ST. LOUIS – A federal judge has sentenced a woman in connection with a fire at a St. Louis 7-Eleven location that stemmed from a 2020 protest.
Nautica Turner, 27, pleaded guilty in February to a felony charge of conspiracy to commit arson. On Tuesday, she was sentenced to two years and three months in federal prison.
Investigators say Turner plotted with others to damage or destroy the store, located at the intersection of N. 17th and Pine streets, on June 1, 2020. According to her indictment, Turner poured lighter fluid in the store, then ignited a box and threw the box inside the building. Someone else later set a fire that burned the store to the ground.
On June 1, 2020, protesters gathered in response to George Floyd’s death and some temporarily blocked Interstate 64 near the Poplar Street Bridge. The group eventually relocated and gathered outside St. Louis Police Headquarters on Olive Boulevard.
Around 9:20 p.m. that night, vandals and looters broke into the 7-Eleven, which had been closed. Several people entered the store and left with stolen merchandise. The building was set ablaze a short time later.
A co-conspirator, Justin Cannamore, was sentenced last year to three years in prison for his role in the fire. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearm and Explosives investigated the case.