Jardyn Walker

Jamaal Lamonte Jones, 27, of the 4100 block of Lafayette Avenue, faces charges of first-degree murder, armed criminal action and tampering with evidence in connection with the shooting Tuesday night. Police said the victim was Jardyn Walker, 23, of Ferguson. University City police on Tuesday had said they had launched an investigation after a family member reported Walker missing. Walker's body was found around 1 a.m. Wednesday by police in an alley behind a building in the 500 block of Whittier Street, authorities said. A probable cause statement said Jones' brother told police that Jones and Walker were both at his apartment, in the same block of Whittier, Tuesday night. The witness said he was in a bedroom as the victim left the apartment, but heard gunshots, documents said. A short time later, the statement said, Jones ran back into the apartment with an assault rifle in his hands, then left in a vehicle. Police said officers arrested Jones while responding to a 911 call about shots fired on Whittier. He was arrested at Lindell Boulevard and Boyle Avenue. Police said the victim's body was found near Whittier and Olive Street after University City police reported to St. Louis police that the missing person's phone was traced there. McCoy used the word "pinged"/PC statement said "geolocated" Investigators then linked the missing person probe to the shooting, said St. Louis police spokesman Mitch McCoy. Court documents said Jones admitted firing the weapon, and said he was "in fear of his life." University City police said Walker, the missing driver, was supposed to meet his sister at an Amazon facility in Hazelwood but never showed up. He was last seen in University City delivering packages for his work, police said.