In the quiet cold of a January morning in St. Louis, Missouri, a harrowing discovery was made that marked the end of a young mother's life. Sharita Ariel Brooks, a 30-year-old female, was found in her parked car on Claudine Drive in the Spanish Lake area on January 18, 2021. The engine was still running, a silent witness to the tragedy that had unfolded hours before.
In the backseat, miraculously unharmed, was her infant daughter, who had been alone with her deceased mother for what relatives believe was an extended period.
Investigators soon pieced together Sharita's last known movements. The day before, on January 17th, a man named Andrew Buckingham had gone to her home in University City, seeking a ride to his residence in Spanish Lake. Sharita agreed, placing her young child in the car for the journey. A sense of unease prompted her to call a friend during the drive, confiding that she did not feel safe. This phone call would be one of her last. At some point during the trip, she was shot multiple times in the head while sitting in the driver's seat. A witness later reported seeing someone walking away from the vehicle shortly after the sound of gunshots.
The investigation quickly led to 31-year-old Andrew Buckingham. A crucial piece of evidence, an article of clothing containing the DNA of both Sharita and Buckingham, was discovered discarded in a nearby sewer drain. Within a day of the discovery of Sharita's body, Buckingham was taken into custody by the St. Louis County Police Department.
Prosecutors moved swiftly, charging Andrew Buckingham with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, and tampering with physical evidence in connection with Sharita Ariel Brooks's death. He was held on a one-million-dollar, cash-only bond as the legal process began, leaving a family to mourn the loss of a mother of four and a community to grapple with the senseless violence that took her life.
