On the evening of Tuesday, December 23, 2025, 17-year-old Fontez Forest of East St. Louis was found with multiple gunshot wounds in the driveway of a home on the 100 block of St. James Lane in Cahokia Heights. Officers responded to reports of shots fired around 7 p.m.; emergency personnel pronounced Forest dead at 9:58 p.m. at the scene, according to the St. Clair County Coroner.

Family members say Forest left their home on the 3300 block of Converse Avenue earlier that evening, took a rideshare to meet friends, visited one friend’s house, and then got into a vehicle with acquaintances from Belleville. His whereabouts between that ride and the shooting were unknown to the family until they were notified of the death. Forest was a student at East St. Louis High School who played football and basketball and was months away from graduation in May.

Cahokia Heights Police Chief Thomas L. Trice confirmed the Criminal Investigation Division is handling the case; as of the days after the shooting no arrests or named suspects had been announced. Does anyone have information about Forest’s movements that evening or witnessed activity around St. James Lane on December 23?