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Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey has called for the resignation of St. Louis' Missouri prosecutor Kim Gardner. Bailey had threatened to remove her from office if she did not resign by noon on Thursday.

Bailey filed a writ of quo warranto against the prosecutor, accusing her of neglecting her duties as circuit attorney. Gardner has refused to resign.

Gardner, a Democrat, has faced criticism from both Republicans and Democrats over her handling of a high-profile case.

Daniel Riley, 21, an unlicensed driver, was speeding and failed to yield at an intersection.

His actions resulted in Janae Edmondson, a 17-year-old volleyball player, being pinned between two cars in downtown St. Louis. The teen athlete from Tennessee was walking back to a hotel with her family when she was severely injured. And had to have the amputation of both of her legs. 

Riley was out on bond after a 2020 robbery charge, dismissed and re-filed last year. The case has raised questions about why Riley was not behind bars. Court records showed more than 50 bond violations. 

His bond violations included letting his GPS monitor die and breaking terms for his house arrest. Court officials said they did not know Riley had violated his bond because prosecutors had never filed a motion to revoke it.

The case has also brought attention to a bill advancing in the Missouri Legislature that would allow Gov. Mike Parson to appoint a special prosecutor to handle violent crimes in St. Louis. Supporters of the legislation contend that Gardner has not been tough enough on crime during her tenure.

 Gardner's supporters rallied earlier this month in Jefferson City, saying the effort to take away her power was racially motivated.

Missouri prosecutor has history of conflicts 

Gardner was first elected in 2016 and gained national attention in 2018 when she charged then-Gov. Eric Greitens with felony invasion of privacy, accusing him of taking a compromising photo of a woman during an extramarital affair. 

Greitens, a Republican, accused her of a political attack. The charge was later dropped, but Greitens resigned in June 2018. 

The case drew scrutiny that led to the conviction of Gardner's investigator and discipline for her. Gardner attracted the ire of St. Louis police in 2019 when she placed dozens of officers on an “exclusion list,” prohibiting them from bringing cases.

In 2020, Gardner filed a lawsuit accusing the city, a police union, and others of a coordinated and racist conspiracy to force her out of office. The lawsuit alleged violations of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, which was adopted to thwart efforts to deny the civil rights of racial minorities.