ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore filed murder charges Thursday in a case from 2019 where a 7-year-old boy was gunned down while playing in his backyard in the Hyde Park neighborhood.

Malik Darion Ross, 29, is accused in the death of 7-year-old Xavier Usanga on Aug. 12, 2019.

The circuit attorney at the time, Kimberly Gardner, declined to file charges, saying the evidence was "insufficient."

Xavier's killing outraged city officials and enraged neighborhood parents.

Federal prosecutors in 2019 arrested and charged Malik Ross for stealing $50,000 from Garda World, the armored car company he worked for as he attempted to flee the city after the shooting. A federal judge in 2021 sentenced Ross to 10 years in prison for the theft.

Ross is being held in a medium-security Butn

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