On September 13, 2022, Michael Keith Gray, 45, was fatally shot inside his home on Mockingbird Hill in House Springs, Missouri. Known to family and friends as a free-spirited welder and tattoo artist, Gray was visited by a woman who arrived with a man later identified as Eric Quinn Collins. According to investigators, a confrontation began after Gray asked Collins to leave; Collins then produced a firearm and shot Gray. Emergency responders attempted aid but Gray was pronounced dead at the scene.

The woman who had accompanied Collins fled with him but was later located and cooperated with authorities, identifying Collins as the shooter. Collins, 29, of Arnold, Missouri, was arrested within 24 hours and booked into the Jefferson County Jail without bond. He was charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action; investigators described the shooting as arising from the altercation at the home rather than a random act.

Did anyone in the community know Gray’s routines or who might have been present at the house that evening?