Man saw teens outside checking cars. He’s now charged with murder in St. Louis County. (2024)

ST. LOUIS COUNTY — Security guard Michael Tolden was about to leave for an early morning shift when he came across a familiar scene: a group, coming down the dark street, checking car doors. It was about 2:30 a.m.

The Bellefontaine Neighbors resident got his shotgun and fired in their direction. Two people ran to a car, where a third person was waiting in the driver’s seat. The gun misfired. Tolden racked it and fired again.

It was the third time in less than two years that Tolden had pulled his gun on suspected thieves outside his home on Oran Drive, a prosecutor said Monday in court. But that morning of Aug. 31 was the first time one of his shots hit — and killed — someone.

Tolden now faces a first-degree murder charge in the death of the car’s driver, 16-year-old Karmel Graham. Tolden is claiming self-defense.

“My heart goes out to (Karmel’s) family,” said William Goldstein, Tolden’s lawyer, on Monday in court. “But it’s not child’s play — stealing cars at 2:30 a.m.”

Attorneys said the other two teens in the car with Karmel that morning were 13 and 15 years old. They told police they were on the streets breaking into cars.

Goldstein argued the 46-year-old man’s $1 million cash-only bond should be lowered because he was not at a high risk of reoffending.

Nor is he likely to flee, Goldstein said: Tolden’s entire family lives here, he’s college educated, he’s been gainfully employed his entire life, he has family support and he will agree to any bond conditions the judge sees fit — including forfeiting his guns and wearing a GPS monitor.

Several members of his family attended the hearing and could be heard praying before his case was called. A relative read a statement from Tolden’s mother and daughter.

They said the man is caring, compassionate and always willing to help others. He has two jobs and lives with his girlfriend, helping her care for two foster children, they added.

Assistant prosecuting attorney Joanna Brueggemann opposed a bond reduction, citing the nature of the crime and the fact that Tolden had been involved with two other incidents involving a gun.

In March 2023, Tolden found two suspected thieves outside his house and held a 13-year-old at gunpoint until police arrived, Brueggemann said. About four months later, Brueggemann said Tolden called the police after firing at two people who drove away in a car.

Goldstein countered by saying Tolden had fired warning shots into the air, but Brueggemann said the car’s windows had been shattered.

No one was injured in either incident.

“It’s clear he is a danger to the community,” Brueggemann said. “It’s a clear escalation in his behavior.”

Karmel’s uncle, Cordell Scott, spoke to the judge alongside Karmel’s cousin, Jaila Graham.

What Karmel did was wrong, they said, but it should not have been met with lethal force. Police told them the teens were unarmed that night, and there was no indication they were acting aggressively.

“He was a nice guy, a loving young man,” Scott said of his nephew. “He was 99% good — kids make dumb decisions.”

Outside the courthouse after the hearing, several members of Karmel’s family reminisced about the teen’s goofy side and kind nature. They said the Grand Center Arts Academy sophomore, known as a class clown and flirt, was never violent and excelled at football and playing the drums.

They don’t condone what he was doing that night. But they said that most teenagers make bad decisions sometimes, and none should cost them their lives.

“Everybody is making my nephew out to be some sinister thug who is going around terrorizing the city,” said Karmel’s aunt, Evita Graham, said. “He was a football player. He was intelligent. Everybody at the school loved him. His family loved him.”

Back in court, Judge Natalie Warner said she needed time to rule on the bond reduction request.

“I am worried about the escalation,” she said of Tolden’s behavior.

Warner later denied Tolden’s bond reduction request.

Tolden is charged with first-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon and first-degree assault. His next hearing is set for Sept. 25.