Author: KMIZ

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A teenager from Freeburg has been charged as an adult in Maries County in connection with a shooting that occurred at a Vienna gas station in September.

Kaden Herzing was charged on Thursday with armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon and first-degree property damage. He was 17 years old when he was arrested on Sept. 21. A Friday court filing says he was denied a public defender.

A probable cause statement says Vienna police were called around 2:28 a.m. Sept. 21 after the Quik Spot in the 100 block of South Highway 63 had its windows shot out. Police saw the glass of the front door was destroyed and four shell casings were found at the scene, the statement says. An estimate determined about $1,100 in damage was reported, court documents say.

A friend of Herzing called law enforcement after and allegedly said Herzing told him that he had shot the windows out of two convenience stores in Osage County, the statement says.

Police reviewed video and saw a male arrive in a dark-colored car, walk up to the door with a handgun in his right hand and fired it, court documents say.

Herzing was later found at a residence in Freeburg and a gun containing five bullets was found in a car, the statement says. The bullets were the same brand as the spent shell casing found at the convenience store, police wrote.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

David Williams, who spent more than three decades with the Jefferson City Police Department and recently retired as a captain, was appointed by Gov. Mike Kehoe to the Board of Probation and Parole, according to a Friday press release from Kehoe’s office.

JCPD announced Williams’ retirement in a public social media post on Nov. 25. He was also recognized at the Dec. 1 City Council meeting.

“Captain Williams is retiring from the Jefferson City Police Department after 32+ years of service to the department and the Jefferson City community. Good luck in your next adventures in life,” JCPD wrote in the post.

Friday’s press release says Williams serving on boards for Special Learning Center and Multipli Credit Union.

Williams is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminal justice from Columbia College.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A convicted sex offender on Monday pleaded guilty to keeping artificially generated child pornography on his cellphone.

Charles Hooton, 64, of Columbia, pleaded guilty to four counts of child porn possession and one count of failing to register as a sex offender. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.

The probable cause statement in previous reporting says police were called on May 18 about a report of Hooton having child porn after a woman saw a number of images while using his cellphone.

Hooton spoke with police on July 24 and let them go through his phone, court documents say. He allegedly admitted to using an AI app to generate the explicit images, the statement says. Police wrote that more than 130 AI-generated images were found on Hooton’s phone.

Hooton’s web history also included several websites that had “teen,” “boy” and other related phrases in the name, court documents say.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Boone County dog breeder accused of animal abuse is facing a significant number of felony charges after she was indicted by a grand jury on Friday.

Melissa Sanders, 26, of Columbia, is now charged with 29 counts of animal abuse. All of the counts are felonies. She was previously charged with three felony counts and 15 misdemeanor counts of animal abuse.

An arraignment for the new set of charges is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Monday. She is being held at the Phelps County Jail without bond, though she is listed on Boone County’s online jail roster.

During a hearing on Thursday, a Judge Kayla Jackson-Williams said she would consider a bond and ordered a detention study to be done. A hearing on that decision was scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 30. A lawyer for the state had argued that Sanders is a flight risk because she is involved in a relationship with someone from Texas.

Sanders ran Magnum Opus German Shepherds and a number of dead dogs, including a dozen dog skulls, were found at the property of the business when law enforcement served a search warrant, according to court documents in previous reporting. Several malnourished dogs were also found at the property.

Court documents say at least two living dogs that were found were on the brink of death.

The living dogs were turned over to the Central Missouri Humane Society after Sanders was arrested. Owners of the dogs were contacted and reunited with the animals.

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Keriana Gamboa

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Boone County Commission on Thursdays approved the finalized budget for the 2026 fiscal year.

Including money being using from the American Rescue Plan Act, expenditures for the new fiscal year are expected to total $156 million.

Officials say the budget will allow for pay raises for some county employees.

Presiding Commissioner Kip Kendrick says the new pay plan is a different approach to county compensation. As part of the restructuring, positions have been grouped into job “families” like law enforcement, IT, administration, and engineering to ensure pay stays competitive across different fields.

 The new system breaks pay into three components:

Cost-of-living increases

Step raises that move employees toward market-pay levels

Discretionary pay for performance, promotions and other merit-based factors

Boone County Auditor Kyle Rieman said the new pay structure also helps communicate to employees why they are receiving a pay increase or why they may not in certain cases.

Kendrick said the county will continue updating the plan as the county grows to make sure employees’ pay remains competitive. 

“We’ll be able to kind of touch that each and every year. And so this is a more interactive pay plan and something that we can, you know, likely keep on top of better, from our end at the county level, to make sure that it, you know, that it moves forward, that it doesn’t remain stagnant,” Kendrick said. 

In late 2023, the county hired McGrath Consulting Group to review salaries and found 51% of the nearly 500 county employees were being paid below market levels. 

The findings prompted a complete overhaul of the county’s pay policy, aimed at aligning employee salaries more closely with market rates.

Rieman said the county has budgeted $3.9 million to implement the new pay plan and cover 2026 pay increases.

He also adds the proposed revenue projection is $121 million, when not including American Rescue Plan Act money.

Kendrick added while this year’s budget isn’t as large as usual, the county has set aside enough reserve funds to cover major capital projects.

“We will spend more than we’re taking in next year. But our reserves allow us to do that. We’ve been planning these large capital projects for a number of years,” Kendrick said. Large projects such as the, eight megahertz system by the time that’s fully implemented from helping by the radios to building new towers is probably a little over a $20 million project.”

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Librarians at the University of Missouri in Columbia voted last week to unionize, according to a Friday press release from LiUNA 955, a union that represents several employee groups in Mid-Missouri.

“We are hopeful that the UM System voluntarily recognizes our union and bargains in good faith.” engineering librarian Noël Kopriva said in the release.

The release says the workers filed with the State Board of Mediation on Friday, Dec. 12. An MU spokesman told ABC 17 News that the university has received the petition.

“The University received the petition filed with the Missouri Board of Mediation by the Laborers’ International Union of North America, Local 955, on December 12, 2025, and is aware of today’s press release,” a statement from MU spokesman Travis Zimpfer says. “Local 955 seeks to be the exclusive bargaining representative of certain employees affiliated with the Mizzou libraries. The University is reviewing the petition and press release and will follow the law in these proceedings.”

Taira Meadowcroft, a health science librarian, was quoted in the release says workers voted to unionize to “improve MU Libraries.”

“Some of our staff barely make above minimum wage and that harms our ability to deliver effective service to our users – the researchers, students, staff and faculty that keep this University running,” Meadowcroft was quoted in the release.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Central Missouri Humane Society announced in a Friday press release that it is halting its intake of cats because of “the presence of a contagious upper respiratory illness within the shelter.”

CMHS will waive adoption fees for all cats through Friday, Dec. 26.

“Reducing our feline population is one of the most effective ways we can slow the spread of illness and keep cats comfortable while they recover,” CMHS Executive Director Julie Aber was quoted in the release. “Adoption or even temporary fostering makes an immediate difference for our feline population.”

The release says the fees are waived for cats at the shelter on Big Bear Boulevard and claims all cats there are spayed/neutered, are up to date on vaccinations and microchipped.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man has been charged with a pair of felonies after authorities claim he stole $15,000 from an elderly woman in a cryptocurrency scam.

Charles Burri, 29, of Columbia, was charged on Thursday in Boone County with financially exploiting an elderly person and stealing more than $750. A warrant was requested on Thursday. He is not listed on the Boone County Jail roster and police wrote in the probable cause statement that Burri is “avoiding law enforcement contact.”

The probable cause statement says police received an email from the 71-year-old victim on Nov. 20 that claimed she invested $15,000 with Burri Asset Management on July 1. Burri allegedly “offered her returns from various crypto investments,” the statement says.

When the victim asked for her money back, Burri allegedly claimed he would give it back, but then stopped communicating with the victim, the statement says.

Court documents say a subpoena of Burri’s bank account showed a $10,000 deposit was made on July 2.

The probable cause statement claims Burri is “suspected in other crimes related to stealing by deceit.”

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Two people have been charged with felonies after authorities claim a Jefferson City mother gave alcohol to her child and provided the youth to a 32-year-old man.

Michael Alexander, 32, of Jefferson City, was charged on Thursday in Cole County with first-degree rape, while Lorretta Wilhelm, 40, also of Jefferson City, was charged with first-degree rape and first-degree endangering the welfare of a child.

Both people are being held at the Cole County Jail without bond and arraignments were scheduled for Friday morning.

The probable cause statement says the father of the victim called police on Dec. 14 after learning his child was sexually abused the night before.

Wilhelm allegedly picked up the victim from a friend’s home on Dec. 13, gave the child alcohol, picked up Alexander and rented a hotel room for the two, court documents say. The victim had allegedly vomited from being intoxicated before entering the hotel room, the statement says.  

An older sibling of the victim went to the hotel to take the victim away after learning they were there, the statement says. The victim allegedly told the sibling they had intercourse with Alexander, the statement says.

Wilhelm allegedly admitted to having alcohol in her vehicle, but denied handing booze to the youth, the statement says. She also allegedly denied knowing Alexander’s age, according to court documents.

Alexander denied having a sexual encounter with the youth, according to court documents.

Video from the hotel allegedly showed Wilhelm paying for a room and Alexander carrying the victim to the room, the statement says.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A 61-year-old man from Dixon was charged with a felony after authorities say he drunkenly crashed his truck into a motorcycle on Wednesday.

Benjamin Shoemaker was charged on Thursday in Maries County with driving while intoxicated leading to a crash that caused serious injury. He is being held without bond. A court date has not been scheduled.

A Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report says the driver of a 2000 GMC Sonoma was heading southbound on Highway 28 in Maries County when he failed to year to a 2023 Honda Rebel 1100 motorcycle that was entering the highway and hit it.

The motorcycle rider – a 48-year-old man from Dixon – had serious injuries and was flown to University Hospital in Columbia, the report says. The man wore a helmet, the report says.

The probable cause statement says Shoemaker admitted to fault in the cash. A trooper smelled alcohol on Shoemaker and requested he take multiple sobriety tests, which were refused. Shoemaker allegedly took a breath test, but did not blow hard enough to register a reading, the statement says.

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