St. Louis prosecutors charged Zahrell Jackson in the September shooting death of Justin Holmes.

KSDK and KMOV do not use the same age, and they do not use the same robbery count. KMOV's probable-cause account says Darius Nelson shot Holmes and that Jackson, or a third person, fired at the car. KSDK says three people tried to take Holmes's bag and that Holmes was shot during the robbery. Those are charging allegations. The case has not been tried.

KSDK reported Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, that prosecutors charged Zahrell Jackson, 20, in the fatal shooting of Justin Holmes, 18, on Sept. 4 in the West End. The station listed the counts as first-degree murder, three counts of armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon, and robbery. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported the same day that prosecutors had charged a second man in the West End shooting, and the paper's description of the story identifies that man as Zahrell Jackson, 20. KMOV reported, citing court records, that Zahrell Jackson, 22, faces first-degree murder, first-degree robbery, unlawful use of a weapon, and three counts of armed criminal action. Twenty and 22 are not the same age. Robbery and first-degree robbery are not the same count as written.

The second defendant is named differently too. KSDK reported officials charged 19-year-old Darius Malachi Azari Nelson with first-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action, and robbery. KMOV reported Darius Nelson, 19, faces first-degree murder, first-degree robbery, and two counts of armed criminal action, and that he pleaded not guilty on Oct. 9. KMOV reported both men are held without bond. KSDK's Wednesday story does not report a plea or a bond.

KMOV is the station that says who fired. Its account of the probable-cause statement says Jackson and Nelson planned to rob Holmes on Sept. 4, that Nelson sat in the back seat and told the driver to drop him near Plymouth and Oakley, and that Jackson and another suspect were waiting there. The statement, as KMOV reported it, says Nelson grabbed Holmes's bag as Holmes got out, a struggle followed, and Nelson shot and killed Holmes. It says Jackson, or potentially a third suspect, then fired a shot at the car. KMOV reported Jackson told police the phone number used to plan the robbery was not his, even though the phone was in his possession when he was arrested, and that he said he was not at the scene even though cell-phone data placed him there. Those are the allegations in the statement KMOV described. KSDK's account is shorter. It says Holmes and two friends had left a party and were taking an acquaintance home on Plymouth Avenue, where three people tried to take Holmes's bag, and that Holmes was shot during the robbery. KSDK does not say which of the three fired.

The place and the hour come from KSDK. Officers were called to the 5900 block of Plymouth Avenue after Holmes was dropped at a hospital with multiple gunshot wounds at about 8 p.m., and he died at the hospital, the station reported. KSDK reported a Sept. 11 vigil at Penrose Park, and it quoted his grandmother, Rosetta Harvey, saying, "He was a special child," and that he made people laugh, made them cry, was full of joy, and loved everybody. It quoted his mother, Ashley McCalister: "You took my son's life over a bag. I won't get my son back." KSDK reported Holmes had graduated from Confluence Academy High School, was enrolled at Ranken Technical College, and was about to turn 19. Those are the family's words and the station's biography. They are not the charging document. The counts KSDK and KMOV listed Wednesday are charges. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.