In the late hours of a September evening in St. Louis, Missouri, Pamela Abercrombie, a 49-year-old mother of four, found her life tragically cut short. Around midnight, she was discovered on a sidewalk in the 3800 block of West Florissant Avenue, having sustained a fatal gunshot wound. Emergency services transported her to a nearby hospital, but her injuries proved to be too severe.
Her family believes she may have been returning from a local convenience store when she was attacked.
The investigation into the senseless killing of Pamela Abercrombie, a St. Louis native, quickly led law enforcement to a suspect who would be linked to a string of violent crimes. Authorities arrested 26-year-old Perez Deshay Reed in connection with her death. The case against Reed grew as investigators connected him to another shooting that occurred the same night just a half-mile away, as well as three other homicides and another wounding in the St. Louis area. The scope of his alleged crimes extended even further, with authorities tying him to two fatal shootings in Kansas City, Kansas, prompting the FBI to identify him as a potential serial killer.
Prosecutors formally charged Perez Reed with the murder of Pamela Abercrombie and the numerous other violent offenses. Reed appeared in court via video to face the charges for Abercrombie's death and another St. Louis homicide, pleading not guilty to both. Investigators have not publicly disclosed a motive for the series of shootings, and there appears to be no connection between Reed and the victims, suggesting the attacks were random acts of violence. Pamela Abercrombie's daughter expressed that her family did not know the man accused of her mother's murder.
