His name was DeAndre Joshua and he was only 20 years old. Police found his body in a parked car a few blocks from where Michael Brown was killed the night of the verdict riots in Ferguson. The driver’s side window was shot out and Joshua’s body was riddled with bullets and set on fire. Residents claim that they overheard at least four people with guns making plans to engage in looting and at least one person stated they wanted to kill someone that night. The young man’s mother was held back by police as she identified her child in the burning vehicle. A neighbor, identified as Richard Taylor, stated that he did call the police when he overheard the people talking about causing violence but the police never showed up. According to Taylor, “There was a lot going on last night, but I thought at least someone would show up to arrest these guys.”
Some in the community are concerned about recent KKK threats of violence and wonder if the death of Joshua is connected. The St. Louis Department is treating his death as a homicide but do not have any suspects at this time.
