EAST ST. LOUIS - Illinois State Police and East St. Louis police are investigating the fatal shootings of two men that appear to be unrelated.
The first victim was identified as Joshua C. Bunton, 19, who was shot to death at approximately 6:24 p.m. Tuesday by someone in a passing vehicle as Bunton walked in the 600 block of North 22nd St.
About two hours later, at 8:14 p.m., William Lawson, 35, of Belleville, was shot at while driving in the 3800 block of State Street.
Police arrived in the area and discovered a vehicle crash near the intersection of 46th and State Streets. Lawson, the driver of the vehicle, appeared to be lifeless. He was transported to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead of a gunshot wound.
Bunton, of 730 N. 22nd St., had gone to the store to buy some juice to drink, family and friends said Wednesday. He was walking home with two friends. Just as he got to 642 N. 22nd Street, a red pickup truck with drove up at a high rate of speed.
The passenger, who was hanging out the window, fired multiple shots in the direction of Bunton and his friends, witnesses said. Two of the bullets struck and fatally wounded Bunton.
“He was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:05 p.m. He was shot once in the head and once in the buttocks, St. Clair County Coroner Rick Stone said.
Alee Bunton, the victim’s mother, said she doesn’t understand what happened to her son. She, along with neighbors, family and friends, described him as a very helpful, quiet young man who loved to sing and dance.
“He was not the kind who hung out in the street, or got into beefs with people. Everyone loved him. He was an electronics fanatic. He hooked up computers and worked on anything electronic. He was always laying on the couch at home singing or creating beats to his music,” Alee Bunton said.
Joshua Bunton was expecting his first daughter and was very ecstatic about it, family and friends said.
“Now, his daughter, who he had already named Jamiah Bunton, will have to grow up without her father. It’s not right,” Alee Bunton said.
Meanwhile, Lawson, of 34 Thunderbird Lane, Belleville, was pronounced dead at 8:41 p.m. at Kenneth Hall Hospital, Stone said. Lawson suffered a gunshot wound to his left side.
Lawson’s vehicle had struck a utility pole before it struck a white SUV and continued on into the field where police found Lawson, Police Chief James Mister said.
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