A St. Louis man was hit with multiple charges last week after he allegedly shot and killed a 15-year-old Black boy who was retreating with his arms raised.
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 54-year-old Joseph Renick is facing charges of first-degree murder, armed criminal action, and unlawful use of a weapon in the shooting death of Sentonio Cox.
According to the charges filed last Thursday, Renix fired one shot from a revolver, striking the teen in his head and killing him, even as Sentonio was backing away with his hands raised.
He was being held on $500,000 bond.
Sentonio’s mother, Roxzyanna Edwards, said that she went looking for her son at around 4 a.m. on Sunday when her nephew woke her up saying that he did not know where Sentonio was.
The two were reportedly walking home when they heard gunshots. Edwards’ nephew fled, before realizing that Sentonio wasn’t with him.
“I found my baby laying face down, shot in the head,” Edwards said, according to the Post Dispatch. “It was really dark, but as the sunlight beamed up … God showed me he was right next to me.”
The Post-Dispatch reports that Sentonio was, at the time, the latest of at least 13 children killed by gun violence in St. Louis this year. He was the third child that was killed between Friday evening and Sunday morning.