Police: 13-Year-Old Fatally Shot During Theft

A 13-year-old boy is dead after being shot in north St. Louis while he and two other minors were allegedly stealing from a vehicle.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the shooting happened about 12:45 a.m. Sunday. Police say Martinez Smith-Payne and two others were stealing from an unlocked vehicle when a 60-year-old man confronted them and shot Martinez, who was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Prosecutors declined to charge the man. It wasn't immediately clear if the shooting falls under Missouri's castle doctrine, which allows for deadly force in many cases when people encounter intruders in their homes and vehicles.