Juvenile charged with first-degree murder in Randolph County teen’s death
HUNTSVILLE, Mo. (KMIZ)
EDITOR’S NOTE: One of the charges against Woods-Bloss has been corrected.
A 17-year-old boy was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder in the death of a 16-year-old girl in Randolph County.
Christopher R. Woods-Bloss was also charged with armed criminal action and first-degree kidnapping in the May killing of Kayla Huff, whose body was found in a Randolph County conservation area after a multi-day search.
Court documents alleged Huff was taken to the area in the trunk of a car and beaten and shot to death.
Woods-Bloss had been in an on-and-off relationship with Huff, according to a probable cause statement. Woods-Bloss was among the last people to be seen with Huff, and he allegedly told investigators that he was with Huff the night of her disappearance when her car broke down.
Court documents in cases against other defendants allege Woods-Bloss’ co-defendants disabled Huff’s car and covered up evidence to create the appearance that she had disappeared.
One of those co-defendants, Alayna Mason, allegedly said in the days after Huff’s disappearance that she and Woods-Bloss had taken Huff to the conservation area and killed her, according to court documents.
Another witness allegedly told investigators that one of the defendants told them they had killed Huff along with Woods-Bloss.
Multiple people had reported Woods-Bloss had physically abused Huff, according to a probable cause statement.
Woods-Bloss was in the Randolph County Jail on Tuesday morning on a no-bond warrant.
Four other people are charged in connection with the murder.
Woods-Bloss Christopher 26-05-000505 PC Statement_RedactedDownloadAlayna Mason, 20, of Moberly, is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping.
Christopher Hull, 23, is charged with first-degree kidnapping, tampering with evidence, second-degree burglary and first-degree property damage.
Julian Mason, 26, is charged with first-degree kidnapping and tampering with evidence, including second-degree burglary and first-degree property damage.
Hunter Ames is also charged with first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and the additional charge of tampering with evidence. Last month, a judge granted Ames’ motion to have his case moved to Linn County.
Randolph County Sheriff Andy Boggs said that it is a big step in the right direction for Woods-Bloss to be certified as an adult.
“So we were able to focus on him and the other co-defendants as the last people to see her alive. And from that, we completed our investigation,” Boggs said.
Boggs said that he thinks the motive should and will come out during court.
“Everybody has to be held accountable for what happened to Kayla, and that’s why you see the many different people and different charges,” Boggs said.
Boggs said that the severity of the charges is what led to Woods-Bloss being certified as an adult.
“Any time somebody has been charged with a severe crime like this, then basically the goal is to certify them and gett them into adult court,” Boggs said.
Woods-Bloss has his first court appearance Thursday at 10 a.m. at the Randolph County Courthouse for his arraignment.
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