St. Louis County Felon Admits to Crime Related to Toddler’s Accidental Shooting

ST. LOUIS - A convicted felon from St. Louis county on Thursday admitted lying about the accidental shooting of a toddler last year.

As part of a plea agreement, Rodrick Miller, 36, admitted that on March 6, 2025, he and the toddler's mother cleaned an Anderson Manufacturing, AM-15 semiautomatic pistol and left it on a couch in the home of his girlfriend, the toddler's mother, in Wellston. Miller's plea says he is unaware of how the toddler was shot, but afterwards, Miller and his girlfriend took the boy to the hospital with severe injuries to his calf. On the way, Miller stopped in a wooded area and hid the gun behind a tree. They then told North County Police Cooperative officers that the boy had been shot by a stray bullet during a gun battle between two vehicles, when Miller's girlfriend was walking home. Miller told officers that he left work to take his girlfriend and her son to the hospital.

Miller, of Pine Lawn, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. As a convicted felon, he is barred from possessing firearms.

He is scheduled to be sentenced in June and faces up to 15 years in prison.

The North County Police Cooperative, the St. Ann Police Department and the St. Louis County Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Franks is prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhood.