In the summer of 2019, the community of Lemay in South St. Louis County, Missouri, was shaken by the sudden and violent loss of a promising young life. Robert 'RJ' Dorsey Jr., a 16-year-old African American male, was known to his friends and family as a respectful, well-rounded teenager with a magnetic personality. A dedicated athlete, he was a standout basketball player at Bayless High School and was deeply involved in his local church activities.
On the night of July 10, he had just returned to his family's residence in the 800 block of Vegas Drive after dropping off a cousin, a routine act of kindness that would end in tragedy.
As he walked from the car to the house around 9:15 p.m., shots rang out in the quiet neighborhood. The teenager was struck multiple times in the torso but managed to summon the strength to retreat inside the safety of the home, where he collapsed. First responders arrived to find him critically wounded, and he was rushed to St. Anthony’s Hospital. Despite the efforts of medical personnel, he succumbed to his injuries a short time later, leaving his family and classmates devastated by the unexplained violence.
In the months following the shooting, detectives with the St. Louis County Police Department worked to identify those responsible. By the one-year anniversary of the homicide, investigators had followed up on various leads, including information that led to an arrest in April 2020. However, authorities were ultimately forced to release the suspect without filing charges due to a lack of sufficient evidence at that time. As the investigation continued, the case remained unsolved, with police urging the public to come forward with any information that could bring closure to the grieving family.
