Keontae Tureaud

Keontae D'Shawn Tureaud, a 19-year-old Black man, was known as a selfless and ambitious hard worker. A graduate of Parkview High School in Springfield, Missouri, he was an employee at Walmart. His family recalled his deep love for his mother; when she experienced kidney failure, Keontae registered as an organ donor in the hope of saving lives.

On the evening of July 1, 2023, Keontae was at a residence on West Madison Street with his friend, 20-year-old Nikolai Janes, and two others. The group was drinking vodka and smoking marijuana when Janes retrieved his Glock .40 caliber handgun to show them. According to witnesses, Janes unloaded the firearm, and he and Keontae began "play fighting" and messing around with it. At one point, Janes got the gun from Keontae, pointed it at the back of his head, and pulled the trigger, believing the weapon was unloaded.

Police and emergency services responded to the home at 10:45 p.m. and found Keontae with a life-threatening gunshot wound to his head. He was transported to a local hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries two days later on July 3, 2023. His death was classified as the city’s 10th homicide of the year. In his final act, his organs were donated to help others.

Nikolai Janes was identified as the suspect at the scene and was arrested on July 2. The Greene County Prosecutor’s Office initially charged him with second-degree assault and armed criminal action, and he was held on a $100,000 bond. Following Keontae's death, the charges were upgraded on July 7 to first-degree involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action. The prosecutor's office later noted that Janes's "series of reckless choices" that night violated every basic firearm safety rule.

Nikolai Janes ultimately pleaded guilty to first-degree involuntary manslaughter, and the armed criminal action charge was dismissed. On April 6, 2026, a judge sentenced him to five years in the Missouri Department of Corrections. The judge denied probation, ordering Janes to serve his sentence in prison.