Month: September 2025

Meghan Drakas

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Love Columbia says the construction of its new Love Forward Homes apartment complex is going well and it will start welcoming families in January.

“We are thankful to the many skilled workers in Columbia who have kept us on track,” Love Columbia spokesperson Caroline Roush wrote in an email.

The complex in downtown Columbia will have six, three-bedroom units and four, two-bedroom units that can house up to 10 families in the Love Forward Homes Program.

The Love Forward Complex on East Ash Street in Columbia on Sept. 12, 2025.

Individuals in the program can get four-to-nine months of housing in a transitional home with financial, housing and career coaching. During this time, Love Columbia says families save 30% of their income to pay off debt or to pay for future housing expenses, such as a deposit on an apartment.

Love Columbia says in 2024, it provided 4,144 hotel nights to 162 households along with 1,788 nights of shelter to 13 families in the Love Forward Homes program.

A look inside the Love Forward Homes Complex on East Ash Street in Columbia on Sept. 12, 2025.

The complex broke ground in October 2024 on East Ash Street. Love Columbia shared a video on social media, showing the progress of the buildings construction. Roush said Love Columbia is hoping to have access to the completed building by December to fully furnish it.

Love Columbia says the estimated cost for the apartment complex is $3.4 million and is being paid for with federal American Rescue Plan Act money from the city and Boone County, which kickstarted the original plan for a six-unit complex. In March 2024, the project was estimated to cost $1.6 million. Love Columbia says after a $1.1 million gift from The Crossing Church, the plan expanded to a 10-apartment complex.

Love Forward Homes Complex in downtown Columbia in early March 2025.

Love Columbia says additional groups — including the William Guitar Little Foundation — have partnered with the organization to help bring this 10-plex to life.

The expansion of the complex along with inflation costs helped to add to the larger final costs, the group says. Roush said the early estimate of $1.6 million did also not include furnishings, a playground, fencing, city permitting and fees for the design.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The University of Missouri has again declined an application submitted by Mizzou Students for Justice in Palestine that would have allowed the group to participate in this year’s homecoming parade.

A university spokesman wrote in an email on Friday that the group was declined participation because of “safety concerns.”

MSJP was barred from participating from last year’s parade for similarly cited reasons. Previous letters to the group issued by UM President Mun Choi cited disturbances at other campuses, as well as “actions of some MSJP members at Speakers Circle on Oct. 7,” previous reporting shows.

“Yes, the Mizzou Students for Justice in Palestine application to participate in the 2025 Homecoming Parade was not approved due to safety concerns for members of the organization and other homecoming participants,” university spokesman Travis Zimpfer wrote in an email to ABC 17 News. “Given the university’s commitment to the right to freedom of expression, the university has offered to provide another location on the day of Homecoming Parade for the group to share their perspectives.”

This comes as the university says it has updated its policy on what is accepted at the parade and a lawsuit was filed last month by CAIR — the largest Muslim civil rights organization in the country.

According to the policy, the purposes of the parade are to: 

Celebrate MU’s traditions and accomplishments

Cultivate alumni connections

Honor University-selected achievements of MU students, personnel and alumni

Rally support and enthusiasm for the homecoming football game

The policy also reads: 

“It is not an open forum for expression on topics identified by participants, but rather is limited to expression on topics identified by the University for the purposes noted above. The University provides ample other opportunities for participants to express themselves on topics of interest to them.” 

Previous reporting indicates MSPJ argued that before the group’s application was denied for last year’s parade, the university asked the student group to not carry a banner reading “END THE GENOCIDE,” despite allowing fraternities to display “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN” banners. 

ABC 17 News has reached out to MSJP.

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Ryan Shiner

Editor’s note: The headline and lead have been clarified.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Boone County Prosecutor Roger Johnson will not file charges in a fatal shooting that occurred in May at the Nifong Boulevard McDonald’s.

No charges will be filed against Ryan Woods. Johnson in a letter to the Columbia Police Department claimed that Woods shot in self-defense after a fit of road rage was reported.

“We have concluded that Ryan Woods’s actions were justified as self-defense and defense of another,” Johnson wrote in the letter.

A man and a woman were shot the afternoon of May 18. Police previously said Derek Gonzalez, 32, of Columbia, was pronounced dead at an area hospital after he and another driver “encountered each other in traffic” that day. The drivers pulled into a McDonald’s parking lot and fired shots at each other, police wrote earlier this year.

“The incident began on Grindstone Parkway near Hawaiian Brothers, where a blue Hyundai Elantra driven by Derek Gonzalez pulled out in front of a black Dodge Caravan driven by Ryan Woods. Woods stated he had to swerve to avoid a collision. Gonzalez then got behind the Caravan and began following Woods and Crawford. Woods continued to the McDonald’s parking lot where he pulled into the drive-through line,” the letter says.

The letter goes on to say that Woods fired a warning shot at the McDonald’s building after Gonzalez punched out the driver-side window of Woods’ vehicle. Gonzalez then fired a shot into Woods’ vehicle multiple times, hitting a woman in Woods’ vehicle.

In an interview with ABC 17 News, Johnson described how he thinks Gonzalez could have felt like he was defending himself following Wood’s warning shot.

“If you’re the initial aggressor in a fight, you can’t use self-defense. So if you start a fight, or start even threatening that you’re going to injure somebody, you can’t use self-defense unless you withdraw and clearly communicate to the other person that you want to end the fight,” Johnson said.

Woods then allegedly got out of the vehicle while Gonzalez had his gun pointed at him, the letter says. Woods then fired a shot and kicked away Gonzalez’s gun, documents say. The letter says Woods then put his gun away in his car and immediately called 911.

Johnson called the state’s self-defense laws broad and emphasized the importance of understanding them.

“In Missouri, if somebody believes that they’re in imminent risk of deadly force, that could be if you’re pointing a gun in their direction,”John said. “Under some circumstances you could open yourself up to getting shot.” 

Police at the time claimed that no charges would be filed, but said in May the investigation was ongoing.

“After a thorough review, we have determined the evidence does not support criminal charges against Mr. Woods. This is a tragic loss of life, and our hearts go out to Mr. Gonzalez’s family. At the same time, the evidence shows Mr. Woods acted in lawful self-defense under the laws of Missouri,” the conclusion of the letter says.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Prosecutors in Boone County are considering reducing charges for a man charged with murder in a 2023 overdose death

Derek Miltimore, 33, of Columbia, is charged with second-degree felony murder, delivery of a controlled substance, second-degree drug trafficking, two counts of drug possession, one count of unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action. He is being held without bond at the Boone County Jail.

Prosecutors on Thursday filed a proposal to get rid of the charges of murder and delivery of a controlled substance.

Miltimore is one of two people accused in the May 2, 2023, death caused by fentanyl overdose.

Chase Rieves, 34, of Columbia, was also charged in the case with second-degree felony murder, delivery of a controlled substance and drug possession. He is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond. He has a jury trial scheduled for June 2026 and an arraignment set for 1:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 20, 2025.

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