On the afternoon of August 24, 2022, a violent sequence of events unfolded at a residence in the Spanish Lake neighborhood of St. Louis County, Missouri. Michael Mayer, a 51-year-old White male, was at a home in the 1200 block of Congress Avenue, a residential street west of Larimore Road. The day took a tragic turn when a dispute arose between Mayer and a man identified as his neighbor.
The conflict reportedly began as a verbal altercation inside the living room of the residence. As the argument escalated, the situation turned deadly when the other man, identified as 63-year-old John Cowan, retrieved a 12-gauge shotgun. Investigators detailed that Cowan followed Mayer into the kitchen of the home during the confrontation. It was there that Cowan allegedly discharged the weapon, striking Mayer once in the stomach.
Law enforcement officers from the St. Louis County Police Department responded to the scene shortly after 2:30 p.m. Upon entering the home, they discovered Mayer in the kitchen suffering from the gunshot wound; he was pronounced dead at the scene. Police located the shotgun in the living room and took Cowan into custody without further incident. Cowan was subsequently charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action, with a judge setting his bond at $1 million, cash-only.
