08.02.10
St Louis Strip Clubs: Travis Heard: Man Caught Stripping Copper from Strip Club Shot Dead in East St …
Police in East St. Louis say Travis Heard, 33, was on the roof of the Colony II Theatre and Cocktails strip club around 5 a.m. this morning when he was confronted by the club’s owner.
Heard was reportedly ordered off the roof at gunpoint and escorted inside the building. The club owner called police around 5:30 a.m. to report the attempted theft, but by the time authorities arrived to the scene Heard was dead.
The owner — described as a “elderly man” — told police that Heard tried to flee and he shot him. Police followed a trail of blood some 75 feet from the club, where Heard’s body was found lying in the weeds.
Heard’s family tells the Belleville News-Democrat that he was addicted to drugs.
“He had a drug problem, but that was no reason to kill him. He was not a trouble maker; he was just on drugs,” said cousin, Bernard Heard.