A doorbell camera in East St. Louis, Illinois, recorded a teenager wearing a clown mask standing close to the lens and speaking quietly before officers found a dead body nearby. The Illinois State Police said a 15-year-old boy was later arrested and charged with first degree murder in connection with the case.
Police said officers responded to an intersection in East St. Louis on Monday night, shortly after 10 p.m., after receiving reports of a body lying in the road. The victim was identified by the St. Clair County Coroner as John Wesley Allen Sr., 78.
The teenager, whose name has not been released, was taken into custody on Tuesday as part of the homicide investigation, according to the Daily Mail.
Ring camera footage showed the suspect approaching a home before the killing
Less than an hour before police arrived at the scene, the masked teenager was recorded looking directly into a Ring camera at a nearby home. The video was shared on Facebook by East St. Louis resident Lora Palmer, who said the camera belonged to her mother. Home security cameras have captured other unexpected moments recently, including a young boy’s delivery struggle caught on camera.
In the footage, the masked suspect appeared to whisper either “I have a gift for you” or “I’ve been looking for you.” Illinois State Police said Allen Sr. was waiting at a bus stop when he was randomly attacked by the 15-year-old, who was dressed in a clown outfit. Police said video of the suspect in the clown costume had been circulating and that investigators were working to collect all relevant footage.
Lora Palmer’s son, Lee Palmer, said his mother was home alone when the masked teenager showed up on her front porch. He told FirstAlert4 that the teen stayed on the property for several minutes before walking behind the house, which made him deeply concerned. “He’s going to kill everybody in the house,” Palmer said. “Why out of all the houses, why come to this house?”
Palmer said his main worry was that the teenager could be armed and could hurt his mother. He told NBC News the teen was “not in the right state of mind to walk on somebody’s porch like that,” and called the situation “unimaginable.”
The distance between the home where the Ring footage was recorded, on the 8200 block of Carol Drive, and the intersection where Allen Sr. was found is about a 10-minute walk.
A separate neighbor, Corrine Spry, said she was on her back porch with her family when she saw the person later identified as the attacker twirling a knife. “He was up to no good,” Spry told the outlet. She said she believed the person circled back through nearby woods, adding, “We’re pretty positive he circled back around in these woods, because you could hear the sticks breaking.”
Spry said the teen appeared to roam the area for roughly 45 minutes before law enforcement arrived. She said she feared he could have attacked anyone in the neighborhood. Home cameras have also captured other unexpected scenes near residential properties, such as a car crash caught on a home security camera.
Allen Sr. was pronounced dead at the scene just before 11:30 p.m., according to the St. Clair County coroner’s office, PEOPLE reported. After the teenager’s arrest, law enforcement said there was no remaining threat to the public. Police have not released details about where the teen was found or what he was doing at the time of his arrest.
Published: Aug 8, 2026 01:00 pm