In the early hours of a spring night in Saint-Louis, Missouri, the bustling riverfront, crowded with over one hundred cars, became the scene of a tragedy. Just after midnight on April 13, 2022, gunshots shattered the lively atmosphere in the 600 block of South Leonor K. Sullivan Boulevard. As vehicles sped away from the chaotic scene, police officers arrived to find 28-year-old Fred Moore, a male resident of East St. Louis, fatally shot inside a car.
The violence of that night also left two other individuals, a 28-year-old man and a 37-year-old woman, with gunshot wounds, though they ultimately survived their injuries.
The investigation into the triple shooting led authorities to a suspect, 31-year-old Brandon Howard. He was subsequently arrested and faced a series of grave charges, including first-degree murder for the death of Fred Moore, as well as assault and armed criminal action for his alleged role in the riverfront shooting. The incident prompted city officials to implement new security measures along the riverfront, including closing off access to vehicular traffic in the evenings in an effort to prevent similar gatherings and acts of violence. Howard was also implicated in a separate homicide that occurred in June of the previous year, adding another layer of complexity to the legal proceedings against him.
In a turn of events, a jury found Brandon Howard not guilty of first-degree murder and other charges related to the death of Fred Moore in December of 2025. During the trial, his defense team argued that in the midst of a chaotic scene with multiple shooters, the evidence presented by the prosecution was insufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Howard fired the shot that killed Moore. While Howard was acquitted of Moore's murder, a codefendant, Curtis T. Bailey, pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action. In March 2024, Bailey was sentenced to 18 years in prison for his involvement in the riverfront shooting. Following his acquittal, Brandon Howard still had a pending murder case for the unrelated killing in 2021.
