Jesse Boone was 22 when he was fatally shot on a MetroLink train in St. Louis in the late hours of an April evening in 2017. Witnesses say a verbal argument between Boone and another passenger escalated into a physical fight at the rear of the train as it neared the University of Missouri-St. Louis station. An 18-year-old passenger, Djion Oates, drew a firearm and shot Boone; Boone was pronounced dead at the scene about 11:15 p.m.

Oates fled the train but was arrested shortly afterward by St. Louis County police officers assigned to the transit system, and a firearm was recovered. He was charged with second-degree murder, armed criminal action, and unlawful possession of a firearm. Oates’s defense later said he had acted in self-defense, alleging Boone attempted to rob him. Oates pleaded to a reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter along with armed criminal action and unlawful gun possession, and in November 2018 a judge sentenced him to seven years in prison.

Did anyone on that train or in the University of Missouri-St. Louis area that night see the argument or the moments before it turned violent?