Author: KMIZ

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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Lucas Geisler

Editor’s note: A source error led to Smith’s name to be initially spelled incorrectly. The name has since been corrected.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The woman at the center of a Columbia AMBER Alert on Thursday is now charged with three felonies.

The Boone County Prosecutor’s Office charged 24-year-old Joy A. Smith with two counts of second-degree kidnapping and tampering with a motor vehicle. Smith is being held in jail without bond.

Smith was arrested near Higginsville in Lafayette County on Thursday afternoon, about an hour west of Columbia. The Missouri State Highway Patrol issued an AMBER Alert for two children in the car with Smith.

New court documents claim Smith drove away from the Welcome Inn on Providence Road in Columbia on Thursday with the 1-year-old and 3-year-old in the car.

A woman claimed she was driving Smith to a relative’s house with the children in the car, and stopped at the Welcome Inn to speak with the children’s father. The woman said Smith drove the car away while she was outside.

Smith is currently in custody at the Lafayette County jail, according to documents.

MSHP released bodycam video of the arrest later on Friday on its Facebook page.

The Columbia Police Department responded to the 911 call around 3:45 p.m. Thursday.

Lieutenant Clint Sinclair said CPD and other law enforcement agencies, like MSHP Troops A and F, used flock cameras to track down Smith.

Sinclair said flock cameras record license plate information and vehicle descriptions, allowing law enforcement to track where the car traveled.

CPD also used emergency GPS locations to track Smith, Sinclair said. Along with other tactics like monitoring social media and checking in at frequent places Smith might go.

According to MSHP, Smith was stopped about 15 minutes after the AMBER Alert.

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Jazsmin Halliburton

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Cole County’s top prosecutor and the Jefferson City police chief detailed the investigation into a shooting in a commercial parking lot that resulted in no charges during a news conference Friday.

Prosecuting Attorney Locke Thompson and Jefferson City Police Department Chief Eric Wilde expressed sympathy to the family of Erik Spencer II, who was shot during a confrontation Nov. 1 in a parking lot outside Old Navy.

“Everybody in this room I think is mourning for Erik Spencer, including me. This has been tough,” Wilde said. “But we have to operate within the rules of criminal justice. We have to operate in accordance with the laws of the state of Missouri.”

Wilde said no video existed of the shooting or the events leading up to the shooting, so police had to rely on eyewitness statements.

He said those eyewitnesses said Spencer was physically assaulting a woman, including pulling her out of a car, on the west side of the Chilli’s restaurant before he was confronted and shot. He had already thrown the woman to the ground several times, Wilde said.

“The victim eventually or initially escaped from Erik Spencer, she attempts to get in her vehicle but she’s blocked by spencer and she tries to drive away,” Wilde said.

According to police, the woman then drove her vehicle a few feet away getting closer to the Old Navy.

Witnesses told police Spencer then threw her phone on the ground two times.

The shooter, Spencer Scrivner , a Missouri Department of Corrections Officer, was in a vehicle in the same parking lot and near the Chili’s restaurant. After he witnessed the physical altercation, Wilde says Scrivner pulled a firearm out of his vehicle and approached Spencer.

Scrivner claims when he approached him, Spencer made movements towards his waistband and threatened to shoot him. Scrivner then shot Spencer four times.

“Witnesses also report Scrivner kneeled next to Erik Spencer and attempts to provide aid. In an interview, it indicates he intervened in the situation on behalf of the domestic violence victim and shooting was done in defense of the domestic violence victim and himself when is received a threat from Erik Spencer,” Wilde said.

On Thursday, Thompson said in a news release that no charges will be filed against Scrivner for the Nov. 1 shooting.

Thompson said a grand jury declined to indict Scrivner for manslaughter, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon. The grand jury found Scrivner’s actions were done “in lawful defense of another,” Thompson wrote in a news release.

Thompson said on Friday that under Missouri law, a reasonable person in that position can use deadly force if they believe that doing so is necessary to prevent death or serious injury. However, both Thompson and Wilde reiterated the decision does not mean law enforcement agrees with what occurred.

“It does not mean we stand up here today to condone the shooter’s actions. Regardless of how things played out, Eric Spencer was a beloved son, brother, and uncle,” Thompson said. “No matter the circumstances, his death is a tragedy and our condolences go out to his parents, sisters, and other family and friends.”

Thompson also said charges of unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action– which the grand jury also considered– no longer applied since it was found that he acted out of self-defense. He also said it would have been hard to prove that Scrivner knowingly shot toward other stores in the area.

“The only thing we would have been able to prove at that point was that he was knowingly shooting at Erik Spencer,” Thompson said.

Wilde said that the reported assault victim gave inconsistent statements in the investigation. Thompson said she first claimed the confrontation with Spencer was not physical.

Thompson said the grand jury made the decision not to charge the shooter, and that he had no input in that decision.

Thompson said Friday that Scrivner told investigators Spencer had threatened to shoot him. Spencer did not have a weapon, Wilde said. Four shots were fired, he said.

“It was hard to say he was unarmed when he has the ability to strike, kick or punch,” Wilde said. “But armed with a firearm? No. Armed with an edged weapon like a knife or blunt instrument? No.”

ABC 17 News asked Thompson and Wilde if they thought four shots were excessive in this case.

“It ultimately comes down to the decision of the shooter,” Wilde said. “Officers are trained and we are trained to fire until we perceive a threat no longer exists,”

“I would say generally speaking in a lot of the weapon offense cases we see four shots is not a lot,” Thompson said.

Scrivner, was put on leave from the DOC during the investigation. Police said his statement remained the same throughout the several times he was interviewed.

The Spencer family has called for transparency and criminal charges during multiple public appearances.

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Mitchell Kaminski

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia Public Schools has determined how it will spend some of the $9 million it received from Boone County after a property-tax settlement with Ameren Missouri.

The county reached a resolution earlier this year in a long-running dispute before the Missouri State Tax Commission. The agreement resolved litigation over property taxes owed by Ameren from 2019-24, releasing impounded funds that were distributed to local taxing entities, including the school district.

During Thursday’s Long-Range Facilities Planning Committee meeting, the district decided to allocate $2.2 million of the $2.5 million in settlement funds approved by the finance committee toward facility improvements. The spending plan includes security camera upgrades, installation of LED lighting, bathroom renovations and enhanced safety measures around electrical systems.

The remaining portion of the $2.5 million allocated to the committee will be held in reserve in case project costs exceed initial estimates.

“They were originally thinking about giving the majority of that to facilities because we have so much deferred maintenance. However, after our APR scores came out and we identified that some of our subgroups still aren’t up to where they need to be, we want to put more money into working on achievement,” said April Ferrao, who is on Columbia Board of Education member and the chair of the Long-Range Planning Committee.

“They paired that down to $2.5 million for long-range planning to work with. And so tonight, we got a presentation on where would be a good place to put those funds. One of the biggest needs in the district is security cameras.  We have about a thousand in the district right now. There are certainly areas where we need to add security cameras.” 

Ferrao said security cameras have been a longstanding concern for the district. Many of CPS’ cameras are more than five years old, and some newer models under consideration are not compatible with the district’s existing systems. The committee allocated $1.5 million for camera upgrades, with the goal of replacing all cameras within the next year, prioritizing older buildings with the greatest needs.

“You have some that aren’t working. You have some that maybe the picture quality is no longer really good,  and then you have some that are in places that we never find anything on. Maybe it needs to go into a new place. Then of course, we have places where maybe we need to add more cameras,” Ferrao said. “We certainly have cameras outside some bathrooms,  particularly at the secondary level,  but not all of them.  So this will help address that.  We have buildings that have large parking lots, so we might want to get better views of what’s going on outside the building, better angles.” 

The bathroom upgrades are intended to bring facilities into compliance with ADA requirements, particularly at Hickman High School, where many restrooms currently do not meet accessibility standards.  

Last year the district allocated $150,000 to bathroom upgrades at Hickman, which Farrao said will help address most of the needs in the 100-year-old building. The teachers’ union also requested adding additional staff bathrooms to the high schools, something the settlement money will also help address. 

“There’s not a faculty bathroom on the second floor of Hickman. I personally think it’s always a good idea to have a separate faculty bathroom or adult bathroom in any of our buildings. So ideally, adults would use they’re not cohabitating in the same bathroom as students,” Ferrao said. “If you have a teacher or an adult who really needs the bathroom quickly,  they can’t. They have to go to the common restroom. And so I think that’s just a good practice for us to get it. But there are a lot of our buildings that have dedicated faculty restrooms.” 

The bathrooms are not expected to be finished until next year because most of the work will need to be done over the summer. 

The committee also voted to allocate more than $150,000 to replace fluorescent light bulbs in the high schools with LED lights, which district officials say are more energy efficient. 

An additional $140,000 will go toward safety around some of the district’s electrical cords running through the ceilings to address fire safety. 

“The fire safety is actually related to areas in our buildings where we have poles that go up into the ceiling and the ceiling is not quite sealed enough to prevent smoke or fire from going up into it. So they’re going to work on sealing that up,” Ferrao said. “I just think it’s really exciting that we’ve got this extra money that we’re able to focus on our critical safety needs in the district. We’re going to have a lot more.  We have several  hundred million dollars of deferred maintenance and this really helps us start attacking some very critical things.”

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Meghan Drakas

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

On Friday, Good Morning America will be stopping in St. Louis for its “50 States in 50 Weeks” tour, leading up to the 250th birthday of the United States of America.

Each week, a GMA anchor or correspondent will visit a new state, following the order in which they joined the United States. The tour kicked off in July and GMA has already visited many states including Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Georgia.

Ahead of the stop on Friday, ABC News correspondent Rhiannon Ally, sat down with ABC 17 News to discuss her ties to Missouri and recent trip to Fantastic Caverns in Springfield. Fun fact: Missouri features the only ride-through cave in the entire country. Ally spoke about her ties to the Kansas City area as well as what surprised her most about the Show-Me State. She said she’s excited to be at the Gateway Arch which is where GMA will be live on air on Friday.

Watch Good Morning America at 7 a.m. Friday on ABC 17 News to catch the crew in St. Louis.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A 20-year-old man was arrested in east Columbia on Wednesday after authorities claimed he pointed a gun at two minors last month.

Lee Jones III, of Columbia, was charged on Thursday in Boone County with unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action. He is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond and an initial court appearance was held on Thursday.

The probable cause statement says a SWAT team was used to serve a search warrant to Jones at his residence on Wednesday. Police spoke to the alleged victims on Dec. 11, where they claimed Jones pulled out a gun and pointed it at them on Nov. 23 after one of the victims allegedly told him to leave, court documents say.

One of the victims gave police a video, that allegedly showed one of the victims arguing with Jones about a vape product, the statement says. Jones then allegedly pointed a gun in the air before pointing it at the victim, police wrote in the statement. Victims reported seeing a laser from the gun through a peephole of the door, the statement says.

After Jones was detained, he admitted to being in the video when police presented it, the statement says. Jones allegedly told police that he did not think the victim was being serious when she told him to leave the residence until she picked up a knife, the statement says.

Jones allegedly told police that he went outside to wait for an Uber, but then started to get angry about the situation, the statement claims.

Court documents claim Jones told police that he pointed the gun at the victim “because she was taking a video of him and that he ‘played it off for the video.’”

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Erika McGuire

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Safety and a strong learning environment is a top priority for Columbia Public Schools’ new Eagle Bluffs Elementary.

The district broke ground on the project in the spring of 2024 and remains on track to be completed by fall 2026.

The new two-story, $36 million facility will span 76,500 square feet and is located on 5400 S. Sinclair Road next to John Warner Elementary School. The new facility was approved by voters in two bond issue elections. One in 2018 to purchase land as part of the planning for John Warner Middle School and one in 2022 to construct the school.

The school offers six color-coded learning pods, each with its own unique theme and color scheme. The names for the pods includes Field, Lake, Cave, City, Prairie and Woodlands to go along with the Eagle Bluffs Conservation area. The emphasis on color throughout the building will allow students to have a collaborative learning environment.

“There’s been a lot of research that’s been done about color and clutter in school buildings and so our goal is to make a colorful building that can still remain clutter free,” Eagle Bluffs Elementary School Principal Sarah Sicht said. We’re building a place where the school is going to fit the kids instead of making kids fit a school. Lots of opportunities for collaboration, open space and integration.

Once complete, the school will accommodate up to 740 students and 140 staff members. Sicht is anticipating the school to open with about 400 students and up to 70 staff members.

All of the furniture in the building will be on wheels and casters, allowing easy furniture arrangements in order to fit the needs of students, Sicht said. The school will also include dedicated elective spaces for art and music learning.

The cafeteria area, Sicht said, was designed more like a secondary cafeteria. It offers bar-height tables and chairs along a window and there will be booths along a large wall. The tables will be interchangeable, allowing different shapes and different seating options.

Three playgrounds are also offered that are up to ADA standards.

The design of the building is not the first to be used for a school. According to Project Director Nichole Vonderhaar with Rinehart Wilson, a nearly identical school, Crestview Elementary, was built in north Kansas City.

“We actually have a prototype building that we can go and see and use what lessons were learned. A construction issue that they ran into that we can fix and make sure we do right on this one,” Vonderhaar said.

The school’s gymnasium was also designed to serve as a storm shelter.

“It’s a storm shelter for the school. So if there was an emergency situation, all the students would file into the gym. This is all precast concrete, so it’s like a food thick, so nothing’s coming through these walls. The doors are also rated to withstand certain level of wind speed and projectiles,” Vonderhaar said.

The building features numerous windows designed to bring in natural light while still maintaining safety measures throughout the building.

“The school will also have a secure vestibule with bullet resistant glass. We also have protocols in place where they have shades that if we go into a security situation where there would be somebody that got past the secure vestibule, all the students and teachers would file in their classrooms, get in a spot where they couldn’t be seen by the windows,” Vonderhaar said.

The school will also have the Raptor System that CPS has throughout all district buildings, that requires all guest to check in with a photo ID.

Sicht says she is thrilled to be a part of opening Eagle Bluffs Elementary School and hopes everyone feels a sense of “awe” when they enter the building.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A woman is in custody after a search was conducted by law enforcement after they issued an Amber Alert on Thursday afternoon.

The alert was canceled at 4:42 p.m. Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop A spokesman Justin Ewing said troopers stopped the blue 2005 Lincoln Aviator and detained the woman. MSHP also confirmed in a follow-up alert that the children were found safe.

A social media post from MSHP says 24-year-old Joy Ariel Smith was with the children when they were found.

AMBER ALERT 2025-9 CANCELLED: CHILDREN HAVE BEEN LOCATED SAFE AND THE SUSPECT IS IN CUSTODY pic.twitter.com/OkEbYn72dB

— Missouri State Highway Patrol Alerts (@MSHPAlerts) December 18, 2025

A social media post from the Columbia Police Department, posted just before 11 p.m., states two children, 1 and 3 years old, were reported as kidnapped around 3:45 p.m. from the 1600 block of N. Providence Road. An Amber Alert was issued immediately, accoridng to the department.

Columbia police say MSHP located the car on I-70 near the Higginsville exit around 4:30 p.m. and got the children out of the car safely. Smith was arrested by CPD on charges of two counts of first-degree kidnapping and one count of first-degree tampering.

MSHP originally sent the Amber Alert at 4:18 p.m., looking for a Lincoln Aviator that was heading westbound on Interstate 70. The notification was sent out in the jurisdictions of MHSP’s Troop F – which covers much of Mid-Missouri – and Troop A, whose coverage area is in the western part of the state.

In Missouri, an Amber Alert is activated when the following happens:

Law enforcement officials have a reasonable belief that an abduction has occurred, which meets the definition in RSMo. 565.110 or 565.115.

Law enforcement officials believe there is a credible threat of serious bodily injury or death.

Enough descriptive information exists about the victim and the abductor for law enforcement to issue an AMBER Alert.

The victim of the abduction is a child age 17 years or younger.

The child’s name and other critical data elements – including the child abduction (CA) flag – have been entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system.

According to online court records, Smith was charged with fourth-degree assault in November. She posted bond on Dec. 10. A probable cause statement says a victim told police that Smith’s biological son was placed with their mother by Children’s Division and that Smith did not have custody of the child.

Court documents claim someone tried to take the child back after it was placed in the car with Smith, which led to Smith allegedly shutting the door on the person and punching them. Smith told police that she did not touch the victim, court documents say.

AMBER ALERT 2025-9 WEA: COLUMBIA I-70 WESTBOUND BLUE 2005 LINCOLN AVIATOR MO PLATE GL7B2S Updates will be posted as they are known. Refresh this page or click the following link to ensure that you are viewing the latest alert information: https://t.co/UoXX3KdhG2

— Missouri State Highway Patrol Alerts (@MSHPAlerts) December 18, 2025

According to data from the Missouri Department of Public Safety, from Dec. 1, 2024, through Nov. 30, 2025, Missouri issued a total of eight AMBER Alerts for 11 children. All 11 children were found safe.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A woman accused of murder in the death of an 8-month-old girl in 2021 has been charged again.

Jennifer Johnson, 49, was charged with misdemeanor sexual abuse in Phelps County after she allegedly exposed herself to another inmate at the jail. She is currently being held without bond. She is charged with second-degree felony murder and first-degree endangering the welfare of a child in Boone County.

The probable cause statement says the inmate told authorities of the situation on Wednesday and video footage allegedly backed up their claim.

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 in previous reporting, 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.

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

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