On the evening of December 12, 2022, 60-year-old Herschell Perkins was working as a pizza delivery driver when he went to the 4600 block of Whisper Lake Drive in Black Jack to deliver a Papa John’s order to a vacant apartment. Just before 9:30 p.m., Perkins was shot multiple times in a parking lot. He called 911 saying he had been shot and would not survive; he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators identified two men in connection with the killing. Wayea Hallowanger, 20, of unincorporated north St. Louis County, was accused of ordering the pizza to the vacant apartment; he allegedly changed the number on the cellphone used after the shooting. Marcus Thomas, 23, of Florissant, was identified as Hallowanger’s accomplice. Both were arrested and charged. Marcus Thomas faced first-degree murder and armed criminal action charges and later pleaded guilty to an amended charge of second-degree murder. A St. Louis County jury convicted Wayea Hallowanger of first-degree murder and armed criminal action in May 2024, with the prosecution relying on accomplice liability.

Did anyone in the area see a delivery vehicle at Whisper Lake Drive that night or notice anyone acting suspiciously around the vacant unit?