On the evening of New Year’s Day 2021, Rashon Deangelo Butler, 30, was found inside a vehicle in the 300 block of South Dellwood Avenue in Ferguson, Missouri, suffering multiple gunshot wounds and pronounced dead at the scene. Officers responded to reports of gunfire at about 8:23 p.m. The Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis treated the death as a targeted attack and led the homicide investigation.

Investigators quickly identified a suspect and on January 6, 2021 arrested John Marshall Thompson Jr., 33, of St. Louis County. The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Thompson with first-degree murder and armed criminal action; bond was set at $500,000. Authorities also asked the public to help locate a vehicle of interest, described as a white 2014 Ford Escape, four doors, tinted windows, moon roof, Missouri plate LF8J6R, with a bullet hole on the passenger side.

The specific circumstances and motive that led to Butler’s shooting remain under investigation. Does anyone have information about Butler, the white Ford Escape, or events around South Dellwood Avenue that night?