Mother wants justice for 17-year-old son fatally shot by St. Louis police

Emeshyon Wilkins was, successful his mother's words, "goofy," a teen who loved to marque radical laughter and whose grin could soften adjacent the toughest moments. He liked math, was bully with numbers and talked astir working, redeeming wealth and gathering a beingness aft precocious school.   

"We benignant of grew up together," his mother, Shaina Wilkins, told CBS News. She said she was conscionable 17 erstwhile helium was born. He had celebrated his 17th day conscionable weeks earlier helium died. 

Now, astir 2 years aft helium was changeable and killed by a St. Louis constabulary officer, Shaina Wilkins says she is inactive searching for answers and accountability.

Body camera video released by her lawyer this week shows the June 2024 brushwood that ended with the 17-year-old being changeable successful the backmost of the caput arsenic helium ran from police. The footage contradicts an earlier constabulary connection that said Wilkins had pointed a weapon astatine officers. The video does not amusement him holding oregon pointing a weapon.

Body camera video shows 17-year-old Emeshyon Wilkins being fatally changeable by a St. Louis serviceman connected June 18, 2024. KMOV

Police said the brushwood began erstwhile detectives attempted to halt an SUV that had been reported stolen. After a little pursuit, the teen ran away. An serviceman tin beryllium heard shouting for him to get connected the crushed and to driblet a weapon earlier the serviceman began firing. One of the 4 shots struck Wilkins successful the backmost of the head, sidesplitting him.

According to a suit filed by the family, a firearm was aboriginal recovered successful Wilkins' pocket, but it was disassembled and incapable of being fired.  

Shaina Wilkins said what she saw successful the video was devastating. 

"My lad won't... he's gone, ne'er coming back," she said. "They conscionable treated him truthful badly."  

Shaina Wilkins' attorney, Albert Watkins, told CBS News determination is much to the communicative than what was initially reported, including however Wilkins came to beryllium successful the vehicle. Watkins said the teen had saved wealth from moving astatine McDonald's and bought the car from idiosyncratic successful the neighborhood, unaware it had been reported stolen. 

"He saved his wealth and helium paid for that car, paid the feline successful the vicinity for that car," Watkins said. "Of course, that portion of the communicative can't travel retired due to the fact that he's dead."

Watkins besides said the disassembled weapon successful Emeshyon Wilkins' pouch shouldn't person mattered, some due to the fact that it couldn't occurrence and due to the fact that Missouri is simply a concealed transportation authorities — though Emeshyon Wilkins was excessively young to legally transportation a firearm.

"You tin person a weapon successful your pocket, successful your pants, up your ass, it doesn't matter," helium said.

The lawsuit has besides raised caller questions astir transparency and accountability wrong the department. 

During a March 18, 2026, deposition that lasted conscionable implicit an hour, St. Louis constabulary Detective Brett Carlson — the serviceman who allegedly pulled the trigger — pleaded the Fifth and refused to reply astir each questions, according to a transcript of the deposition obtained by CBS News. He confirmed lone basal details, including that helium was subpoenaed and represented by the Missouri Attorney General's Office, but declined to code what happened during the encounter, whether the teen had a weapon oregon whether section policies were followed. Carlson besides refused to reply questions astir assemblage camera footage, his training, disciplinary past and immoderate statements to investigators.

After the bodycam video was released Monday, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department said that "information provided by a third-party to investigators successful the contiguous aftermath of the incidental was not accordant with the existent events oregon what was initially shared with the community."

The section said that pursuing the shooting, "internal protocols were updated to amended presumption the SLMPD to supply close and timely information. A subordinate of the Department's body-worn camera portion present responds straight to the country truthful that footage tin beryllium reviewed by investigating commanders earlier elaborate nationalist accounts are provided."

"In this case, an earlier reappraisal of body-worn camera footage would person provided greater clarity than what was disposable successful the archetypal moments pursuing the incident," it said.

For Wilkins' mother, the deficiency of answers has been a changeless root of pain. She said authorities initially told her that her lad had turned and pointed a gun.

"They seen a phone. They didn't spot a gun," she said. "I truly conscionable consciousness similar they, they should person did everything, but that erstwhile it came doing their job, they didn't bash their job."  

Police person since acknowledged that aboriginal accusation shared with the nationalist was not accordant with the video evidence.

The video itself took much than a twelvemonth to obtain. Watkins said his bureau had to record a national suit to unit its release.

"We had to combat for it," helium said. "Now we spot wherefore they did not privation it released."

Shaina Wilkins said she wants the constabulary section to "take accountability for what they did, due to the fact that they cognize it was wrong. ... It took america a full twelvemonth to get the bodycam. It's been implicit 2 years since my lad died, and I conscionable got the autopsy and aesculapian records."

The St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office has said it is reviewing the lawsuit to find whether transgression charges are warranted. The serviceman progressive remains connected table work with pay.

For Shaina Wilkins, justness is straightforward. 

"I privation serviceman Carlson to spell to jailhouse and fto the satellite cognize what you did," she said. "It wasn't right."

She besides wants radical to recognize who her lad was beyond the last moments captured connected video.

"He wasn't a thug. He wasn't," she said. "He didn't person a atrocious past of thing similar being a transgression oregon thing similar that. He was a kid, you know, helium astir apt wasn't making the champion decisions, but helium should inactive beryllium present close now."