Update: A third suspect has been arrested, with a fourth still at large. The three in custody are identified as 21-year-old Tony Terron Bailey, 24-year-old Jerrod Corley, and 20-year-old Larry Coleman. They are charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, assault, and shooting from a vehicle in connection with the death of 37-year-old Emma (King) Wallace, of Centralia.

Authorities are saying this was not a random act and the motive was a confrontation or disagreement between two individuals over the past year.

The three others in the vehicle with Wallace at the time of the shooting were injured. One remains hospitalized

 

HAZELWOOD, Mo. — Two men were arrested early Friday in connection with the weekend murder of a 37-year-old Centralia woman who was shot to death while riding along a Hazelwood, Mo., interstate.

policeEmma (King) Wallace was killed Sunday on Interstate 270 near North Lindbergh Boulevard. She and her friends were believed to have just left Jay’s Classic Bar & Grill.

Police have confirmed the arrests, but say they are looking for a third man. Charges are anticipated later today against the two men in custody, at which time their names will be published.

The suspects are 22 and 25 years old and were both booked on suspicion of first-degree murder. They were arrested without incident.

Wallace was riding in the front passenger seat of a Jeep about 2 a.m. Sunday when shots were fired from a stolen Mercedes-Benz that pulled alongside.

The Mercedes was recovered shortly after the shooting, abandoned on Target Drive off of New Halls Ferry Road in north St. Louis County. Police said it had been taken in a carjacking at a Sauget gas station about 10:30 p.m. Saturday.

The three others in the Jeep with Wallace were two men and a woman. They were all wounded, although police did not give details about the extent of the injuries. The male driver took them to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.