Author: KMIZ

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A portion of Business Loop 70 in Columbia will experience a traffic shift on July 3, according to a press release from the Missouri Department of Transportation.

Release says crews working on the Improve I-70 Project will divert westbound traffic – near Eastland Circle and Hinkson Creek – to the center lane. The release says there will be no turn lane during the traffic shift.

The release says crews are preparing to build a new roundabout that will connect Business Loop 70 to Interstate 70.  

A date for the end of that portion of road work was not announced in the release.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A second man has been accused of stealing Mizzou football merchandise and gear from an athletic facility in March.

Victor Decunha, of Columbia, was charged on Friday with first-degree burglary and second-degree burglary. He is not listed on the Boone County Jail roster and a $50,000 bond was set.

He and Jace McKernan were accused of going into the Mizzou Football South End Zone Facility several times from March 2-25 with “other unidentified individuals.” They allegedly took boxes of Mizzou football athletic gear, clothing, alcohol, paintings and other items.

McKernan was also charged with first-degree and second-degree burglary and posted a $5,000 bond on April 1. An arraignment is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. June 30.

Court documents say McKernan listed the name “Victor” as an associate and Decunha was identified through “several anonymous persons with ties to Rock Bridge High School.” A school resource officer was also able to identify him and gave a cellphone number to police, the statement says.

Decunha was also allegedly seen in a Facebook profile picture with McKernan when he tried selling the stolen items on Facebook Marketplace, the statement says. Decunha’s cellphone number was also identified by police during a text exchange with McKernan in which they discussed the heist, court documents say.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia woman was charged on Friday after police say they found her with 17 pounds of methamphetamine.

Asia Schafer, 23, was charged with first-degree drug trafficking. She is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond. A court date has not been scheduled.

The probable cause statement says that a Columbia police officer was monitoring traffic around 1:30 p.m. Thursday when a Tesla Cybertruck with dark windows was seen heading eastbound on Interstate 70 near the Stadium Boulevard exit. The statement says the tint in the windows was too dark and tested at 11% light transmittance, with state law requiring 35%.

The officer pulled over the vehicle at Broadway and Keene Street, the statement says. Schafer allegedly told police that she was coming from the park for lunch, but the officer wrote that he “had prior knowledge that the vehicle was coming from Kansas City and Schafer was lying.” She eventually stated she came from Kansas City, the statement says.

A K-9 was used and drugs were found. Law enforcement found about 17 pounds of methamphetamine in a diaper bag.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man was charged with three felonies after he allegedly shot at a woman in a home and yard on Thursday.

Cody Gore, 29, was charged on Friday with first-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action. He is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond.

An initial court appearance was held on Friday afternoon and Gore appeared by video from the jail. A confined docket hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday, July 3; while a preliminary hearing was scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, July 22.

According to the probable cause statement, police were called on Thursday to a residence on Bonny Linn Drive for a report of gunshots and a woman screaming. Police saw the victim run behind a home and Gore in the driver’s seat of a vehicle, the statement says.

Police found a gun in the car that was still hot, along with a magazine that could hold six rounds with one left, the statement says. Police wrote that three shell casings were found in the front yard and two more, along with new bullet holes were seen in a room in the home.

The victim allegedly told police that she woke up Gore, he started yelling and an argument ensued, the statement says. Both people fell and Gore allegedly threatened to kill the victim before firing shots, the statement says.

Gore allegedly told police that an argument started and initially denied firing shots or assaulting the victim, before saying he fired shots, the statement says.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Monroe County woman was taken to University Hospital with serious injuries after a crash that closed a lane of a Boone County highway Friday.

The 39-year-old woman was riding in an SUV when a compact car tried to make a U-turn on Highway 763 near Prathersville Road. The SUV hit the car as the car tried to make the turn, according to a Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report.

The 69-year-old SUV driver had minor injuries and was taken by private vehicle to Moberly Regional Medical Center. The driver of the car that tried the U-turn refused medical attention, the report states.

The SUV passenger was not wearing a seat belt, the report states.

The crash led authorities to close the southbound lane of Highway 763.

Boone County emergency dispatchers sent an alert to the public at about 2:15 p.m. warning about a collision at Highway 763 and Wagon Trail Road, just north of Prathersville. A second alert about an hour later said the road was fully reopened.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A woman charged with second-degree murder for the 2021 death of an 8-month-old girl has been arrested in Arkansas after being mistakenly released.

Jennifer A. Johnson, of Fayette, was arrested and jailed in Pulaski County, Arkansas, according to online court records. A Boone County prosecutor confirmed Johnson was in custody. An extradition order was filed Friday, according to court records.

An arrest warrant was issued for Johnson earlier this month after she was released on parole from a Missouri prison. Johnson was supposed to be turned over to Boone County custody to face trial for second-degree murder in the baby’s death but was not, said Boone County Prosecuting Attorney Roger Johnson.

“The defendant was in custody at the Boone County Jail on a warrant that had been issued in the original case. She was delivered at Department of Corrections,” Roger Johnson told ABC 17 News. “Department of Corrections let her out of custody with a ticket to go down to Arkansas. Once our assistant noticed that, she filed for a warrant to be issued, and we didn’t want to comment during the time that the warrant was out because our hope was that she would get located and taken into custody before she realized that there was a warrant.” 

A relative of Jennifer Johnson, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation from the victim’s family, said Johnson moved to Arkansas to live with her sister after being released from the Department of Corrections. According to the family member, that location was approved as part of her home plan because it aligned with the supervision of her assigned parole officer.

“The victim’s family, this has been a difficult week for them because they’ve been concerned about this issue,” Roger Johnson said. “We’ve been in communication with them  to let them know as well that she’s in custody.” 

Roger Johnson said this is the first time he’s seen something like this occur. 

“We’ve talked with officials from the Department of Corrections, and she really shouldn’t have been let out of custody because we have the pending case, and she was in custody on our warrant,” Roger Johnson said.  “We’re working with Department of Corrections and with the jail to make sure that we can address the issues that we had at Department of Corrections and make sure that doesn’t happen again.” 

Roger Johnson added that Missouri law requires the Department of Corrections to check for any outstanding warrants before releasing an individual from custody.

“We’ve talked to Department of Corrections, and they said they actually did that. They called the clerk’s office here, and they checked, and they weren’t able to locate a warrant. So it looks like they did the search that they were supposed to, but they didn’t identify that she should have also been in custody on our murder warrant,” Johnson said. 

Columbia police arrested Jennifer Johnson in April 2021, after being called to a home in the 1000 block of Elleta Boulevard in north Columbia. 

According to court documents, police were dispatched to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Columbia on the morning of April 18, 2021, where they were informed that an 8-month-old, Hannah Kent, who was under her care, had died. 

Jennifer Johnson allegedly told police that she last saw the infant alive at 2:15 a.m. after giving her a bottle, the probable cause statement says.

Jennifer Johnson was previously charged with two counts of assault in Howard County in 2019. The complaint in the case states she strangled and bit another woman.

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Matthew Sanders

Abortion rights supporters suffered a major legal defeat Thursday when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Planned Parenthood could not sue South Carolina for blocking Medicaid funding.

South Carolina, like Missouri, has a law that blocks Planned Parenthood from Medicaid funding for non-abortion-related procedures. And like South Carolina, the state of Missouri has been sued by Planned Parenthood for it.

It’s not yet clear how the ruling will affect the Missouri lawsuit, but the high court has set a precedent in favor of such laws.

Do you think states should be able to stop Medicaid payments to Planned Parenthood? Let us know by voting in the poll.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Jefferson City Board of Education on Thursday night unanimously approved its operating budget for next school year.

The $172 million budget includes the largest base pay increase Jefferson City teachers have seen in 17 years. Certified staff will see an $1,800 increase to $43,300. The total raise for teachers with one step and $1,800 to the base is $2,529. This is the largest raise for certified staff in 17 years.

Meeting documents show that the estimated revenues for next school year’s budget are $153,928,640, but only 86% are from operating funds.

The remaining “16,375,755 comes in the debt service fund to pay off principal and interest of general obligation debt and $4,526,978 comes in the capital projects fund to make facility improvements and purchase equipment,” documents show.

Budget Book – Final 25-26Download

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