In the spring of 2012, the life of 29-year-old Montez Woods, a Black male, was cut short on a street in St. Louis, Missouri. On the evening of Sunday, May 20, police responded to a report of a shooting in the 4100 block of Grove Street in the Fairgrounds neighborhood. Upon arrival, they discovered Woods lying in the street, having sustained multiple gunshot wounds.
Witnesses later reported seeing Woods walking south on Grove just before he was killed.
For years, the case remained without a publicly identified suspect. However, details surrounding his death eventually emerged in connection with a larger federal investigation into a significant cocaine trafficking operation in St. Louis. Court proceedings and sentencing memorandums revealed a violent drug trade that enforced its own lethal code.
It was revealed that an associate of a prominent St. Louis drug trafficker, Anthony “TT” Jordan, was responsible for Woods' death. Michael Brooks, an associate of Jordan's, killed Montez “Tez” Woods. The motive for the killing was allegedly that Woods had stolen cocaine from Jordan. This information came to light during the prosecution of Jordan, who was convicted on multiple counts, including conspiracy to distribute cocaine and using a firearm to cause death during drug-trafficking crimes. Jordan was ultimately sentenced to two consecutive life sentences plus five years in prison for his role in numerous murders and other violent acts connected to his drug empire.
