On the afternoon of March 28, 2020, 28-year-old Richard R. Jones was found with fatal gunshot wounds on 11th Street near the John DeShields Housing Complex in East St. Louis. Police were called shortly before 4:00 p.m.; Jones, an African American man who lived in the area but was not a tenant of the complex, was taken to Touchette Regional Hospital in Centreville and pronounced dead at 5:18 p.m. by the St. Clair County Coroner.

The East St. Louis Police Department, assisted by the Illinois State Police, investigated a daytime shooting that alarmed residents of the 1200 block of McCasland Avenue. Investigators collected evidence and witness statements and identified a suspect, 31-year-old Travion D. Johnson of East St. Louis. Prosecutors later charged Johnson with first-degree murder and he was held on $750,000 bond.

Anyone with information about what happened that afternoon or who knew Richard Jones is asked to come forward.