Ivy Michelle Brandon was 18 years old when she was killed in St. Louis on Tuesday, March 2, 2010. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department investigated her death, and the Washington Post's homicide database, which tracked killings in St. Louis through 2017, lists it as a homicide that remained open with no arrest.
Beyond her name, her age and the date of her death, almost nothing about Ivy Michelle Brandon has been made public. No news story about the killing, obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this account. She surely had family, friends and neighbors who remember who she was, but none of that has entered the public record.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say how she was killed, whether she was attacked indoors or on the street, whether she knew her attacker, what time of day it happened, or whether she died at the scene or later at a hospital.
It does not say whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
Ivy Michelle Brandon is also listed on CrimeTea, an online database of unsolved cases, where her death is recorded as an active murder case in St. Louis. The entry repeats the basic record but adds no details about what happened, which suggests that little beyond the police record has ever surfaced.
Ivy Michelle Brandon's name also appears in a 2018 Washington Post investigation that listed thousands of homicide victims across major American cities whose killings had not led to an arrest. Being on that list means that, years after the killing, the case was still counted among those for which no one had been arrested.
Her age and sex stand out. Most homicide victims in St. Louis in those years were men, and Ivy Michelle Brandon was a young woman of only 18, probably just out of high school or still finishing it. A girl of 18 would likely have had close family, friends, classmates or a partner who noticed when something was wrong. Searches for her full name find nothing except the case listings.
The location recorded in the Post's database places her death in the near north side, just north of downtown St. Louis, in an area of public and subsidized housing, churches and older homes. People who lived or worked in that area in March 2010 may remember the police activity that followed her death.
St. Louis was one of the most violent large cities in the United States in those years. The city, home to roughly 320,000 people, recorded 167 homicides in 2008, 143 in 2009 and 144 in 2010, giving it one of the highest per capita homicide rates of any major American city. Most of the victims were young Black men, and many of the killings were never solved. Cases with few public details often faded from view quickly.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Ivy Michelle Brandon could be found in news archives or public records. More than 16 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who knew Ivy Michelle Brandon and saw her in the days before she died, or who heard talk afterward of what happened, may be able to help. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a car seen leaving the area or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can call the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Homicide Division at 314-444-5371, or leave an anonymous tip with CrimeStoppers at 866-371-TIPS (866-371-8477).
