In the winter of 2018, a Black / African American man named John Watson, 33, became a victim of the violence that plagued St. Louis. On the evening of Saturday, December 22nd, his life was tragically cut short. Police discovered his body around 7:40 p.m. in a vacant lot, a grim finding that marked the beginning of another homicide investigation in the city. He had been fatally shot.
The death of John Watson was part of a particularly violent 24-hour period in St.
Louis, during which several other individuals also lost their lives in separate incidents across the city. This wave of violence occurred just days after the city's police chief had announced a decrease in violent crime, a somber irony that was not lost on the community. The circumstances surrounding Watson's death were not immediately clear to investigators.
In the days that followed, while an arrest was made in one of the other weekend homicides, John Watson's case remained without a publicly identified suspect. The investigation into who was responsible for his death continued, but information regarding any persons of interest or potential motives was not released. As time passed, the case grew cold, and to date, there have been no arrests made in connection with the murder of John Watson. His case is one of many unsolved homicides that leave families and communities searching for answers and justice.
