On the evening of July 3, 2021, a confrontation inside the Champs Sports store at West County Center mall in Des Peres, Missouri, ended with 20-year-old Malachi Maclin shot and later pronounced dead at a hospital. Maclin, a 2019 Hazelwood Central High School graduate and former varsity baseball player, became involved in a verbal dispute that witnesses say turned physical. Reports state Maclin struck another patron, 21-year-old Jason Hill, who then drew a firearm and shot Maclin. First responders arrived after a 6:25 p.m. report and the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis assisted the Des Peres Police Department in the homicide investigation.

Authorities identified Jason Hill as the shooter and charged him with second-degree murder and armed criminal action; bond was set at $500,000. Hill’s defense asserted he acted in self-defense and asked prosecutors to review store surveillance. In late August 2021 a St. Louis County grand jury returned a no true bill after viewing evidence, including security video, and the criminal charges were dismissed. Does anyone have information about Malachi’s last hours in the mall or images from that evening?