N2Ladies
Reaffirmed
Family photo of Charlisa and Christopher Turner, on their wedding day in July 2013.
UPDATED at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday with additional information from relatives, court files.
ST. LOUIS COUNTY — A man was held on murder charges Tuesday after police say he waited outside his ex-wife's parents' home over the weekend and killed her when she arrived there to pick up their children.
Christopher A. Turner shot his ex-wife three times, walked to his car, then calmly returned and fired again, according to court records. Home surveillance cameras captured the killing, police said.
Turner, 26, was charged Saturday with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death of 27-year-old Charlisa Turner. He was being held Tuesday in lieu of $1 million cash bail.
Christopher Turner lives in the 11000 block of Sugar Pines Court in unincorporated north St. Louis County.
Charlisa Turner was gunned down about 8 a.m. Saturday outside her parents' home in the 2100 block of Old Manor Road, near Dellwood. She lived in the 4500 block of Bessie Avenue in St. Louis.
"She was the light of our life," said Charlisa's stepmother, Aimee Ward. "She was happy. She was smart. She wanted a family life like she grew up in."
Charlisa's father and stepmother had been watching the three children Charlisa and Christopher Turner had together and Charlisa was arriving Saturday morning to pick them up.
The children are 2-year-old Christina, 5-year-old Logan and 6-year-old Levi. The children were asleep in their grandparents' home on Old Manor Road when their mother was shot outside.
Home surveillance video showed Christopher Turner approach, shoot his ex-wife three times and walk back to his car, police said. "However, he turns around and calmly walks back to the victim and shoots her approximately three or more times," St. Louis County police officer Dustin Shoemaker said in court papers.
Ward told the Post-Dispatch on Tuesday that she heard the attack. "I woke to five or six gunshots outside my window."
Ward, a nurse, bolted outside to find her stepdaughter bleeding. She tried to perform CPR. Her husband, Charlton Ward, jumped into his vehicle to chase after Christopher Turner, who drove away.
Ward said police took her home surveillance video, warning her it was disturbing and not to watch it.
The Turners were teenagers when they got married. Christopher Turner filed for divorce in 2019 after six years of marriage. They still communicated for the sake of the children, Ward said, and would meet at a police station to hand off the kids for visits. The court spelled out the rules: The parents would stay in their cars for the handoff, and a third party would be present for every custody exchange.
Ward said the relationship turned violent over Christopher Turner's rage.
"The rage was from jealousy," Ward said. "He always tried to keep her away from us. He was jealous of the love we had for her that he didn't understand."
Turner was on the run from police the day charges were filed. Police arrested him Monday on at-large warrants, St. Louis County police Sgt. Tracy Panus said. He was being held in the St. Louis County Jail. Online court records do not list an attorney representing him.
Ward said Charlisa's father is "a big guy" and that Christopher Turner was afraid of him. Ward said she never thought Turner would show up at their home and harm Charlisa.
"Never expected that in a million years," she said. "We loved her and miss her so much."
Shoemaker, the police officer, said Turner had been abusive in the past, including in 2019 when he was arrested on suspicion of domestic assault for threatening to kill Charlisa Turner and their children with a gun.
Charlisa's aunt, Rosalind Moore, said the Turners' 6-year-old son said something heartbreaking after the slaying.
"The oldest boy said, 'I knew he was going to kill my mommy,'" Moore said. "Chris would tell the children that he was going to kill them."
The family has set up a fund to raise money for the children.
Charlisa Turner (front left) in a recent family photo with her father, Charlton Ward, her stepmother Aimee Ward (top right) and her sister, Cristal Moore (bottom right). Photo courtesy of Aimee Ward.
Meanwhile, a bond-reduction hearing is scheduled for Christopher Turner on Aug. 10 before Judge Nicole S. Zellweger.
Joel Currier of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
Fundraiser for children of Charlisa Turner
St. Louis County man charged with killing ex-wife outside her parents' home
Home surveillance video captured the murder of 27-year-old Charlisa Turner on Saturday, police said.
www.stltoday.com
County PD employee accused of hiding boyfriend who shot, killed estranged wife
A forensic tech with the St. Louis County Police Department is accused of helping to hide a murder suspect and avoid arrest.
fox2now.com
Last edited: