UNIVERSITY CITY, MO (KTVI) –
University City Police are continuing to look for suspects in Thursday night’s fatal drive-by shooting of 17 year old Destinee Clemons. On Friday, police recovered the car they think may have been the one used by the suspects, who are described only as four black males.
“This is just a shame, I mean they were just sitting on their porch like a normal day, this is terrible,” said Kyra Jackson, the victim’s first cousin.
The shooting happened a few minutes before 8:00 p.m., as Clemons sat enjoying a summer evening on the porch of her family`s home in the 6500 block of Plymouth. She had been sitting there with her mother, her sister and three brothers, plus a young cousin, when for reasons unknown, a red car with four men inside drove up. They yelled something and then opened fire from both the front and back seat.
Clemons died at the scene.
“Destinee was a kind and loving person. She was very funny. She was the life of our family. She always told jokes. She just had her prom. She just graduated. She had plans for her birthday on July 9th. She was a very loving person, full of life,” said Jackson.
The victim’s 23 year old sister and a five year old cousin were also hit, but not seriously wounded.
As the news spread, other family members gathered at the police line, joined by frightened neighbors, like Evelyn Gates.
“I went right into praying for the family. It hurt so bad to see a mother cry the way she cried and scream the way she screamed because her child is now deceased over senseless killings,” Gates said.
The family had lived in University City only since March.
No one knows of any reason why someone would target the family. They reportedly had no problems with anyone in their new neighborhood or their old neighborhood in the City of St. Louis.
Clemons had just graduated from Marquette High School and worked at the Target in Brentwood. She had hopes of going to college.
