In the city of St. Louis on March 11, 2022, a life was tragically cut short. Terrion Smith, a 16-year-old male, was fatally shot in the lobby of the Ely Walker lofts on Washington Avenue. The incident occurred late that Friday night, around 11:20 p.m., where officers discovered the young man with multiple gunshot wounds just inside the building's front door. Emergency medical personnel pronounced him dead at the scene. Another man was also shot in the ankle during the incident.
Smith, a sophomore at Sumner High School, was reportedly at the lofts for a large birthday party being held in one of the rented units and had been letting people into the building.
The investigation into the shooting led authorities to John Whitney Jr., then 21, of Bridgeton. In November 2023, Whitney pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and possessing a gun in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. As part of his plea agreement, Whitney admitted to the fatal shooting of Terrion Smith. He claimed that he had been selling drugs outside the loft building and encountered Smith after entering the lobby.
According to Whitney's account, he acted in self-defense, alleging that Smith drew a gun first. However, surveillance footage from the lobby painted a more complex picture, showing both Whitney and Smith drawing their firearms at the same time. The video captured Whitney firing his fully automatic pistol as the teenager turned toward him with his own pistol raised. Following this initial exchange, another individual who was with Smith and Whitney also exchanged gunfire before they both fled the scene. A search of Whitney's apartment by law enforcement uncovered drugs and multiple firearms, including a Glock pistol with a conversion device that made it fully automatic, three AR-15-style rifles, and a semi-automatic pistol. Whitney's sentencing was scheduled for February of the following year.
