An adult in the Missouri home, authorities allege, had been showing the kids how to load the canisters and attach fuses.
ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Prosecutors have filed murder charges in Friday’s house explosion nearTerrell Cooks, 37, and Seneca Mahan, 43, provided materials to create explosive powder that would be loaded into fireworks canisters at the home on Parker Road, according to charging documents.
Cooks and Mahan, both of St. Louis, are being held in the St. Louis County jail in lieu of cash bail of $350,000 each. Cooks lives in the 5600 block of Greer Avenue, and Mahan lives in the 4100 block of Farlin Avenue. A 12-year-old child also was injured, but police could not provide details Sunday about how many others were hospitalized and what conditions they are in.
According to charging documents, Terrell Cooks wasn’t at the house when it exploded. But several witnesses told police that he was one of the “leaders of the manufacturing process” in the garage. The men would then sell the fireworks to a third party, police said. Neither Cooks nor Mahan had a license to make or sell fireworks.
Ankeneth Corbin, fire chief of the Black Jack Fire Protection District, told the Post-Dispatch: “They were teenagers and kids visiting, and they were trying to make fireworks. If you buy 50 pounds of any explosive, you have just created a bomb.Corbin said he hoped the tragic outcome could be a teachable moment, showing the devastating and deadly consequences of handling and making fireworks.
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