Travis Santel Jones was a beloved son, father, brother, and friend known for his big heart and great sense of humor. At 32 years old, the St. Louis native was a family man who cherished spending time with his children and loved ones. His life, full of promise and connection, was brutally cut short in an act of random, senseless violence that marked the beginning of a terrifying crime spree.
On the evening of Thursday, July 14, 2016, Travis, a Black man, was inside his apartment in the 5900 block of Ferris Avenue. His home was located in the Walnut Park West neighborhood of St. Louis, a community of brick homes and apartment buildings in the northern part of the city. That night, an intruder forced his way into Travis’s residence with the intent to commit a robbery. During the confrontation, the intruder shot Travis before fleeing. The attack was sudden and violent, shattering the peace of his own home.
When officers from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department responded to a call for a shooting, they entered the apartment and found Travis suffering from fatal gunshot wounds. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene, and a homicide investigation was immediately launched. Initially, it was a tragic but isolated robbery-murder, one of far too many that plague cities across the country. But investigators would soon discover that the killing of Travis Jones was just the first act in a week-long rampage of violence.
Two days later, on Saturday, July 16, another man, 37-year-old Patrick Wilhite, was shot and killed in the 1100 block of North Grand Boulevard, several miles south of where Travis was murdered. As detectives worked the case, they began to connect the two homicides, realizing they were likely perpetrated by the same person. The investigation intensified as the community was put on high alert. The suspect’s spree of violence continued on July 20, when he shot and killed two more people, Dana Robinson and Antonio C. Harris, during another armed robbery in the Castle Point neighborhood of St. Louis County.
The string of murders sparked a massive manhunt, and investigators soon identified their suspect as Brandon J. Harris, a 35-year-old man from North St. Louis County. After his apprehension, Harris was charged with a litany of crimes, including two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Travis Jones and Patrick Wilhite, as well as robbery and armed criminal action. He faced separate charges for the double homicide in Castle Point.
The legal proceedings for the murders of Travis and Patrick concluded in February 2020. Facing a trial in which prosecutors were seeking the death penalty, Brandon Harris, then 39, accepted a plea deal. He pleaded guilty to two reduced counts of second-degree murder, along with robbery and other related charges. For these crimes, he was sentenced to life in prison.
This life sentence was ordered to be served in addition to the six concurrent life sentences Harris had already received for the murders of Dana Robinson and Antonio C. Harris. The plea agreement and subsequent sentencing ensured that the man responsible for the deaths of four innocent people in the span of a single week would spend the remainder of his life behind bars. While the court’s judgment brought a legal resolution to the case, it could never fill the void left in the lives of Travis Jones’s family and friends, who continue to mourn a man taken from them far too soon. As of early 2020, the case is considered closed.
