ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis man who just completed a federal sentence has been charged with the 2021 murder of the mother of his child.
According to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s probable cause statement, the murder took place on the evening off Dec. 27, 2021, in the 4000 block of Oregon Avenue, located in the city’s Dutchtown neighborhood.
Police responded to a home for a welfare check around 10 p.m. and found the body of Alvatyne Thomas inside the residence. She had a plastic bag taped around her head and had been shot in the back. Police said bleach had been poured over her body as well. Thomas was 31.
Investigators identified Karl D. Mayberry II, 34, as the suspect for the shooting.
When questioned, Mayberry claimed he was at work at the time of the murder. Police interviewed Mayberry’s co-workers, who told them he had disappeared from work for hours during the evening, and when Mayberry returned to work, he was wearing different clothes.
When searching Mayberry’s social media and phone, police said they found incriminating texts and searches. Mayberry allegedly texted someone after the murder and said Thomas was “found dead in tha [sic] kitchen with a plastic bag around her head,” even though that information had not been made public.
Police said Mayberry made Google searches on his phone for “first degree murder defenses” and “can he say she say be used against a person for murder in Missouri,” as well as other related searches. Mayberry allegedly texted a criminal defense attorney and asked how much it would cost to defend a murder.
The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office charged Mayberry with first-degree murder.