Anthony Lamar Smith

Anthony Lamar Smith, 24, was shot and killed by St. Louis Police Officer Jason Stockley on December 20, 2011, after a high-speed chase that began when Stockley believed he witnessed a drug transaction outside a Church's Chicken. Dashcam audio captured Stockley telling his partner “we're killing this [expletive], don't you know it” less than a minute before shooting Smith five times. Prosecutors alleged Stockley then planted a revolver in Smith's car — only Stockley's DNA was found on the gun, not Smith's. Stockley was charged with first-degree murder in 2016 and chose to have his case decided by a judge rather than a jury; in September 2017, Circuit Judge Timothy Wilson acquitted him, writing the state had not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt and remarking that “an urban heroin dealer not in possession of a firearm would be an anomaly.” No one has ever been convicted in Smith's death.

St. Louis, MO · St. Louis County

• 2011: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• The chase, the shooting, and Smith's death, per dashcam footage and evidence presented at Stockley's 2017 bench trial.
• Dashcam audio captured Stockley saying “we're killing this [expletive], don't you know it” approximately one minute before he shot Smith five times.
• In-car camera footage showed Stockley returning to his SUV and searching through a duffel bag immediately after the shooting; prosecutors alleged he retrieved a revolver from that bag to plant in Smith's car.
• DNA testing found Stockley's DNA on the gun recovered from Smith's car, and did not find Smith's.
• Stockley requested a bench trial rather than a jury trial, over prosecutors' objection; Circuit Judge Timothy Wilson acquitted him of first-degree murder and armed criminal action in September 2017, ruling the state had not disproven self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt.
• The acquittal prompted sustained protests in downtown St. Louis, including dozens of arrests.

• Whether Stockley in fact planted the gun in Smith's car, as prosecutors alleged based on the DNA evidence and his return to the duffel bag, was never resolved by any conviction — the judge found the evidence insufficient to disprove self-defense regardless.
• The specific reasoning behind the judge's remark that an urban heroin dealer lacking a firearm would be unusual, as a basis for crediting Stockley's account, has been criticized by legal observers as an inference not grounded in evidence specific to Smith.
• Whether Smith in fact possessed a weapon prior to the alleged planting has never been independently established.

• NPR — “Former St. Louis Police Officer Is Acquitted Of Murder In Anthony Lamar Smith Case”
• CBS News — “Jason Stockley not-guilty verdict: St. Louis ex-officer acquitted in killing of black man”
• BlackPast.org — “Anthony Lamar Smith (1987-2011)”
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs