On September 7, 2015, police responded to a fatal shooting in the Hamilton Heights neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. The incident occurred in the 1400 block of Shawmut Place, where 35-year-old Gregory Jordan was discovered suffering from gunshot wounds. Authorities determined that the shooting was the result of a dispute involving money and a drug debt.
Jordan, a resident of Jennings, was pronounced dead, launching a homicide investigation that would span several years and involve law enforcement agencies across state lines.
Investigators identified Benjamin A. Chatman as the primary suspect in the slaying. Following the shooting, Chatman fled Missouri, traveling to New York in an attempt to evade capture. He was eventually located and apprehended by the U.S. Marshals Service before being extradited back to St. Louis to face charges. During early interrogations, Chatman denied involvement, claiming he had moved to Buffalo, New York, prior to the incident and was living there when Jordan was killed.
The legal proceedings against Chatman were lengthy and complex. He first went to trial in 2017, where a jury convicted him of first-degree murder and armed criminal action. Based on this conviction, he received a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. However, Chatman later appealed the decision, arguing that his defense attorney at the time had failed to properly advise him regarding the sentencing implications of a first-degree murder conviction. Chatman stated he had rejected a plea offer of 20 years because he mistakenly believed the maximum penalty he faced at trial was also 20 years, not realizing a guilty verdict would result in a mandatory life term.
In 2022, a circuit court judge vacated Chatman’s original convictions, agreeing that he had received ineffective assistance of counsel regarding the sentencing laws. The ruling granted him a new trial. Rather than facing a second jury, Chatman reached an agreement with prosecutors in December 2023. He pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree murder. As part of the plea deal, the state dismissed the armed criminal action charge, and Chatman was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
