Tony Garth was 24 years old when he was killed in St. Louis on Saturday, September 23, 2017. The case was investigated by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. The Washington Post's homicide database, which tracked killings in St. Louis through 2017, lists his case as a homicide that remained open with no arrest. The crime-tracking site CrimeTea also lists his case as an active, unsolved murder.
Very little about how he died has been made public. The database record does not say how he was killed, what time of day it happened, or whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital.
One news report may be connected. On October 2, 2017, WRAL published a story headlined "Mother pleading for answers after son is found dead in alley," in which a woman named McGee said the last time she saw her son, Tony Garth, was "a week ago on Friday," and said the family planned a memorial. That Friday would have been September 22, the day before the date in the database.
The portion of the report available does not say where he was found, so it could not be confirmed that it is the same man.
No suspect description, vehicle, person of interest or motive connected to his death has been made public in the material found for this account, and no reward offer could be found.
At 24, Tony Garth was a young man with most of his life ahead of him. Beyond the possible report of a mother searching for answers, no obituary or family statement could be found. Many search results for his name belong to other people, including a British jockey and an artist, which makes it harder to find any trace of him.
The location recorded in the database places his death in north St. Louis, several miles north of downtown, in an area of brick homes, alleys and vacant lots. People who lived there in late September 2017 may remember the police activity that followed his death.
St. Louis, a city of roughly 300,000 people, has for years had one of the highest homicide rates of any large American city. Police recorded about 120 homicides in 2013, 159 in 2014, 188 in both 2015 and 2016, and 205 in 2017, the most in roughly two decades. In many of those years, detectives solved fewer than half of the city's killings. Cases with few public details, like his, often faded from view quickly.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Tony Garth could be found in news archives or public records. More than 9 years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who saw Tony Garth on Friday, September 22, 2017, or the day after, or who heard talk of what happened to him 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).
