Deshawn Thomas (left) is accused of shooting a homeless man dead on the street (Picture: St Louis Police Department)
A man was arrested in St Louis after the gruesome execution-style killing of a homeless person in broad daylight was captured on video.
Deshawn Thomas, 23, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action after the shooting death of David Saldana on Monday morning.
The grisly killing took place around 10am in a typically busy part of downtown St Louis.
According to police, Thomas was captured by surveillance video following the victim before drawing his weapon.
Deshawn Thomas’s booking photo taken after his arrest on Monday (Picture: St Louis Police Department)
‘As the victim begged for his life, the defendant loaded his firearm and shot him in the head,’ stated police.
The shooting was also captured on cell phone video by onlookers and posted on social media. In the footage, the suspect can be seen standing next to Saldana, who is sitting on a curb.
The suspect takes several seconds to load a handgun before aiming the gun at the seated man’s head, and firing.
Witnesses filming the encounter can be heard reacting with fear after he pulls the trigger: ‘Oh my God, he just f***ing killed him.’
A witness shared the video of the shooting with local TV news outlets (Picture: KMOV/UNPIXS)
Police said that the suspect then fled the scene before he could be arrested.
Thomas was arrested hours later around 2.41pm on Monday. Police found him trying to enter a local public library. He was carrying a handgun and spent shell casings, cops stated.
Thomas was arrested without incident and booked at St Louis City Justice Center, according to jail records.
It is unclear what sparked the seemingly random shooting in a busy part of the city in the daytime.
Witnesses said the two men had gotten into a fight at a nearby Shell gas station before the confrontation, the St Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
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Deshawn Thomas was arrested in St Louis after the gruesome execution-style killing of a homeless person in broad daylight was captured on video.