In what was supposed to be the safety of his own home in Jennings, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri, 18-year-old Martinez Ursery Jr. was fatally shot on September 1, 2024. The incident occurred in the afternoon, around 3:20 p.m., in the 9400 block of Auburn Drive. Emergency services responded to a call for a shooting and found the young man with a life-threatening gunshot wound. He was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Ursery was an African American male.
The tragedy unfolded while Ursery's mother, Felicia Kennell, was in the hospital, having just given birth to her newborn son prematurely on August 28. She received the devastating news of her oldest son's death while still recovering. Compounding the family's grief, Ursery's father had also been a victim of gun violence four years prior.
The sole suspect in the shooting was identified as Martinez's 21-year-old cousin, Christopher J. Webb. According to authorities, Webb was handling a rifle when Ursery warned him that the weapon was loaded with a round in the chamber. Moments later, the gun discharged, and Ursery was struck in the head. Webb did not report the shooting to law enforcement. An investigation by the St. Louis County Police Department's Bureau of Crimes Against Persons led to Webb's arrest. During a search of Webb's phone, detectives discovered photos and videos of him posing with firearms that were taken after the fatal shooting.
On September 30, 2024, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office charged Christopher Webb with first-degree involuntary manslaughter and failure to report a shooting. He was subsequently booked into the St. Louis County jail and is being held on a $225,000 cash-only bond. The family has expressed their desire for prosecutors to pursue the charges to the fullest extent.
