The murder of three St. Louis adults in a shooting that also critically injured a 7-year-old last week has prompted community meetings and candlelight vigils, and drawn headlines for days. The attention hasn’t resulted in any arrests, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Police are hoping the spotlight on that shooting will prompt people to come forward with solid leads in the case, as well as a spate of killings that have occurred since then. St. Louis police Capt. Mary Warnecke said the slayings don’t appear related, but she wants attention on them all. “I just want people to think, ‘What if this was one of my family members? One of my neighbors?’” Warnecke said. “Would you want someone to come forward?”
Seven-year-old Deniya Irving’s parents, Derrick Irving, 27, and Jessica Garth, 24, were killed when someone opened fire at a car last Thursday. Another man in the car, Julian Hayes, 38, was also killed. That night, found a 13-year-old boy dead elsewhere, and a man was killed in an apartment during an argument about videogames. As of yesterday afternoon, there had been 74 murders in the city this year, compared to 73 on the same date last year.