Johnathan Francis Saddler was 25 years old, according to the Washington Post's homicide database, when he was killed in St. Louis on Monday, October 6, 2014. The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. The Washington Post's homicide database, which tracked killings in St. Louis through 2017, lists his case as a homicide that remained open with no arrest.
Very little about how he died has been made public.
The Gun Memorial project, which records people killed by firearms, lists a Jonathan Saddler, age 24, who was "lost to gun violence on October 6, 2014 in Saint Louis, Missouri," which indicates that he was shot. The small differences in the spelling of his first name and his age are common between records. No news report describing the shooting could be found for this account, and the record does not say what time it happened, where exactly, or whether anyone else was hurt.
No suspect description, vehicle, person of interest or motive has been made public in the material found for this account, and no reward offer connected to his death could be found.
His family arranged his services through the Austin Layne Mortuary in St. Louis, which kept an online Book of Memories in his name for relatives and friends to leave messages. Beyond that, no obituary text or family statement could be found. At 24 or 25, he was a young man with most of his life ahead of him, and he surely had family and friends who still miss him.
The location recorded in the database places his death in or near downtown St. Louis, an area of office buildings, lofts, hotels and busy streets. Downtown has many people coming and going at most hours, as well as businesses with security cameras, which means someone may have seen or heard something that has never reached detectives.
Killings downtown often draw more witnesses than those on quiet residential streets, but people who see something in a crowded area sometimes assume someone else has already called police. A detail that seemed unimportant in 2014 could still matter.
St. Louis, a city of roughly 300,000 people, has for years had one of the highest homicide rates of any large American city. Police recorded about 120 homicides in 2013, 159 in 2014, 188 in both 2015 and 2016, and 205 in 2017, the most in roughly two decades. In many of those years, detectives solved fewer than half of the city's killings. Cases with few public details, like his, often faded from view quickly.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Johnathan Saddler could be found in news archives or public records. More than 12 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Johnathan Saddler, was downtown on the night of October 6, 2014, or heard talk afterward of who was involved may be able to help. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a car seen leaving the area or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can call the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Homicide Division at 314-444-5371, or leave an anonymous tip with CrimeStoppers at 866-371-TIPS (866-371-8477).
