WELLSTON, MO — A mother’s 18-year-old son was murdered in Wellston at around 11pm Wednesday night. What happened afterward added to Crystal Reid’s grief. Her son’s body remained on the ground at the crime scene for about 8 hours. Police said they’re doing their job, trying to find the young man’s killer. They said they had no intention of adding to his mother’s agony.
“I’m hurt, I’m in pain.” Reid camped out on Julian Avenue in Wellston at the crime scene all night long. She added, “My son is still laying on the ground right now it’s 6:58 am. As we speak I want to know why my son is still laying on the ground.”
Police say there are a number of reasons for the body remaining in place. North County Police Cooperative arrived first on the scene. About an hour and a half hour later they turned the case over to the Major Case Squad.
”They didn’t have the resources on hand to properly follow up. At that point, they contacted the Major Case Squad,” according to spokesman Sgt. Keith Rider.
Then St. Louis County evidence technicians were contacted at 2:06am to collect evidence. It takes time for police to gather and begin their investigation of a crime scene that was growing. Rider said, “We had a large crime scene we actually had multiple crimes scenes.”
They did try to shield the teen’s body from the public. It was a quiet street and daylight was still coming. They are going to use all those factors to their advantage and take their time to make sure nothing is missed.
“We feel terrible about that. It shouldn’t happen to any mother. What we can say is we’re trying to do a thorough investigation as possible and covering everything we can in order to find out who’s responsible for this,” said Rider.
Apparently, the woman’s son was killed when gunshots were fired between people in the street and the car he was riding in. Another person was wounded. Police said there are witnesses and they’re hoping they come forward and help detectives catch the killer and possibly relieve the victim’s mother of some her pain; knowing her son’s killer has been caught.
