Police tracked down murder suspect through lottery tickets

PARMA, Mo. -- A lottery ticket wasn't so lucky for a Parma man linked to a fatal robbery when he attempted to cash it in.

Deion DeShawn Martin, 19, was arrested Sunday after law enforcement officials tracked his movements to St. Louis.

Martin is being held without bond on charges of first-degree murder, first-degree robbery and two counts of armed criminal action in connection with the May 15 robbery at D and L One Stop in Parma, where employee Brenda Smith was shot and killed.

Smith and another employee were opening the business when a man followed them inside.

"Once inside the store, the suspect held a gun to Smith's head and demanded she open the safe. The suspect informed Smith he would shoot her in the head if she did not hurry up and open the safe," wrote Sgt. Danny Ware in a probable-cause statement. "Smith informed him it was going to take a while to open the safe."

At that point, the suspect shot Smith in the right side of her head. The suspect demanded the other employee go behind the counter and retrieve lottery tickets for him before he fled the scene.

While processing the scene, officers determined which lottery tickets were unaccounted for and contacted the Missouri Lottery Commission.

New Madrid County Sheriff Terry Stevens said the break in the case came Sunday, when his department received a call about an attempt to cash one of the unaccounted tickets at convenience stores in Dexter, Missouri, and Bernie, Missouri.

When employees scanned the ticket, they received a message to return it to the customer and contact the Lottery Commission, Ware stated in the probable-cause statement.

The surviving employee from the Parma robbery and employees in the Dexter store provided a description of the suspect. Dexter employees also provided the license-plate number of the suspect's car.

Officers determined the car's owner and that a passenger in the vehicle was Martin's girlfriend. Using this information, officers obtained his photo, which was identified by the employees at the Bernie business as the same man who attempted to cash the lottery ticket. Surveillance video also confirmed he was the man who tried to cash the lottery ticket in Dexter, Ware said.

Stevens said officers determined Martin was at Grant's Farm in St. Louis. St. Louis authorities were notified and took him into custody.

Martin later was transferred to New Madrid County, where he was interviewed by investigators. According to the probable-cause statement, Martin admitted to entering the Parma business armed with a .22-caliber revolver with the intention of committing a robbery. He also admitted he fired the shot that killed Smith.

Martin also provided officers with information on where they could find the gun used in the shooting. Officers recovered the gun and additional lottery tickets.

Stevens said officers are looking into other recent robberies, and additional charges could be filed.

Pertinent address:

Parma, Mo.