On the afternoon of April 5, 2021, 30-year-old William T. Cooper was fatally shot in the Bevo Mill neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. The incident occurred around 2:40 p.m. in the 4600 block of Gravois Avenue, near Itaska Street. Cooper was found by responding officers suffering from a gunshot wound to the torso. Despite the arrival of emergency services, the male victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation revealed that Cooper’s death was part of a violent series of
events initiated by 33-year-old Anthony Dwayne Brown. Authorities determined that the conflict stemmed from a domestic dispute involving Brown and his former girlfriend. On the day prior to the killing, Brown had allegedly made threats against the woman and her associates. On the day of the murder, Brown engaged in multiple shootings, including an earlier exchange of gunfire with Cooper outside an apartment building on Neosho Street and a separate incident where he fired upon his ex-girlfriend and her teenage brother in a Family Dollar parking lot.
Less than fifteen minutes after the incident at the Family Dollar, Cooper and a friend were in a parking lot near a restaurant on Gravois Avenue. Brown, driving a vehicle, slowed down as he passed the location and fired a 9mm Beretta out of his window, striking and killing Cooper. St. Louis police quickly identified Brown as the suspect in the spree of violence, which had occurred within a span of roughly one hour across different locations in the city.
In June 2024, Anthony Dwayne Brown reached a plea agreement with prosecutors. Although a grand jury had originally indicted him on charges including first-degree murder, four counts of armed criminal action, and four counts of first-degree assault, Brown pleaded guilty to the reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter and one count of armed criminal action. A judge sentenced him to thirteen years in prison for his role in Cooper's death and the surrounding violence.
