Demario Smith was 19 and home from his freshman year at Morehouse College when he was killed on the afternoon of July 6, 2022. He had been napping in his car near his job at a QuikTrip in St. Louis with the windows down when an unknown person reached into the vehicle and stole his keys and phone. After borrowing a phone to call his father, Smith confronted the person he believed had taken his items. That confrontation escalated and he was shot in the Benton Park West neighborhood, near Pestalozzi Street and California Avenue, and pronounced dead at the scene less than thirty minutes after his call to his father.

A University City High School graduate who finished with a 4.7 GPA, Smith played football, ran track, spoke Spanish and had some knowledge of German. No arrests have been announced and a reward has been offered for information that leads to the person responsible. If anyone knew Demario or saw activity in the Pestalozzi and California Avenue area that afternoon, please share what you know.