Fatal metro-east shooting may have been motivated by revenge, prosecutor says

A late May shooting in Venice that left one man dead may have been motivated by revenge, a prosecutor said Tuesday during a Madison County court hearing.

Venice Police officers found 38-year-old Travion Sherrod, of Madison, dead in a vehicle near the intersection of Selb and Market streets May 26. Sherrod had been shot in the head, and his car was riddled with bullet holes, court documents say.

Jason A. McCallum, 18, of Florrissant, Missouri, is charged with first-degree murder in connection with Sherrod’s death.

McCallum was arrested Saturday, May 30, at St. Louis Lambert International Airport after a brief chase, state police said in a release. He was returning from a trip to Las Vegas that was planned before the shooting, his defense attorney T.J. Matthes said at McCallum’s pretrial detention hearing Tuesday.

Prosecutors provided new details at Tuesday’s hearing which they say point to McCallum as a suspect. Matthes, however, argued that the state’s case relies heavily on speculation and circumstantial evidence.

Madison County Judge John Hackett ordered Tuesday that McCallum stay in jail while he awaits trial.

Shooting was targeted, prosecutor suggests

McCallum’s close friend Kendall White was shot in the arm May 9 in Madison. Authorities say investigators believe Sherrod was involved in White’s shooting, Assistant State’s Attorney Audrey Paulda told the court.

“(McCallum) took matters into his own hands,” Paulda said.

Paulda said White was seen on store video in Venice the day of Sherrod’s death with McCallum, and McCallum was believed to have had a passenger in the car when he allegedly shot at Sherrod. White has not been charged with a crime.

Paulda said in an interview after the hearing that the investigation is ongoing.

Sherrod was not charged in St. Clair or Madison counties in connection with White’s shooting, court records show.

State’s case relies on speculation, defense says

Paulda also told the court a white Chevrolet Impala was seen in the area the day Sherrod died and a witness said they saw a white Impala speed away from the scene after they heard gunshots. McCallum’s mother has a white Chevrolet Impala registered in her name.

Paulda added that convenience store surveillance video showed McCallum attempting to pull down his shirt to conceal a firearm with an extended magazine in his waistband.

But there’s a lot of guessing going on, Matthes said in response to Paulda’s argument to detain McCallum. He questioned what he said was a lack of ballistics evidence, and said there isn’t anything that shows who fired the gun.

As far as the car spotted leaving the scene, Matthes said people may speed away after hearing gunshots – but that doesn’t mean the shots were fired from the car.

“I think their case, as it’s built right now, is based on speculation to a good extent,” Matthes told the court.

Both Matthes and Paulda addressed McCallum’s recent travels, which ended in McCallum’s arrest May 30.

Matthes said McCallum and his family had long planned to travel to Las Vegas to celebrate his and his cousin’s graduations and that the plane tickets were purchased before the Venice shooting. He said McCallum and his family were “fully cooperative” and scheduled a date to turn McCallum in after their return, though Paulda said McCallum returned on a different day than his family told police he would.

“We entered a plea of not guilty today and look forward to challenging the evidence in this case,” Matthes said in a statement after Hackett’s order.

McCallum waived his preliminary hearing. His next court date is scheduled for 9 a.m. Sept. 14 at the Madison County Criminal Justice Center.

BND reporter Lexi Cortes contributed to this report.

This story was originally published June 10, 2026 at 10:30 AM.