Corwin Bates, 28, was found shot to death in a grassy area near Riverview Boulevard and Spring Garden Drive in St. Louis after police responded to a call on the night of August 4, 2014. He had suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head.

Investigators concluded Bates and his 40-year-old cousin Germone Cunningham had planned to rob people by arranging what would appear to be a drug deal. During the attempted robbery an exchange of gunfire occurred and Bates was shot and killed by the intended victim. An officer saw Cunningham discard a handgun into a trash can; the weapon was recovered and later showed traces of Bates’s blood. Cunningham was found wearing a blood-stained baseball cap with a bullet hole and clothing stained with Bates’s blood, and he admitted to acting as a lookout.

Cunningham was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action; a jury found him guilty on both counts and the conviction was affirmed on appeal. If anyone knew Corwin Bates or has information about the events that night, please share what is known.