On the morning of December 4, 2019, a domestic dispute at a home in the 9800 block of Dennis Drive in Saint Louis turned deadly. Twenty-year-old mother Johanna Kimple was in a physical altercation with her boyfriend and called her brother for help. Her brother arrived with a 19-year-old acquaintance, Javion Smith, who carried an AR-15 rifle to the house.

According to investigators, Smith raised the rifle and fired at the boyfriend, but Johanna was between them when the shot was fired. The bullet passed through her body and then grazed the boyfriend’s thigh. She was taken to a hospital with a five-month-old daughter at home but died of her injuries; the boyfriend survived with only a minor leg wound. Smith was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action and held on $500,000 bond.

The same residence was damaged by a suspicious fire the next day; a man inside was critically injured and later died, and arson was determined. Detectives reported no evidence linking that fire to Johanna Kimple’s death. Does anyone have information about Johanna, her family, or the events that morning that could help clarify what happened?