car.
“(He) stated as they were following Isaiah’s truck, Deontae pulled a gun out of a compartment in the front and handed it to (the juvenile) who was in the backseat,” Lowe said. “(He) stated after (the teen) had the gun, they pulled up beside the truck and (the teen) began firing into Isaiah’s vehicle.”
Two of Brown’s passengers, Lowe said, also provided the similar account of what took place prior to and during the alleged shooting.
On Monday, with the assistance of Malden police officers, Lowe said, he and Phelps arrested Patton at his Kimball Street residence.
Lowe said Patton was interviewed and initially denied any involvement.
Patton subsequently reported he and the others came to Poplar Bluff for one of his passengers from Bernie to allegedly buy narcotics.
“Deontae stated that when they got to Bullwinkles, the guy from the truck (Brown) came over and did not sell the drugs … for whatever reason,” Lowe said.
Patton, he said, admitted to being the driver.
“Deontae stated after the truck pulled out of the parking lot, he began to follow it,” Lowe said. “(He) stated that he pulled up beside the truck, and it swerved as if to strike them.
“(He) also stated that he seen one of them with a firearm,” after which the juvenile allegedly began firing into the truck.
According to earlier reports, a plastic bag, containing suspected marijuana and a handgun, was found in the woods near Insta Pawn. Authorities believed it was discarded there by someone in Brown’s truck.
On Tuesday, Patton was charged with the Class B felony of unlawful use of a weapon. He is to be arraigned today before Associate Circuit Judge C. Wade Pierce on the charge.
The complaint filed with the court accuses Patton of knowingly aiding or abetting “another person (the juvenile) who shot a firearm from a silver Chevrolet Impala … .’
On Tuesday, Phelps said, the alleged shooter “was removed from school down there” and taken to the Malden Police Department, where he was interviewed.
In the presence of a Butler County juvenile officer and his mother, “he confessed to the whole deal,” Lowe said. “He said no one coerced or forced him.
“One of the (Bernie) guys in the car was telling him don’t do it, don’t do it.”
Lowe said that was the same person who allegedly had intended to buy narcotics from Brown.
“Patton was just the driver; (the juvenile) was just the passenger,” Lowe said.
The teen, Lowe said, further told them Patton “pulled (the gun) out and stuck it in the pouch behind the driver’s seat. That’s where he pulled it out from.”
As for the teen’s motive, “he said, ‘I don’t know why. I just did it,’” Lowe said. “There was no motive behind it at all.
“… It makes no sense. No one was out any dope or out any money. The victim didn’t want to sell.”
Brown, Lowe said, felt “they were going to rob him.”
According to Lowe, there was no connection between Brown and the others before that night.
A drug dealer from Stoddard County, Lowe said, put the Bernie resident “onto Isaiah for buying drugs. (He) and Isaiah had phone contact, and they decided to meet in Poplar Bluff.”
The juvenile suspect subsequently was taken to the Stoddard County Juvenile Detention Center at Bloomfield, where he is being held on suspicion of first-degree assault, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon.
Patton is being held on a $100,000 cash bond in the Butler County jail.
Phelps and Lowe thanked the officers with the Malden Police Department and Stoddard County Sheriff’s Department for their help in locating the witnesses and suspects in this case.