Man fatally shot at East St. Louis housing complex was son of state trooper’s killer
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An Illinois state trooper killed in East St. Louis
Read the BND’s previous coverage of the killing of Nicholas Hopkins while Illinois State Police served a no-knock warrant in East St. Louis in August 2019.
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The man shot and killed outside an East St. Louis public housing complex is the son of the drug dealer convicted last year in the murder of an Illinois State Trooper, Police Chief Kendall Perry confirmed.
Christopher Grant Jr., 26, was sitting in his car near the Samuel Gompers apartments at about 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 22 when he was fatally shot, according to Inspector Nick Mann of the Illinois State Police Public Safety Enforcement Group.
Tara Ric, a spokesperson for the St. Louis Medical Examiner’s office, said Grant was pronounced dead at Saint Louis University Hospital at 7:31 p.m.
In November of 2021, Grant’s father, also named Christopher Grant, was sentenced to 37 years and nine months in prison for the 2019 murder of Illinois State Trooper Nicholas Hopkins.
Hopkins was working with an Illinois State Police SWAT unit attempting to serve a no-knock warrant at a duplex in the 1400 block of North 42nd Street near Caseyville Avenue before sunrise on Aug. 23, 2019. Hopkins, 33, was a 10-year veteran of the state police and a life-long resident of Waterloo. His father served nearly 17 years as a city alderman.
Hopkins, the first SWAT operator in nearly 20 years to die in the line of duty, is survived by his wife, Whitney Hopkins, and three children, including a newborn daughter.
Grant pleaded guilty in federal court to second-degree murder in addition to drug and weapons charges on July 9 of 2021. He still faces trial on a 10-count indictment that includes first-degree murder in St. Clair County Circuit Court.
U.S. Attorney Steven Weinhoeft asked Chief District Judge Nancy Rosenstengal to give Grant a life sentence, calling him a “street-level drug dealer” who used the house on North 42nd Street in East St. Louis to hustle cocaine and marijuana and who needed “numerous high-powered fire arms to protect his operation.”
The investigation continues into the fatal shooting of Grant’s son, who also had been convicted on weapons and drug charges in St. Clair County. Police have not said if a motive or suspects have been determined.
Police are asking anyone with information about his shooting death is asked to call the Public Safety Enforcement Group at 346-3555, East St. Louis police at 618-825-6821, or CrimeStoppers at 346-371-TIPS. This is an anonymous tip line that pays up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest.
This story was originally published February 1, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
