On the morning of June 11, 2018, in the Castle Point neighborhood of St. Louis County, Missouri, 28-year-old Porsha Owens, a Black / African American female, was preparing for her day. A devoted mother of three and a security officer for the Riverview Gardens School District, she was in the process of taking her children, ages 8, 4, and 3, to daycare.
As she was loading them into her car around 7:15 a.m., she was approached by a man who attempted to carjack her.
The assailant, later identified as 18-year-old Mark L. Haywood, demanded her keys and money. Haywood, who had his shirt pulled up to obscure his face, then shot Owens in front of her three children. After shooting her, he took her purse, keys, and weapon, but was unable to start the car and fled the scene on foot. Gravely wounded, Owens managed to cross the street seeking help before collapsing. Her 8-year-old son bravely flagged down a police officer for help while looking after his younger siblings. Owens was transported to a local hospital where she succumbed to her injuries.
Following the incident, an investigation was launched, and a person of interest was taken into custody. Mark L. Haywood was subsequently arrested and charged with second-degree murder, first-degree robbery, and two counts of armed criminal action. He was held on a $1 million cash bail. Haywood later admitted to the robbery and shooting. In 2020, Haywood, then 20, pleaded guilty to the charges of second-degree murder and first-degree robbery. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison. During the sentencing, Haywood offered an apology but did not provide a reason for killing Owens. The tragic event drew widespread attention, with a GoFundMe campaign established for Owens' children raising a significant amount from donors across the country and the world.
