Judge orders adult certification investigation for juvenile charged in deadly southwest Columbia shooting
Olivia Hayes
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A minor charged in connection with a southwest Columbia robbery-turned-shooting could be certified as an adult.
The minor, whose name ABC 17 News is not releasing unless charges are filed in adult court, appeared at a hearing in juvenile court Wednesday. He was one of four people arrested Tuesday in connection with a deadly shooting that took place in the 1400 block of Ridgemont Court on Sunday.
Alexis Baumann, of Hallsville; Kobe Aust and Joseph Crane, both of Columbia; were charged with second-degree murder, armed criminal action and first-degree robbery. All three are 18 years old. They each have a hearing set for Wednesday afternoon but it was rescheduled to Thursday afternoon.
The male juvenile is facing the same charges along with felony theft.
Court documents filed in the case say that Baumann and the group arranged to buy a phone from the victim, Michael R. Burke. The group had already met with and stolen from at least two other victims in the two days before the confrontation that led to Burke’s death, documents say. Those incidents took place on Claudell Lane and on Northampton Drive.
Baumann told police the juvenile would set up a meeting with someone through Facebook Marketplace to buy a phone, the group would steal the phone and then sell it for cash at a local ecoATM
Officers were sent to the 1400 block of Ridgemont Court at about 8:15 p.m. Sunday and found Burke shot. Baumann allegedly told officers that the juvenile and Crane went into Burke’s home and minutes later she heard three gunshots. They then took his iPhone and sold it at an ecoATM at the Walmart on Conley Road.
Baumann also said when Crane and the juvenile returned to the car following the shooting, the minor allegedly admitted to shooting Burke.
All three adults admitted to police that the group was at Ridgemont Court on the night of the shooting, according to court documents.
The boy appeared before a Boone County judge on Wednesday for a detention hearing. The state requested that he be kept at the juvenile detention center until an adult certification investigation can be completed. The defense requested in-home detention.
The judge ordered the boy to stay in juvenile detention until his next court hearing on Tuesday. She also granted the defense’s request for an in-home detention investigation and the state’s request for an adult certification investigation.
Columbia Police Department recommends people use its Online Exchange Zone located inside the downtown Columbia department as a safe alternative to your home for an online sale meet up. The Boone County’s Sheriff’s Office also offers its 24-hour lobby and parking lot for safe exchanges. For student, the University of Missouri Police Department says its lobby is also open 24-hours and a safe place to meet complete online sales.