Two St. Louis police officers who were present when the alleged “Russian roulette” homicide of cop Katlyn Alix occurred reportedly slacked on their jobs in the minutes leading up to the fatal incident, but officially took credit for responding to a burglary alarm.
Nathaniel Hendren, the man charged for Alix’s death, and his partner Patrick Riordan skipped a burglary alarm the night of Jan. 23, sources told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Hendren and Riordan were on duty at the time, while Alix was not. It was alleged that all three were drinking at Hendren’s home.
The cops’ attorneys and police did not comment in the story, but Riordan’s lawyer James Towey did tell the outlet his client only sipped from a beer that night, poured the rest in a sink, and “blew all zeros” in a breath test after the shooting.
The new report, if true and accurate, better sketches out what happened before Alix was shot and killed. Sources familiar with Riodran’s statements claimed he said that he and Hendren never answered a burglary alarm at a dialysis center that went off at 11:48 p.m. on Jan. 23. Other cops looked into it instead and determined that nothing appeared amiss. After learning that, Riordan and Hendren reported it in as if they handled it, however. Records named them as being responsible for the call, which supposedly ended at 12:14 a.m. on the early morning of Jan. 24. Alix was pronounced dead just 53 minutes later.
A manager at the dialysis center told the outlet there was actually a burglary alarm, but said she wasn’t there and didn’t know which cops handled it.
Prosecutors said that on the early morning of Jan. 24 Hendren and Alix “were playing with firearms when the defendant produced a revolver.” They started playing Russian roulette until Alix was struck in the chest. She died. Hendren was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the first-degree and armed criminal action.
Riordan was allegedly present as well, but told the two he didn’t want anything to with their game and was about to leave when he heard the gunshot.
[Mugshot via St. Louis County]
