On August 13, 2021, the life of Jason Eric Masters, a 49-year-old White male, ended tragically following a violent incident in Springfield, Missouri. The shooting occurred around 2:00 p.m. in the parking lot of a Conoco Village Mart located at 2720 West Kearney Street. Masters was sitting inside a truck outside the convenience store when he was struck by gunfire.
Emergency personnel responded to the scene and transported him to a nearby hospital, but he was unable to survive his injuries and was pronounced dead. Masters, originally from Van Wert, Ohio, was remembered by his family as a master fisherman who shared a deep love for the outdoors with his father.
Detectives with the Springfield Police Department immediately began an investigation into the homicide, seeking to identify those responsible for the daylight attack. Authorities soon focused their attention on two suspects, Cody Westmoreland and Garrett Eagle, who had fled the scene in a silver Pontiac. Further investigation revealed that the pair had also been involved in a robbery near North Glenstone Avenue shortly after the shooting. Police determined that the motive for the violence was a dispute over money that the victim allegedly owed. Both men were subsequently located, arrested, and charged in connection with Masters' death and the related criminal acts.
The judicial process resulted in convictions for both defendants, though their sentences differed based on their plea arrangements. Cody Westmoreland entered a guilty plea to first-degree robbery as part of a deal with prosecutors, which led to the dismissal of the murder charge against him; he was sentenced to ten years in prison. Garrett Eagle, however, pleaded guilty to all counts he faced, including second-degree murder, armed criminal action, and first-degree robbery. Consequently, the court handed down a thirty-year prison sentence to Eagle, bringing a legal conclusion to the events that claimed Jason Masters' life.
