Neighbors shocked after teen believed to be target of drive-by shooting

ST. LOUIS – Neighbors in south St. Louis are in shock after learning that a teen found shot in the head last week in an alleyway was the target of a drive-by shooting last month.

Residents on Pennsylvania Avenue were jolted awake by gunfire, initially mistaking it for fireworks. Video footage captured the car firing at homes, leaving residents in fear and disbelief. Neighbors believe the target from the drive-by shooting is 17-year-old Kentrell Keith, the same teenager who was found shot in the head just weeks later in Benton Park West.

“We didn’t know, but we was there, at home when we heard a shooting that night. So I went to grab my daughter, took her out of her room. We just ducked because of how close it was,” one anonymous neighbor said.

Several neighbors were unaware of the tragic incident and were shocked to hear this happened in their neighborhood.

“I’ve been here over 20 years, and we’ve never had the kind of problem you just told me about…of shootings. But we are used to, or I’m used to, seeing it on the news every night. Just not here,” resident Richard Harrison said.

Other residents were not surprised.

“I didn’t know the whole story of the situation, but it seems like a targeted crime (rather) than a random act, which makes me safer,” one neighbor stated.

According to St. Louis Metropolitan Police, they responded to a call around 3 a.m. Tuesday about a person down in the 3100 block of Nebraska Ave. Officers found a male victim in an alley with a gunshot wound to the head and pronounced him dead at the scene.

On Friday, the victim was identified as 17-year-old Kentrell Keith.

The family of Keith has set up a GoFundMe page in order to raise funds for his funeral services. If you would like to support and donate, click here .

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