HAZELWOOD, Mo. — Two men were charged with murder in the death of a hotel manager in Hazelwood.
Broken glass and cars riddled with bullet holes remained Monday outside the InTown Suites Extended Stay on Dunn Road, two days after the hotel's manager, Victor Fooks, was killed.
5 On Your Side's Diamond Palmer spoke to Fooks' niece Monday who said she was "shook up."
She said her uncle had managed InTown Suites for nearly three years after moving here from Virginia. The family had just celebrated his birthday last week.
Asa Davis has lived at the extended stay for a year and said everybody knows each other, and sticks together like family.
"I was awakened by gunshots," Davis said. "...I ran downstairs to see what happened and that's when I noticed the hotel manager Victor (slumped over in the hallway)."
Hazelwood Police said Fooks, 52, had asked two men at the Extended Stay to leave after an argument. Jaylin McElroy, 20, and Marshaun Brinkley, 18, went outside with the manager.
Sergeant Brendan Gilbert with the Hazelwood Police Department said everyone involved in the incident was known to each other and there was an argument.
Police said one of the men then shot the manager in the leg. Fookscrawled back into the hotel, where he died.
Police arrested McElroy and Brinkley and also took a juvenile suspect into custody.
"He had a lot of people that really cared and loved him. They really took away a good person from us," Davis said.
More than anything, Davis said he wants people to remember Fooks by his good deeds.
"It's been times where I've seen people short on their rent and he would come out of his pocket and pay. He just wanted to see everybody get along," Davis said.
McElroy's bond is set for $750,000 and Brinkley's is set for $1 million, both cash-only.
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell said in a statement:
"Too many guns are getting into the hands of people who have no business having them. Our office will hold these individuals accountable, but more needs to be done on the front end so that local governments and law enforcement have the ability to prevent these tragedies from happening in the first place."
5 On Your Side has requested a statement from InTown Suites Extended Stay corporate team, but they did not immediately respond.