In the O'Fallon neighborhood of Saint Louis, Missouri, the life of 23-year-old Kaleeb Barnes was cut short on October 31, 2021. In the early morning hours, police were alerted to a shooting in the 4500 block of Alice Avenue by the ShotSpotter gunshot-detection system. Before officers could arrive at the scene, Kaleeb, who had been shot in the chest, was taken to a hospital in a private vehicle.
Despite medical efforts, he succumbed to his injuries.
The investigation into the shooting identified Tryston Corbin, a 21-year-old from St. Charles County, as the individual responsible. Prosecutors stated that the shooting occurred during an argument at a home on Alice Avenue, the same block where Barnes lived. Following the altercation, Corbin fled the scene. Authorities were later able to recover the pistol that Corbin admitted to using in the shooting. He was initially charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action.
In a turn of events that averted a trial, Tryston Corbin pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. On Tuesday, October 10, 2023, he was sentenced to nine years in prison for his role in the death of Kaleeb Barnes. Those who knew Kaleeb remember him as a man with a positive attitude and a constant smile. He worked as a deckhand in the river industry at Osage Marine Services and was the father of a daughter.
