On the evening of Friday, December 12, 2025, officers responding to reports of a shooting in the 3900 block of Walnut Street in Cahokia Heights found 67-year-old Bruce A. Mason inside a Toyota RAV4 with a fatal gunshot wound to the head. Mason, a Maryville resident, was a Navy veteran and a blacksmith who owned a welding business; he was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. He is survived by a daughter and grandchildren.

The Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis expanded the inquiry after executing a search warrant the next afternoon at a nearby residence, where investigators found 44-year-old Laniya Joyce White dead from a gunshot wound to the head. Police described the two as acquaintances and said Mason often parked in White’s driveway; authorities characterized both killings as a targeted attack rather than a random act.

On December 16, 2025, investigators took 54-year-old Shawn L. Williams of Belleville into custody; the St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s Office charged him the next day with two counts of first-degree murder. Prosecutors told a detention hearing that cellphone data placed Williams at the scene for about three hours and that audio recovered nearby captured gunshot sounds during that time, while his attorney said he denies the charges.

If anyone knew Mason or White, or saw activity on Walnut Street or the nearby driveway on December 12, please share what was observed.