St. Louis Man Who Assaulted Woman Pleads Guilty to Gun Charge

ST. LOUIS - A felon caught in the act of assaulting a woman by St. Louis police pleaded guilty to a gun charge Wednesday.

Lee M. Shields, 46, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He admitted that on Sept. 17, 2023, Saint Louis Metropolitan Police Department Officers were on patrol when they saw him striking a woman over the head. She fell to the ground and was bleeding heavily from her mouth and nose. Shields got into a Jeep before being approached by officers, who found the magazine for a pistol in his pocket and a Glock 23 handgun in the Jeep. The victim told police that she didn't know if Shields hit her with his fist or an object. One of the officers saw Shields holding an object in the hand he used to strike the victim. The 6-year-old son of Shields and the victim said Shields hit his mother with the gun.

Shields is a convicted felon and is thus barred from possessing a firearm.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on September 9. The U.S. Attorney's Office and Shields' lawyer have agreed to recommend 50 months in prison.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine Hoag is prosecuting 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.