Just after 8:29 p.m. on November 25, 2017, patrol officers were called to the 30 block of West Adams Drive in the Bridgedale subdivision of Cahokia, Illinois, where they found Akeem A. Haynes, a 33-year-old African American male, lying on the ground near his parked car with gunshot wounds.
The 33-year-old African American male was transported to a hospital, where he died; officials later identified him publicly and fixed the evening hour and the quiet residential block as the setting
of his final moments.
Neighbors and family described an ordinary Saturday turning suddenly into a scene of sirens and floodlights outside his home.
Local coverage published his name and age and noted that the killing of Akeem A. Haynes unfolded at his residence in Bridgedale, with the first alerts going out around 8:30 p.m. and investigators moving quickly to cordon off the street and canvass the area.
In one account, the death of Akeem A. Haynes was framed by the prosaic details of the evening—an ordinary night interrupted by lethal violence on a quiet block.
Detectives from the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis were activated at the request of Cahokia police, who listed the suspect or suspects as unknown and appealed for tips.
Public notices and a CrimeStoppers flyer reiterated that the Akeem A. Haynes had been found shot in front of his residence in Bridgedale and asked anyone with information to come forward; the notice emphasized that tips could be eligible for a reward.
Despite the deployment of additional investigators, authorities did not announce an arrest or publicly identify a suspect in the killing of the 33-year-old Akeem A. Haynes.
