CLAYTON, Mo. – A man accused of using a rental car in a drive-by shooting earlier this year is slated to appear in court Monday morning.
According to the Florissant Police Department’s probable cause statement, the shooting happened just before 5 a.m. on May 21 in the 500 block of Aubuchon Street.
Investigators said two assailants opened fire while driving down the street and struck the victims’ home and van. Several people were inside the home at the time of the shooting, including eight children.
Police recovered several shell casings and took surveillance footage to review.
Police determined the car involved in the drive-by, a 2023 Chevrolet Suburban, was a rental vehicle. Investigators learned the car had been rented by Jermaine A. Benjamin on May 6.
GPS data from the Suburban and Benjamin’s cell phone show he and the other person were in the vicinity at the time of the shooting. The car returned to Benjamin’s home immediately afterward.
Benjamin was arrested on Oct. 9. Police said he was in possession of a loaded FN .57 caliber pistol. Detectives eventually searched his home and found eight firearms and several rounds of ammunition, as well as multiple bags of marijuana. The rounds matched the brand and caliber of casings recovered from the scene of the drive-by.
The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Benjamin with first-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful possession of a firearm, shooting at or from a vehicle, and three counts of armed criminal action. Benjamin remains jailed on a $500,000 cash-only bond.
Benjamin has numerous guilty pleas and convictions, and has served time in prison, most notably for tampering with physical evidence in a 2016 murder case.
