OAKVILLE — The Black Forest apartment complex in south ºüÀêÊÓƵ County where Barbara Hollis has lived for the last decade is a quiet community.
Someone broke into her car once. Other than that, there’s no trouble.
But as she left her apartment with her 4-year-old grandson Monday afternoon, a dead teenager lay in her parking lot. Collin Courtwright, 15, had been shot at the apartment complex in the 2800 block of Innsbruck Drive. Hollis told her grandson the teen he saw lying on the pavement was sleeping.
“It’s awful,†Hollis said Tuesday from the parking lot in front of her building. “The crime is just terrible everywhere.â€
Courtwright was one of three teens shot Monday afternoon, two of whom died. Courtwright, of the 1000 block of Wachtel Avenue in Lemay, was pronounced dead at the scene. Another teen — friends and family said he was 16 — died on the way to the hospital. The Post-Dispatch is not naming him because police say they are still trying to notify his family.
Police said Tuesday the shooting happened as the teens tried to buy a cartridge that’s used to vape marijuana from the two suspects — 19-year-old Tyler Coleman and 18-year-old Zachary Hough.
Coleman and Hough were both charged Tuesday with two counts of second-degree murder, armed criminal action and delivery of less than 35 grams of marijuana. They’re being held on cash-only bonds of $500,000.
Coleman is a senior at Oakville High School and played football, according to his social media profile. Coleman lives in the 7200 block of Becker Road in the Oakville area of unincorporated south ºüÀêÊÓƵ County, and Hough lives in the 4200 block of Massabielle Drive in the Mehlville area.
The shooting happened about 2 p.m. Monday. Police received a call from a nearby subdivision where friends said two of the victims ran after being shot.
On Tuesday, about a half-dozen friends of Courtwright and the other teen gathered at a memorial for the pair, holding candles and balloons. Courtwright’s father, Samuel Starns, held back tears remembering his son.
“Me and him were like best friends,†Starns said. “Everybody loved him.â€
Starns’ son liked gaming and drawing, the father said. He had gotten into some trouble and faced juvenile charges but had recently had his ankle monitor removed. His father had vouched for him and urged authorities to allow it to be removed.
He now wishes he hadn’t.
His son was attending St. Charles High remotely but had just been reenrolled at Hancock Place in Lemay. He had seen him just a few hours before after returning home from a counseling session required by the juvenile court, Starns said. He didn’t realize he had left home until his sister called and told him about the shooting in Oakville. Starns tracked his phone and drove to the apartments.
“I almost fell down,†Starns said when he arrived at the complex and saw the police and crime scene tape. “I couldn’t breathe.â€
A resident of the complex held Courtwright’s hand while his son took his last breath, Starns said.
“At least someone was there with him,†he said.
Kaitlynn Kennedy, 19, said she has known the surviving victim her whole life. He was undergoing surgery Tuesday, she said. He is a student at Oakville High School and was friends with Courtwright and Williams.
“I’m just glad he made it out,†she said.
Kyra Fletcher, 15, said she was Courtwright’s girlfriend. They had been a couple since the summer, she said. He was sweet and honest.
“He was so goofy,†Fletcher said Tuesday. “He seemed happy.â€
Fletcher was at the makeshift memorial Courtwright’s family had put up in the parking lot of the apartment complex Tuesday. A freshman at Oakville High School a half-mile from the scene, Fletcher said videos and pictures of Courtwright’s body laying on the parking lot have already circulated among students there.
“I don’t want to go to school while everyone’s talking about how my boyfriend’s lying dead†in the parking lot, she said.
Editor's note: This article was updated Thursday with the correct name of a friend of the surviving shooting victim. Â
Christine Tannous of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
Scenes as family, friends mourn after Oakville shooting that killed two teenagers
A fourth suspect is still at-large almost two months after authorities charged him with murder in a south county triple shooting that killed t…
Family members of Collin Courtwright, 15, release balloon in his honor during a vigil Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, at the Black Forest Apartments in Oakville.