Charles McBride

Man charged with drug killing: A 42-year-old man was charged Tuesday with a shooting over drugs that left a man dead in the city’s Carondelet neighborhood. Edward J. Gray is facing charges of first-degree murder, armed criminal action, unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful use of a weapon over the death of Charles McBride, 42, who was expecting to sell drugs to Gray that night, according to court documents. Police arrived around 10:40 p.m. Monday to the 7700 block of Alaska Avenue, where a witness told them her friend had been shot blocks away in the 7800 block of Rio Silva Place. Authorities arrived at the apartment building and found McBride’s body. The woman at the scene told police she and McBride had planned to sell drugs that night. McBride went inside the apartment, and she heard two shots. After that, the woman said a man wearing a red, white and blue coat approached her vehicle, pointed a gun in her face and said, “Where’s the crack?” He then took a watch and some change from the car, walked away and left in a silver vehicle. Officers looked through McBride’s home and saw he had received a call before the shooting from a number registered to Gray. The woman at the scene also picked Gray out of a lineup. Gray is being held at the St. Louis jail without bond.