In August 2023, a homicide investigation began after a body was found in East St. Louis. The victim was identified as 64-year-old Anthony Jackson of O’Fallon, Illinois. Jackson’s body was discovered on August 12 in a vacant lot in the 1700 block of Ridge Avenue; he had suffered multiple gunshot wounds.

While agents were processing Jackson’s scene, police were notified of a second shooting about three miles away. Seventy-four-year-old Willie Wallace of Swansea was found shot to death in the 700 block of North 55th Street. Investigators from the Illinois State Police and the East St. Louis Police Department linked the two murders and pursued a months-long investigation that produced two persons of interest: 35-year-old Cierra Whitley and a 15-year-old male juvenile.

By March 2024 the State’s Attorney charged Whitley with two counts of first-degree murder, and a juvenile petition was filed against the teenager, who was taken into custody in June 2024. Any readers with information about Anthony Jackson or these cases are asked to come forward.