On the morning of Wednesday, December 17, 2025, gunfire was reported around 9:33 a.m. at the Greystone Apartments in the 200 block of Miller Court in Cahokia Heights, Illinois. Responders found two people with gunshot wounds. Demario Johnson, a 36-year-old resident of the complex, was transported to Touchette Regional Hospital and pronounced dead at 9:59 a.m. An 11-year-old boy also was shot and taken to St. Louis Children’s Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

Investigators say the shooting followed a domestic dispute between Johnson and his brother, 41-year-old Quliac Halfacre, who had come to the complex to sell a vehicle. Reports indicate the argument turned physical after Halfacre struck Johnson and that multiple shots were fired; Halfacre reportedly fled on foot and discarded a weapon. Halfacre was later arrested and prosecutors filed charges including unlawful possession of a firearm by a repeat felony offender, unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, and aggravated battery. A judge ordered him held without bail at a detention hearing when a defense request for release was denied.

Anyone with information about the incident or who knew Demario Johnson is asked to share what they know.