Jade D. Hamilton

Jade D. Hamilton was a funny, sweet, and smart 16-year-old girl known to her loved ones by the nickname "Muggie." A student who had attended both Vashon and Roosevelt high schools in St. Louis, Missouri, she was a beloved daughter and sister. Her life was filled with the promise of youth, but it was violently and senselessly extinguished on a winter evening in 2011.

On Sunday, February 20, 2011, Jade, a young Black woman, was sitting with others inside a parked car at Mt. Pleasant Park in south St. Louis. Without warning, three young men reportedly approached the vehicle and opened fire. In the chaotic burst of gunfire, a bullet struck Jade in the neck. The attack was sudden and brutal, and investigators with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department would later conclude that Jade was not the intended target. She was an innocent bystander, tragically in the wrong place at the wrong time when violence erupted. Her death was recorded as the seventh homicide in St. Louis that year.

The investigation into Jade's murder began immediately, but it soon faced significant challenges. The three young men who witnesses saw firing into the car were never publicly identified, and a lack of new leads caused the case to stall. Years passed, and with no arrests made, the investigation was eventually described as a cold case. For Jade’s family, the absence of justice has meant a state of prolonged and unresolved grief.

Her mother, Kim Hamilton, and sister, Sasha, have spoken publicly about their enduring pain. "It doesn't get any easier," Kim said eight years after her daughter's death. She vividly recalled the moment she learned the news, saying, "I was like 'Please God, don't let this be my baby, please God don't let this be Jade.'" The family’s frustration with the investigation's lack of progress is palpable. "It's like a cold case, they don't even go back into it," Kim expressed in a 2019 interview. She has pleaded for law enforcement to do more to find the person responsible. "I want it to be solved, I want someone to be taken off the streets so he won't be doing that to anyone else," she stated. "I know she wasn't the target but you were out here doing something you weren't supposed to be doing."

To ensure Jade is never forgotten, her family created a touching tradition. Every year on April 21, what would have been Jade’s birthday, they gather at Mt. Pleasant Park, the very place where her life was taken. They celebrate her, sharing memories and keeping her spirit alive for family members she never had the chance to meet. "We miss her, and every year we do something for her, every year we don't miss a beat," her mother said. These gatherings are both a tribute to a cherished daughter and a public reminder that a killer remains free.

As of April 2019, the murder of Jade Hamilton remains unsolved. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department has maintained that the investigation is still open, but no suspects have been named or charged in connection with her death. The family continues to hope that someone will come forward with the information needed to finally bring them closure. Police have asked that anyone with information regarding the shooting call CrimeStoppers.