A St. Louis man has pleaded guilty to murder in the death of Colin Brown, the 16-year-old hockey player who was struck by a stray bullet while riding home from a game with his father nearly two years ago. Donovan Baucom, 30, admitted in court Monday to second-degree murder, first-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon and three counts of armed criminal action.
Brown was hit by an apparent stray bullet on Interstate 55 near Loughborough and Bates in St. Louis on Nov. 23, 2024, as he and his father drove home from a hockey game, according to KMOV. He died from his injuries four days later. A separate report from Fox 2 Now also places the shooting and Brown's death four days apart, on Nov. 23 and Nov. 27, 2024, though another Fox 2 Now report on a later arrest described Brown as shot and killed on Nov. 27, 2024 — an inconsistency in the public record that has not been resolved.
Brown was an honor student at Christian Brothers College and played hockey both for CBC's varsity team and for Affton Americans Hockey, per the station's report. His age and the randomness of the shooting — a bullet finding him inside a moving car on the highway — turned the case into one of the more closely watched prosecutions in the St. Louis area over the past two years.
What Court Documents Allege
Court documents allege that Baucom admitted to driving an Audi suspected of involvement in the shooting, the same account states. Baucom has been held in the St. Louis City Jail since December 2024, and St. Louis City Court records show he pleaded guilty this week to the murder and weapons charges.
His plea agreement is confidential as of publication, but it is contingent on his cooperation in other cases, the outlet reported. Baucom is scheduled to be sentenced in March 2027. Court records reviewed separately by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch identify Baucom as the first of four defendants in the case to plead guilty to murder.
Three Others Still Facing Charges
Three other people have been charged in connection with Brown's death: Diamond Baucom, Garret Jordan and James Roach. Diamond Baucom, 27, is Donovan Baucom's sister and was charged with first-degree murder, first-degree assault and three counts of armed criminal action, according to a separate report from Fox 2 Now. Investigators have claimed it was Diamond's car that was used in the shooting, and Garret Jordan was also believed to be the second suspect in relation to the shooting, per that same account.
James Roach, 26, was the fourth person arrested in the case and was charged with first-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon, assault and three counts of armed criminal action, according to News 13 Orlando. The Post-Dispatch has reported that investigators believe the gunfire that killed Brown was actually intended for someone else.
The current court status, pleas and dispositions for Diamond Baucom, Garret Jordan and James Roach have not been independently confirmed. Members of the public can track filings in the case through the Missouri Courts' online case search, which the state says allows remote access to documents filed on or after July 1, 2023.
