Dad of 3 Shot Dead After Trying to Help a Woman Who Said She Was “Cold,” Police Say

A late-night act of kindness turned into a horrifying tragedy for a Missouri father of three.

William Palmer, 50s, was found fatally shot in the head around 2:30 a.m. on Feb. 1 in downtown St. Louis. Police say he had offered a woman a ride to a warming shelter after spotting her outside on a cold night.

Palmer’s fiancée, Riyen Jones, told local reporters that he’d spent the day collecting scrap metal and stopped to help 36-year-old Brittany Rivoire, who allegedly asked him for a lift because she needed warmth. “He would always offer people a ride if he saw them walking,” Jones said. “He was just a giver.”

Investigators say Palmer had a friend with him in the truck, but the friend got out after noticing Rivoire acting strangely. Moments later, surveillance footage allegedly captured the woman shooting Palmer in the head before taking off in his truck and leaving it abandoned nearby.

Police have since arrested Rivoire, who is now facing charges including first-degree murder, unlawful possession of a firearm, armed criminal action, and tampering with a motor vehicle. She’s being held without bond.

Jones says she’s still struggling to understand how an attempt to help someone ended with her fiancé’s death. “For somebody to take him for granted when all he was doing was helping her… I can’t wrap my head around it,” she said, describing Palmer as “the glue to our family.”

A GoFundMe launched to help with funeral expenses and support the household has raised just over $4,000 of its $5,500 goal. Jones says Palmer was the family’s provider and leaves behind their 6-year-old son, 18-year-old daughter, and 21-year-old son.

“He was trying to help somebody,” she wrote on the fundraising page. “And in the process, the girl tried stealing his truck and shot him.”