The tragic death of 24-year-old Jorre Hadley occurred on the evening of May 11, 2025, a date that carried heavy emotional significance as it was Mother's Day. Earlier that Sunday, the St. Louis, Missouri resident had attended a special service at Unfailing Love Christian Church in The Ville neighborhood with her three-year-old son, Nasir. The day was particularly poignant for Hadley, who was the oldest of eight siblings, as she was also mourning the loss of her own mother who had passed away in
2021. Despite her grief during a memorial portion of the service, church leaders described her as joyful and enthusiastic, celebrating the holiday with a red carpet event and family photos before leaving the sanctuary.
Later that same evening, around 7:30 p.m., the celebration turned into a nightmare on the 4200 block of Maffitt Avenue, just blocks away from the church she had visited hours earlier. Hadley was sitting in the passenger seat of a vehicle with her young son and siblings present when she became involved in a heated argument with the child's father, Deandre Miller, regarding custody issues. Witnesses and investigators reported that Miller initially walked away from the dispute but quickly returned to the vehicle. He then brandished a firearm and fired multiple shots into the car, striking Hadley several times. Emergency responders arrived at the scene, but she had already succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead, leaving her family and the community devastated by the violence that unfolded in front of her children and siblings.
The investigation led St. Louis homicide detectives to identify 28-year-old Deandre Miller as the prime suspect. Authorities revealed that Miller had a history of domestic violence against Hadley and had previously been sentenced to prison for assaulting her, only to be released in February 2025. After weeks of searching, police located Miller on June 3 at a residence in the Penrose neighborhood. When officers approached, Miller attempted to flee and violently resisted arrest, reportedly placing a police K-9 named Admiral in a headlock before he was eventually subdued and taken into custody. The Circuit Attorney’s Office subsequently charged him with first-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action, endangering the welfare of a child, and assault on a law enforcement animal.
