Prosecutors have charged 40-year-old Ranferi Rojas-Solano, of St. Charles, with first-degree murder. The shooting, police say, occurred during a gathering at an outbuilding on a boat and RV storage lot in the 8500 block of Orf Road, which is near the National Equestrian Center in Lake Saint Louis. Investigators said about 10 people attended the after-hours gathering, including someone who "inadvertently" created an audio recording of the moments leading up to the shooting and the sound of 10 gunshots being fired. Multiple witnesses told investigators that they saw the two men arguing before they started punching one another. Witnesses told police that Rojas-Solano left the outbuilding and began scouring a Jeep Grand Cherokee, looking for his backpack. A woman, whom police did not name in court records, reportedly pleaded with Rojas-Solano to leave and "to not do anything." He was later spotted by witnesses carrying a handgun and walking back toward the building, police say. Several other witnesses said they tried to intervene, but Rojas-Solano allegedly pointed the gun at them and "ordered them to move out of the way," investigators wrote in court documents. Rojas-Solano then entered the outbuilding, and witnesses said that they soon heard multiple gunshots. Investigators would later recover multiple 9 mm bullet casings at the scene. Authorities are not releasing the identity of the victim as they try to find his next of kin. After the shooting, Rojas-Solano left the building and, with his gun pointing at her, forced the woman, who had earlier begged him to leave, back into the Jeep Grand Cherokee, police said in court records. Rojas-Solano fled the scene and drove to Collinsville, where the woman said she begged him to let her go. She told police that Rojas-Solano confessed to killing the man and that caused her "to fear for her life." He ultimately dropped her at a Drury Inn Hotel and drove away. Lake Saint Louis Assistant Police Chief Capt. Josh Gilliam said Rojas-Solano and the woman were "not long-term acquaintances." "This was their first outing together," Gilliam said.
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Died
Feb. 28, 2026
Type
Shooting
Age
39 years old
Gender
Male
Where
8500 block of Orf Road,
Lake St. Louis,
St. Charles County