In the early hours of a Monday morning in the Lewis Place neighborhood of St. Louis, a night of partying between two old friends took a tragic and fatal turn. Anthony Bruce, a 31-year-old male, was found with multiple gunshot wounds, lying across a curb in the 4500 block of McMillan Avenue on April 19, 2021. When officers and emergency medical services arrived around 6:45 a.m., he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation into Bruce's death revealed that he had been out at
various clubs in Illinois the night before with a man who had been his friend since their teenage years, Darius Jamar Meeks. They had returned to Bruce's home with two women they met at a club. An argument erupted between the two men, escalating to the point where Bruce punched Meeks in the face. This prompted Meeks to run out the back door to his car, with Bruce giving chase while holding a piece of a brick.
As Meeks attempted to drive away, Bruce ran alongside the passenger side of the vehicle and held on. In response, Meeks lowered the passenger side window and fired two shots, striking Bruce. Meeks then sped away from the scene, running a red light and causing a collision with another vehicle at the intersection of Manchester and Tower Grove avenues. He abandoned his car and fled on foot.
A few days after the shooting, Darius Meeks, then 32, turned himself in to the police and admitted to shooting Anthony Bruce. The St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office subsequently charged him with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, and unlawful use of a weapon. In September 2024, at the age of 35, Meeks pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of first-degree involuntary manslaughter. Both the shooting and the subsequent car accident were captured on video. He was sentenced to seven years in the Missouri Department of Corrections for his role in the death of his longtime friend.
