Author: KMIZ

Alison Patton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Holts Summit woman has been found guilty of felony murder in the 2025 shooting death of 37-year-old Kara Dills.

Heather Smith, 38, was found guilty by a jury on Thursday of second-degree murder, known as felony murder. The jury also turned in a guilty verdict for three counts of unlawful use of a weapon and a count of armed criminal action. She will be sentenced 9 a.m. Friday.

Prosecutors began their closing arguments around 4:30 p.m. in trial against Heather Smith. Each side will get an hour to deliver their remarks to the jury before the 12-person panel considers a verdict. The trial is in its fourth day at the Boone County Courthouse.

Smith took the stand in her own defense Wednesday. She is charged with second-degree murder, child endangerment, armed criminal action and three counts of unlawful use of a weapon. Smith is accused of shooting and killing 37-year-old Kara Dills at Hunter Lane Apartments in April 2025.

Thursday, Smith’s attorney Edward Luby argued his client shot Dills out of self-defense. During his closing statements, he emphasised Smith’s injuries leading up to the shooting and showed video and evidence.

The state’s attorney, Sandra Colhour, asked the jury to consider witness consistencies.

“Some of those defense witnesses had notably fluctuating stories,” Colhour said. “In fact, some of them told entirely new stories.”

The 38-year-old suspect took the stand Wednesday, arguing her actions were taken in self-defense.

Smith allegedly shot Dills after their children got into an altercation while riding bikes in the apartment complex. Allegedly, Smith confronted Dills twice before the shooting, with Dills’ sister allegedly confronting Smith in between.

Several witnesses alleged on Tuesday that Smith flashed a gun tucked into her waistband at Dills’ mother during one of the confrontations.

On the day of the shooting, Dills allegedly pistol-whipped Smith and walked away. When the gun struck Smith, it went off and grazed a bystander’s head. Smith then allegedly fired a shot into Dills’ stomach, ultimately killing her.

Dills’ boyfriend, Aireon Terrill, and her sister and nephew were present during the main confrontation before the shooting. Dills’ nephew allegedly tried to disarm Smith but wasn’t able to.

Smith alleged Dills shoved her during the argument as well. Smith said she pointed her gun at Dills’ boyfriend because she felt threatened. Video surveillance shows Smith threatening witnesses with a pistol.

Some of Dills’ family members agreed that Dills shoved Smith, but they also argue that Smith pointed the gun at other people.

Terrill said he was trying to deescalate the situation.

The case was moved from Callaway County to Boone County for the trial.

Check back for updates.

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Jazsmin Halliburton

ASHLAND, Mo. (KMIZ)

Gov. Mike Kehoe was in Ashland for the Southern Boone Economic Development Council’s Leader Breakfast Thursday morning.

Several speakers from Boone County, Ashland and REDI gave updates from across the region. Kehoe was the keynote speaker in Thursday’s event. He discussed multiple points regarding economic development and the measures to eliminate the income tax and allow new sales taxes to appear before voters on the August or November ballot.

The Missouri House on Tuesday approved the measure with a 95-59 vote. The Senate passed the measure last week, known as House Joint Resolutions 173 and 174.

Supporters say eliminating the income tax will put more money back in Missourians pockets so they can decide how they want to spend it. Critics, however, have said the change would shift more of the state’s tax burden to poor and middle-class residents.

Kehoe told ABC 17 News that they have seen states without income tax have more economic growth and he wants Missouri to be competitive with other states.

When asked about how he can ease the mind of people worried about an increase in everyday cost, such as groceries, he says there is a lot of misinformation out there. “Every income level we’ve looked at, the amount of money Missourians will keep in their pocket because of their income tax is more than double any potential widening of the sales tax code,” said Kehoe. “So, it’s a little bit of misinformation is certainly something to be concerned about.”

Kehoe says that Missourians will come out ahead at every income level on this tax proposal.

The decision on whether this tax proposal passes is up to voters, and Kehoe has not yet decided whether the proposal will be on the August or the November ballot.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Boone County Fire Protection District has announced Jake Heller will become the new bureau director of special operations and program manager of Missouri Task Force 1.

BCFPD made the announcement in a Tuesday social media post.

The post says Heller served with the Union Fire District for 16 years and has 14 years of experience with Task Force 1.

He eventually started working for BCPFD as a training division and division manager.

“In that role, he was instrumental in advancing the training and readiness of task force members, supporting operational excellence at both the state and national level,” the post says.  

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Ryan Shiner

Editor’s note: Updated court documents identify the dog rescue as the nonprofit where Stafford worked.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A woman has been charged with a felony after she was accused of stealing money from a Jefferson City animal rescue.

Stacy Stafford was charged on Monday in Cole County with stealing more than $750. A criminal summons was issued for her and a hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, May 19 at the Cole County Circuit Court.

The probable cause statement says the vice president of a nonprofit told police on Nov. 2, 2025, that the former CEO of the organization – identified as Stafford – “used organizational funds to pay for thousands of dollars in unauthorized personal expenses.” People Helping Paws Dog Rescue was a nonprofit identified in the complaint.

The statement says the vice president had told police that Stafford was relieved from her position and the organization received a notice from a vendor about an outstanding debt.

Police wrote that bank records showed that Stafford spent $3,932.72 of the organization’s money between June 8, 2023-Oct. 18, 2024. Other purchases were allegedly fraudulent, but police were either unable to verify them and some were “outside the statute of limitations,” the statement says.

Police spoke with Stafford over the phone on Feb. 19 and she was “unable to identify any other individuals with such access” to the bank account.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

EDITOR’S NOTE: The date has been corrected.

The Highway 54 ramp to westbound Interstate 70 in Kingdom City will close on Friday as part of a traffic shift, according to an April 16 press release from the Missouri Department of Transportation.

The north outer road is expected to stay open throughout the closure, the release says. Eastbound Highway 54 will move to the newly constructed bridge and westbound traffic will shift to the current eastbound lanes, the release says.

The Highway 54 on-ramp to Interstate 70 will be closed and the eastbound off-ramp from Interstate 70 to Highway 54 will be restricted to a “right-turn only” lane with no direct access to eastbound Highway 54, the release says.

A timeline for the closure has not been announced.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Chinese national pleaded guilty on Tuesday to taking photographs of military equipment and installation without permission, according to a Wednesday press release from the Department of Justice.

Qilin Wu, 35, pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge. He was originally charged with a felony.

He was accused of driving a minivan on Dec. 2 at Whiteman Air Force Base and admitting to taking photos and recordings without permission, according to the release.

He was seen in the same minivan the next day and allegedly admitted to taking videos of an aircraft and photos of the fencing, gate and military equipment, the release says.

The release claims Wu illegally entered the country on June 22, 2023, in Arizona. A hearing is scheduled for next year.

He faces up to a year in federal prison.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia doctor who was accused of sexual misconduct last fall has been charged in federal court.

Dr. Jonathan Morris, who owns Columbia Urgent Care on North Providence Road, is charged with 15 counts of illegally prescribing drugs and 23 counts of health care fraud. He was indicted on April 8 and was arrested on Wednesday, according to the Department of Justice. The jail he is being held at was not immediately released by authorities.

A Wednesday press release from the Department of Justice alleges Morris, 46, defrauded Medicare and Medicaid by causing them to “be billed for medical services as if they had been provided by him instead of the assistant physicians” he employs. APs are medical school students who have not entered a residency program yet, according to the release.

The release and bond memo also accuse Morris of giving prescription drugs to friends and “people suffering from substance use disorders and those with whom he had sexual relationships.”

Investigators are “are currently aware of about 20 individuals who received prescriptions for a total of over 15,000 individual dosage units of controlled substances from Morris despite the existence of substance use issues, sexual relations with Morris, or both.,” the release says.

The bond memo also makes several references to text messages he sent to alleged witnesses that he propositioned drugs and sexual favors; as well as several allegations of sexual assault, some of which were outlined in a previous Boone County discrimination case.

The bond memo says Morris “failed to properly train his APs essentially rendering the clinic a free-for-all when it comes to issuing prescriptions for controlled substances.”

ABC 17 News has reached out to the Department of Justice.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A vehicle and a Columbia Public Schools bus collided on Interstate 70 eastbound east of St. Charles Road on Wednesday.

CPS spokeswoman Michelle Baumstark said no students were on the bus.

Boone County dispatchers sent out a public alert saying the road was likely blocked.

Columbia Police are working the crash scene.

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Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

On a chilly January day in 2009, a hiker found skeletal remains at a homeless encampment near a trailway behind the Conley Road Walmart in Columbia.

Officers began their investigation on Jan. 7. By April 20, with the help of forensic anthropology experts from the University of Missouri, police were able to give those human remains an identity and a cause of death.

Investigators determined that 49-year-old Mark Dailey was killed by blunt force trauma to the head and sharp force trauma to the neck.

Seventeen years after the harrowing discovery, one of the forensic experts who helped identify Dailey’s remains in 2009 says that re-examining the remains could be worth the extra time and manpower for law enforcement, given years of technological advancements.

“There’s always an opportunity to revisit cold cases like this and see if there are any new findings that can be found,” said Mark Beary, who now works at MU’s Research Reactor, but was formally a consulting forensic anthropologist with the Boone and Callaway County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Most recently, in March, Columbia Police identified human remains found in 2025 at Rock Forks Lake Conservation Area as Daniel Thompson, who they say was reported missing in 2023.

Beary explained that in cases like Dailey’s or Thompson’s, forensic anthropologists are called in for assistance by the medical examiner’s office because normal methods of forensic pathology or autopsy are not applicable to human remains in advanced stages of decomposition or skeletonized.

“A forensic anthropology analysis typically provides a biological profile of the decedent based on their skeletal remains, and those aspects generally include an estimation of the victim’s age, their biological sex, their stature, and their ancestral affiliation,” Beary said.

Along with the biological profile, Beary said an anthropologist can also help identify any trauma to the bones.

“If there’s trauma present, those findings are ultimately then used by the medical examiner to make a ruling as to whether a case is a homicide, or some other motor manner of death,” Beary said.

Beary said Dailey had blunt force trauma to the head or face and sharp force trauma to the bones in his neck.

Beary said that in some cases, law enforcement will also take forensic experts back to the scene, as was done in Dailey’s case.

“With the location where the remains were recovered at that particular time in 2009, a homeless encampment, there was sort of a structure there in which the remains were recovered,” Beary said.

He said his examination also found that Dailey’s remains had been at the homeless encampment where he was found since at least the fall of 2008, but possibly up to one year in advance.

Beary said reexamining the remains could be worth the extra time and manpower for law enforcement, given years of technological advancements.

“There’s always an opportunity to revisit cold cases like this and see if there are any new findings that can be found,” Beary said.

Gremore wouldn’t say what clothes or personal items police collected from the scene. Beary said Dailey’s trauma to his neck was consistent with a knife that officers recovered from the scene during their initial investigation. Gremore said police have never been able to confirm if that knife was used to harm or kill Dailey.

“There was a weapon to the neck, but unknown what,” Gremore said. “You can look at the autopsy, and you can tell something very violent happened.”

Gremore said a number of challenges have come with Dailey’s case, like the time needed to identify his remains.

“The faster we work whenever someone’s deceased, the better chances are for us to find out what happened,” Gremore said. “When you have months go by before you’re able to get that information, it’s just going to hurt you.”

According to Gremore, hundreds of people have been interviewed in the investigation over the last 17 years, but there are still more questions than answers. He said Dailey’s unstable housing status also created some hurdles.

“Knowing who friends are, last time someone had conversations with them, that makes it a little bit more difficult,” Gremore said. “But that doesn’t change the fact of how hard we should work into that. There’s still a human life, it’s the opportunity to find those answers that make that more difficult.”

Gremore and Beary both said that due to Dailey’s level of decomposition, it’s also hard to pinpoint when he died, creating a vague timeline to work with.

“This was January. Depending on how hot it was, how much weather there had been as far as precipitation, things like that change the rate of decomp,” Gremore said. “You could guess well over a month or three weeks at minimum.”

Beary said his examination found that Dailey’s remains had been at the homeless encampment where he was found since at least fall 2008, but possibly up to one year in advance.

Harbour House Lead Case Manager Tambra Hickem said that after Dailey’s murder, more effort was put into place to better support and keep track of the unhoused.

“A team of mental health people who go out into the community and they actually go out and check on the homelessness unsheltered,” Hickem said. “Because before something would happen, you wouldn’t know about it forever.”

Police ask anyone who may know what happened to Mark Dailey or who may have killed him to contact them.

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Collin Anderson

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Royals are moving back to the inner city.

On Wednesday, the team announced that it had partnered with Hallmark cards to bring a “world-class” ballpark and mixed-use developments to Crown Center.

“Today is a narrative of community, of trust, of courage and vision, and a passion for doing something special for the city we love,” said Royals CEO and Chairman John Sherman. “Together, we will rethink, reimagine, redefine, and redevelop Crown Center into an 85-acre-plus setting here that will instantly become the largest sports anchor downtown development of its kind.”

The new development is expected to cost approximately $2 billion and will be the largest public-private investment in the city’s history. The project will be funded mostly by the Royals as well as several other private investors. Funding will also be supplemented by the city courtesy of Missouri’s Show-Me Sports Investment Act.

The city expects to break ground on the new district in 2027, and will create more than 20,000 jobs in the construction phase alone.

“For over 50 years, Crown Center and the Kansas City Royals have created memories that last a lifetime for the people of our region,” said Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas. “The public-private partnership between Hallmark, the Royals, Kansas City and our state ensures we connect our neighborhoods, keeps our downtown vibrant and maintains big league baseball in our city for generations to come.”

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