Police confirm shooting death of metro-east strip club owner
The owner of a metro-east strip club was shot to death Thursday morning, police have confirmed.
A Washington Park police report shows officers were dispatched to Dollies Playhouse at 6210 Forest Blvd. Thursday at 12:21 a.m. in reference to a man shot.
Illinois State Police are handling the homicide investigation at the request of Washington Park Police.
“Two individuals were struck by gunfire,” according to a release from ISP. “Both individuals were transported to an area hospital for treatment off their injuries. One individual later succumbed to his injuries.”
The club’s owner, Roderick Brown, was identified as the deceased victim by Tara Rick, spokesperson for the St. Louis Medical Examiner’s office.
She said Brown was pronounced dead at 5:08 a.m in the emergency room at St. Louis University Hospital.
Tenesia Brown, Roderick Brown’s wife of four years, described her husband as larger than life and a man with a lot of energy.
“He brought Texas to St. Louis. He never met a stranger. He welcomed everybody in. He was a businessman for sure,” Tenesia Brown said. “Everybody gravitated to him because of his big personality.
“He was always willing to help anybody. He gave them business advice, or advice on life. He was just a person who was there for everybody all of the time.”
Tenesia Brown said she learned her husband had been shot about an hour after the crime from one of his employees.
“I didn’t know any of the details,” she said. “I got out of my bed and went straight to him.”
After waiting in a security breezeway at the hospital, unaware of how serious her husband’s condition really was, a chaplain finally came to talk to her.
“They said he was not looking good and was not going to survive,” she said.
She was not ready for this news. She said talking about it brought the same tightness to her chest that she experienced when getting the news of her husband’s condition.
Owning a strip club was one one of Roderick Brown’s goals, his wife said.
“Being who he is, he got to networking and talking to people and found out that building was for sale,” she said. “It was going through probate because the previous owner was murdered. When it was out of probate he brought the old Dollies building. That’s how he ended up in Washington Park.
“He wanted a strip club so bad. He has had other clubs but he always wanted a strip club. He has done other things also. He was in real estate and construction. He was a builder. For some reason, his dream, a wish on his bucket list, was to have a strip club.”
Brown had been the owner of the club for three years. The 54-year old has eight biological children and two stepchildren through his wife.
Tenesia Brown said she doesn’t know what motivated the shooter to kill her husband.
“I’ve heard so many stories it’s making my head spin. None of the stories that are being told to me make any sense,” she said.
Brown last spoke to her husband at approximately 10:40 p.m. after she said he closed the club down early. He said he was going to hire bartenders so he didn’t have to do it himself anymore. He told his wife he just wanted to be home, she said.
“Anybody will tell you his favorite thing was to be with his wife,” she said. ”It didn’t matter whether we were on a trip, watching television or just laying down next to each other. Anytime we could be together was good. We enjoyed each other.”
Tenesia Brown said she will miss cooking “chitlins” for her husband, which he ate at least three times a week – “He loved my cooking,” she said.
“I don’t know where to go. I have never experienced this. I don’t wish this on anybody,” she said. “I am going to have to take this one day at a time.
“It was he and I every day we didn’t have to travel for work. We were always together.”
She described their love as “intentional.”
“He brought continuity, strength, love, support, protection. He brought all of the things a person needed. He was my everything,” she said.
Brown said she feels like several people were involved in the shooting. She says she’s hoping security camera footage and witnesses will surface to help police make the arrest.
“We want to get these people off the street,” she said. “They have to be cowards and cold blooded to do something like this. If they are left out there, they will do it again to someone else.”
Racqueal Woods worked with Roderick Brown for seven years at law offices in St. Louis, Kansas City and Chicago.
“He was a wild person. He pushed us to do better, to be better. He was pretty much at the top of the firm. We called him Rodney. He was (attorney Roderick) White’s right hand man,” Woods said. “Anything that was needed for any of the offices, Rodney was there at the drop of a dime.”
News that her colleague had been shot and killed came as a complete shock, she said.
“This is unbelievable news,” Woods said. “I never imagined anything like this could happen to someone like him. He was very friendly. He has kids and grand kids. At our back-to-school events, kids flocked to Rodney. He would give dollars or whatever they wanted pretty much. They could sense he was loving.”
Woods said Brown pushed employees to “be more than what our current status in life was,” and that he offered advice on houses and business. She also knew he wanted to own a strip club.
“I want the family to know we send our condolences at this time of need. We will miss him, too. He was always there for us,” Woods said.
