Man injured in downtown shooting also charged with gun crime

One of the victims of the July 2 shooting in downtown Cape Girardeau was found in a car with multiple guns shortly after shots were fired, Cape Girardeau police said.

The Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney’s office charged Cornelius M. David, 26, of Charleston, Missouri, with unlawful possession of a firearm Wednesday.

David was still at large Thursday. He was on probation for second-degree robbery in 2013.

David was shot at least three times in the stomach, leg and back about 1 a.m. July 2 near a parking lot across from Hutson’s Fine Furniture, according to a probable-cause statement written by officer Douglas Hays.

David was one of three victims, along with James Dalton, who was shot in his right foot, and Breiontay Griffin, who was shot in her right hip and left calf, Hays wrote.

An unidentified witness said she saw Demarcus Turner, 23, of Cape Girardeau holding a handgun shortly after shots were fired, and she later identified Turner when shown a photograph, according to a probable-cause statement by Sgt. Jeffrey Bonham.

Cape Girardeau County sheriff’s deputies arrested Turner at a probation-violation hearing Tuesday in Jackson. The Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney’s office charged Turner with unlawful possession of a firearm.

Turner and David were found in the backseat of the same vehicle directly after the shooting, Hays wrote.

Officers found a Glock handgun on the back floorboard below the passenger seat, directly across from Turner, and a Draco pistol, shaped like an AK-47, in a pink backpack on the back passenger seat, Hays wrote.

“The Glock and Draco were both loaded and readily capable of lethal use, as each had a live round chambered,” Hays wrote.

David previously was convicted of first-degree property damage, second-degree robbery and first-degree burglary, according to the statement.

Bob Hearnes, Charleston Department of Public Safety director, said Turner, who is originally from Charleston, and David have a criminal history together.

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address:

43 S. Main St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.