ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis man appeared in court Monday after reaching a plea agreement in a 2023 killing in downtown.

The shooting happened at 3:40 p.m. on Nov. 1, 2023, in the 1400 block of Market Street. Police found the victim, Deanthony Smith, suffering from a gunshot wound to his lower leg. EMS took Smith to the hospital for treatment, but Smith declined to provide police with a statement on the shooting.

On March 1, 2024, the St. Louis Medical Examiner’s Office contacted the city’s Homicide Division to inform them that Smith died at the hospital on Nov. 26, 2023, as a result of a “homicide due to complications of a gunshot wound.” Smith was 46.

Investigators learned Smith was on the phone with someone when he was shot. Smith said “Drop”—a nickname for Derrick L. Rodgers—had shot him in the leg.

Rodgers was taken into custody on May 24. At the time of his arrest, Rodgers was in possession of two handguns and a shotgun.

Rodgers initially told police he shot Smith in self-defense.

The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office initially charged Rodgers with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, and unlawful possession of a firearm. Prosecutors said the shooting was drug-related.

The Circuit Attorney's Office agreed to reduce the murder charge to a second-degree count in exchange for Rodgers' guilty plea.

A St. Louis Circuit Court judge overseeing the case accepted the plea agreement and sentenced Rodgers to 13 years in state prison. Rodgers was serving a 12-year sentence in federal prison following an August conviction of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Smith's mother was in court Monday at the hearing. She told the court Smith was the oldest of three children. She said that even though she is a counselor to young people that she herself is “broken” and has been unable to give herself what she gives others.

“I thought I would hate you,” she told Rodgers. “And I really wanted to hate you but I don’t know your story.”

The judge commended Smith’s mother for coming to court to find healing and to teach Rodgers about the consequences of his actions. She told Smith's mother that she's not broken.