In the final days of 2020, a grim discovery was made in St. Louis. Forty-four-year-old Charles Christopher Brown, a Black male, was found shot to death inside a residence on Goodfellow Boulevard just before midnight on a Thursday. The incident marked the city's 260th homicide of the year. Investigators at the scene appeared to focus their attention on a wooded area behind a nearby apartment complex.
The circumstances surrounding his death were initially unclear, but it was quickly determined by the St. Louis Police Department to be a result of foul play, prompting a comprehensive investigation into the matter.
In a separate and unrelated case in the Carondelet neighborhood of south St. Louis, another man named Charles Brown, aged 40, was fatally shot. On the afternoon of December 18, he was walking in an alley in the 6500 block of Minnesota Avenue when he was ambushed by two individuals wearing black ski masks and dark clothing. Despite being shot in the abdomen, Brown was able to provide a brief description of his attackers to the police before being rushed to the hospital in critical condition. He succumbed to his injuries twelve days later.
The investigation into the shooting of the 40-year-old Charles Brown led to a significant development. Prosecutors charged a 20-year-old man, Juan D. Harris, with first-degree murder and armed criminal action. Court records indicate that Brown had arranged to meet with Harris and another individual to purchase a gun. According to police, after Brown handed over the money, the third, unnamed person shot him. It is not publicly known if the third individual has been identified or taken into custody.
