On the evening of December 28, 2019, officers in St. Louis County responded to a home in the 2300 block of Gardner Drive in Moline Acres and found 36-year-old Michael W. Dillingham Jr. with a fatal gunshot wound to the head. The shooting occurred around 5:32 p.m. and was investigated as a homicide while authorities worked to determine what happened.

Investigators focused on a visitor to the residence that afternoon, 33-year-old Hutson Grace Jr. Court documents and probable cause statements say Grace arrived carrying beer, marijuana, and a firearm, drank alcohol and smoked marijuana while attempting to assemble the gun, and allegedly pointed it at Dillingham multiple times after being warned to stop. Grace reportedly told police the weapon discharged while he was trying to install a trigger lock; prosecutors charged him with first-degree involuntary manslaughter and he was held on a $250,000 cash-only bond. Dillingham was described by family as a loving father, a Beaumont High School graduate and an avid St. Louis Cardinals fan.

If anyone saw activity at the Gardner Drive residence on December 28, 2019, or has information about the events that afternoon, please share what is known.