Man sentenced to life in prison for 2019 quadruple homicide as part of plea deal

ST. LOUIS COUNTY (KMOV/AP) -- A man has been sentenced as part of a plea negotiation for him to testify against an alleged codefendant.

Earlier in the week, a jury found Anthony Watkins not guilty Wednesday of 10 charges related to the 2019 murders of five men in north St. Louis County. Prosecutors charged Watkins in July 2019 with five counts of first-degree murder and five counts of armed criminal action after the victims were found shot to death in an apartment in the 1900 block of Chambers Road.

Prosecutors said Watkins and another man, Terrance Wesley, were seeking missing drugs before they killed five men, murdered Derrick Perry, James Penny, Ronald Brewster, Rondall Mullin and Rodney Holt, in a partially boarded-up apartment known for drug deals on July 6, 2019. But Watkins’ attorney, Robert Taaffe, said Wesley was behind the killings and tried to implicate Watkins in an effort to get leniency.

Wesley reached a plea deal in July in exchange for his cooperation and testimony during the trial. He pleaded guilty to five counts of second-degree murder and weapons offenses. As part of the plea deal, he was sentenced to life in prison for each count of second-degree murder and 10 years for each count of armed criminal action.

St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell said in a statement that prosecutors struggled with witness availability during the trial.

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