On the evening of August 18, 2024, a fatal shooting occurred at a Circle K convenience store near McKelvey and Dorsett roads in Maryland Heights, Missouri. Around 6:15 p.m., 37-year-old Jerome L. Gooden entered the store and became involved in a verbal dispute with the clerk. After the argument, Gooden left the building and was walking toward the parking lot when the clerk, identified as 25-year-old Jaymes AJ Mays, reportedly retrieved a handgun from inside and followed him outside.

In the parking lot the clerk fired the weapon, striking Gooden twice. First responders found Gooden on the ground with gunshot wounds; he was taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead shortly after arrival. Police arrested Mays at the scene and recovered a firearm believed to be the murder weapon. The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Mays with first-degree murder and armed criminal action, and he was ordered held without bond at the St. Louis County Justice Center.

Gooden was a father who worked as a truck driver and entrepreneur; his family described themselves as confused and heartbroken by the shooting. This was Maryland Heights first homicide of the year. If anyone witnessed the confrontation at the Circle K or has information about the shooting, please share what is known with investigators.