Belleville man among four murdered during a violent weekend in East St. Louis
A violent weekend in East St. Louis resulted in the launch of four murder investigations , including that of a 30-year-old Belleville man.
Police also are investigating the shooting deaths of two men and an unidentified woman, whose body was found in the garage of a vacant home.
It’s not believed the murders are connected, according to Illinois State Police.
St. Clair County Coroner Calvin Dye identified one of the victims as Terrill D. Mason of the 700 block of West Main Street in Belleville.
East St. Louis Police were dispatched to the Samuel L. Gompers Housing complex, 650 N. Sixth St. Saturday at 9:13 p.m. in reference to shots being fired, said Cortez Slack, public safety director for the East St. Louis Housing Authority.
Slack said Mason has relatives in the Gompers complex and may have been visiting.
“When we got to the courtyard area on the west side of the property we found a black male not conscience and not breathing,” Slack said.
East St. Louis Patrol Sgt. Cantrell Patterson said there is no known motive or suspect. He said investigators are not sure Mason was the intended target of the gunfire.
‘”We are currently in the early stages of a police investigation. Illinois State Police are leading the investigation and providing us with additional assistance,” Patterson said.
East St. Louis police and Illinois State Police are jointly investigating three other homicides that happened over the weekend and are seeking help from the public.
On Saturday at 7:25 a.m., East St. Louis police were dispatched to the 1200 bock of State Street in reference to a man shot in a fenced-in parking lot.
“Our officers found a black male on the ground inside a fenced in lot who had been shot and killed,” Patterson said.
Dye identified the victim as Tony Townsend, 41, of the 7100 block of Church Lane, in East St. Louis. He said Townsend was pronounced at the scene at 8:27 a.m.
Earlier, East St. Louis police found the body of an unidentified Black female inside a vacant garage at 2408 Bond Ave.
Patterson said it is believed she also is the victim of a homicide, though that has not yet been confirmed.
Hardy Burns, who was living at the GreyStone Apartments in Alorton, was shot and killed on South 15th Street Saturday morning.
The four deaths bring East St. Louis homicide total to 19 for the year.
The violent weekend was bookended by the shooting deaths of William Porter Jr, 41, at the business he owned in East St. Louis on Thursday and Darwyn A. Woodhouse in the 1100 block of Tudor Ave. Monday night.
Police are asking anyone with information on these shooting deaths to call Illinois State Police at 571-4124.
This story was originally published July 13, 2020 at 5:11 PM.
