In the summer of 2020, a young man's life was tragically cut short in a fatal shooting in St. Louis. Joel Phillips, a 22-year-old male, was found deceased in the driver's seat of his vehicle on the evening of August 20, 2020. The incident occurred in the parking lot of a McDonald's on Hampton Avenue in the Clayton-Tamm neighborhood. When police responded to the scene, they discovered Phillips had sustained multiple gunshot wounds.
The investigation into the shooting revealed a narrative
of a drug deal gone wrong. Two days prior to the fatal encounter, Phillips had arranged to purchase fentanyl from a man named Cevone Weeden. Instead of completing the transaction, Phillips robbed Weeden and subsequently blocked his phone number. In an act of retaliation, Weeden orchestrated a plan to lure Phillips to a meeting. He had another individual contact Phillips to set up another fentanyl deal.
Weeden, along with a co-defendant named Herschell Perkins, then proceeded to the arranged meeting place at the McDonald's. They waited for nearly two hours before Weeden approached Phillips' car and fired at least 12 shots, killing him. Perkins drove Weeden to and from the location of the murder. Found in Phillips' vehicle were $1,814 in cash, a firearm, a phone, and 156 capsules containing a mixture of drugs, including the fentanyl that had been stolen from Weeden.
Both Weeden and Perkins were eventually apprehended and faced legal consequences for their roles in the death of Joel Phillips. In August 2022, both men pleaded guilty to the charges against them. Cevone Weeden pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, as well as possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime resulting in death. He was subsequently sentenced to 25 years in prison. Herschell Perkins pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the firearm charge and received a 15-year prison sentence. The investigation was a collaborative effort between the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
