Prosecutors say Lavor Harmon and two family members got an associate to kill the witness of Harmon’s alleged statutory rape, then killed the gunman.

FERGUSON, Mo. — A man who reported the alleged rape of his daughter was shot and killed in July. Now, three people are facing charges that allege they worked together to kill the man to keep him quiet, and then killed the gunman who pulled the trigger.

On July 8, Ferguson police said a man was shot and killed in his home on Bayview Drive. That man, Kcoree Warren, was the target of an effort to silence his testimony in an alleged rape that occurred in March, according to prosecutors. On Wednesday, three people, all family members, were indicted and accused of getting an associate to kill Warren, then killing that associate.

Lavor Harmon, Anthony L. Young, and Anthony D. Young were all indicted on six charges, including two counts of first-degree murder, armed criminal action, and individual counts of knowingly exploding or burning and tampering with physical evidence. Harmon was additionally charged with three counts of statutory sodomy and one count of statutory rape. Prosecutors said Anthony L. Young is Lavor Harmon’s uncle and Anthony D. Young’s father.

Warren’s best friend, Joryn Parker, said he was like a brother to him and he was the best person on Earth. He said Warren was shot through the glass door of his home. Broken pieces of glass are still visible three months later.

The charges stem from an alleged statutory rape of a 15-year-old on March 21. Police said Lavor Harmon met his victim while she was walking home from the school bus. The charging documents said they exchanged phone numbers, and he later picked her up and took her shopping. After that, he took her to a home and engaged in sexual activities. The victim was 15 at the time.

Charges were issued against Harmon on May 19 after Warren reported the incident to police. Ten days later, Harmon’s sister, Lavonda Harmon, went to Warren’s home with a man and tried to bribe him to keep quiet. They offered him $12,000, but he declined.

On July 8, Warren was shot and killed in his home by Andrew Klaus, who prosecutors described as an associate of the men charged in the case. Klaus was found killed the same day, and the white Kia that was seen driving away from the scene of the shooting was found destroyed by a fire.

Prosecutors said the investigation discovered that Lavor Harmon, Anthony L. Young, and Anthony D. Young worked together to kill Warren and were present when Klaus was killed. They said it is not being charged as a murder-for-hire plot, but that could change if evidence points to that.

“This investigation and the apprehension of these three defendants is a result of the hard work of combined police agencies, including the Ferguson Police Department, St. Louis County Police, St. Louis City Police, and the FBI, along with our office, the St. Louis County Prosecutor’s Office, working in partnership with the US Attorney’s Office,” said Melissa Price Smith, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney. “We are confident that these defendants will be held accountable”

John Schlesinger, St. Louis County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, noted that charges were filed after “an ongoing investigation by multiple police agencies for the last four months” and that the three men “orchestrated these murders by acting together and with others.”

Chief Troy Doyle of the Ferguson Police Department called it “probably one of the most senseless acts of violence that our region has seen this year,” praising the “relentless casework” of detectives and the collaboration between police agencies.

Capt. Tim Harris, head of the Ferguson detective bureau, shared that detectives have stayed “very close to the victims,” meeting regularly with the family. “They’re doing as well as they can after losing their father and the one being a victim of the sexual assault.”

Warren’s neighbor, Hugh Dubberly, was home the day Warren was killed and said the murder still haunts their quiet street.

“I would have never thought something like this would happen around here. I try to forget, but I can’t,” Dubberly said. “He was a really good dad, I couldn’t ask for a better neighbor. He was a super nice guy, took care of his kids, and took care of his house. Every Thanksgiving, he’d bring me dinner over, and he cut my grass for me, front and back.”

Dubberly described the shooting and said how the killer knocked on his door first, then crossed to Warren’s house.

“Next thing I know, I heard about 4 or 5 gunshots. Then I saw him running across my yard into a car, and they took off. I looked over and saw his door glass all broken out,” said Dubberly. “They tried to revive him, and his kids were out there crying, but it was just a bad deal all the way around.”

Dubberly said Warren’s family has not returned to the Bayview Drive home since the shooting.

“They took a person’s life, a person who was trying to do right, and they killed him for it. So they should have to pay too,” the neighbor said.

Lavonda Harmon of Houston was charged earlier this year with tampering with a witness in a felony prosecution a week after Warren’s shooting. The alleged tampering was in connection with the three counts of statutory sodomy and one count of statutory rape that her brother was indicted on earlier this year.

Police said they know the man who went with Lavonda Harmon to offer the bribe, but they did not release his name. He has not been charged.

Lavor Harmon is in custody in St. Louis County and is being held on a $2 million bond. Anthony L. Young and Anthony D. Young are in federal custody on unrelated charges. Bonds on both men were set at $2 million for these charges.

An attorney for Harmon declined to comment.