(CNN) A 54-year-old man St. Louis man has been arrested in connection with the death of a teenager who is among at least a dozen children 16 or younger killed by gun violence since April, police said Friday.

The suspect, Joseph Renick, faces charges of first-degree murder, armed criminal action and unlawful possession of a firearm for the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Sentonio Cox on Sunday, according to the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office.

Police said officers responding to a missing person call arrived in the Carondelet neighborhood last weekend to find Sentonio dead from a gunshot.

Renick was being held on a $500,000 bond, according to the circuit attorney's office.

Joseph Renick

A teenager who identified himself as a friend of victim told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Sentonio was headed home when he was shot. To get home, the teen often cut through an empty lot near the site of the shooting, the friend told the newspaper.