Martinez Ursery Jr. was 18 when he was fatally shot inside his Jennings, Missouri, home on Auburn Drive on September 1, 2024. St. Louis County police from the City of Jennings Precinct responded about 3:20 p.m. after a report of a shooting and found Ursery with a gunshot wound to the head; he was pronounced dead at the scene. He was a young Black man and his mother had recently given birth to his baby brother, Mason, days earlier; she learned of her eldest son’s death while at the hospital with the newborn.

Police identified a suspect as 21-year-old cousin Christopher Webb. Authorities say Webb was handling a rifle when Ursery warned him the weapon was loaded with a round in the chamber and the gun then discharged, striking Ursery in the head. Investigators allege Webb did not report the shooting and that his phone contained photos and videos of him posing with firearms taken after the death. The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Webb on September 30, 2024, with first-degree involuntary manslaughter and failure to report a shooting; he was arrested and held on a $225,000 cash-only bond.

Ursery’s family had previously endured gun violence when his father was killed four years earlier. Does anyone have information about Martinez’s last day or about the events inside the Auburn Drive home that afternoon?