Legal fallout from a drug deal gone wrong that left two teenagers dead in Oakville is finally grinding toward a conclusion more than two years after the shooting. The Feb. 5, 2024 incident in the parking lot of the Black Forest Apartments killed 15-year-old Collin Courtwright and 16-year-old Tyree Williams and left a third person wounded, and relatives say the court process has ripped open raw grief across the community. As filings and hearings wind down, families are asking how a brief transaction could end in so much loss.
Prosecutors charged two Oakville men, 19-year-old Tyler Coleman and 18-year-old Zachary Hough, in the deaths and say the shootings followed a marijuana transaction, according to St. Louis Call Newspapers. The Call Newspapers report says both defendants face two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action and delivery of less than 35 grams of marijuana. Court records cited by that outlet say the men were being held on $500,000 cash-only bonds after their arrests.
“Is a life really worth that?” the victims’ father asked in interviews, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which reported on March 24 that the cases are “wrapping up.” The Post-Dispatch piece includes interviews with family members and neighbors who say the slow pace of court proceedings has been painful. That reporting also confirms the victims’ ages and the Feb. 5, 2024 timeline of the shooting in south St. Louis County.
How prosecutors say the shooting unfolded
According to the probable-cause statement described by St. Louis Call Newspapers, the two teens went to buy a marijuana cartridge and one of them got into the defendants’ vehicle to look at the product. The account says shots were fired in the 2800 block of Innsbruck Drive, one victim was found in the Black Forest parking lot and another died while being taken to a hospital. A third person was treated for injuries and survived.
Where the case stands now
With prosecutors and defense attorneys finishing pretrial work, the Post-Dispatch reporting says the matter is nearing its final procedural steps and families are watching for answers. Public accounts so far focus on the charges and the alleged circumstances of the transaction rather than any plea or sentencing, and those next steps will be set by the court calendar and filings. Community and school officials told reporters they were stunned by the violence and urged calm as the legal process proceeds…