University City’s search request and a phone ping sent officers to an alley where the victim lay.
ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Authorities said a city homicide case grew directly out of a suburban missing-person call, after University City police asked for help early Wednesday tracking a 23-year-old delivery driver’s phone that led St. Louis officers to the 4200 block of Olive Street.
Investigators identified the victim as Jardyn Walker of Ferguson. He was reported missing Tuesday evening when he didn’t arrive at the Amazon Hazelwood plant to meet his sister for a ride home. By 1 a.m. Wednesday, St. Louis officers were working with University City detectives to ping Walker’s phone. The signal brought them to an alley off Olive, where they found Walker with a gunshot wound and pronounced him dead. By late afternoon, police said the person detained after a separate vehicle stop in the same neighborhood was booked, and prosecutors filed murder and related charges.
Officials said the sequence began with a shots-fired call around 8:45 p.m. Tuesday in the Central West End. A car leaving that block drew officers’ attention and was stopped near Boyle and Lindell. Police said the driver had weapons visible and was taken into custody. Around the same time, Walker’s family reported him missing. “The cases converged overnight,” a city police spokesperson said. Detectives later connected shell casings, statements from witnesses and the phone location data to outline a path from the shots-fired call to the alley where Walker was found.
Prosecutors charged Jamaal Lamonte Jones, 27, with first-degree murder, armed criminal action and evidence tampering. A witness named Jones as the shooter, according to charging papers. Detectives said Jones admitted firing a gun and claimed he feared for his safety; police also said casings were recovered, including some allegedly found in his pocket. Investigators said Walker and Jones knew each other and stressed that Walker was in the area for personal reasons, not making deliveries. The department said motive remains an open question pending interviews and lab results. The medical examiner will finalize cause of death after an autopsy.
The Central West End—dense blocks of older brick buildings, restaurants and hospitals—has long relied on a mix of private cameras and patrols. Overnight, officers taped off the alley, photographed evidence and sought video from building managers along Olive Street. Residents described seeing cruisers staking out the cross streets and a tow truck removing a car from near Lindell. “We heard two pops, then tires,” said a man who lives a block away and asked not to be named. Morning commuters passed a line of markers near dumpsters and fenced lots as detectives worked under floodlights.
Jones remained jailed Wednesday night ahead of an initial appearance, where a judge will consider detention and set future dates. Under state law, first-degree murder is eligible for life without parole. Police said additional lab work and camera footage reviews are underway this week; any new findings will be forwarded to prosecutors as supplemental reports. Separate notifications to Walker’s family were completed Wednesday evening. Authorities said they will release further confirmed details, including any changes to charges, when available.
As of Thursday, investigators had not announced a motive. The next expected step is an initial court hearing for Jones and continued evidence processing, including ballistics comparisons and analysis of digital records tied to the phone tracing that led officers to the scene.
Author note: Last updated January 22, 2026.