Man arrested in Belleville MetroLink shooting knew victim, who says he’s lucky to be alive

An East St. Louis man has been arrested on felony charges of shooting and attempting to rob a 20-year-old Belleville man at the Scheel Street MetroLink station last month.

The victim, Brandon Rios, said he and the suspect, Cornell “Nelly” L. Boyd, 21, worked together at the Walmart store on Carlyle Avenue and he showed Boyd how to load pallets before Boyd left his job at the store in early December.

The shooting took place shortly before midnight on Dec. 23. A bullet went into one side of Brandon Rios’ stomach and came out the other side, missing his organs. It ended up in his right arm, where doctors decided to leave it rather than risk further damage with surgery to remove it.

“It’s a miracle,” said his father, Ron Rios, 64, a longtime chef at The Salvation Army’s St. Clair County community center in Belleville. “My son should have been dead, and he’s not, and I’m so grateful.”

“God was looking out for me that night,” added Brandon Rios, a 2020 graduate of Belleville East High School, who volunteers at the community center.

On Wednesday, the St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s office charged Boyd with four felonies, including two counts of armed robbery, one count of attempted armed robbery and one count of aggravated battery with a firearm.

The first two counts relate to armed robberies Boyd allegedly committed on MetroLink trains Dec. 20 and 21, according to Master Sgt. Adam Quirin, spokesman for the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department. The sheriff’s department is investigating because it has a special MetroLink unit.

Quirin said Thursday that detectives hadn’t been able to locate Boyd, despite the fact that they had an address for him. They suspected he no longer lived at the address, or maybe he never did.

“Every effort has been made to pick up Mr. Boyd,” Quirin said, noting that witnesses have been interviewed and search warrants served. “Our detectives have sat on house after house after house. They worked on Christmas Eve. Those guys have done an outstanding job.”

Late Friday morning, the U.S. Marshals Service arrested Boyd at a Belleville address, according to Quirin.

Questioning authorities

Ron Rios is upset about several aspects of the case involving his son. He doesn’t understand why Walmart employees didn’t report Boyd to supervisors after, according to Brandon Rios, he bragged that he had a gun and was planning to commit a robbery.

A Walmart manager at the Carlyle Avenue store couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday. Corporate spokesman Robert Arrieta declined to comment beyond emailing the following statement:

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim for a healthy recovery, and we’ll work closely with local law enforcement throughout their investigation. Although we do not discuss personnel matters, we can confirm that Cornellius Boyd was not employed by us at the time of this incident.”

Ron Rios also is asking why Bi-State Development, which operates MetroLink and MetroBus, didn’t have a security guard on the train platform Dec. 23 and why the public wasn’t alerted after the armed robberies on Dec. 20 and 21 so passengers could take extra precautions.

Melissa Webb, director of Bi-State security, media and customer engagement, declined to comment but emailed the following statement from Kevin Scott, general manager of security:

“Metro Transit Public Safety is assisting the St. Clair County Sheriff Department in this matter. The Metro Transit system moves millions of people each year and our state-of-the-art Real Time Camera Centers technology allows us to provide the images released to law enforcement.

“As this is an ongoing investigation, all further (requests) should be forwarded to the St. Clair County Sheriff Department. Metro Transit will always support our law enforcement partners in their ongoing efforts to make our region safe.”

Ron Rios said Wednesday he had been showing Boyd’s photo to people at MetroLink stations and bus stops, and some reported seeing Boyd recently, so he didn’t understand how Boyd evaded police for so long.

Ron Rios also has been wearing the black Nike hoodie that Brandon Rios was wearing the night of the shooting. The three bullet holes serve as a reminder of how lucky he was not to lose his son.

“I’m not taking it off until (Boyd is) found,” Ron Rios said before Boyd was arrested.

Saving money for a car

Ron Rios raised his three sons, Noah Rios, 14, Ronnie Rios, 23, and Brandon Rios after his wife, Marites Rios, died about 10 years ago. Ronnie Rios also works at The Salvation Army community center.

Brandon Rios was a camp counselor in Missouri before he got the job at Walmart last fall. He was trying to save money to buy a car.

“He’s a beautiful kid,” his father said. “All he does is go to work and come home and go to church. He doesn’t hang out late at night. He’s always home by 10, except when he’s working at Walmart.”

The BND met with Brandon Rios on Wednesday at the community center. According to his account, here’s what happened on the misty evening of Dec. 23:

• Rios was in a good mood, laughing with his friends, when he ended his Walmart shift. He walked to the MetroLink station at Southwestern Illinois College.

• Rios rode to the Scheel Street station, got off the train shortly before midnight and saw a man with a ski-style mask standing on the platform.

• The man called out his name, “Brandon,” and as Rios got closer, he recognized him as a former coworker.

• The man displayed a handgun and ordered Rios to give him his bag, which Rios thought was a joke at first.

• A struggle ensued and the man shot Rios in the stomach before jumping on the train and riding away.

• Rios ran to a parked bus and made contact with another passenger, who told him he had just been robbed.

• The passenger (and possibly the bus driver) called 911. The passenger took off his jacket or shirt and wrapped it around Rios’ arm to slow the bleeding.

• Several Belleville police cars arrived, and an ambulance took Rios to St. Louis University Hospital, where he underwent surgery.

• Rios spent Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and two more days in the hospital before going home to recover.

“I was not feeling too well,” Brandon Rios said Wednesday in a soft voice. “I could not get up out of my bed without it hurting. It was hard to even use the bathroom at first. Everything is better now.”

On Dec. 24, the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department asked for the public’s help in locating a suspect and “person of interest” related to the MetroLink armed robberies and shooting.

According to the post, a woman riding a westbound train about 7 p.m. Dec. 20 and a man riding a westbound train about 10:30 p.m. Dec. 21 reported being robbed of personal items and cash by a suspect with a handgun; and a man had been shot at the Scheel Street station on Dec. 23.

The post stated that all three victims gave similar descriptions of the suspect, leading police to believe it was the same man, described as a black male with a black face mask. Photos were included. The person of interest was described as a black female wearing a black hoodie and black hat.

“These suspect(s) are considered armed and dangerous,” the post stated. “St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department, St. Louis County Police Department and St. Louis Police Department have increased officers and patrols as a result of these incidents.”

Ron Rios didn’t want his son to return to work until Boyd was found. Brandon Rios would eventually like to enroll at SWIC and become a welder or heating, ventilation and air conditioning technician.

Ron Rios said he still can’t believe what happened in their hometown of Belleville during the holiday season.

“(Brandon is) out working to try and buy a car so he would have transportation, and he gets shot by a guy he used to work with, a guy he was teaching how to do things, minutes before the morning of Christmas Eve,” he said.

“We spent Christmas at the hospital, but at least we weren’t going to a funeral.”