ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis man told police that he accidentally shot 7-year-old Xavier Usanga, and then stole $50,000 the next day with a relative's help as part of a plan to flee the city, a police detective said Tuesday.

Malik Ross, 23, called his aunt after the Aug. 12 shooting and told her that he was the one that “killed that boy” and needed help getting out of town, police Detective John Anderson said in court Tuesday.

The next day, Ross was driving an armored car for his employer, Garda World Cash Logistics, and dropped a coworker off to make a cash delivery at a St. Louis Bread Company.

While the coworker was in the store, Ross drove off, opened the truck’s door and dropped a bag containing the $50,000 in cash onto North Broadway downtown, Anderson said. Ross’ aunt drove to the bag drop, stopped her car in the street, and picked up the bag, he said.

Later in the day, Ross again dropped his coworker off for a delivery, this time to the Currency Exchange on Olive Street. There, Ross abandoned the truck, threw away his uniform and fled, Anderson said.

Both the money drop and Ross’ abandonment of the truck were caught by surveillance cameras, Anderson said.