ST. LOUIS – Opening statements are set for Monday morning in the trial of a man charged with killing a retired St. Louis police captain back in 2020.
The trial for the man charged with murdering David Dorn is slated to occur in Division 13 of the Civil Courts Building. Opening statements are set for 9 a.m. Dorn was shot and killed on June 2, 2020, while he responded to a burglar alarm at a friend’s business. Lee’s Pawn and Jewelry on Dr. Martin Luther King Drive in north city.
26-year-old Stephan Cannon is facing several charges including first-degree murder, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, and three counts of armed criminal action. Authorities said looters broke into the store overnight and Dorn was murdered when he confronted them. There was a live stream of his killing. Dorn was 77 years old when he died.
Dorn served in law enforcement for more than 45 years. He served many years with the St. Louis City Police Force and then was the chief in Moline Acres. Dorn’s widow, Ann, is expected to testify. Not long after his death, she talked about how her husband would have tried to reason with the looters.
“He would have talked to him,” Ann said. “He would have done anything he could to help them. If one of them needed help, if one of them said, ‘Hey, I need this TV and sell it for $20, so I can get something for one of my kids,’ he would have given them $20 out of his pocket. I mean, that was one of our biggest arguments (laughing) – he was always handing money to people. I’m like, stop. But that’s the kind of person he was.”
Dorn’s murder happened during a night of protests and looting after the George Floyd killing. One other man is charged in Dorn’s murder and at least four others have been charged in connection with the looting of the business. Cannon’s trial is expected to last less than a week, and FOX 2 will have a camera in the courtroom.
