Prosecutors say the April 8 dispute over a food order ended with one worker dead and another injured.
ST. LOUIS, MO — A 20-year-old woman has been charged with first-degree murder after prosecutors said she opened fire during an argument at a Steak ‘n Shake drive-thru in north St. Louis County, killing employee Chauncia Lashell Meekins and wounding another worker.
Charges filed Monday mark the first major break in a case that drew attention across the St. Louis area after police said a late-night dispute at the drive-thru window turned deadly. Prosecutors identified the defendant as Jada Bell, 20. She is accused of killing Meekins, 32, on April 8 at the restaurant on Bellefontaine Road and injuring a second employee who was struck in the hand. Bell is being held in custody on a $1 million cash-only bond.
According to court records, Bell arrived at the Steak ‘n Shake in a white SUV late that night and pulled up to the drive-thru window. Prosecutors said she got into a dispute with workers over her order. The argument escalated when Bell allegedly threw a drink at Meekins, and Meekins threw it back, according to the charging documents. Investigators say Bell then pulled out a handgun and fired several shots through the drive-thru area. Police were called to the restaurant in the 11000 block of Bellefontaine Road at about 11:35 p.m. Officers found Meekins fatally wounded at the scene. Another employee survived with injuries that police described as not life-threatening in the initial days after the shooting.
Bell is charged with one count of first-degree murder, three counts of armed criminal action, one count of first-degree assault and one count of unlawful use of a weapon. Prosecutors said surveillance video from the restaurant captured the shooting. Investigators also said Bell’s cellphone was in the area at the time of the gunfire, a detail included in the court record to support the case. Authorities have not publicly described whether Bell knew either employee before the shooting, whether anyone else was in the SUV, or whether a weapon was recovered. Court records made public Monday focused on the exchange at the window and the gunfire that followed, laying out a version of events that turns what began as a customer complaint into a homicide prosecution.
The case has also drawn attention because of what relatives say started the confrontation. Meekins’ mother, Tamela Washington, said in earlier interviews that she was told the argument involved onion rings. “It’s never that serious to take a person’s life over fast food,” Washington said as the family mourned her daughter. Family members said Meekins had worked at the restaurant for only about three months. Washington said she had spoken with her daughter just hours before the shooting about plans for her birthday on April 23. Instead of preparing for that celebration, the family was forced into funeral planning, a detail that turned the killing into a wider public symbol of how quickly a routine late-night stop can end in deadly violence.
Police first released only limited details, saying a confrontation happened in the drive-thru and that someone in the vehicle fired through the window, hitting two workers. For nearly two weeks, no arrest had been announced publicly. Monday’s charges gave the first full account from prosecutors and identified Bell as the accused shooter. The investigation appears to have relied heavily on physical and digital evidence, especially surveillance footage and cellphone location data. Officials have not yet outlined Bell’s defense, and online court material available in news reports did not include any public statement from an attorney on her behalf. It also was not immediately clear whether prosecutors would seek any penalty beyond the counts already filed, though the first-degree murder charge makes the case one of the most serious now moving through St. Louis County’s criminal courts.
At the restaurant, grief has remained close to the place where the shooting happened. A vigil was held Monday at the Steak ‘n Shake location to remember Meekins, whose family and friends described her as warm, funny and hardworking. Washington said her daughter did not deserve to die during a shift at a drive-thru window. The case also left another worker recovering from a gunshot wound and a restaurant staff dealing with the trauma of an attack inside their workplace. The store, in the Spanish Lake area of north St. Louis County, became both a crime scene and a gathering place for mourners as relatives, coworkers and community members returned to mark the loss. Their public messages centered on justice for Meekins and on the shock that a disagreement over food could end with gunfire.
The case now moves from investigation to prosecution. Bell remained in custody Monday night, and the next court dates were not immediately listed in the reports that announced the charges. What is clear is that prosecutors have moved the case into formal criminal proceedings, with a murder count that will require future hearings, evidence review and a decision on whether the case goes to trial or ends in a plea. For Meekins’ family, the immediate milestone was the filing of charges. For the court system, the next step will be Bell’s first appearances as the homicide case begins to move forward.
Author note: Last updated April 21, 2026.