Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
CLAYTON — A St. Louis County jury declined to indict a St. Louis man accused of killing another in July at West County Center in Des Peres.
The grand jury’s “no true bill” Wednesday means the dismissal of charges of second-murder and armed criminal action against Jason Hill, 21. He was accused of fatally shooting Malachi Maclin, 20, on July 3 inside a Champs store. Hill has been free on bail for several weeks.
“That’s truly a blessing,” said Hill’s lawyer Donnell Smith.
He believes the grand jury agreed with his assertion shortly after the shooting that Hill was defending himself and that the case never should have been charged.
“I was given an opportunity to view the video by the Major Case Squad, and clearly what I saw was self-defense,” Smith said. “I’m happy the grand jury saw it as I did.”
Smith said Maclin made a threatening comment and punched Hill in the face and that Hill reacted by pulling his gun and shooting him. Maclin was transported to a hospital, where he died.
“My client did not know him, had not known him and still does not know him,” Smith said.
He speculated that Maclin may have mistaken Hill for someone else. He said Hill was wearing a mask at the time.
Hill is a 2018 graduate of Cleveland Junior Naval Academy and has no criminal record, Smith said. Hill lost his $20-per-hour warehouse job as a result of the criminal case and hopes to get his job back now that the case is concluded.
“I’m just happy that this is over,” Smith said.
Maclin’s father, Lonnie Maclin, told the Post-Dispatch last month that his son graduated in 2019 from Hazelwood Central High School and played baseball there. He then had a job delivering auto parts and had dreams of playing professional baseball.
St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell said in a statement that his office submitted the case to the grand jury “because we knew they would be objective and do what they believed was right based on the evidence, and I respect their decision.”
Bell’s statement continued, “That said, we are losing too many lives (especially young lives) across the region and across the country because of the proliferation of guns, a lack of common-sense gun laws and irresponsible stand-your-ground laws in this state. This is a case where no one involved should have had a gun and no one’s life should have been lost. This is not a political statement — but I am simply saying that enough is enough.”