On the night of Halloween in 2020, Ashlyn Nicole Ketcherside, a 20-year-old White female from Farmington, Missouri, decided to leave her home for a late-night drive. Ashlyn was known for her love of nature, stargazing, and hiking, and had been visiting her father earlier that evening. Seeking to cure her boredom, she accepted a ride from a friend, 36-year-old David Joshua Long of Fredericktown, Missouri. Together, they traveled north toward St. Louis, a decision that would ultimately place them in grave danger. Her father later recounted that their last exchange was an expression of love before she departed, unaware that it would be their final conversation.
By the late hours of November 1, 2020, police officers were summoned to the West End neighborhood of St. Louis following reports of a shooting. Upon arriving at the 5900 block of Bartmer Avenue, investigators discovered a blue sedan parked on the street. Inside the vehicle, they found both Ashlyn and Long suffering from fatal gunshot wounds. Authorities determined that an unknown assailant had opened fire on the vehicle. Long was killed instantly in the driver's seat, while Ashlyn, who had attempted to hide in the backseat for protection, was struck in the neck and leg. Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene, marking a grim statistic in a year of rising violence for the city.
The investigation into the double homicide has proven difficult for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. According to Ashlyn’s family, it is believed that Long may have been the intended target of a 'setup' for a physical assault, and that he had traveled to the location unaware of the trap. Ashlyn was considered to be an innocent bystander who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Despite the family's belief that the shooter may have bragged about the crime, law enforcement has struggled with a lack of witnesses and concrete leads. The killer managed to escape the scene immediately after the shooting, and years later, the case remains unsolved with no arrests made and no suspects publicly named.
