Last Known Activity:
On June 19, 1980 Detective Gregory Erson, while assigned to work as an undercover decoy to arrest prostitutes in the midtown "Stroll" area, was found slumped in the front seat of hhis car at Whittier and Westminister Place. He had been shot in the back. He was pronounced dead at City Hospital #1 in the early morning hours of June 20, 1980.
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Comments/Citation:
On June 19, 1980, Detective Gregory Erson was assigned to work as an undercover decoy to arrest prostitutes in the midtown area known as "The Stroll." After making six arrests for prostitution during the evening, other officers assigned to the prostitution enforcement detail found Detective Erson slumped in the front seat of his unmarked car at the curb of a vacant lot at Whittier and Westminister Place. Detective Erson had been shot in the back. He was rushed to City Hospital #1 where he wa pronounced dead in the early morning hours of June 20, 1980. Investigations into the death of Detective Erson revealed that he had been shot during a robbery. Before fleeing, the robbers took the Detective's revolver, badge and wallet.
As news of his death spread, officers responded, many off duty, to search for the killers. Ironically, the break in the case came when two prostitutes provided information which led to the arrest of four people, Robert L. Baker, Leslie Lomax and two others who were later released. In a videotaped statement, Baker admitted he shot Detective Erson during the robbery attempt.
Baker's first trial ended in a mistrial. During his second trial, a St. Louis Circuit Court found him guilty of Capital Murder. The prosecution recommended the death penalty, the first since the enactment of the Missouri Death Penalty Law in 1977. While in prison, Robert Baker was killed by another prisoner during a fight.
Leslie Lomas was also convicted of Capital Murder for the murder of Detective Gregory Erson. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Detective Erson, assigned to the Third District Bureau, had been on the Department for eight years. Described as a "Policeman's Policeman, " a personable, athletic young man, Erson earned a Bachelor's Degree in Law Enforcement. Highly respected by his fellow officers, twenty-nine year-old Detective Erson left a wife and two children.
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