Show-Me State Times

U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel on Tuesday sentenced a man who set fire to his girlfriend’s apartment after threatening her with a gun to 66 months in prison.

Willie Latimore, 27, of St. Louis, was also ordered to pay $7,087 to the owners of the apartment building. Latimore pleaded guilty to one count of arson and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He admitted setting fire to his then-girlfriend’s apartment in St. Louis on May 11, 2023.

St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers were called to the woman’s apartment on Washington Avenue downtown after he began attempting to kick her apartment door down. They arrived to find smoke coming from her apartment. Latimore had piled clothing on her stove and set it on fire. She was hiding at a neighbor’s apartment because he had threatened her earlier in the day with a gun.

St. Louis’ Real Time Crime Center tracked Latimore’s car, and police arrested him later that day after a brief vehicle and foot chase. Latimore dropped a handgun as he ran.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Finlen prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.