Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R) has fired Democrat Kim Gardner, St. Louis' top prosecutor.
Bailey told Gardner she had 24 hours to resign or be fired.
The ultimatum ran out at noon Thursday. It came on the heels of a violent incident where a repeat offender, who was free despite dozens of bond violations, critically injured 16-year-old Janae Edmondson.
โAs Attorney General, I want to protect the people of St. Louis, and that includes protecting victims of crime and finding justice for them,โ Bailey said Wednesday. โInstead of protecting victims, Circuit Attorney Gardner is creating them.โ
Edmondson was visiting downtown St. Louis with her family when the offender, 21-year-old Daniel Riley, rammed her with his vehicle, pinning her body between two cars.
Edmondson lost both of her legs.
Bailey explained his decision in an exclusive Fox News interview:
The AG's office is in the process of filing a petition quo warrantor, which is the legal mechanism under state statute that allows the Attorney General to remove a prosecutor who is neglectful in her duties.
โThis is about a quantum of evidence that demonstrates her failure to prosecute cases, failure to inform and confer with victims in cases and failure to file new cases that are referred by law enforcement agencies,โ Bailey told Fox News Digital in an interview.
โI'm a former prosecutor. I've worked in a county prosecutor's office, and what motivated me every day was the rule of law and finding justice for victims. And rather than finding justice for victims and protecting victims, the circuit attorney of the city of St. Louis was creating new victims. And someone's got to hold her accountable and that's that's why we're moving forward with our quo warranto,โ he said.
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In the days following the crash, local reports revealed Riley was out on bail awaiting trial for a 2020 armed robbery. According to KSDK, Riley had violated the terms of his bond at least 50 times, but the circuit attorney's office did not ask for his bond to be revoked.
According to reports, Edmondson only survived because of her father's quick thinking and military training.
Gardner is slated to hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m. (CT) today.
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6 Comments
Gardner has been charged multiple times for racial bias and discrimination. AG made the strong judicial move.
It’s time all the AG’s that support the get out of jail free no matter what crime they committed, be removed from office and disbarred. Too many innocent people are being brutalized, murdered, raped and burglarized from REPETE OFFENDERS. Maybe it’s time they start serving prisipn time for injustice to those who obey the law
Good! Throw her out the front door for all to see! She is a disgrace to law and justice. A racist pile of trash paid by the biggest nazi in America, Soros. This is what Obama wanted along. Destroying the justice system where criminals go free to murder and hurt people. I wouldn’t fire her I would arrest her. She put people in danger because of her hate and racism.
Now that Gardner is a citizen, not a D.A., she should be sued in civil court for Edmondson’s loss of both legs. Or better yet, sued in criminal court; her actions in freeing Daniel Riley was directly responsible for his assault with intent to harm.
GOOD!
Take her out in cuffs.