Second Man Charged in Connection with Cool Valley Murder

ST. LOUIS – A man from Hazelwood, Missouri was indicted Wednesday on charges connected to the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old at a Cool Valley gas station in January.

Christopher “Face” Hall, 22, was indicted in U.S. District Court in St. Louis, joining Bryant “BJ” Pirtle, who was indicted in March. Each now faces four felonies: possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime resulting in death, conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute marijuana, possession with intent to distribute marijuana and possession of one or more firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
 
The indictment accuses them of aiding and abetting one another in discharging a firearm while involved in a drug conspiracy, causing the Jan. 29, 2023 death of Devon Williams.

A detention motion says Hall and Pirtle shot the 18-year-old at about 3:15 a.m. after he tried to buy marijuana from them at the BP gas station at 1790 South Florissant Road. They then ran Williams over while driving away, the motion says. The shooting was caught on video. 

Hall is currently in jail on pending charges in St. Louis County Circuit Court involving a March 2023 shooting. 

Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt.  Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The case was investigated by the FBI, the St. Louis County Police Department, and the Normandy Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nino Przulj and Jen Szczucinski are prosecuting the case.