Pittsburgh Pirates minor league players take batting practice during an informal spring training baseball workout in Bradenton, Fla., Monday, Feb. 16, 2015. The first official workout for pitchers and catchers is Thursday, Feb. 19. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
ST. LOUIS -- A St. Louis man was ordered jailed Wednesday on $1 million cash bond after being charged in the robbery shooting that wounded and potentially paralyzed an Army veteran as he left a St. Louis Cardinals game with his girlfriend.
St. Louis city prosecutors charged 31-year-old Kilwa Jones with two counts each of first-degree assault and first-degree robbery, as well as four counts of armed criminal action. Online court records do not show whether he has an attorney, and no court appearance was immediately scheduled.
Christopher Sanna, 43, and his girlfriend had just left the Cardinals game last Friday night and were in a parking lot a few blocks from Busch Stadium when two men demanded their belongings. The woman gave up her purse and the couple turned to run when one of the gunmen shot Sanna in the back.
Sanna's mother has said doctors have told the family her son will probably never walk again.
The Cardinals, who are preparing for the playoffs, hire off-duty police officers to work at Busch Stadium during games, with as many as 25 inside the ballpark. More are expected for the postseason.
Mayor Francis Slay and Police Chief Sam Dotson have pledged to increase the police presence outside the stadium too, although Slay said it is impossible to have officers everywhere. St. Louis has seen a spike in violence this year, with 152 killings, just seven shy of the total for all of 2014.
Dotson had said police had little to go on in the investigation. There are no surveillance cameras in the parking lot where Sanna was shot, and police were given only a vague description of the shooter.
But court documents cited Wednesday by St. Louis media outlets alleged that Jones was seen on surveillance footage using Sanna's debit card roughly one hour after the robbery and shooting.
A website dedicated to raising money for Sanna's medical expenses had generated around $80,000 in pledges as of Wednesday morning.
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