On the evening of Monday, April 6, 2026, 29-year-old William Nelson Jr. was shot and killed at a homeless encampment in the Old North neighborhood of St. Louis, at 10th and Cass. Nelson Jr. had been living at that encampment for about a year. The shooting prompted a shots fired call to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department; officers arrived just after 6:30 p.m. and the scene was quickly treated as a homicide.

People who knew William Nelson Jr. at the encampment remembered him as kind-hearted and helpful. Police are actively investigating and searching for the person or persons responsible; no suspects have been publicly identified and no arrests have been made. Anyone with information is urged to contact investigators to help bring answers for Nelson Jr. and his community.

Did anyone in the Old North neighborhood see or hear anything that night that could help the investigation?