On May 30, 2019, the quiet afternoon in the Lewis Place neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri, was disrupted by the discovery of a violently injured man. Officers from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department were dispatched to the 4500 block of Evans Avenue around 12:50 p.m. following reports of a shooting. Upon arrival, first responders located 34-year-old Alfreddell Dethrow, a Black male, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
The circumstances surrounding the incident were
immediately classified as suspicious, and homicide detectives took over the scene to canvas for evidence and witnesses. Despite the midday timing of the discovery, information regarding the events leading up to the shooting was scarce. Dethrow had sustained fatal injuries and was pronounced dead, marking another violent tragedy for the community. The police investigation faced significant hurdles from the outset, with few immediate leads surfacing to clarify the motive or identity of the perpetrator.
In the period following the murder, the case remained open as investigators continued to seek assistance from the public. While detectives worked to piece together the timeline of Dethrow's final moments, no suspects were publicly named, and no arrests were made in the immediate aftermath of the crime. The lack of witnesses willing to come forward hampered the progress of the investigation, leaving the case without a resolved legal conclusion or conviction in the initial years following the incident.
