Man accused of killing teen on I-170 linked to another local highway shooting, documents show

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) – The man accused of shooting and killing a teen in St. Louis County last week has a criminal history and has been tied to another shooting on a St. Louis highway, federal court records show.

Willie J. Herndon, from Arlington, Texas, was charged on the state level on Friday with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the shooting death of Alyssa Wilson, a 17-year-old North County high school student.

Federal court records show Herndon was also charged on Friday in the Southern District of Illinois with being a felon in possession of a firearm. The federal complaint details a record of Herndon’s criminal history, gives more details regarding the shooting that killed Wilson and shows investigators connecting him to another highway shooting.

Federal documents have revealed new details that lead up to the shooting death of Wilson.

The federal complaint says surveillance footage from the area shows Herndon’s white Buick “slowly approach” the area on Interstate 170 and Midland Boulevard around 7:03 p.m. on Oct. 14.

Then, 40 seconds after stopping, the complaint says the vehicle’s passenger door opened. Then, around 7:05 p.m., a person investigators say was Herndon exited the vehicle.

Two minutes later, at 7:07 p.m., Wilson’s car began driving past Herndon on the highway, records say. Seconds later, a gunshot is captured on the video, investigators say, and Wilson crashes her car.

Wilson had been shot with a high-powered rifle, documents say.

Herndon and his wife, who was allegedly driving the vehicle, fled the scene shortly after the shooting.

The day after the shooting, investigators say they found a cartridge case stamped with MaxxTech 23 7.62×39, near where they believe Herndon fired a shot at Wilson.

After Herndon and his wife were arrested, investigators found an ABC-15 rifle with a scope loaded with MaxxTech 23 7.62×39 ammunition on their hotel room bed.

Court records linked Herndon’s vehicle to another shooting that happened on Oct. 11 on Interstate-55.

Investigators say a vehicle that had just exited Interstate-55 on Bates Avenue had been hit with a single gunshot. Surveillance video showed a white SUV parked on the side of the interstate, which then fled immediately after the shooting.

Investigators say Herndon’s white Buick was seen on surveillance video in the area 30 minutes before the shooting.

Court records say a single cartridge case found at the Interstate-55 scene had the same MaxxTech 23 7.62×39 headstamp as a cartridge case found at the scene of Wilson’s murder.

The complaint says laboratory testing is still pending to determine if the ballistic evidence shows both cartridges were fired from the same gun.

In early 2001, Herndon was convicted of taking a vehicle without consent in Los Angeles, according to the complaint. In late 2005, Herndon was convicted in a Los Angeles court again on a charge of possession of a stolen vehicle. Then, in 2015, court records say he was convicted of receiving known stolen property and felony burglary, also in Los Angeles.

The Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis says Herndon is currently from Arlington, Texas. It is unclear when Herndon moved from Los Angeles to Texas, or why he and his wife, Taiya Herndon, came to St. Louis.