St. Louis County Felon Sentenced to 46 Months in Prison for Crime Linked to Toddler’s Accidental Shooting

ST. LOUIS - U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig on Wednesday sentenced a convicted felon who lied about the accidental shooting of a toddler to 46 months in prison.

On March 6, 2025, Rodrick Miller and his girlfriend cleaned an Anderson Manufacturing, AM-15 semiautomatic pistol and left it unattended on a couch in the girlfriend's Wellston home. After the girlfriend's son was shot in the calf, she and Miller took him to the hospital. On the way, Miller hid the gun behind a tree in a wooded area. They then told North County Police Cooperative officers that the boy had been shot by a stray bullet during a gun battle between two vehicles while the girlfriend was walking home. Police later recovered the gun.

Miller, 36, of Pine Lawn, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis in March to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. As a convicted felon, he is barred from possessing firearms.

The North County Police Cooperative, the St. Ann Police Department and the St. Louis County Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Franks prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhood.