Author: KMIZ

Marie Moyer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

University of Missouri System President Mun Choi is inviting City of Columbia officials to take to the streets with him Saturday evening for a walkthrough of downtown Columbia, according to an email obtained by ABC 17 News.

“You’ll be able to witness for yourself what business owners, your constituents, students and parents have been complaining about for many years,” Choi said in the email sent Tuesday evening.

In the email, Choi cited issues such as gun violence and harassment by homeless people, noting that University of Missouri students are often involved as victims in those incidents. Choi said an MU student was injured when running away during Saturday’s shooting that killed a Stephens College student and injured at least two other bystanders.

A 23-year-old Florida man was arrested and has been charged with murder. The shooting has prompted calls to increase downtown security, with some of the most vocal demands coming from Choi.

“We can’t deflect responsibility or use delay tactics by focusing on underlying causes,” Choi said in the email. “I do believe that underlying causes must be solved but first and foremost we must address the crime crisis that we have at hand.”

ABC 17 News reached out to several of the email’s over 30 recipients. Boone County Prosecutor Roger Johnson was the only person contacted who said he would attend Saturday’s event, adding that he is grateful for Choi to take the lead on the issue.

Both violent crime and addressing crime related to serious mental health issues have been a priority and challenge for our office,” Johnson said. “I value the Sheriff’s commitment to additional downtown patrols; collaboration between CPD, MUPD, and the Sheriff’s Office is critical.”

Johnson adds that his office will prioritize cases from downtown patrols to reinforce deterrence.

Local business owner and founder of Flat Branch Home Loans Jim Yankee was sent the email but will not be attending. However, Yankee is supporting of Choi’s initiative. Yankee adds that he has previously went downtown on his own in the evenings to observe Columbia’s nighttime scene.

“It’s a very different crowd of people, the crowds that I see that seem to be causing a lot of problems, they aren’t college kids, they aren’t the Harpo’s Bar crowd getting out,” Yankee said. “It’s a crowd of people that I think are down there for bad purposes.”

Yankee adds that his business has been affected in the evenings due to issues like vandalism.

“It very much affects businesses and affects everyone’s perception of downtown, it is very important, and people now are more worried about going downtown,” Yankee said.

Ward 5 Council Member Don Waterman does not plan to attend. He adds that the council is waiting to see how Choi’s collaborative task force will shake out, not wanting to rush legislation.

“While we need to do something, I want to make sure that we’re not rushing,” Waterman said. “If you look back, whether it’s in the city, the state, federal level, rushed legislation frequently tends to be not good legislation.”

Ward 4 Council Member Nick Foster is also not expecting to attend and called the walk unnecessary.

“I am fully confident in the Columbia Police Department, Chief Schlude, and City Manager Seewood to keep the Council informed regarding these issues, just as they have done previously and continue to do currently,” Foster said in a statement.

Ward 3 Council Member Jacque Sample did not say if she plans to attend however, she did say in a statement that community violence is a complex issue and can’t be solved just through law enforcement departments.

“It also requires us to look closely at the root causes of violence—poverty, lack of opportunity, untreated trauma—and invest in prevention just as much as response,” Sample said. “While I welcome genuine partnership from the University of Missouri, we must avoid rhetoric or approaches that divide or dismiss the complexity of this challenge.”

According to City of Columbia Public Communications Manager Sydney Olsen, Mayor Barbara Buffaloe and the City Council are working with staff for another planned safety walk.

The city of Columbia Police Department, in a Facebook post on Wednesday, addressed questions about downtown safety.

According to the post, on Friday and Saturday nights, around half of CPD’s officers are moved downtown, with additional officers added on game-day weekends. CPD reported that 11 officers were downtown last weekend.

Officers downtown also focus on proactive law enforcement. The CPD started this initiative in June after a shooting, with officers handling misdemeanor crimes like jaywalking, disturbing the peace and open container violations.

The post also shared that CPD is collaborating with other city departments, including Public Works, to create ride-share drop-off locations and the Columbia/Boone County Health Department to help with crowd control during late-night food vending.

CPD also reports that there are not enough resources for a full-time downtown unit. But the department has staffed a patrol sergeant to temporarily focus on downtown operations and patrol unit management.

“We recognize that creating a safe environment requires more than enforcement, which is why we are working with other City departments and law enforcement partners to address the full range of issues affecting our community,” CPD Chief Jill Schlude said in the post.

The walk-through is expected to start at 11 p.m. Saturday and end at 3 a.m. Sunday.

Click here to follow the original article.

Nia Hinson

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man whose sentence was commuted by former President Joe Biden but was later accused of violating his parole was sentenced to 14 months in prison on Wednesday

A judge ruled Malcolm Redmon, 42 go back to prison for a little more than a year after a hearing on Wednesday. He’ll have to serve four years of supervised release after that.

A judge claimed he had “concerns” over some of the issues Redmon had run into after being released.

Redmon was released from federal custody in July after having his sentence commuted, but was taken into custody by Columbia Police in August on allegations of a parole violation.

A judge ruled in August that he be detained until his next hearing.

Redmon was sentenced to 24 years in prison in 2016 after pleading guilty to being involved in a cocaine-selling ring in Mid-Missouri. He was one of nearly 2,500 people convicted of nonviolent drug charges to have their sentences commuted by Biden.

Prosecutors claimed in August that Redmon violated his parole by having alcohol at a halfway house and failing to tell his parole officer he was traveling more than 50 miles outside of Jackson County.

Prosecutors doubled down on that claim on Wednesday, stating Redmon was seen on tape with alcohol and was terminated from the RRC.

The prosecution asked the judge to revoke his release and sentence him to the 14 months in prison, emphasizing how quickly Redmon violated his parole after his release.

A judge also heard from Investigator Greg Wills, who claimed he did an interview with the man Redmon was allegedly seen giving alcohol to at the halfway house. Wills testified that the man told him Redmon gave him a soda, but that people did sometimes drink at the house, including himself.

The prosecution pushed back on his credibility, calling it “dubious” to have a soda in a brown paper bag, and noting that he had had been convicted of a felony in the past.

Redmon’s attorney asked the judge to sentence him to time served, claiming that her client had taken the necessary steps to rehabilitate, including getting a job and taking several courses. His attorney also noted the fact that Redmon had gotten an apartment.

She also stated that Redmon had not received a copy of his supervised released documents and claimed the state lacked sufficient evidence.

Redmon also briefly spoke to the judge and told him he was proud of himself for getting a job and was working toward the goal of receiving his commercial drivers license.

Redmon said he took full responsibility for the lack of communication he had with his parole officer, but pleaded with the judge, saying going back to prison would not allow him to change his narrative.

The judge ultimately said he agreed with the prosecution that having a soda in a brown bag was unbelievable. He also pushed back on Redmon’s attorney’s claims that Redmon wanted to stay in the Kansas City area, rather than in Columbia, noting that Columbia is the place he was arrested in.

The judge also said his concerns were that Redmon had run into “back-to-back hiccups” after being out of custody for a short period of time.

Click here to follow the original article.

Jazsmin Halliburton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Members of the University of Missouri’s School of Medicine Department of Emergency Medicine will be going through simulated mass casualty training at Faurot Field Wednesday morning.

MU Health Care spokesperson Eric Maze told ABC 17 News that around 24 emergency medicine resident physicians will be engaging in six different scenarios such as cardiac arrest, a field stampede incident, player spinal injury, etc.

In Wednesday’s training, trainees will use several actors, mannequins and the Shelden Simulation Mobile Laboratory to help simulate medical incidents on the field.

According to MU Health Care, this training is to make sure physicians are prepared for multiple types of emergencies beyond the walls of the hospital, including at Mizzou football games.

Wednesday’s training will begin at 9 a.m. and continue through noon.

Click here to follow the original article.

Matthew Sanders

The Missouri National Guard has a new mission starting Wednesday.

A few Guard members will be used to support the operations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Missouri, under an order from Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe. Soldiers have been deployed in other areas to support ICE agents, including California.

Do you support using the Missouri National Guard for such a mission? Let us know by voting in the poll.

Click here to follow the original article.

Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

State lawmakers are reacting to the outpouring response by local leaders and community organizations following a deadly downtown Columbia shooting over the University of Missouri’s Homecoming weekend.

Columbia police responded to a shooting in the 800 block of East Broadway just before 2 a.m. Saturday. Police found three people shot; one woman, Aiyanna Williams later died from her wounds.

Following the shooting, University of Missouri System President Mun Choi publicly called on city and county leaders to crack down on crime and suggested the creation of a task force. He also involved Gov. Mike Kehoe into conversations of crime prevention in the downtown Columbia and campus areas.

Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe then listed actions the city government and Columbia Police Department have taken and wrote she would form a taskforce for crime downtown. She wrote CPD added eight officers to night patrols, a 20% increase in staffing since last summer.

State Rep. Kathy Steinhoff (D-Columbia) said on Tuesday she supports the creation of a taskforce for crime prevention, but called the fallout a political firestorm.

“I was very disappointed in how it was handled,” Steinhoff said. “I think that it did not need to be this public calling out of one entity on how another one is doing their business and then immediately calling for support from the state level.”

The police department has also recently ramped up its enforcement of misdemeanor offenses downtown in an effort to reduce violent incidents. Steinhoff said she feels like it’s a step in the right direction.

“They’re enforcing things like jaywalking and just trying to make sure that our community understands that there are things that we need to do in order to have a safe community,” Steinhoff said.

Former Missouri State Rep. Chuck Basye (R-Boone County) said he also support the idea of a task force, but feels like more police officers would also help.

“Hiring more of these men and women that want to be police officers, maybe bringing back in some retired folks would be a great asset to the community,” Basye said.

However, he said he understands the training process is long and experience is important.

“There’s a lot of, police officers that are that are relatively new, within five years, in the Columbia Police Department,” Basye said. “But we need to do more and I think more law enforcement would be a great first step in the right direction.”

Steinhoff said there’s also a need for stricter gun laws at the state level, a sentiment that was also shared by Buffaloe in her statement.

‘We have some of the loosest gun laws in the country,” Steinhoff said. “There was not a law in place that would have helped that those police, even if they had had an idea that he was agitated, even if they had had an idea he had a gun on him, even if they had the idea that he was among so many people, there was really not a law in place that they could have stopped him from doing what he did.”

Basye said there is not a law that could be passed that would have prevented Saturday morning’s shooting and that the push needs to come from the prosecution and action against crimes.

“A beautiful, young lady lost her life because somebody didn’t care what the law was and acted in a violent manner,” Basye said. “We need to get more aggressive and crack down on these criminal elements.”

Columbia Police Chief Jill Schlude made her first public statement on Tuesday acknowledging local concerns of violence downtown. Schlude said her department is prioritizing downtown crime efforts and focusing on reestablishing a unit focused on crime in that area, set to be implemented by summer 2026.

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Pavement repairs are scheduled this week for different parts of Highway 54 in Callaway County, according to a Tuesday press release from the Missouri Department of Transportation.

On Wednesday, MoDOT crews will close the driving lane of eastbound Highway 54 that will require closing access to Route T.

On Thursday, the passing lane will be closed, along with the crossover between east- and westbound traffic and the entrance to County Road 176, the release says.

The closures are expected to last from 6 a.m.-4:30 p.m. each day, the release says.

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The City of Columbia Solid Waste Utility will host a customer input open house next week about the construction of its new recycling facility, according to a Tuesday press release.  

The meeting will be held 5:30-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7 at the Activity and Recreation Center at 1701 Est Ash Street, the release says. There will be no formal presentation.

Curbside recycling pickup has been limited in the city after the recycling center was destroyed on April 20 by an EF-1 tornado.

Demolition for the rest of the building occurred about a month after the building was hit.

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man has been charged with four felonies after he allegedly stabbed a woman on Sept. 25.

Richard McCracken, 52, was charged in Boone County with first-degree assault, two counts of armed criminal action and a count of unlawful use of a weapon. He is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond. An arraignment was held on Monday and a confined docket hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7. A preliminary hearing is set for 9 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 6.

The probable cause statement says the victim knocked on someone’s door on Tuscany Ridge after getting away from McCracken. The victim was bleeding and had stab wounds on her hand and had blood on her hands and arms, the statement says.

The victim allegedly told police that she knew McCracken from “shelters” and that he offered to pay for a hotel room so she would not be trespassed, the statement says. McCracken had the victim in a vehicle and then choked and stabbed her while she was in the passenger seat, the statement says.

Police later found the vehicle and saw blood in the passenger seat, the statement says.

Court documents say McCracken has been convicted of several crimes, including rape and statutory rape. The statement says McCracken is from California. A Boone County court filing from 2017 shows he was extradited to California that year.

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Boone County’s top prosecutor says a Florida man has now been charged with murder in the death of a Stephens College student.

Misael Covarrubias, 23, will be charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Aiyanna Williams. He is also charged with three counts of armed criminal action, two counts of first-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon.

Covarrubias was charged on Monday with three counts of first-degree assault, three counts of armed criminal action and a single count of unlawful use of a weapon. Covarrubias allegedly told police that he is from Florida but had been living in Columbia for about five months, court documents in previous reporting say.

Covarrubias is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond. A confined docket hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7 and a preliminary hearing is set for 9 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 6.

He is accused of firing 11 shots at 1:42 a.m. Saturday on East Broadway between Eighth and Ninth streets in downtown Columbia. He allegedly hit three people with bullets, including Williams. Williams was pronounced dead on Sunday.

Police initially said Covarrubias was involved in an argument and began firing, though none of the people hit by gunfire were involved in the exchange.

Court documents in previous reporting say Covarrubias reportedly told officers that people ganged up on him, causing him to fire warning shots. Covarrubias initially said the warning shots were fired at the ground, but later admitted to firing with his arm straight out, the statement says.

He then allegedly told officers that he did not know who he was shooting at, and also admitted to consuming alcohol prior, the probable cause statement says.  

The shooting prompted University of Missouri System President Mun Choi to call for action to reduce crime in Columbia and Mayor Barbara Buffaloe to call for a special task force.

Click here to follow the original article.

Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man in ICE detention was taken into custody by federal authorities because of convictions for possession of marijuana and cocaine, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Tuesday.

Owen Ramsingh was detained by agents in Chicago after returning from the Netherlands and landing at O’Hare International Airport. He has been in detention since.

“September 27, CBP arrested Owen Romann Ramsingh, a criminal alien from the Netherlands,” Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin wrote in a statement. “His criminal history includes convictions for cocaine possession and marijuana possession. This criminal alien is in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.

“A green card is a privilege, not a right, and under our nation’s laws, our government has the authority to revoke a green card if our laws are broken and abused.”

Court records obtained by ABC 17 show Ramingh was charged with drug possession in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1998 when he was 17. He pleaded guilty the next year to attempting to commit a felony.

The following year, records show he was cited for having less than an ounce of marijuana in Nebraska and fined $100.

He also has an expunged 2011 conviction in Boone County for marijuana possession. He has had a green card since 1986, Ramsingh’s wife, Diana told ABC 17 News on Monday.

The last information Diana has is that Owen was being transferred to a detention center in El Paso, Texas. He has a court date in Illinois scheduled for Oct. 15.

Ramsingh is the head of security at The Blue Note and Rose Music Hall and is a property manager at Property Professional Management. 

Click here to follow the original article.