On the evening of July 26, 2012, 20-year-old Ronisha J. Jackson was gathering with friends in St. Louis, Missouri. The group had congregated in Gravois Park, located near the intersection of Miami Street and Louisiana Avenue in the city's south side. At approximately 9:15 p.m., the social gathering turned violent when unknown individuals opened fire into the crowd.
Ronisha Jackson was struck by the gunfire, as was 16-year-old Kiera Tanter, who was also present in the park. Both young women were transported to a local hospital for emergency treatment but succumbed to their injuries and were pronounced dead. Three other individuals in the group were also wounded during the shooting but survived the attack. Ronisha left behind a one-year-old daughter, Marissa.
Years after the incident, the case remained classified as an open homicide by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. In a tragic turn of events for the family, Ronisha's older brother, Ronald Jackson Jr., was also shot and killed in South St. Louis in April 2019, less than a mile from where his sister had been murdered seven years earlier. As of the last available reports, no suspects had been taken into custody for the murders of Ronisha Jackson and Kiera Tanter, and authorities continued to seek information from the public regarding the gunmen responsible for the Gravois Park shooting.
