A St. Louis man will spend the rest of his life in prison for a killing that unfolded in real time on Facebook Live. Terron Young, 34, was sentenced Tuesday to life without the possibility of parole plus another 15 years after a jury found him guilty in the fatal shooting of 32-year-old emcee and musician Anthony Jefferson. Prosecutors say Jefferson was outside an event space, live-streaming to his followers, when he was gunned down.
In a news release, the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office said jurors convicted Young of first-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon. Life without parole is the harshest penalty available in Missouri short of the death penalty, and Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore made clear how his office viewed the case. "First-degree murder carries the most serious consequences under Missouri law, and today's sentence reflects the gravity of taking a life through a calculated act of violence," Gore said. The office identified the case as number 2422-CR00597-01 and credited Homicide Unit Deputy Chief Carolyn Chkautovich and Assistant Circuit Attorneys Nicholas Hirst and Ryan Dowd as the prosecutors.
How prosecutors say the attack unfolded
According to a Jan. 9 release from the Circuit Attorney's Office, the ambush happened on Feb. 2, 2024, on the 4700 block of Martin Luther King Drive. Jefferson had been hosting an event and was live-streaming outside when a gunman opened fire from what prosecutors described as a concealed "sniper's nest" across the street. Investigators said surveillance video captured Young's vehicle fleeing the scene.
Detectives later recovered spent cartridge casings from the shooting and ammunition that, according to the Circuit Attorney's Office, were matched to a co-defendant's residence. Prosecutors say the physical evidence and video together pointed to a coordinated hit rather than a random act of violence.
Co-defendants and the court calendar
Two other suspects, identified as Clarence Holmes, 43, and Avery L. Washington, 41, face a combined 12 felony counts, including first-degree murder, with jury trials for both scheduled to begin Aug. 3, 2026, according to FOX 2. Prosecutors say evidence gathered in the case tied Young and the alleged gunmen to a planned, targeted attack on Jefferson.
What comes next
Young's sentencing brings his part of the case to a close, but the legal fallout is not over. Holmes and Washington are still awaiting trial, with their day in court expected later this summer. For a deeper dive into the jury's decision and how prosecutors built their case, see our earlier coverage, Young Guilty In Jefferson Killing.
