Search fatalities

Troy Hamilton

Age : 37

Gender : Male

Race : Black

Date : 08/20/2025

Location : 3300 block of Welsberg Drive

City : Bel-Ridge

County : St. Louis

State : Missouri

Agency : St. Ann Police Department; St. John Police Department

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Gunshot

Event : Killed by police after foot chase to his home

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/20/2025, shortly after midnight, 37-year-old Troy Hamilton was shot and killed by two St. Ann police officers on the front porch of his home in the 3300 block of Welsberg Drive in Bel-Ridge. The encounter began over an alleged stop-sign violation, and Hamilton was killed outside St. Ann's jurisdiction after police pursued him into Bel-Ridge.
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A St. John police officer initially attempted to stop Hamilton near St. Charles Rock Road and North and South Road after police alleged that Hamilton failed to stop at a stop sign. St. Ann officers who were nearby joined the pursuit. The later-released police video confirmed that the alleged stop-sign violation was the specific initiating reason for the attempted stop.
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St. Ann police deployed a StarChase GPS tracking projectile onto Hamilton's red Pontiac. Police nevertheless continued following the vehicle. Later-released video showed the Pontiac reaching approximately 51 mph before Hamilton drove to his residence on Welsberg Drive in Bel-Ridge.
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Hamilton's passenger, Terrell Davis, later said Hamilton repeatedly expressed confusion about why police were trying to stop him. Davis said Hamilton drove home, got out of the car and headed toward his house.
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St. Ann officers followed Hamilton onto his property and pursued him on foot toward his front porch. Police later said they did not know at the time that Hamilton had driven to his own residence.
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Police alleged that Hamilton was gripping his waistband as he ran and that during a physical struggle on the porch he produced a firearm and pointed it toward the St. Ann officers. Two St. Ann officers then fired repeatedly at Hamilton. Police subsequently reported recovering a handgun beneath his body and alleged that the weapon had previously been reported stolen.
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There is no officer body-camera recording of the critical encounter. The two St. Ann officers who shot Hamilton were detectives, and authorities said departmental policy did not require them to wear body cameras. Consequently, the publicly released visual evidence does not provide a close-up view establishing precisely what Hamilton had in his hand at the instant police fired.
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Hamilton's family strongly disputes the police account. His father, Charles Hamilton, and family attorney Jermaine Wooten reviewed residential surveillance footage and said it does not show Hamilton threatening the officers or presenting a gun. Wooten said the footage shows Hamilton attempting to reach his front door before officers took him to the ground.
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The family's surveillance footage became particularly significant because the physical confrontation lasted only seconds and neither shooting officer had a body camera. Wooten estimated the interaction between Hamilton and police at the porch lasted approximately seven seconds. He said the available recording did not show Hamilton pointing a gun toward police.
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When the North County Police Cooperative eventually released a 15-minute edited video in October 2025, Hamilton's family continued challenging the police narrative. Wooten said the footage showed Hamilton being taken to the ground and then shot while face-down. He estimated officers fired five to seven times. Charles Hamilton said the footage did not establish what, if anything, his son was holding.
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Hamilton's widow, Britny Boyd, was inside the house with their four children when police shot him on the porch. She said she heard the gunfire and subsequently found her husband lying outside. She publicly accused St. Ann police of destroying her family and rejected the department's account of the shooting.
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The family also raised a separate and serious issue concerning medical aid after the shooting. Boyd said she had to call 911 herself seeking medical assistance for Hamilton. She said she begged police to help him while officers remained with their guns drawn. Family attorney Wooten similarly alleged that officers left Hamilton lying wounded without immediately providing aid.
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The police video released in October presented a different account of the post-shooting response, showing officers eventually calling for paramedics and attempting CPR. The family's allegations therefore include not only the justification for the shooting but the timing and adequacy of medical assistance afterward.
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Hamilton's father said police were attempting to portray his son as dangerous in order to justify killing him over a traffic stop. The family retained civil-rights attorney Jermaine Wooten and demanded the complete police recordings and other evidence rather than relying on an edited police presentation.
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The shooting also prompted intervention from the St. Louis County NAACP. Chapter president John Bowman questioned why the North County Police Cooperative was investigating officers from another small municipal department with which it regularly works. Bowman called for the St. Louis County Police Department to conduct the investigation instead and said he had previously filed formal complaints concerning St. Ann police pursuit practices.
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Bowman specifically criticized St. Ann's aggressive pursuit practices and questioned why police continued dangerous vehicle pursuits when GPS-tracking technology was available. In Hamilton's case, St. Ann police had actually deployed a StarChase GPS tracker during the pursuit.
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Questions surrounding the independence of the investigation ultimately led to federal involvement. On 08/22/2025, the North County Police Cooperative announced that it had coordinated with the FBI to provide an independent review of the shooting.
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The North County Police Cooperative released its edited critical-incident video on 10/29/2025. Police incorporated surveillance footage, audio and photographs into the presentation and maintained that Hamilton produced and pointed a gun during the struggle. The family and its attorney immediately disputed whether the released evidence actually demonstrated that allegation and criticized the use of an edited police presentation rather than release of all underlying evidence.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
Two St. Ann Police Department detectives fired at Troy Hamilton. Despite the October 2025 release of video and extensive subsequent reporting, the department and investigating agencies did not publicly identify the two shooting officers in the material located during this update.
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The officers' identities are especially significant because they were not wearing body cameras. Authorities said detectives were exempt from the St. Ann Police Department's body-camera requirement, leaving surveillance cameras and other external recordings as the principal visual evidence of the fatal confrontation.
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St. Ann Police Department pursuit practices were already the subject of complaints before Hamilton's death. St. Louis County NAACP president John Bowman said he had filed formal complaints concerning the department's pursuit practices and described the agency as having an aggressive chase policy. After Hamilton's killing, Bowman questioned why officers continued pursuing vehicles through populated communities despite having technology such as GPS trackers available.
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The St. Ann Police Department also has documented prior federal civil-rights litigation concerning police use of force. In Hollingsworth v. City of St. Ann, a woman sued the city and St. Ann personnel after an officer used a Taser on her during booking when she would not change into jail clothing. The case reached the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. That litigation involved other St. Ann personnel and predates Hamilton's death, but it documents prior federal litigation over the department's use of force.
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Hamilton's family retained attorney Jermaine Wooten and publicly accused the officers of using unjustified deadly force and failing to promptly render medical aid. The family continued challenging the shooting after viewing both residential surveillance footage and the police-edited October video.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/crime/shooting-involving-north-st-ann-police-officer-suspect-dead/63-34c51faf-98dc-4400-9703-b120b691b509
https://www.kmov.com/2025/08/20/1-person-dead-officer-involved-shooting-st-ann
https://fox2now.com/news/missouri/officer-involved-shooting-in-st-ann
https://www.firstalert4.com/2025/08/20/1-person-dead-officer-involved-shooting-st-ann/
https://www.firstalert4.com/2025/08/21/they-robbed-me-my-husband-friends-family-speak-out-after-deadly-officer-involved-shooting/
https://www.firstalert4.com/2025/08/21/man-killed-by-st-ann-police-after-chase-questions-raised-about-investigation-transparency/
https://www.firstalert4.com/2025/08/22/fbi-review-family-challenges-police-narrative-after-fatal-shooting-bel-ridge/
https://www.firstalert4.com/2025/08/22/fbi-requested-independent-review-deadly-officer-involved-shooting/
https://www.firstalert4.com/2025/10/29/watch-police-release-video-deadly-officer-involved-shooting-north-county/
https://www.firstalert4.com/2025/10/29/family-reacts-after-video-footage-deadly-officer-involved-shooting-released/
https://graphics.stltoday.com/apps/homicide-tracker/2025/victims/troy-hamilton%2B2025-08-20/
https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/us-8th-circuit/1712515.html