Man charged in shooting death of Jaylon McKenzie, promising East St. Louis athlete
A man has been charged in connection with the death of promising metro-east football player, Jaylon McKenzie.
Jaylen Staten, 20, was charged Friday in a Madison County Circuit Court with aggravated discharge of a firearm, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and reckless discharge of a firearm. He currently is being held in St. Clair County Jail on an unrelated charge, according to Madison County court documents.
McKenzie’s mother, Sukeena Gunner, of Belleville, said Staten is her son’s first cousin on his father’s side of the family, but the two had never met.
An investigation into the incident continues, according to the Madison County State’s Attorney’s office.
“We’re hopeful with these charges and hopeful there will be more to come,” Gunner told the Belleville News-Democrat. “Hopefully this is just the first wave, and that in the weeks and months to come there will be other charges.”
Gunner said she didn’t know authorities were close to charging anyone prior to being told by detectives on Thursday.
“I had no emotion when the detective read off the charges, but I was hit by a wave of emotions last night at bed time,” she said. “Right now I’m excited that there are charges.”
McKenzie was 14 and had just graduated from middle school at the time of his death, but he already had drawn the attention of major college football programs. An October 2018 issue of Sports Illustrated declared him one of “six teens who will rule the future of sports.”
According to Illinois State Police, McKenzie was struck by a stray bullet while attending a graduation party in the 600 block of 3rd Street in Venice on May 4, 2019. He died shortly after at an area hospital.
A 15-year-old girl also was hit, police said at the time, but her name and condition has never been made public.
McKenzie attended the party with friends after an eighth-grade dance. Gunner said at the time she was told that he was trying to leave when a fight broke out. She said the party was supervised by the home owner, who called the police and stopped the party.
That’s when McKenzie was struck by a bullet fired into a crowd, police said at the time.
“I still think it was random,” Gunner said Friday. “There was gang war and activity going on that made the environment really unsafe for everyone else.”
The party was held at the home of Venice Alderman Celestine Williams. She said at the time her grandson had asked if he could have an after-prom party there.
“We had a party last year and there weren’t any problems, so when he asked to have a party this time, I said OK,” she said. “It was a party so the kids could have a good time. They do not have any place here to go; there’s not much in Venice for them to do.”
She said she had no idea how many people were going to show up. People in the neighborhood said they believe 400 to 500 people showed up.
Williams said there was a fight, then it escalated.
“As soon as I heard this, I said ‘That’s it. This party is over. Everyone is dismissed,’” she said. “That’s when everything started.”
Williams said she then heard gunshots coming from the direction of Kerry, Third and Granville streets. There must have been more than one shooter, she said.
“The shots were coming from everywhere,” she said. “... all over.”
Party goers scattered. Some hid under cars while others ran to Williams’ sister’s house next door.
“We were trying to get everyone to safety,” Williams said. “The police told us to let them in because there was an active shooter outside. They continued to shoot while the police were here. The ambulance couldn’t get through.”
Williams said she doesn’t know what led to the violence.
After the shooting, Gunner said in an interview that her son “did everything right. If he did anything wrong, I didn’t know about it.
“He got up every morning, went to school, did his work. He never rode with anyone else; I’d take him to school, or sometimes my husband, and we’d pick him up. Then the next day, we’d do it all over again.”
Though he had not yet played a down of high school football, McKenzie already had received scholarship offers from both the University of Illinois and University of Missouri.
Though he had attended Central Jr. High in Belleville as of the previous fall, there was some question about where he would play his high school football. Based on social media posts and college recruitment web sites like 24/7 Sports, however, it appeared he was bound for East St. Louis Senior High.
He since transferred to Mason-Clark Middle School in East St. Louis for the spring 2019 semester.
Philip Lasseigne, communications director for the Madison County State’s Attorney, said Friday no other information regarding the circumstances that led investigators to Staten would be released until their probe is complete.
Gunner said a “Justice 4 Jaylon” rally is planned for Monday in East St. Louis to mark the two-year anniversary of his death. It is from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 8750 Church Lane in East St. Louis.
“We wanted to speak to the community so that anyone with information would step forward and then also just to speak to the community in general about gun violence and the no-snitch rule,” she said.
Staff writer Carolyn P. Smith contributed to this report.
This story was originally published April 30, 2021 at 4:46 PM.