ST. LOUIS, MO (November 17, 2023) — An Alton man, 26-year-old Deionate Robertson, was sentenced to 28 years in prison Friday for murder and other felonies committed in 2020 in the Kingsway West neighborhood.

On Nov. 30, 2020, St. Louis police were called by Heather Reynolds, then 44, who said she had been walking near the intersection of Union Boulevard and Martin Luther King Drive at about 6:45 p.m. when a man driving by solicited her for sex and when she refused, pistol whipped her and robbed her of $30. When she arrived at her home in the 5200 block of Paulian Avenue a few minutes later, she was surprised to see the same man and the same car, a green Mercury Cougar, parked in an alley behind her house. Reynolds again called police to give them a description of

the car and to tell them that the person who had robbed her was nearby. While on the phone with police, Reynolds reported hearing two gunshots.

Responding police officers met with Reynolds, and while canvassing the area near the green Mercury saw a man who matched Reynolds’ description of her assailant come out of the rear basement stairwell of a building at 5224 Paulian. After a brief foot chase, police captured

Robertson and took him into custody.

Police backtracked along the path Robertson had taken and found a .22 caliber 1911-style semi- automatic pistol. An officer who entered the basement from which Robertson had emerged found an unconscious woman lying on her back with blood coming from her mouth and two gunshot wounds to the back of her head. The victim, Deanna Beckum, 34, had been sexually assaulted.

Police were able to match Robertson’s DNA to DNA found on the murder victim.

The case was prosecuted by Special Assistant Circuit Attorney Matthew Martin of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.



“This was a horrible crime, for which our office had sought the maximum range of punishment,” said Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore. “We are grateful for the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s office in helping bring this man to justice and helping our office resolve the backlog of homicide

cases.”

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