Wesley Bell laughs during his speech after being sworn in as St. Louis County Prosecutor during a New Year’s Eve celebration on Tuesday, Jan. 01, 2019 in St. Louis, Mo. Between jokes Bell took a serious note, stating there is a lot of work that needs to be done. Photo by Colter Peterson. Featured Image
[dropcap]CLAYTON[/dropcap] • On his second day in office, St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell fired the veteran assistant prosecutor Kathi Alizadeh, who was primarily responsible for presenting evidence to the grand jury that declined to indict a Ferguson police officer in the 2014 shooting death of Michael Brown. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″]
Bell also issued new policies, such as no longer prosecuting marijuana possession and failure to pay child support cases.
Alizadeh, as she loaded her office supplies into her SUV on Wednesday morning, said Bell gave her a two-page letter describing grounds for termination. She would not elaborate and said she would be speaking to her lawyer. She had worked for the office since May 1988 and earned $135,000.