ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis man was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to charges in a deadly bar fight nearly a decade ago.

Andrew Barnett, 44, was sentenced Friday to 15 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections for the death of 34-year-old Kristopher Schmeiderer.

Barnett pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and armed criminal action charges on Arpil 4.

The charges stem from a violent confrontation on May 8, 2014, outside a bar in the 6300 block of Alabama Avenue in south St. Louis.

Investigators say Barnett and Schmeiderer were both regulars at the bar and they got into a heated argument that escalated outside. At some point, Barnett stabbed Schmeiderer in the neck and stomach before he fled from the scene.

Police arrested Barnett a short time afterward and DNA testing later confirmed that blood found on recovered clothing matched his profile.

Schmeiderer survived the initial attack, but he was left quadriplegic and dependent on a ventilator. He died from complications related to his injuries on November 30, 2015.

“Kristopher Schmeiderer spent his final year and a half paralyzed and on a ventilator because of
Andrew Barnett’s actions,” said St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore via a news release. “This wasn’t just a bar fight—it was a violent act that robbed a man of his life and a family of their son, dad, brother, and friend.”

Barnett was originally convicted of first-degree assault and armed criminal action, but the verdict
was overturned on appeal due to the trial court’s failure to give a self-defense instruction. He was re-indicted in 2021.