Attorney General Andrew Bailey (R-MO) has issued an ultimatum to St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner: either resign by noon Thursday or be forcibly removed from her office.
Bailey made public this news as part of a string of social media posts made Wednesday night, threatening to use the power of his own office to get rid of her if she refused to vacate the office of her own free will.
“We are giving Kim Gardner until noon tomorrow to resign,” he started. “If she refuses, she will face immediate removal proceedings in the form of a writ of quo warranto brought by our office.”
We are giving Kim Gardner until noon tomorrow to resign. If she refuses, she will face immediate removal proceedings in the form of a writ of quo warranto brought by our office.
— Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) February 23, 2023
“As AG, I want to protect the people of St. Louis, and that includes protecting victims of crime and finding justice for them,” he went on. “Instead of protecting victims, Circuit Attorney Gardner is creating them. My office will do everything in its power to restore order, and eliminate the chaos in St. Louis caused by Kim Gardner’s neglect of her office.”
Instead of protecting victims, Circuit Attorney Gardner is creating them. My office will do everything in its power to restore order, and eliminate the chaos in St. Louis caused by Kim Gardner’s neglect of her office.
— Attorney General Andrew Bailey (@AGAndrewBailey) February 23, 2023
The case which sparked this wildfire of a response from Bailey was the Saturday car crash that resulted in Tennessee native volleyball player Janae Edmondson, age 16, losing her legs.
Edmondson, visiting St. Louis alongside her family for a volleyball event, was making her way back to the hotel when she was hit by a car. The car was allegedly being driven by Daniel Riley, age 21 — who at the time was supposed to be on full house arrest while tagged by a GPS bracelet as he awaiting trial for counts of armed robbery that he allegedly committed back in August of 2020.
The trial, which was slated to take place back in July of 2022, was put on hold due to Gardner’s office saying they were “not prepared” to push forward with the prosecution — and over the course of seven months since he was issued the GPS monitor, he reportedly violated the terms of his house arrest monitoring well over 40 times. The most recent of these violations took place less than a week before the horrific accident.
As expressed in a report from KSFK, a local affiliate for NBC, the office of the circuit attorney had not filed any motions whatsoever with the court to have the bail revoked for Riley. A memo found in Gardner’s office tried to put the blame on the court, making the claim that the judge was well aware of the violations and held the sole responsibility for letting Riley roam free.
