In the late hours of a November evening in 2021, the life of Samuel Valles-Rendon Jr., a 29-year-old Black / African American male, was tragically cut short in the Carondelet neighborhood of St. Louis. Originally from Berkeley, Missouri, he was discovered inside his truck after it had crashed into a house and a utility pole in the 600 block of Robert Avenue.
Emergency responders were initially called to the scene for a vehicle collision just before midnight.
Upon their arrival, firefighters and police found Valles-Rendon unresponsive in the driver's seat. It was quickly determined that a car crash was not the primary cause of his death. He had sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the chest and was pronounced dead at the scene. The subsequent investigation pointed to the likelihood that the shooting had not occurred at the crash site but rather about a block away, in the 7100 block of Alabama Avenue. Residents in the area reported hearing the sound of several gunshots just before the crash, and investigators found broken glass on Alabama Avenue.
As of the most recent reports, the investigation into the murder of Samuel Valles-Rendon Jr. is still ongoing. Authorities have not publicly identified any suspects in the case, and no arrests have been made. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department's Homicide Division continues to seek information from the public that could lead to a breakthrough in solving the case and providing answers for his family.
