St. Louis felon accused of pointing gun at 7-year-old sentenced

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey on Thursday sentenced a man accused of pointing a gun at a 7-year-old to 10 years in prison.

Dwight Byrd, 59, pleaded guilty in May to being a felon in possession of a firearm. He admitted that on Sept. 7, 2023, two witnesses told St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officers that Byrd threatened a 7-year-old boy by pointing a black handgun at him and saying that he would “teach him some (expletive) respect.”

After officers spotted Byrd, he ran into his nearby home and changed clothes before surrendering. Officers found a loaded black 9mm handgun with a chambered round near the stairs Byrd used to get to his second-story apartment and a .38 special revolver and 9mm ammunition in his apartment. At the time, Byrd was on parole for a state drug offense.

Byrd conceded at Thursday’s hearing that prosecutors could prove that he pointed a gun at the child by a preponderance of the evidence.

In a letter to Judge Autrey, the victim’s mother wrote that she is not sure what sent Byrd off, adding, “We are all traumatized, and he probably still doesn’t care.”

In court and in a sentencing memo, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nino Przulj pointed out that Byrd’s prior robbery and drug convictions include three other occasions in which he pointed or shot a gun at one or more people.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nino Przulj prosecuted the case.