Trevon Russell

Trevon Russell used to go to the park while his parents were at work.
His father would drop him at his grandparents’ house, about a block and a half from Mount Pleasant Park. A popular hangout spot for neighborhood kids, it had been an integral part of his life since he was a young child.
According to father Jermar Russell, the 16-year-old, who was living with autism, also enjoyed reading books about different presidents and sketching portraits of them in his free time. After attending Roosevelt High School for his freshman year, Trevon transferred to Nottingham Community Access and Job Training School.
A couple weeks before he was supposed to return to playing basketball after school and griping about homework, Trevon was rushed to the hospital with gunshot wounds. He died later that same day.
Trevon was killed on August 2, 2018, while sitting on his favorite red swing.
Jermar was at work when he heard about what happened from his own father, Trevon’s grandfather. Also a native of Saint Louis, Jermar commented on the difference between his generation’s experiences and his son’s.
“You’ve got kids scared for their life. When I was growing up, I never felt like that. All we did in the summertime was have fun,” Jermar said.
Trevon’s death remains an unresoalved case. Police identified a person of interest; however, no arrests have been made to date. According to Jermar, while the detective believed he had acquired some solid leads, there was insufficient evidence to pursue them.
Jermar, frustrated with the lack of community response to not only his son’s death, but also the numerous other shootings in Saint Louis, said, “People are still wrapped in this mindset that telling what they see makes them weak, makes them a target. If I see someone in front of me kill a kid, I’m snitching. I’m telling. I’m telling on you and you’re going to jail.”
Jermar believes the problem is rooted in irresponsible ownership of the weapons. When they are stolen and end up in the hands of youth, Jermar believes, is when trouble begins.
“It ain’t like no people out here my age killing these kids– it’s their peers. People under 20 killing the other youth. There are a lot of theories you can come up with, but the youth are out of control,” Jermar said.
At the end of the day, Jermar refuses to blame the problem on causes like video games. He attributes the epidemic to parenting. As a parent, he says that he often feels like he should have put his son in a summer camp or another structured and supervised environment; however, this expectation is so contrasted to his own childhood.
“When I was growing up, summertime was our break. I was just trying to let [Trevon] be a kid.”