On the night of May 5, 2023, gunfire broke out during Cinco de Mayo gatherings on Cherokee Street in St. Louis, ending at the Exotic Bar and Grill with four people struck. Eric Taylor, 44, was one of two men who died; the other fatality was 25-year-old Rayon Caffey. Both were taken to a hospital by private vehicle and pronounced dead on arrival.

Police found a 34-year-old man at the scene with gunshot wounds to his thigh and elbow; he was taken to a hospital in serious but stable condition. A 24-year-old woman was grazed by a bullet. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Homicide Division opened an investigation into the killings.

An arrest was made in a separate Cherokee Street shooting that weekend — Darion Benton was charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action in that incident — but authorities did not immediately link that case to the deaths of Taylor and Caffey. No arrests directly tied to the murders of Taylor and Caffey have been announced. If anyone has information that could help identify those responsible, please come forward.