Teen pleads guilty to deadly carjacking of nurse
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ST. LOUIS (KMOV) — A 19-year-old pleaded guilty to a 2019 carjacking resulting in the death of a 61-year-old nurse in Pine Lawn.
According to investigators, Lashawn Clayburn shot Naomi Miller on January 5, 2019 and stole her car outside of her Pine Lawn home as she was leaving for work. Miller was walking to her car in the 2500 block of Arden when Clayburn shot her to death in her driveway.
He then reportedly spent several hours driving around in her car, picking up his friends and joyriding. About an hour and a half later, he was seen on surveillance video outside a Steak N’ Shake on Jennings Station Road with two friends. He was later seen on camera outside a Taco Bell where he allegedly met with relatives to discuss getting rid of Miller’s car.
He, along with his friends, reportedly swapped the car out for a different vehicle the next day. On March 13, following being interviewed by federal agents, Clayburn made a recorded jail call to his cousin and was heard trying to secure a false alibi for the night of Miller’s murder. Police say he used another inmate’s PIN number to make the call and told his cousin to “delete the call” before they hung up.
Clayburn was charged with carjacking and discharging a firearm resulting in Miller’s death. He appeared in court and pleaded guilty on May 19, 2021.
“Naomi Miller was a phenomenal woman. She was kind, humble and generous. She valued family and friends and never met a stranger,” said Miller’s niece. “My aunt was the type of person that would have given you the last dollar in her pocket. What happened to her was not fair, but I believe my aunt would forgive the people that did this to her.”
Just a few days after the deadly carjacking, Chrishaun Hillard was found dead in a vacant home on January 17, 2019 after going missing on December 24, 2018. Clayburn was also charged in that crime.
An Endangered Person Advisory was issued for Hilliard, 26, after he was supposed to meet his family for a planned holiday celebration on Christmas Eve but never showed up.
According to court documents, two people, referred to as Ja.Y. and Jn.Y. in the probable cause statement, drove with Hilliard in his vehicle to Clayburn’s home on Dec. 24. Once at the home, Clayburn told investigators he saw Jn.Y pull a pistol and order Hilliard into the backseat of the car. Jn.Y then entered the driver’s seat while Ja.Y held the pistol facing Hilliard.
Court documents state the group then drove around the metropolitan St. Louis area, stopping at two grocery stores, while Hilliard was in the back of the vehicle being held at gunpoint. Eventually, Hilliard was driven to a vacant home that previously belonged to the grandparents of Jn.Y.
Once at the vacant home, Clayburn reported seeing Hilliard shot with the pistol by Jn.Y.
After the shooting, Clayborn, Ja.Y and Jn.Y re-entered Hilliard’s car and drove away. Officials said license plate recognition cameras detected the vehicle on city streets numerous times following the fatal shooting.
Clayburn was charged with second-degree murder, robbery, kidnapping and armed criminal action in relation to Hillard’s case.
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