ST. LOUIS – A man convicted in the murder of a St. Louis police officer was sentenced to life behind bars without the possibility of parole.
A St. Louis Circuit Court judge sentenced Thomas Kinworthy on Thursday afternoon in the death of officer Tamarris Bohannon in 2020.
The life sentence came for a first-degree murder count. The Circuit Attorney’s Office says Kinworthy was also given the maximum punishment on each of eight additional counts, all which will run consecutively to his life term.
In August 2020, Bohannan and his partner, Arlando Bailey, responded to a call for a shooting in the Tower Grove South neighborhood.
A couple who called 911 said while they were on the phone with a dispatcher, Kinworthy entered their home, held them at gunpoint, and told them to hang up. The couple escaped out a back door and talked with Officer Bohannon.
Investigators say when Bohannon walked around to the front of the home, Kinworthy shot him in the head with a 9-millimeter handgun from a second-story window inside that couple’s house. Bailey was shot in the leg and survived.
Police arrested Kinworthy after a nearly 12-hour standoff. Bohannon died the next day at the age of 29 years old. Bohannon had been on the force for more than three-and-a-half years. He left behind a wife and three children.
Many of Bohannon’s family members, including his parents and wife, read impact statements during Thursday’s sentencing hearing, expressing grief and anger.
“Years of meticulous work by our prosecution team achieved long-delayed justice for the
families of Officers Bohannon and Bailey,” said Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore. “The sentence of
life without the possibility of parole and additional maximum sentences on all counts are
appropriate punishment for these heinous crimes committed by such a violent, unrepentant
individual.”
Kinworthy also addressed the court. He did not accept responsibility for his crimes or offer an apology to the Bohannon family, also interrupting various remarks from prosecutors.
A jury convicted Kinworthy in the murder of Bohannon on May 2. He was also found guilty of wounding Bailey and another civilian.