Funeral set for slain metro-east teen who ‘loved cars’

A funeral is set for Saturday for a metro-east teen who was fatally shot last weekend during an unsanctioned gathering of car drivers doing stunts in St. Louis County.

Gerardo Perez, 17, died Tuesday at Mercy Hospital in Creve Coeur, Missouri after being shot on Saturday, May 18, according to the Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis and his obituary.

A GoFundMe account set up to help Perez’s family said he went to the event “to have fun and nothing more as he loved cars.”

Police said the motorists were doing “doughnuts” and “burning rubber” by spinning their car tires in place.

Two teens have been charged with murder in connection with the fatal shooting at the event organizers describe as a “slide show.”

Garron Stevenson, 19, of the 3800 block of Sullivan in St. Louis, was charged with second-degree murder and several other offenses, according to a news release from the Major Case Squad.

The other suspect is a 17-year-old juvenile whose name was not released. This teen also was charged with second-degree murder.

A police statement said Perez was from East St. Louis but a Collinsville School District spokeswoman said Perez’s school registration showed he was from Fairmont City. He had just completed his freshman year at Collinsville High School and classes had ended for the year on Friday, May 17.

A funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Stephen’s Catholic Church at 901 S. Main St. in Caseyville. Perez was a member of this church. Burial will follow at Calvary Cemetery in Glen Carbon, according to an obituary posted by Weber & Rodney Funeral Home of Edwardsville.