ST. LOUIS • Prosecutors Friday charged an East St. Louis man with murder in what authorities dubbed a justifiable homicide during a home invasion last May in St. Louis.
Antwane N. Johnson, 29, of the 2400 block of Lorraine Drive, was charged Friday with second-degree murder, robbery, burglary and armed criminal action. He was not in custody Friday but bail was set at $200,000 cash.
Johnson and Jerome Burse, 38, of St. Louis, broke into a home the afternoon of May 16 in the 4700 block of Labadie Avenue, police said. Burse had a gun. Johnson had a knife. The pair took money and jewelry from five people in the home. One of the victims, a 23-year-old man, shot Burse inside the house. Burse ran down the block, collapsed and died.
Police said the killing was justified under the state's Castle Doctrine that allows people who encounter intruders to use deadly force without fear of prosecution.
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Johnson is charged with second-degree murder, also known as felony murder, because his accomplice died during the armed robbery, a felony.
The other victims in the house were identified only as two women, who were 19 and 22 at the time, a 66-year-old man and 7-month-old girl.
