A spring evening shooting in the Walnut Park West neighborhood of St. Louis ended the life of How’ki Ashaad Ramel Tools, 38. He was found on a porch on the 5900 block of Lalite Avenue with gunshot wounds and taken to a nearby hospital, where he later died.

Police arrested a 35-year-old man at the scene. The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office later declined to file second-degree murder and armed criminal action charges; no public explanation for that decision was released. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Homicide Division is continuing its investigation and has asked for witnesses to come forward.

How’ki was described by family and friends as a talented chef, technologically savvy, selfless and ambitious, and a devoted father. If anyone has information about the shooting on Lalite Avenue that evening, please share what you know with investigators.