Funeral services set for 10-year-old shot and killed at home near Belleville
Visitation and funeral arrangements have been set for 10-year-old Brandon Scott, who was shot and killed in his home Monday, July 3.
Visitation will be from 9-10 a.m. Tuesday, July 18, at United Methodist Church, 721 East Main St., Belleville. Funeral services will follow from 10 a.m. to noon at the church.
The funeral procession then will head to Sunset Gardens at noon, where burial will take place. Sunset Gardens is located at 3230 Cemetery Road in Millstadt.
A private luncheon and celebration of life will be held at Bel-Air Bowl after the funeral.
Brandon would have been a fifth-grader at Henry Raab Elementary School in Belleville this fall. He was killed at his home at 1800 Roosevelt Ave, near the city limits of Belleville.
Deputies found the youth when they responded to a 9:57 p.m. report of someone being shot. Brandon was pronounced dead at 10:59 p.m. at Memorial Hospital in Belleville, according to St. Clair County Coroner Calvin Dye Sr.
Brandon’s father, Wendel Scott Jr., told the BND last week that Brandon was playing a video game when someone shot at the house.
On Friday, July 7, authorities announced Devin Dunbar, 20, of Riaza Square St., Spanish Lake, Missouri, and Jaylen P. Nicks, of Sugar Pine Drive, Florissant, Missouri, 26, were each charged with first-degree murder in connection with Brandon’s death. Dunbar is being held on $1.25 million bond and Nicks is being held on $1 million bond in St. Louis County.
Scott and Brandon’s aunt, Debbie Moore, said on July 7 they are thankful to the Major Case Squad and the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department for all of their work on case.
Scott said he is “very elated to know that the people who killed my son have been arrested and will be punished.”
Several of Brandon’s teachers reflected on how caring and kind he was.
“He was a great friend to everybody. He had this cute, silly, wry grin that would tug at your heart,” said Susan Altadonna, his third-grade teacher. ”…He was just a great kid. He’d like to give hugs in the hallway. He loved video games and talking about them. He was just a great friend.
“He was never in trouble or in the spotlight. He was that cute kid in the hallway everyone wanted to talk to.”
Kim Showalter, Brandon’s fourth-grade teacher, said Brandon was “a sweet little boy.”
“He had a big heart. He cared about others. He had a great sense of humor,” Showalter said. “He and I always joked daily because sometimes he’d come to school without a smile and I’d say, ‘Don’t smile because your face might crack’ and then he’d smile and get in a good mood. He really cared about his classmates.”
Altadonna shared a GoFundMe fundraiser for Brandon on her Facebook page. As of Thursday afternoon, $13,145 had been raised.
Additionally, Kiwan Guyton, a deputy with the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department, held a fundraiser at the two restaurants he owns: Mr BBQ At Mystic Oaks Golf Course, 643 Ridge Road, Waterloo; and Mr. BBQ’s Bar & Grill, 1280 Columbia Centre, Columbia. More than than $1,500 was raised for the family.
“I had to work so I did not get to thank a lot of you in person. But with your help I was able to provide Brandon’s mother Chelsea Odom with over $1500.00 dollars for expenses,” Guyton wrote on his Facebook page.
