On December 17, 2018, a violent double homicide occurred in Kinloch, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Destiny Howard, a 21-year-old female, and 39-year-old Richard Berry were seated in a vehicle on Tuttle Street near Suburban Avenue when they were targeted in an apparent carjacking around 2:00 a.m. The encounter escalated rapidly into gunfire. When law enforcement officers arrived at the scene, they found Berry unresponsive; he was pronounced dead at the location.
Howard was discovered critically wounded and was transported by ambulance toward a hospital, but she succumbed to her injuries while en route.
Two other individuals were present inside the car during the deadly ambush: another woman and a 3-year-old boy, identified as Howard's son. Reports indicated that the child witnessed the shooting of his mother but, along with the other surviving passenger, escaped without physical injury. The assailants reportedly stole the vehicle after the attack, fleeing the scene and leaving the victims behind. The tragedy left Howard's family in a difficult financial position, prompting a local funeral home director to intervene and cover the costs of her service to ensure she received a proper burial.
Following an investigation by St. Louis County police, a suspect was identified and taken into custody. On January 11, 2019, prosecutors charged 21-year-old Darren Thomas Jr. of Bellefontaine Neighbors with two counts of first-degree murder, first-degree robbery, first-degree assault, and unlawful use of a weapon. Authorities alleged that Thomas was responsible for the fatal shootings during the commission of the robbery. He was ordered to be held without bond upon the filing of the charges.
