In the summer of 2020, a young woman's life was tragically cut short in St. Louis, Missouri, leaving a family to grieve and a community to seek justice. Ma’Lasia Pruitt, a 21-year-old female, was fatally shot on a Wednesday evening in July outside the Gen X clothing store in the Fountain Park neighborhood. The incident stemmed from a dispute with the father of her child, Nolin Holder, who was 23 at the time.
The conflict between Pruitt and Holder reportedly began inside the store and
escalated when they moved outside. Police stated the argument was over money and their children. Surveillance footage from the scene captured the fatal moment, showing Holder concealing a gun inside a bag and pointing it at Pruitt. A muzzle flash was visible from within the bag, indicating the shot that ended her life.
Following the shooting, Holder fled the scene in a car. However, law enforcement officers were able to stop a vehicle matching the description of the one that left the area. Inside the car, they discovered a bag and a gun that matched the evidence from the surveillance video. Holder was subsequently arrested and charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action. At the time of the incident, he was already on probation for a prior offense. Police later located him hiding under a porch.
In March 2022, a jury convicted Nolin Holder for his role in Ma’Lasia Pruitt's death. While prosecutors had pursued a first-degree murder conviction, the jury found him guilty of the lesser charge of second-degree murder, as well as armed criminal action. During the trial, Holder claimed the gun discharged accidentally as he was trying to flee from Pruitt, a claim that contradicted the evidence presented. For his crimes, he faced a sentence of 10 years to life in prison.
