On a tragic afternoon in Jennings, Missouri, 18-year-old Martinez Ursery Jr. lost his life in a shooting that reverberated through his family, already acquainted with the pain of gun violence. The incident unfolded on September 1, 2024, inside a home on Auburn Drive where Ursery resided. He was a young Black man whose life was cut short in a devastating turn of events.
At approximately 3:20 p.m., St.
Louis County police officers from the City of Jennings Precinct were dispatched to the residence following a call for a shooting. Upon their arrival, they discovered Ursery with a life-threatening gunshot wound to his head. Despite the immediate response, he was pronounced deceased at the scene, leaving his loved ones to grapple with an unimaginable loss. This tragedy was compounded by the fact that Ursery's mother, Felicia Kennell, was at a hospital, having just given birth to his baby brother, Mason, days earlier. She received the heart-wrenching news of her eldest son's death while caring for her premature newborn.
The investigation into the shooting quickly identified a suspect: Ursery's own cousin, 21-year-old Christopher Webb. According to police, Webb was handling a rifle when Ursery warned him that the weapon was loaded with a round in the chamber. Moments later, the gun discharged, striking Ursery in the head. In the aftermath, Webb did not report the shooting to law enforcement. A subsequent search of Webb's phone revealed photos and videos of him posing with firearms taken after the fatal incident.
On September 30, 2024, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office issued charges against Christopher Webb. He was charged with first-degree involuntary manslaughter and failure to report a shooting. Webb was subsequently arrested and held at the St. Louis County Jail on a $225,000 cash-only bond. The devastating incident not only robbed a young man of his future but also echoed a past tragedy for the family; Ursery's father had also been a victim of gun violence four years prior. The case now moves through the legal system as a family mourns and seeks justice for a life taken too soon.
