Fairview Heights teen found dead was son of former MLB player, metro-east football coach
Police found the lifeless body of a 19-year-old Fairview Heights man in an alley in the 1700 block of Gay Avenue in East St. Louis Sunday.
The victim, Byron E. Gettis Jr., was identified by St. Clair County Coroner Calvin Dye Sr. Gettis had sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at 5:30 p.m., Dye said.
He is the son of former Major League Baseball player and area football coach Byron Gettis Sr.
At the request of East St. Louis police, Illinois State Police agents responded to the 1700 block of Gay Avenue to investigate, according to a state police news release.
Because the police investigation is in the infancy stages, “no further information will be released at this time,” the release stated.
Byron Gettis Sr. played 21 Major League Baseball games as an outfielder the Kansas City Royals in 2004. Following his baseball career, he played football while earning his degree from McKendree University, then launched a successful career as a local football coach.
He confirmed his son’s death on his Facebook account. In a Facebook post from June 2023, Gettis congratulated his son for entering the U.S. Army.
The senior Gettis resigned in 2023 as head coach at O’Fallon High School and was serving as an assistant at Althoff. He previously led Cahokia to the 5A playoffs as both coach and athletic director. He also spent four years as an assistant under Jeff Fisher at the former Lindenwood University-Belleville.
Gettis Jr.’s death is the eighth homicide reported in the Belleville News-Democrat in East St. Louis in 2025.
This story was originally published March 10, 2025 at 12:33 PM with the headline "Fairview Heights teen found dead was son of former MLB player, metro-east football coach."
