In the summer of 2019, a tragic event unfolded in a north St. Louis County apartment that claimed the life of 54-year-old Derrick Penny and four other men. On July 6th, a person who had been with the men the previous evening returned to the residence in the 1900 block of Chambers Road to a horrific scene. Inside, five men, including Derrick Penny, his twin brother James L. Penny, 37-year-old Rodney E.
Holt, 40-year-old Ronald Brewster Jr., and 65-year-old Rondall Mullin, were found shot to death.
The initial investigation by the St. Louis County Police Department pointed towards a quintuple homicide, shaking the local community. Authorities later revealed that the incident was likely connected to drug activity within the home and that the men were victims of a robbery gone wrong. The crime scene suggested a violent encounter where the perpetrators' initial intent was to rob the victims.
Within days, the investigation led to two persons of interest who were taken into custody. Subsequently, 29-year-old Terrance Wesley and 30-year-old Anthony Watkins were charged in connection with the killings. Each faced a litany of charges, including five counts of first-degree murder, five counts of attempted robbery, and ten counts of armed criminal action. According to charging documents, Wesley and Watkins had attempted to rob the victims at gunpoint and then returned to fatally shoot them.
The arrests brought some measure of resolution to the case, though the profound loss for the families of Derrick Penny and the other victims remains. Both suspects had prior criminal records, and they were held without bail following their arrests. The community was left to mourn the five lives lost in this brutal act of violence.
