Meghan Drakas
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
More than six years after a string of homicides and gun violence struck Columbia, police and the former mayor spoke with ABC 17 News about a violent September.
“I think I referred to it at the time as a hurricane of violence that was circling our community,” former Columbia Mayor Brian Treece said. “At the time, it seemed like the east side was fighting with the west side and would send a shooter, and if that person perished, another one would fill their shoes.”
Treece was the mayor of the City of Columbia from April 2016 to April 2022.
“There was a lot of back and forth in a relatively short period of time,” Treece said. “It just seemed like [there was] tension in our community.”
Nadria Wright and Sam Baldwin: Sept. 13, 2019
Columbia Police say they responded to a shooting at 11:55 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 13, 2019, near Forest and Grand avenues.
Officers found 18-year-old Nadria Wright and 28-year-old Sam Baldwin IV with life-threatening injuries after they were shot. Wright was later pronounced dead at a hospital. Police say Baldwin was the target of a “rival gang” in the shooting, and Wright was a “criminally uninvolved” passenger in the car.
A photo of Nadria Wright on a blanket shown to ABC 17 News in March 2021, when the station spoke with her mother, Shaunda Hamilton.
In March 2021, Javion Lawhorn entered an Alford plea in court to second-degree assault and first-degree involuntary manslaughter. Under an Alford plea, a defendant admits the state has evidence for a conviction but does not admit guilt. Lawhorn also pleaded guilty to an unrelated misdemeanor resisting arrest charge. He was sentenced to one year in prison, concurrent with the seven years served for second-degree assault and first-degree involuntary manslaughter.
Lawhorn spent three years behind bars for his charges. In November 2024, he was charged with aggravated fleeing after he was involved in a high-speed chase with Boone County deputies. Law enforcement reported the chase reached speeds of 137 miles per hour.
Baldwin was killed in a Boone County shooting in April 2023 the 4300 block of West Bellview Drive off Scott Boulevard. A 5-year-old child was also shot.
Sam Baldwin IV (Credit: Parker-Millard Funeral Service and Crematory)
E’quan Spain: Sept. 14, 2019
Just hours after Wright and Baldwin were shot, officers responded to a report of shots fired at 2:06 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 14, near Fifth and Park avenues. Police say officers were told a person had been shot and was taken to the hospital. Nineteen-year-old E’quan Spain was later pronounced dead.
E’quan Spain (Credit: H.T. May & Sons Funeral Home)
On Friday, Sept. 20, Columbia Police said they arrested 28-year-old Michael L. Anderson III on charges of second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action in connection with Spain’s death. Court documents state that Anderson fatally shot Spain as multiple men were shooting from a vehicle in September. Spain was hit by a bullet from inside the vehicle and later died, according to court documents.
In February 2020, Anderson died in the South Central Correctional Center in Licking.
Aaron Harris pleaded guilty in late April 2021 to first-degree involuntary manslaughter in Spain’s death. Police said Harris was driving a car when his passenger, Anderson, accidentally shot Spain in the backseat. Harris was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Kejuane Marshae Johnson: Sept. 18, 2019
Police responded at 4:20 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2019, to the 3400 block of James Dale Road, and found a man had been shot inside a home. Twenty-three-year-old Kejuane Marshae Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene. According to CPD Lt. Matt Gremore, police later ruled this as a justified shooting.
Kejuane Marshae Johnson (Credit: Parker-Millard Funeral Service and Crematory)
Danielle Marine and Antonio Houston: Sept. 22, 2019
Around 3:10 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 22, 2019, officers were sent to a shooting scene at the corner of McKee Street and Rice Road. In the front and side yard of the home, officers found 33-year-old Danielle Marine and 36-year-old Antonio Houston with gunshot wounds. They were both taken to the hospital and were pronounced dead.
Police say several shell casings and evidence were collected at the scene. To this day, no one has been arrested for their deaths.
Families of Houston and Marine told ABC 17 News they miss their loved ones dearly. Houston’s sister, Kisha Houston, said Antonio left behind six children, while Marine’s sister, Shemeca Marine, said she left behind three children. Shemeca Marine said she wants justice for her sister.
“We know we can’t bring our loved ones back,” she said. “But we know we can let them be at peace and rest, and our lives can at least be at ease a little bit, knowing that who done this to my sister is paying the consequences of their actions.”
Antonio Houston and Danielle Marine (Credit: Kisha Houston and Shemeca Marine)
James Hickem: Sept. 25, 2019
Just three days after Marine and Houston were killed, police were sent to a shots heard call on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2019, in the area of McBaine Avenue and Duncan Street. Police found 23-year-old James Hickem with gunshot wounds. He was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead. Police say they collected evidence at the scene.
To this day, Columbia Police have not made any arrests in Hickem’s case.
James Hickem (Credit: Parker-Millard Funeral Service and Crematory)
Gremore said during this time, Columbia was a very violent place. He compared it to a gang war.
“You’re begging for information to come in,” Gremore said. “There’s a lot of work that has to be done and not a lot of time to do it. And with [the] amount of calls coming in for the detective unit, you’re just having to prioritize that. And you don’t have time to work any of the other cases that were coming in.”
Gremore said he believes some of these shootings are connected.
“I would hear of a shooting on the radio and I was shocked at the amount of violence that was happening,” Gremore said. “There’s always calls for shootings, but they don’t always have a victim…and so that stretch, that was very unusual.”
But looking at the case of Danielle Marine and Antonio Hoston, Gremore said he does not believe this case is linked to any of the other shootings during this time frame.
Treece said he was impressed with how the Columbia Police Department handled the investigations.
“I’ve always felt safe in Columbia, and I thought my job as mayor was to make it safer,” Treece said. “I was so impressed with the role of our Columbia Police Department.”
Treece noted the city had sworn in a new police chief in the midst of these shootings. Geoff Jones was sworn in as police chief on Sept. 16, 2019.
“He [Jones] was new in that role, [but] certainly not new to the police department,” Treece said. “But you had a lot of energy, you had a lot of, morale was high at the police department. There was a desire to solve and prevent these type of cases. But there were a few takeaways that kind of came out of that period.”
One takeaway is that there’s always someone else to fill the shoes of a shooter, and “a shooting victim is more likely statistically to be a shooter themselves in the future,” Treece said. He said this drove a lot of intervention with shooting victims to talk them out of retaliation.
A study on childhood trauma exposure and gun violence risk factors among victims of gun violence found that victims of gun violence have a higher risk of being involved in gun violence again.
Treece said another takeaway is that most of these shootings stemmed from personal issues people have with each other, meaning they were not random. He said there was a lot of community outrage over the violence and he felt residents wanted more policing following these shootings.
“They wanted more policing in their neighborhoods, and I think that was certainly was the precipitating factor for us in forming the Violent Crimes Task Force.”
The task force was formed in 2020 and was made up of Columbia police officers, University of Missouri police officers, ATF agents and Boone County sheriff’s deputies. Treece said that when it was in effect, the task force recovered 55 guns from people who were prohibited from having them.
The task force was later disbanded after the state of Missouri passed the Second Amendment Preservation Act, which prevented local law enforcement from enforcing federal gun laws.
Treece said he believes the task force helped the city and “got gun crimes out of the street and into the courtroom.”
CPD is investigating 17 unsolved homicide cases with 19 victims dating back to 1985. ABC 17 has covered six cases under our reporting of “Mid-Missouri’s Cold Case Files.”
Michael Walker Jr. & Jeffery Jones
Garbrielle Rhodes
George Showalter
Virginia ‘Ginger’ Davis
Edmond ‘Ricky’ Randolph Jr.
Jamar Hicks
Watch the latest “Mid-Missouri’s Cold Case Files: The Case of Antonio Houston and Danielle Marine” at 10 p.m. Wednesday on ABC 17 News.
Click here to follow the original article.
