On the morning of October 29, 2018, Ralph Edward Harper, 67, a retired St. Louis Metropolitan Police sergeant, was shot and killed in the 3100 block of Lackland Avenue in the Tower Grove South neighborhood. Harper had gone to park near a relative’s home around 7:30 a.m., intending to babysit his great-nephew’s young children, when an armed person approached his car in an attempted robbery and carjacking. Harper, who served 33 years with the department and retired in 2007, was armed and exchanged gunfire with the assailant; he was struck by a bullet, managed to call 911, and was taken to Barnes-Jewish Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Investigators identified the shooter as 16-year-old Jalynn Garner and the getaway driver as 15-year-old Justin Mathews. Garner was wounded in the exchange and treated at a hospital, which led to his arrest; a third teenager, 17-year-old Julian Mathews, fled the scene and was later found hiding in a dumpster and faced related charges. Legal proceedings continued over several years, with Garner ultimately pleading to second-degree murder, first-degree robbery and armed criminal action and receiving a 20-year sentence in September 2023; Justin Mathews pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and robbery and was ordered to remain in juvenile detention until age 21 with a suspended 20-year sentence.

Did anyone in the Tower Grove South area see the vehicle or the teens that morning, or have other information about the shooting?