Series of East St. Louis shootings leaves kids injured, man dead

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - Illinois State Police and the East St. Louis Police Department are investigating two separate shootings that left two kids injured, and a man dead.

The first incident happened on 15th and Broadway after midnight Sunday. Authorities said someone drove a car, hitting a 3-year-old and an 11-year-old. ISP said the 11-year-old sustained non-life-threatening injuries, but the 3-year-old suffered life-threatening injuries.

The second incident happened Tuesday night on Baker near 15th. Investigators located DeAngelo Johnson, 27, dead from gunshot wounds.

“We, actually, don’t know what happened--what led to the situation,” said Jennifer Taylor, the cousin of Johnson.

Taylor said Johnson planned on moving from East St. Louis to Georgia to grow his lawn care business. Before the move, he planned on partnering with Teens Against Killing Everywhere (T.A.K.E.) to employ youth and young adults in his business. T.A.K.E is a nonprofit.

The nonprofit provides at-risk youth and young adults with skills like education and job training.

“As a young man, he was in and out my house,” said Vickie Kimmel, the CEO of T.A.K.E. “Most of his friends and cousins have been through our program and he, actually, had a worksite agreement to have his lawn business lawn care--receive some of our young people to work with him this summer to continue to grow his business.”

“It’s heartbreaking, number one, because the individuals who are goal-oriented and focused on making a positive impact on our community--it seems almost always that those are the ones who are shot down,” T.A.K.E. program manager Johnathan Marchbanks said.

According to the St. Clair County Coroner’s office, East St. Louis consistently leads the county in homicides. This year the city is at 10, with Cahokia Heights close behind with nine. At the same time in 2021, East St. Louis sat higher at 15, and Cahokia Heights lower at five.

Anyone with information on the crimes is asked to call Illinois State Police at (618) 346-3990.

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