On June 30, 2019, police called to a home in the 200 block of Upton Street in the Patch neighborhood of Saint Louis discovered 65-year-old Brian Culton inside with fatal gunshot wounds. Investigators say the intruder robbed Culton of $100 around 2:00 a.m. before shooting him; EMS pronounced him dead shortly after arrival.

Neighbors remembered Culton as a veteran who had formerly experienced homelessness and later rented his own apartment. They described him as kind and generous, citing an example of returning borrowed materials and repaying a neighbor after getting back on his feet. The small amount taken in the robbery and his recent progress in rebuilding his life left friends and neighbors shocked.

Hours after Culton’s murder, the same assailant traveled to East Saint Louis, Illinois, and fatally shot 24-year-old Michelle Williams. The suspect, identified as Timothy Stokes, was later arrested after an encounter with troopers near Interstate 255 and Interstate 64. In September 2024 Stokes pleaded guilty to Culton’s murder and received a concurrent life term; he had already been convicted in 2023 for Williams’s killing and related charges.

If anyone knew Brian Culton or has information about the night of June 30, 2019, please come forward.