In the early morning hours of a Sunday in St. Louis, Missouri, the life of 13-year-old Martinez Smith-Payne, a Black male, was tragically cut short. On November 29, 2015, at approximately 12:47 a.m., police responded to a call about a shooting and found Martinez unconscious and bleeding in a back alley. He was rushed to a local hospital but ultimately succumbed to his injuries.
The investigation into the shooting revealed that Martinez, along with two other juveniles, was allegedly attempting to steal items from an unlocked vehicle parked in the 5900 block of Riverview. During the act, they were confronted by a 60-year-old Black man who then fired shots at the youths. The man was taken into custody at the scene.
Following the investigation, the St. Louis prosecutor's office declined to press charges against the 60-year-old man, and he was subsequently released. The authorities cited Missouri's laws concerning a property owner's right to self-defense and the protection of their property as the basis for this decision. While the prosecutor's office described the event as a 'terrible tragedy,' they also pointed to the complexities of the state's self-defense statutes. It was not made clear whether the man was threatened by the teenagers before he opened fire.
Prior to this fatal encounter, Martinez had faced other challenges in his young life. At the age of 10, he suffered a serious injury in a fireworks accident that resulted in the loss of four fingers. He had also been reported missing in June of the same year he was killed, with his parents expressing concern as he had been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and bipolar disorder and was without his medication. He was found a few days later. His family remembered him as a spirited young man who loved to dance.
