On the morning of August 25, 2019, officers in Saint Louis discovered the body of 15-year-old Sentonio Cox, a Black male, in a vacant lot on the 7300 block of Vermont Avenue. He had been reported missing earlier that morning after he and a cousin were walking through a neighborhood that borders the Patch and Carondelet districts. Authorities said the boy died from a single gunshot wound to the head.

Investigators reported that the youth and his cousin were confronted by two local residents, Joseph Renick and Brian Lee Potter, who suspected the pair of looking into parked vehicles. The cousin fled, and witnesses and probable cause statements indicated Sentonio was cornered, backing toward the vacant lot with his hands raised in surrender when Potter allegedly told Renick to open fire. Renick was arrested shortly after the shooting and charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, and unlawful possession of a firearm; prosecutors later charged Potter with first-degree murder and armed criminal action for his alleged role in instigating the shot.

Sentonio was one of several young people killed in the city that year, and the case drew attention to violence against children locally. If anyone knew Sentonio, saw him that morning, or has information about the confrontation on Vermont Avenue, please come forward.