A 17-year-old male, Damonte Hightower, was shot and killed the evening of Friday, August 29, 2025, in the Spanish Lake area of St. Louis County, Missouri. Authorities were alerted about 10:40 p.m. by a ShotSpotter activation pinpointing gunfire to the 11000 block of Larimore Road, and a local hospital simultaneously notified police that a gunshot victim had arrived. Despite efforts by medical staff and bystanders who brought him for treatment, Hightower died a short time later.

Surveillance video and witness accounts show a confrontation outside a business on Larimore Road between Hightower and another man that began as a verbal argument and escalated. The footage reportedly captures the other man drawing a weapon and firing at Hightower, then fleeing the scene while bystanders took the wounded teen for care. Investigators identified the suspect as 23-year-old Nykelte Wilburn and prosecutors charged him by Sunday, September 1, 2025, with second-degree murder, armed criminal action, shooting at or from a motor vehicle, unlawful use of a weapon, and failing to report a shooting. A judge set Wilburn’s bond at $1 million cash-only as he awaits further court proceedings.

Does anyone have information about Larimore Road businesses or the confrontation that night that could help investigators?