A tree collapsed onto Clayton Thomas and several parked cars on Gimblin Street during storms last Thursday night, killing the 33-year-old St. Louis man. Police got the call around 10 p.m. reporting someone trapped under a fallen tree just north of Bellfontaine Cemetery, and Thomas was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
The medical examiner's office confirmed that Thomas died at the hospital that night, according to First Alert 4. Police said he died after the tree fell on him amid the storms, which brought wind gusts of around 30 mph, per First Alert 4 meteorologists. A nearby resident told the station that the aging tree “unfortunately collapsed and landed on an individual and few other cars down there,” and that it struck several vehicles, including a Chrysler 300, according to a neighbor's account.
Katlyn Dettrie, who lives nearby and normally drives down that stretch of Gimblin Street on her way to work, said rainy and windy weather could have contributed to an already half-decayed tree coming down. Another neighbor described glass scattered across the scene and distraught people gathered nearby in the aftermath.
Neighbor Says He Warned the City for Years
A man identified only as Mr. Westbrook, who said he has lived on Gimblin Street for decades, told First Alert 4 he knew Clayton Thomas and has been in contact with his family since the tree fell. Westbrook said the tenant who owned the house had contacted the city several times about the tree, and he claimed it had not been maintained despite his belief that the city had planted it on what is private property.
The St. Louis Forestry Department pushed back on that account, telling the station the city does not plant trees on private property and is not responsible for maintaining them once they're there. The department's director visited the property last Monday to confirm the tree sat on private land, and officials said the department had recently spent considerable time maintaining city-owned trees elsewhere in the Baden neighborhood.
The dispute over who planted and should have maintained the tree remains unresolved, with Westbrook and the city offering conflicting accounts. Under Missouri law, establishing a public entity's liability for a dangerous property requires proof the condition was dangerous, directly caused the injury, created a foreseeable risk, and either resulted from a negligent or wrongful act or omission by a public employee or the entity had timely actual or constructive notice, according to Missouri Revised Statutes Section 537.600. The city's own guidance states that trees not on public rights of way are privately owned and remain the landowner's responsibility, per the St. Louis Forestry Division. The city's Citizen Service Bureau notes that while private trees are the owner's job to maintain, Forestry can still inspect potentially hazardous ones upon request, according to its online request portal.
A Department Stretched Thin Across the City
The confusion over who was supposed to maintain the tree on Gimblin Street echoes long-standing strain on St. Louis's tree-care system. As of 2023 reporting, the city's Forestry Department was operating with just 14 staff members despite being budgeted for 28, and the Citizen Service Bureau had logged 150 requests for tree inspections since late June of that year, according to earlier First Alert 4 reporting. The department said at the time that it prioritizes removing trees blocking streets or posing clear safety dangers first.
That earlier reporting also described monthly pruning blitzes by STL Neighborhood Foresters as an effort to keep more than 100,000 city trees healthier and safer. The city also holds a contract with an out-of-state company to help chip away at the broader tree backlog, the earlier report stated.
Falling trees have caused other close calls around the region in recent memory. A massive tree crushed two apartment buildings at the Kingston Apartments in south St. Louis County near Jefferson Barracks Park, according to Fox 2 Now. No one was trapped inside, though branches temporarily blocked residents from reaching the parking lot, and it was unclear at the time whether that collapse was tied to weather.
Residents of Gimblin Street are left grappling with Thomas's death and unanswered questions about whether the tree that killed him could have been removed sooner. Who bears responsibility for the tree, and whether the city received and acted on specific warnings about it, remains disputed between neighbors and city officials.
