Two teenagers were charged with murder on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, following the fatal shootings of five members of an Illinois family at three different locations.

The 16-year-old boy will be prosecuted as an adult, while the 15-year-old girl’s case will begin in juvenile court with a possible transfer to St Clair county criminal court, according to the county prosecutor’s office.

The shootings, described by police as a "targeted mass shooting," primarily occurred on Sunday in East St Louis, an Illinois city located across the Mississippi River from St Louis. Five people were killed and two others wounded.

Illinois state police director Brendan Kelly said troopers stopped a vehicle and arrested the teens on Sunday in a state park.

Marcus May, father of the 15-year-old girl, told the St Louis Post-Dispatch that his daughter was upset with family members and allegedly plotted the attacks with her boyfriend, Ja’ymeir Davis. May said he lost a nephew, two stepchildren, his mother, and a sister in the shootings.

According to a court filing, most of the shootings took place over the weekend, but one victim, May’s sister Cherie May, was shot days earlier.

It is not immediately known if Marcus May has legal representation to comment on the allegations.

Sources

Guardian US