Restaurant owner killed in Missouri robbery after locking up, feds say. Four charged

A restaurant owner and one of his employees had locked up for the night when they were shot during a Missouri robbery, according to federal authorities.

The owner of St. Louis Kitchen died of his injuries, officials said, and the other employee survived a gunshot wound to his leg.

Now about six weeks later, four people have been indicted by a federal grand jury, according to a July 13 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri.

The four people — Ronnie Adam Foster, 23; restaurant employee Mekayla Johann, 20; Larob Harris, 24; and Shonyea Jones, 24 — face charges of conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery, discharge of a firearm and discharge of a firearm resulting in death, records show. The charges are all felonies.

McClatchy News requested comment from the defense attorneys representing Johann, Harris and Jones on July 14 and was awaiting a response. Foster does not have an attorney listed in public court records.

Following the fatal robbery on May 30, authorities said someone took a backpack with the restaurant’s cash proceeds, according to the release.

Harris and Johann pleaded not guilty on July 3, records show. Jones pleaded not guilty on July 13. Foster is in jail facing unrelated charges, officials said.

Investigators have recovered a Glock 23 pistol used during the robbery and an Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 firearm that’s “consistent with” the murder weapon, according to the release.

Loved ones identified the St. Louis Kitchen restaurant owner as 38-year-old Faming Pan, who went by Randy with many of his family, friends and staff.

“This restaurant has been the livelihood for all of Randy’s family, including his aging parents, his wife for more than a decade, and their two children,” according to a GoFundMe.

His wife, Yan Zhu, rushed to the restaurant after the shooting and identified her husband as a victim, the GoFundMe says.

“His wife had to go home and tell her kids, you know, that their daddy died,” former employee John Walker told KTVI.

The robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery charges are each punishable by a maximum of 20 years in prison, officials said. People convicted of a discharge of a firearm charge face up to 10 years in prison, and discharge of a firearm resulting in death is punishable by life in prison or the death sentence.

This story was originally published July 14, 2023 at 8:24 AM with the headline "Restaurant owner killed in Missouri robbery after locking up, feds say. Four charged."