On January 14, 2017, a tragic series of events unfolded in St. Louis, Missouri, involving 29-year-old Phabion Harshaw, a Black male who had traveled from Evanston, Illinois, to assist a friend in need. Harshaw received a call from a female acquaintance residing in an apartment building on the 1400 block of Pine Street. She reported that she was experiencing domestic abuse at the hands of her boyfriend and requested Harshaw's presence for support.
In an act of intervention, Harshaw arrived at the residence to help defuse the volatile situation.
While Harshaw was at the apartment, the woman’s boyfriend, identified as 18-year-old Jordan Stuckey, returned to the premises to collect his personal belongings. A confrontation ensued between the two men in the hallway of the building. During this interaction, the woman inside reported hearing a single gunshot. Harshaw sustained a critical gunshot wound and was transported to a local hospital for emergency treatment. Despite medical efforts, he succumbed to his injuries three days later on January 17, 2017.
Following the shooting, Stuckey fled the scene, prompting an investigation by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Authorities identified him as the primary suspect, and the Circuit Attorney’s Office initially issued warrants for his arrest on charges of first-degree murder and armed criminal action. Stuckey was taken into custody in early February 2017.
The case proceeded to trial, where Stuckey claimed he acted in self-defense during the altercation. However, the jury ultimately rejected the first-degree murder charge, instead finding Stuckey guilty of the lesser-included offense of voluntary manslaughter, as well as armed criminal action. Following the verdict, the judge sentenced Stuckey to fifteen years in prison for the manslaughter conviction and ten years for armed criminal action, ordering the terms to be served consecutively for a total sentence of twenty-five years. Stuckey later appealed his conviction and sentence, but the judgment was affirmed by the Missouri Court of Appeals.
