A 15-year-old girl has been accused of killing five members of her family and injuring two more with the assistance of her 16-year-old boyfriend. The couple, whose names have not been publicly released because they have been arrested but not formally charged, allegedly carried out the attacks across multiple locations in East St. Louis, Illinois, on Sunday, July 12.
Victims Identified
Authorities identified the deceased as the girl's cousin, 24-year-old Devin May; her step-siblings, 21-year-old Quentin Thompson and 25-year-old Shania Thompson; her 74-year-old grandmother, Patricia May; and her 49-year-old aunt, Cherie May. Two other individuals, who have not been publicly identified, were also shot and sustained serious injuries but survived.
Father Speaks Out
The girl's father, Marcus May, expressed devastation over the tragedy and provided insight into the events leading up to the shooting. He revealed that he received a call from his child's mother five days before the shooting, warning that she had run away from home and stolen her gun, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
May, who shares custody of his daughter, stated that she had been repeatedly getting into trouble at school in the months prior, leading both parents to pull her out and homeschool her. He said this decision infuriated his daughter, who lived with her mother, and she had previously run away from home several times and stolen her mother's credit card.
Disturbing Group Chat
May added that his ex-partner warned him that their daughter was involved in a disturbing group chat with her boyfriend and other teens, where they discussed killing her family members. However, he did not take the threat seriously at the time. He noted that his daughter's troubling behavior escalated until she stole the gun from her mother days before the shooting.
Day of the Tragedy
On the day of the bloodbath, May said the girl's grandmother Patricia, who was killed in the shooting spree, had called her granddaughter begging her to come home and insisted she could 'deal with' her behavior. May also contacted the boyfriend's parents to urge them to keep their son away from his daughter. The girl's mother then reported her missing and warned police that the gun was stolen, but days passed without any contact.
On Sunday morning, May woke up to numerous missed calls and messages, and he knew something had gone terribly wrong. Police reported that the victims were killed in several locations across East St. Louis. Shania Thompson was found in a car behind an abandoned property near May's home, while her brother Quentin was discovered nearby on the other side of Interstate 64. The other three victims were all found at the Samuel Gompers apartment complex.
Police Statement
Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly described the events as a 'targeted mass shooting' and confirmed that the teenagers have been arrested but not formally charged. The investigation is ongoing.
