On a cold February evening in St. Louis, a day that began with creative expression ended in senseless violence, leaving a young man dead and two others wounded. The life of 19-year-old Kevin Payne Jr. was cut tragically short on February 13, 2022, in the city's North Riverfront neighborhood. Earlier that day, Payne had been with three other individuals, filming a music video.
The group, which included 34-year-old Florentino Pegues, a 16-year-old boy, and 24-year-old Eric Wooten, was riding in a vehicle near North Broadway and East Taylor Avenue as night fell.
Just before 10 p.m., without any apparent provocation, the situation inside the car took a horrifying turn. Eric Wooten, seated as a passenger, suddenly produced a 9mm handgun and opened fire on the other occupants. The sudden eruption of gunfire shattered the night's quiet, and in the immediate aftermath, Kevin Payne Jr. was found lying in the street, having sustained two gunshot wounds. Emergency crews who arrived at the scene pronounced him dead. The two other victims, Pegues and the teenage boy, were discovered inside the vehicle and were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment of their injuries.
Responding police officers from the Mobile Reserve unit spotted a man, later identified as Eric Wooten, running from the scene and across Interstate 70. They were able to apprehend him shortly after the shooting. During his arrest, Wooten made spontaneous statements to the officers, admitting that he had shot all three individuals and confirming that none of them had threatened him. He also informed the police that he had discarded the firearm in a bush while fleeing, though he did not cooperate in helping to locate it, and the weapon was never recovered.
In the wake of the tragic event, the legal process began to unfold. Eric Wooten was charged with first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault, and three counts of armed criminal action. The community was left to grapple with the consequences of the violent act, as one of the surviving victims, Florentino Pegues, who had been shot in the face, succumbed to his injuries approximately six months later on August 7, 2022. The 16-year-old victim, who suffered two gunshot wounds to the back, survived the attack. On August 1, 2025, Eric Wooten pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder and one count of first-degree assault. Subsequently, on October 10, 2025, he was sentenced to 27 years in prison for his role in the fatal shooting that claimed the lives of two men and forever altered the life of a teenager.
