James King, 22, Found Lying Dead on North St. Louis Street (Homicide No. 71)

Sep 4, 2013 at 9:38 am

Soon after a weekend homicide near the Arch grounds in downtown St. Louis, there has been another murder in the city, but police don't know who was responsible for this latest slaying. Officials have just identified the fatal victim this morning as James King, a 22-year-old man who lived on Theobald Street in north St. Louis.

Officers responded at around 5:36 a.m. yesterday morning to the Baden neighborhood -- near where the victim lived -- and found him lying outside a residence with abrasions to his hands and face. Police discovered that he had been shot in the head and that it was too late to take him to the hospital.

King was pronounced dead on the scene and the preliminary investigation revealed that he had likely "been deceased for an extended amount of time."

See also: Michael Shirlee Charged in 2012 Murder: Allegedly Choked, Hit Woman with Cinder Block

He was found on the 1100 block of McLaran Avenue by Halls Ferry Road.

click to enlarge McLaran Avenue. - via Google Maps
via Google Maps
McLaran Avenue.

With this latest death, there have now been 71 homicides in the city of St. Louis this year. As of this time last year, there were 81 murders.

Here's the short incident report from metro police.

Incident: Homicide
Location: 1100 block of McLaran
Date/Time: 9/03/2013 @ Unknown
Victim: James King, 22-year old black male of the 1000 block of Theobald
Suspect(s): Unknown
At approximately 05:36 on the above date, officers responded to the above address and located the victim outside, lying face up with abrasions to his hands and face. The victim was pronounced deceased at the scene. The victim appeared to have been deceased for an extended amount of time. An apparent gunshot wound was observed on the victim's head. The victim is not yet identified. The investigation is ongoing.

For more of Daily RFT's coverage of the latest metro St. Louis homicides, visit our "Big Bloody" archive.

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