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FERGUSON, MO - AUGUST 13: Police stand watch as demonstrators protest the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown on August 13, 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. Brown was shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer on Saturday. Ferguson, a St. Louis suburb, is experiencing its fourth day of violent protests since the killing. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

St. Louis, Missouri

Analysis
Public Records Power Accountability in Missouri — if We Can Get Them
Sunshine Week highlights the power of public records and the growing barriers that limit transparency and weaken public oversight.
By The Marshall Project
An illustration shows a prison cell in shades of dark teal blue, with an incarcerated person with a ponytail in a beige prison uniform reaching up to a strand of DNA coming down from the ceiling. Some of the horizontal lines that tie the two strands of the DNA together have come undone and fallen on the floor of the cell. In the cell, a bed and a sink and toilet are visible.
St. Louis March 10
Missouri Man Said DNA Test Could Prove Innocence. He Was Executed Before a Court Ruled.
Lance Shockley died by lethal injection last year. State courts have rejected prisoners’ requests for DNA testing in recent years.
By
St. Louis March 5
Why Missouri Prisons Can Be Deadly for People With Opioid Addictions
In a prison system rife with drugs, a new civil rights lawsuit accuses the Missouri DOC of punishing people for addiction, rather than treating it.
By
A photo shows a view of a person shoveling snow.
News January 30
When Temps Plunge, Dilapidated Jails and Prisons Put Lives at Risk
The Marshall Project examined reports of scarce food and water and interrupted access to medical care during a day-long power outage in Mississippi.
By , and
An illustration shows a floating white cloth in front of a teal background. A person in an orange outfit exits from within the white cloth, pushing the fabric to the side like a curtain.
St. Louis December 1, 2025
An Overlooked Source of Information in Missouri Prison Deaths: The Coroner
When corrections officials aren’t forthcoming with records, coroners can offer families the details needed to find closure or pursue accountability.
By
An illustration shows a person in an orange prison uniform falling into a tall stack of teal colored papers. Several stacks of teal colored papers with headshots on them are in the background.
St. Louis November 18, 2025
There Was No Way to Know How Many People Died in Missouri Prisons — Until Now
For years, the state’s Department of Corrections cobbled together death records from multiple sources. New data reveals annual totals for the first time.
By
St. Louis November 18, 2025
How We Got Comprehensive Death Data From the Missouri DOC
After repeated questions about missing deaths in the state’s existing logs, the department shared annual counts for the first time.
By
A photo of Shamari Jackson, a Black woman wearing a suit, standing outside of a building with glass windows. In the building space are paintings of homicide victims.
Life Inside October 17, 2025
The ‘Last Responder’: What Being a Mortician to Homicide Victims Taught Me About Grief
St. Louis native Shamari Jackson began studying mortuary science after her boyfriend was fatally shot. Now she uses her work as a form of therapy.
By Shamari Jackson as told to
A White woman in a black shirt smiles for a picture as she hugs her father, who is wearing a white prison uniform.
St. Louis October 15, 2025
Their Dads Were on Death Row in Missouri. Here’s How They Faced Goodbyes, Executions and Grief.
The children of Lance Shockley, Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams Sr. and Kevin Johnson shed light on oft-forgotten experiences.
By
A collage illustration with muted green and orange tones shows details of black mold on a bathroom floor, a closeup of a cockroach, a broken toilet bowl, trash, a closeup of a person covering their nose and mouth, a closeup of a person clenching their fist, and the obscured figure of a man.
Analysis October 9, 2025
No Showers, Black Mold and Clogged Toilets: America’s Jails Are Disgusting
Understaffing, outdated facilities and poor management have led to filthy conditions in jails in St. Louis, Cleveland and Hinds County, Mississippi.
By , and
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