On July 5, 2014, the life of 28-year-old African American barber Bariah Crump was tragically cut short in St. Louis, Missouri. Known affectionately to his friends and family as '2 Blacc,' Crump was a devoted father of three daughters and a vibrant presence in his community, remembered for his love of dancing and his constant readiness to crack a joke. That summer night, he had been enjoying the holiday weekend festivities, having attended a Fourth of July party in the downtown area.
As the celebrations wound down and the night turned into the early morning hours, the atmosphere shifted from celebration to violence.
Police reports from the time indicated that Crump became the victim of a shooting incident that authorities initially described as a robbery gone wrong. The violence that night was not isolated; local news outlets reported a bloody start to the weekend with multiple shootings occurring overnight, leaving two people dead and two others wounded across the city. Crump was one of the fatalities in this surge of violence. Despite the chaos of the evening, his death stood out to those who knew him as a senseless act that robbed a family of a loving father and a 'dancing machine' who brought joy to those around him.
In the years following his death, the investigation into Bariah Crump's murder appeared to stall. By 2017, media reports highlighting the high number of unsolved homicides in St. Louis specifically mentioned Crump’s case as one where justice had yet to be served. Friends and family took to social media and public forums to express their grief and frustration, noting that despite the initial police theory of a robbery, no suspects had been publicly named or apprehended. The case became part of a painful statistic in the city, leaving his loved ones with unanswered questions and a lingering search for accountability that, as of the available records, has not resulted in an arrest or conviction.
