ST. CHARLES, Mo. – A St. Charles man has been charged in a double shooting that claimed the life of his own sister.
According to Lt. Tom Wilkison, a spokesman for the St. Charles Police Department, the shooting happened just around 3:30 p.m. at an apartment in the 100 block of Ameristar Boulevard, near the Ameristar Casino and Resort.
Police arrived at the apartment to find two women had been shot. One of the victims, Tracy Bradford, had been shot in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene. She was 37.
Another victim, a 32-year-old woman, had been shot in the face but managed to lock herself in a bedroom with her 6 and 8-year-old sons. The children were not injured in the shooting.
Wilkison said detectives identified the 32-year-old’s boyfriend, Trae Spratt, as the alleged shooter.
Investigators said Spratt, who is not the father of the two boys, and the 32-year-old had been living together but were in the process of separating. While Spratt was moving his items from the apartment, he heard the 32-year-old and his sister talking about him. Spratt took out a handgun, shot both women, and fled.
Spratt later turned himself in to officers with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
On Sunday, the St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Spratt with one count of first-degree murder, one count of first-degree domestic assault, two counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child, and four counts of armed criminal action. Spratt remains jailed on a $2 million cash-only bond.
Meanwhile, Wilkison said the 32-year-old victim is expected to survive and her children are with family.
