A 21-year-old St. Louis man is facing a first-degree murder charge in connection with a fatal shooting in the Mark Twain neighborhood. The victim was identified as Ron Banks.
According to STLtoday.com, the fatal shooting happened on June 21 in the 5000 block of West Florissant Avenue.
Banks was found with gunshot wounds and died at a hospital.
Legal Stakes Tied to Missouri's Self-Defense Standard
Webster's account could carry significant weight in how prosecutors ultimately present the case, given Missouri's legal standards around deadly force. Under Missouri Revised Statutes § 563.031, a person is only justified in using deadly physical force in self-defense if they reasonably believe it is necessary to protect against imminent death, serious physical injury, or a forcible felony, according to research published by UMKC. While Missouri's stand-your-ground law removes any duty to retreat from a place a person has a right to be, the law also limits self-defense claims by initial aggressors.
The first-degree murder charge itself is a Class A felony under Missouri Revised Statutes § 565.020, and for an adult defendant it carries a mandatory penalty of either the death penalty or life imprisonment without the possibility of probation or parole, according to Justia Law.
Suspect Already Wanted on Separate Charges
Webster, who has a residential address in the Benton Park West neighborhood, was wanted on unrelated charges of resisting arrest and motor vehicle tampering at the time of his arrest in this case, the Post-Dispatch reports.
A Neighborhood Already on the Radar for Violence
The shooting occurred in Mark Twain, a northwest St. Louis neighborhood bounded by West Florissant Avenue and Bellefontaine and Calvary Cemeteries to the northeast, Interstate 70 to the south, and Emerson Avenue to the northwest, according to City of St. Louis neighborhood planning records. Emergency calls and homicide investigations in Mark Twain fall under the jurisdiction of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department's District 6, headquartered at 5076 West Florissant Avenue as part of the department's North Patrol Division, as Hoodline previously reported.
In Mark Twain specifically, a September shooting marked the sixth violent case in the neighborhood since March, and an August carjacking spree ended with 12 felony charges filed against two St. Louis men.
Citywide Homicides Keep Falling Despite Local Violence
A report cited by Fox2Now showed 139 homicides in 2025, down 7% from 151 in 2024 — the lowest annual total since 2013.
