On the morning of August 25, 2019, police officers in Saint Louis, Missouri, discovered the body of 15-year-old Black male Sentonio Cox in a vacant lot on the 7300 block of Vermont Avenue. The teenager had been reported missing earlier that morning after he and a cousin were walking through the neighborhood, which borders the Patch and Carondelet districts.
Authorities found him deceased from a single gunshot wound to the head.
The investigation revealed that the youth and his cousin had been confronted by two local residents, Joseph Renick and Brian Lee Potter, who suspected the pair of looking into parked vehicles. While the cousin managed to flee the scene, the teen was cornered and forced to back away toward a vacant lot. Witness accounts and probable cause statements indicated that he had his hands raised in surrender as he retreated. During the confrontation, Potter allegedly instructed Renick to open fire, prompting Renick to discharge a revolver from approximately 50 feet away, striking the boy.
Law enforcement officers arrested 54-year-old Joseph Renick shortly after the incident, charging him with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, and unlawful possession of a firearm. Several weeks later, prosecutors also charged 47-year-old Brian Lee Potter with first-degree murder and armed criminal action for his alleged role in instigating the lethal shot. The case drew significant attention to the issue of violence against children in the city, as the victim was one of several young people killed in the area that year.
The legal proceedings spanned nearly four years and resulted in divergent outcomes for the two accused men. Brian Lee Potter proceeded to trial and was acquitted of all charges by a jury. In June 2023, Joseph Renick, then 58, avoided a potential life sentence by entering an Alford plea to a reduced charge of first-degree involuntary manslaughter. By accepting the plea deal, he maintained his innocence but acknowledged that the prosecution possessed sufficient evidence to convict him. The presiding judge sentenced Renick to ten years in prison, noting the evidentiary challenges that had arisen following his co-defendant's acquittal.
