Chauncia Meekins was days from her birthday when gunfire erupted during a late-night order dispute.
SPANISH LAKE, Mo. — Chauncia Meekins was working a late shift at a Steak ’n Shake when police said a customer opened fire through the drive-thru, turning a dispute over a food order into a homicide case.
Meekins, 32, died April 8 at the restaurant on Bellefontaine Road in north St. Louis County. Her family had been preparing to mark her birthday later in the month. Instead, relatives gathered outside the restaurant for a vigil, asked for accountability and later learned that police had arrested 20-year-old Jada Bell, who now faces first-degree murder and related felony charges.
Washington, Meekins’ mother, said the loss was made harder by how ordinary the day had seemed before the shooting. She said she had spoken with Meekins while her daughter was on break, and the two discussed birthday plans and a special meal Meekins wanted. That conversation became one of Washington’s last memories before police said bullets struck the drive-thru area. “She was bright,” Washington said. “She was friendly. She was funny. She worked hard for everything that she got.” Family members said Meekins had worked at the restaurant for only a few months. They also said the argument that preceded the shooting was about onion rings, a detail that became a symbol of how quickly a small dispute turned deadly.
The official account from police begins with a white SUV at the drive-thru window shortly before midnight. Investigators said Bell was driving and got into a dispute with Steak ’n Shake employees, including Meekins, about the order. The probable cause statement said Bell threw a drink cup at Meekins and that Meekins threw a drink back. Police said Bell then fired several rounds from a handgun at Meekins. The gunfire hit Meekins multiple times and also struck another employee in the hand. Officers responded about 11:35 p.m. and found Meekins dead at the scene. The second worker was taken to a hospital. Police have not released that worker’s name, and no detailed public medical update has been issued beyond the report that the injury was not life-threatening.
For nearly two weeks after the shooting, relatives waited for an arrest. Early reports said the shooter had fled and that police were examining the drive-thru confrontation. Washington said she wanted to know why anyone would shoot her daughter and another employee over fast food. She described circling the shattered drive-thru window in disbelief after the killing. Meekins was to turn 33 on April 23, and Washington said she expected a birthday celebration, not funeral planning. An obituary remembered Meekins for her life and the effect she had on people around her. Relatives said the killing did not just take a worker from a restaurant; it took a daughter, cousin and friend from a family still trying to make sense of a few violent seconds.
Bell was charged April 20 with six felonies: first-degree murder, first-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon and three counts of armed criminal action. Police said she was being held on a $1 million cash-only bond. Prosecutors allege that the shooting from the SUV caused Meekins’ death and injured the second employee. St. Louis County police said surveillance footage captured the incident and that cellphone data placed Bell’s phone near the restaurant when shots were fired. Spectrum News reported that police also cited DNA evidence and witness identification as parts of the case. The charges are accusations, and Bell is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. A judge will decide pretrial issues as the case moves through the St. Louis County court system.
The family’s anger widened after the arrest. Anthony Willhite, Meekins’ cousin, said relatives supported the death penalty, but he said that position was not about revenge. He said they wanted the case to stand as a warning against violence that erupts in common public places. Missouri allows the death penalty in certain first-degree murder cases, but prosecutors must follow a separate process before any jury could consider that sentence. No public filing has said prosecutors will seek it in Bell’s case. The legal path could take months or longer, especially if the state later files notice of aggravating circumstances, if the defense challenges evidence or if lawyers request more time to review video, phone records and witness statements.
The restaurant’s location became part of the family’s mourning. The drive-thru lane, normally a place for quick orders and late meals, became the place where relatives lit candles and spoke about Meekins’ character. They said she was cheerful and giving, someone who would help others and who did not deserve to die during a shift. Washington said her daughter had been happy and laughing on the phone hours earlier. She also said Meekins would have given someone “the shirt off her back” if she had it. Those memories stood in sharp contrast with the police account, which describes a minor conflict over food that escalated after drinks were thrown and a gun was fired into the restaurant.
County officials used the announcement of charges to stress that the evidence was built from more than one source. Col. Kenneth Lohr said there was nothing police could do to return Meekins to her family, but he said the arrest could bring some measure of comfort. Prosecutor Melissa Price-Smith said young people need early intervention before conflicts become deadly. Those public comments placed the case within broader local concerns about gun violence, but officials did not suggest that Meekins knew Bell before the drive-thru encounter. The charging account describes a customer, workers, a disputed order and a sudden burst of gunfire. What happened before the SUV reached the window, and whether anyone else was inside the vehicle, have not been fully detailed in public records.
Several facts remain limited to investigators and court filings. Police have not released the full surveillance video. They have not said how many shots were fired, whether the handgun has been recovered or whether additional people were questioned in connection with the SUV. The injured worker has not been publicly identified. Defense filings, if any, had not yet laid out Bell’s response to the allegations in the reports reviewed for this story. The case now shifts from police investigation to courtroom process, where prosecutors will have to present evidence and defense lawyers may test how police identified Bell, how phone data was used and what witnesses saw inside and outside the restaurant.
Bell’s next listed court date was April 28, while Meekins’ family continued mourning a birthday that became a funeral period. The case remained active with St. Louis County police and prosecutors as of May 18.
Author note: Last updated May 18, 2026.