Husband, wife accused of killing teen on I-170 were at Ferguson Police Department hours before fatal shooting, records say

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - New court records detail the hours leading up to the fatal shooting of a North County teen on Interstate 170 earlier this month.

The wife of a man accused of shooting and killing a teen girl on Interstate 170 has now also been charged with murder, records show.

Taiya Herndon, 45, was charged Wednesday with first-degree murder, armed criminal action and hindering the prosecution of a felony. She and her husband, Willie Herndon, are accused of killing 17-year-old Alyssa Wilson.

Wilson was a senior at McCluer North High School and was headed to meet her friends at Boo at the Zoo when she was killed.

Prosecutors had originally charged Taiya Herndon with hindering the prosecution of a felony on Oct. 19, accusing her of driving her husband away from the scene after they say he had shot and killed Wilson on Interstate 170.

Father of teen killed in I-170 shooting remembers daughter, moment he learned of shooting

These new charges shed light on more of the timeline leading up to Wilson’s death.

According to investigators, the Herndons were at the Ferguson Police Department two hours before the shooting. Investigators say at 5 p.m. on Oct. 14, Taiya Herndon is seen on Ferguson Police Department surveillance video getting out of her white Buick at the station.

At the police department, investigators say she made a report to officers that she and Willie Herndon were being followed by a red car.

After making the report, Taiya Herndon is seen again getting into the driver’s seat and driving away.

The Herndons are seen again next at 5:51 p.m. at the Mobil on the Run on St. Charles Rock Road near the Interstate 170 entrance. Taiya Herndon first parks at a gas station pump, goes into the store, and then moves the car into a parking stall. Investigators say the car is seen in that parking spot at 6:15 p.m.

It is unclear from available court records what the Herndons did for the next 45 minutes.

According to court records in the federal case against Willie Herndon, surveillance footage then catches the Herndons’ white Buick “slowly approach” the area of Interstate 170 near Midland Boulevard around 7:03 p.m. The Herndons pulled over to the side of the interstate with their hazards on, investigators say.

Federal investigators then say 40 seconds after stopping, the white Buick’s passenger door opens. Then, around 7:05 p.m., a person investigators say is Willie Herndon gets out of the vehicle.

Two minutes after that, at 7:07 p.m., Wilson’s red vehicle is seen driving past the Herndons’ white Buick. Seconds later, a gunshot is heard on video, Wilson crashes her car, and Willie Herndon and Taiya Herndon drive away from the scene.

Investigators in Taiya Herndon’s case say she admitted to them she was driving while her husband fired shots on multiple occasions. Federal investigators in Willie Herndon’s case have tied him to another interstate shooting in St. Louis City days before the killing of Wilson. That shooting did not result in any known injury, and a records search shows Willie Herndon has not been charged with anything related to it as of publication time.

Taiya Herndon’s bond has been increased to $750,000 cash-only, no 10%, records show. Her bond before the added first-degree murder and armed criminal action charges was $500,000 cash-only, no 10%. She is expected in court on Nov. 19 for a preliminary hearing.

Earlier this week, Willie Herndon was expected to appear in the Southern District of Illinois court for his federal case. His detention and preliminary hearing were both postponed. He is expected back in federal court on Nov. 16.