Emeshyon Wilkins was, in his mother's words, "goofy," a teenager who loved to make people laugh and whose smile could soften even the toughest moments. He liked math, was good with numbers and talked about working, saving money and building a life after high school.
"We kind of grew up together," his mother, Shaina Wilkins, told CBS News. She said she was just 17 when he was born. He had celebrated his 17th birthday just weeks before he died.
Now, nearly two years after he was shot and killed by a St. Louis police officer, Shaina Wilkins says she is still searching for answers and accountability.
Body camera video released by her attorney this week shows the June 2024 encounter that ended with the 17-year-old being shot in the back of the head as he ran from police. The footage contradicts an earlier police statement that said Wilkins had pointed a gun at officers. The video does not show him holding or pointing a weapon.
Body camera video shows 17-year-old Emeshyon Wilkins being fatally shot by a St. Louis officer on June 18, 2024.
KMOV
Police said the encounter began when detectives attempted to stop an SUV that had been reported stolen. After a brief pursuit, the teen ran away. An officer can be heard shouting for him to get on the ground and to drop a gun before the officer began firing. One of the four shots struck Wilkins in the back of the head, killing him.
According to a lawsuit filed by the family, a firearm was later found in Wilkins' pocket, but it was disassembled and incapable of being fired.
Shaina Wilkins said what she saw in the video was devastating.
"My son won't... he's gone, never coming back," she said. "They just treated him so badly."
Shaina Wilkins' attorney, Albert Watkins, told CBS News there is more to the story than what was initially reported, including how Wilkins came to be in the vehicle. Watkins said the teen had saved money from working at McDonald's and bought the car from someone in the neighborhood, unaware it had been reported stolen.
"He saved his money and he paid for that car, paid the guy in the neighborhood for that car," Watkins said. "Of course, that part of the story can't come out because he's dead."
Watkins also said the disassembled gun in Emeshyon Wilkins' pocket shouldn't have mattered, both because it couldn't fire and because Missouri is a concealed carry state — although Emeshyon Wilkins was too young to legally carry a firearm.
"You can have a gun in your pocket, in your pants, up your ass, it doesn't matter," he said.
The case has also raised new questions about transparency and accountability within the department.
During a March 18, 2026, deposition that lasted just over an hour, St. Louis police Detective Brett Carlson — the officer who allegedly pulled the trigger — pleaded the Fifth and refused to answer nearly all questions, according to a transcript of the deposition obtained by CBS News. He confirmed only basic details, including that he was subpoenaed and represented by the Missouri Attorney General's Office, but declined to address what happened during the encounter, whether the teen had a gun or whether department policies were followed. Carlson also refused to answer questions about body camera footage, his training, disciplinary history and any statements to investigators.
After the bodycam video was released Monday, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department said that "information provided by a third-party to investigators in the immediate aftermath of the incident was not consistent with the actual events or what was initially shared with the community."
The department said that following the shooting, "internal protocols were updated to better position the SLMPD to provide accurate and timely information. A member of the Department's body-worn camera unit now responds directly to the scene so that footage can be reviewed by investigating commanders before detailed public accounts are provided."
"In this case, an earlier review of body-worn camera footage would have provided greater clarity than what was available in the initial moments following the incident," it said.
For Wilkins' mother, the lack of answers has been a constant source of pain. She said authorities initially told her that her son had turned and pointed a gun.
"They seen a phone. They didn't see a gun," she said. "I really just feel like they, they should have did everything, but that when it came doing their job, they didn't do their job."
Police have since acknowledged that early information shared with the public was not consistent with the video evidence.
The video itself took more than a year to obtain. Watkins said his office had to file a federal lawsuit to force its release.
"We had to fight for it," he said. "Now we see why they did not want it released."
Shaina Wilkins said she wants the police department to "take accountability for what they did, because they know it was wrong. ... It took us a whole year to get the bodycam. It's been over two years since my son died, and I just got the autopsy and medical records."
The St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office has said it is reviewing the case to determine whether criminal charges are warranted. The officer involved remains on desk duty with pay.
For Shaina Wilkins, justice is straightforward.
"I want officer Carlson to go to jail and let the world know what you did," she said. "It wasn't right."
She also wants people to understand who her son was beyond the final moments captured on video.
"He wasn't a thug. He wasn't," she said. "He didn't have a bad history of anything like being a criminal or nothing like that. He was a kid, you know, he probably wasn't making the best decisions, but he should still be here right now."
