Willie James Edwards was 52 years old when he was killed in St. Louis on Friday, July 3, 2015, the eve of the Fourth of July holiday. 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.
Beyond his name, his age and the date of his death, almost nothing about Willie James Edwards has been made public.
No news story about the killing, obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this account. He surely had family, friends and neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say how he was killed, whether he was attacked indoors or on the street, whether he knew the attacker, what time of day it happened, or whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital. It does not say whether anyone else was hurt or whether investigators ever identified a suspect or a motive.
The timing stands out. July 3 is a day when many people are off work, gathering with family, setting off fireworks and staying out late. In a city neighborhood on a holiday weekend, the sound of fireworks can also mask gunshots, and people who were outside that night may have seen or heard more than they realized at the time.
Willie James Edwards is also a common name. Searches turn up obituaries, court records and news stories about many other men named Willie James Edwards across the country, none of them connected to this case. That makes it harder to find any trace of the 52-year-old man who died in St. Louis in 2015 and may help explain why his story has been so hard to follow.
The location recorded in the database places his death in the northwest part of the city, in the area of the Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood near the boundary with St. Louis County. It is a residential area of brick homes and side streets, where neighbors often sit outside on summer evenings.
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.
St. Louis Regional CrimeStoppers keeps a public list of open homicides and accepts tips without asking for a caller's name, and a tip that leads to an arrest may be eligible for a cash reward.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Willie James Edwards could be found in news archives or public records. More than 11 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Willie James Edwards, saw him on the day before the Fourth of July in 2015, or heard talk afterward of what happened 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).
