Category: kmiz-local-news

Mitchell Kaminski

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man detained by ICE in September after returning from a trip to Europe had his first court hearing on Thursday. 

Owen Ramsingh — who has had a green card since the 1980s, according to his family — had a court date set for Thursday, Nov. 6 after being detained at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport upon his return from visiting family in the Netherlands. He is being held at a facility in El Paso, Texas.

In an update posted on Facebook, a family friend wrote Ramsingh’s attorneys met with the judge, who requested a few specific documents not originally anticipated in the case.

Samantha Gage Bryan — who is an administrator of the Facebook group made in support of Ramsingh — wrote the legal team is confident it can provide the requested materials. If submitted, the judge has indicated he may “terminate the removal proceedings,” which would allow Ramsingh to begin the process of returning to Columbia.

“While we don’t have a final answer yet, this is a very encouraging development,” the social media post reads. However, the post says ICE still has up to 30 days to appeal, so the outcome isn’t settled.

As of now, family and supporters remain cautiously optimistic. They continue to raise legal-fund support and awareness of Ramsingh’s case.

Ramsingh was originally given a court date of Oct. 15, but the family claims attorneys later told them that date was a “gingerbread date.” His family told ABC 17 News in late October that he was not eligible to ask for a bond hearing because he was labeled as an “arriving alien” when the Department of Homeland Security filed his paperwork. 

Ramsingh has lived in the U.S. since moving here as a child and was initially issued a green card as a child of a U.S. Citizen in 1986, which has since been renewed. According to a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, he was detained because of past convictions for possession of marijuana and cocaine.

Court records obtained by ABC 17 News show Ramsingh 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 fewer than an ounce of marijuana in Nebraska and fined $100.

Check back for updates.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia Police Department has confirmed that a man who was hit in a crash on Range Line Street this past weekend has died.

Police wrote that Ethan Cash, 25, of Columbia, has died from his injuries on Thursday. The post says the crash involved multiple vehicles and a vehicle heading south on Range Line made an eastward turn on Kennesaw Ridge Road into the path of Cash’s motorcycle.

Police wrote that the next-of-kin have been notified.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Missouri State Highway Patrol vehicle was involved in a crash with a moped at the intersection of East Elm Street and Clark Avenue in Jefferson City, according to a crash report from MSHP.

The report says the crash occurred as the trooper – a 37-year-old Jefferson City man — tried making a left turn and a Zhejiang Dongpai moped travelled across the road. The moped was driven by a 59-year-old Jefferson City man.

The 59-year-old man was not wearing a helmet and he was brought to University Hospital by ambulance after suffering serious injuries, the report says.  

The patrol vehicle – a 2022 Ford F150 – had minor damage, while the moped was totaled, the report says.

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Alison Patton

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released data Thursday crucial to determining how public schools across the state are performing for the 2024-25 school year.

The annual performance report shows that more than 91% of schools meet or exceed state expectations, and 92% of students attend a school that meets or exceeds state expectations, according to a DESE press release.

English Language Arts test scores across the state show slight improvements, and math test scores improved overall, excluding grades four and five, according to the release.

Columbia Public Schools has improved in its three-year composite number. For the 2023-24 school year, CPS scored a 76.8%, according to previous reporting. The new report shows CPS jumped about 8%, with a total score of 83.3%. CPS saw another increase in its overall score for 2025 at 88.7%.

Jefferson City School District has a similar composite score 83.2%.

The APR report shows Missouri schools’ progress toward meeting standards set by the sixth iteration of the Missouri School Improvement Program, according to the release.

According to DESE, the three-year composite score determines how schools are accredited. That’s why many school districts focus in on that number.

Normandy Schools Collaborative in St. Louis County scored the lowest in its three-year composite, sitting at 55.5%.

The highest-scoring school district is Saint Elizabeth R-IV in Miller County with 97.2%.

Moberly School District has a score of 74.1%, and Fulton Public Schools is 69%.

DESE Education Commissioner Karla Esingler said there’s been some improvement overall improvement, but there’s still some work that could be done.

“We’re not seeing 10, 15, 20%. I mean, you’d see me do a cartwheel, frankly,” Esingler said. “But we are seeing improvement; there is improvement in those scores.”

There is at least one exception.

Southern Boone School District has a three-year composite of 84%, but its yearly composite is 95.9%. The district’s yearly score is a 17% jump between the 2024-25 school year and the previous one.

“A score of 95.9% is outstanding, and our students, teachers, instructional staff and administrators should be commended for the incredible amount of work they do every single school day to yield such great results,” said School Superintendent Tim Roth in an email.

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Jazsmin Halliburton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Jefferson City man has been convicted after he stabbed the mother of his child to death.

Sergio Sayles was found guilty on all three counts Thursday in a Boone County courtroom.

Boone County Judge Brouck Jacobs gave his verdict in the case against a Jefferson City man shortly after hearing the closing arguments.

Sayles, 39, was convicted on charges of first-degree murder, armed criminal action and tampering with evidence related to the death of Jasmine King in April 2023. Two misdemeanor counts were dismissed before the trial started.

A final disposition hearing is set for Dec. 1.

In April 2023, police found Jasmine King dead from multiple stab wounds in her home on West Ashley Street. Witness statements and surveillance video reportedly connected Sayles to the crime scene, and police recovered the murder weapon and some of Sayles’ belongings in a trash bag at McClung Park.

King had previously reported harassment and stalking by Sayles, including a complaint in 2021 where she alleged that Sayles threatened to shoot her.

Closing statements were given on both sides on Thursday. The state highlighted deliberation and intent in the crime as King was stabbed at least 25 times. The state argued that stab wounds and defensive wounds showed a prolonged struggle and Sayles had time to think about what he was doing.

The state also circled back to Sayles’ interview with police, saying he showed no remorse or shock after finding out King had been murdered and he didn’t ask questions about what happened either. The prosecution says that’s because Sayles already knew what happened to King.

The State said Sayles’ alibi wasn’t consistent either and that cell phone mapping puts him in and around the area of King’s apartment at the time of her murder.

Sayles’ ring with King’s blood found on it, his clothes with King’s blood and his DNA found on them. The knife investigators believe to be the murder weapon was also highlighted by prosecutors in closing statements.

The state said Sayles and King had been consistently communicating for days, but his last message to King the morning of her murder went unread. They said Sayles did not attempt to reach out to King after that final message because he knew she was already dead.

The state was firm in its claim that every lead detectives followed in the case led back to Sayles.

In closing statements by the defense, they argued the case against Sayles is ‘infected’ with bias and misconduct. They revisited evidence, like his car, being destroyed by the Jefferson City Police Department when a court order was in place for its preservation.

In the car, where Sayles was living at the time of the murder, police found two pairs of jeans with possible stains and three pairs of shoes they wanted to test for DNA. After the search, the car was destroyed by the towing company.

Sayles’ defense said Jeremy Bowman, a former JCPD detective who led the case, decided Sayles was guilty from the beginning and failed to pursue other obvious leads.

The defense said there was no info on the seizure of Sayles’ ring and more than an hour in between the photo of other evidence and the photo of the ring, so there is no way to tell when King’s blood got on the ring. They also said the ring was not properly secured and left in Bowman’s desk for days. The ring didn’t make it to the evidence lab until one week after the murder.

In its rebuttal, the state said Bowman had secured the ring in an evidence bag and kept it in a secure drawer in his desk.

Sayles’ counsel painted a healthy narrative around Sayles and King’s relationship as co-parents. They described how the day before King’s murder, she and Sayles were on good terms and celebrated Easter together with their daughter, along with an Easter egg hunt. They said King would also invite Sayles to stay at her apartment from time to time.

The defense also said there is reasonable doubt in the timeline of events surrounding King’s murder. They said her time of death is unknown and that no evidence was presented around when King got home from work that morning. They also noted her body was not found until 5:30 that evening.

What is known, according to the defense, is that Sayles spoke with King on the phone at 6:41 a.m. the day she died. Sayles alleges that he fell asleep and phone records show he texted King an hour later that he was going to the park.

The defense said Sayles was at the park the morning of the murder at 8:07 a.m. and spent the day there writing music. His lawyers say that is not the behavior of a person who just stabbed someone to death.

The defense then circled back to Sayles’ interview with the police. They said Sayles talked about jasmine in the present tense during his interview and was cooperative. He also gave consent to officers to search his phone. The defense also said that no officers noted wounds or scratches on Sayles, even though King is said to have fought her attacker.

The defense said no blood was found on Sayles body or in his hair when he was first arrested the day of the murder. Sayles’ DNA and fingerprints were also not found on the knife and no evidence was presented that Sayles owned the knife, according to the defense.

In response, the state said blood was on Sergio based on the ring recovered and that the investigation shows King’s killer tried to clean themselves off in her kitchen sink.

The defense introduced alternative theories in their closing statement. They said a long, brown, wavy hair was found on the murder weapon and that a man with similar hair had come into the Break Time where King worked multiple times during her last shift. They said King told the man information about her apartment and when she was getting off work.

They also suggested the clothing and knife recovered from the trash can at McClung Park were placed after Sayles arrest. They said the park was left unmonitored and unsealed for 6 hours after he was taken into custody. Two officers found the items when they went back to the park to search after midnight on April 11, 2023.

The state said officers saw Sayles at the park earlier in the day, walking towards the park’s bathroom with something in his hand, believed to be the knife wrapped in clothing that was found, and then saw him moments later without it in his hand. The state explained that one of the officers did a brief search of the area after that, but did not locate the clothes at that time. The state explained that the officer did not know what he was looking for in the initial search and that the clothes found were black, potentially hard to see in a black garbage bag with a quick glance.

The state remained firm that the investigation was not ‘botched’ and the defense has no grounds for their claims of fabrication. Prosecutors said Sayles was angry at King for making a life on her own and that his anger led him to kill her.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A University of Missouri student was charged with several felonies after he allegedly strangled someone at a residence hall who blocked him on Snapchat.

Maxwell Warren, 18, of Overland Park, Kansas, was charged on Tuesday with first-degree burglary, second-degree domestic assault, first-degree domestic assault and misdemeanor fourth-degree assault. He is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond.

Warren appeared for a hearing on Wednesday by video from the jail, according to court records. He waived his arraignment and pleaded not guilty. A bond hearing was scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday, Nov. 10, while a preliminary hearing was set for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 9. A notice to a public defender was filed and Warren’s eligibility will be determined.

The probable cause statement says the victim had blocked Warren on the social media application Snapchat on Sept. 26. Warren went over to the victim’s residence hall to confront the victim the same day. The victim cracked open the door and Warren forced his way into their dorm room, the statement says.

Warren then allegedly started strangling the victim while demanding they add him back on Snapchat immediately, the statement says. The victim unblocked Warren after the assault, the statement says.

Warren allegedly sent a message to the victim on Instagram acknowledging the assault on Sept. 28 and then threatened to hurt the victim again on Sept. 30, court documents say. Warren then allegedly assaulted the victim in their dorm room again on Oct. 29, the statement says. That time, the victim allegedly lost consciousness after they were strangled.

In a second probable cause statement, a witness reported seeing Warren assault a woman near Virginia Avenue Garage. Warren claimed he was assaulted first, but video footage supposedly did not support his claim, the statement says.

A University of Missouri spokesman wrote in a Wednesday evening statement that Warren has been banned from campus.

“Maxwell Warren is barred from the University of Missouri campus, classes and other university activities pending further investigation into allegations surrounding the criminal charges against him,” a statement from school spokesman Christopher Ave says. “The university does not tolerate acts of violence and holds accountable anyone found to violate the law or university policies.  If Warren is released from jail and attempts to enter Mizzou’s campus, he is subject to arrest.”

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Disaster Recovery Centers will be open in several counties around the state this week that were approved for FEMA assistance last month for storms that caused damage in the spring.

A press release from FEMA says a recovery center will be open in Cooper County at the Pilot Grove Community Center from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursday and 8 a.m.-6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The community center is located at 300 Progress Ave.

Those who experienced disaster-related damage may be eligible for FEMA assistance.

FEMA wrote in the release that people should bring their insurance policy number, a current phone number and email address, address at the time of the disaster and address where you are currently staying, your Social Security number, a list of damage and losses, banking information for direct deposit and receipts for disaster-related items.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The man who robbed a northeast Columbia business early Wednesday remained at large by afternoon.

Police say a man wearing black clothing went into the business in the 1600 block of Towne Drive, put a pink drawstring bag on the counter and demanded money. He displayed a pistol tucked into his waistband and then jumped over the counter, according to a Columbia Police Department news release.

Police did not name the business.

The man got away and was still free on Wednesday afternoon, the release says.

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Marie Moyer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The destruction of suspected killer Sergio Sayles’ car was out of the Jefferson City Police Department’s hands, officers testified Wednesday during the bench trial for the murder of Jasmine King.

Sayles’ car, which was also his home at the time of King’s killing, has been a point of contention throughout the trial.

Before the trial began on Monday, the defense renewed a request to dismiss the case, arguing that Sayles’ car, evidence in the case, was destroyed after his arrest, but the judge denied this motion.

JCDP detective Lt. Steve Weaver testified Wednesday that police searched the car after it was transported to the station’s garage. Police were on the lookout for any items that could have been related to the case, like potential weapons or items with blood.

Weaver said DNA swabs and fingerprints were taken from the car.

JCPD detective Andrew Rogers also searched the car, taking photos of both the exterior and interior and any notable items that were pulled from the car.

“It contained a lot of stuff, very cluttered,” Rogers said.

Police ended up confiscating two pairs of jeans with possible stains and three pairs of shoes. Rogers added that the search felt “normal.”

When questioned about the destruction of the car, Weaver said the JCPD has no protocol or practice to notify the owner of a confiscated vehicle. Sayles’ car was removed by a towing company after Jeremy Bowman, the former JCPD detective who led Sayles’ case, deemed it that it was no evidence.

Weaver added that the towing company ultimately decides whether a vehicle is destroyed. The defense questioned Weaver about his knowledge of Sayles’ family contacting JCPD for Sayles’ car, to which he said he was not aware of the communication.

“It’s a case-by-case,” Weaver said. “To my knowledge, there is no policy about that, there is no practice about that.”

The defense also questioned detectives on the validity of a ring that connected Sayles to the crime. Bowman alleged Tuesday that the ring was collected from Sayles by an officer at the station when he was interrogated on April 10.

JCPD Evidence Technician Teresa Weaver later testified on Wednesday that the ring was recorded as evidence property on April 17, a week after it was allegedly collected.

Following Wednesday’s hearing, the defense motioned to dismiss the case, specifically for Sayles’ charge of first-degree murder, claiming the state did not have enough evidence of premeditation to prove Sayles was guilty.

The motion was later denied.

In April 2023, police found Jasmine King dead from multiple stab wounds in her home on West Ashley Street. Witness statements and surveillance video reportedly connected Sayles to the crime scene, and police recovered the murder weapon and some of Sayles’ belongings in a trash bag at McClung Park.

King had previously reported harassment and stalking by Sayles, including a complaint in 2021 where she alleged that Sayles threatened to shoot her.

Closing statements and Judge Brouck Jacobs’ decision are expected on Thursday.

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Haley Swaino

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Despite no flurries in Wednesday’s forecast, Columbia residents might have seen snowplow trucks traveling across the city.

Columbia’s Public Works Department held its annual Dry Snow Run training exercise on Wednesday to prepare for the upcoming winter season.

This winter, the department will add five new snow-capable trucks to its fleet to improve reliability and efficiency.

Public Works engineering and operations manager Richard Stone, who is in charge of snow response on city streets, told ABC 17 News in October that the department has about 30 vehicles that it uses for regular snow maintenance.

He said the new trucks will replace aging snow removal equipment. Two are expected to arrive in November and three in January.

The dry snow run began at the Grissum Building on Lakeview Avenue around 10 a.m., with snowplow drivers and staff from multiple city departments reviewing safety procedures and practicing designated snow routes.

Stone said it’s also an opportunity to get new drivers behind the wheel alongside more experienced drivers for training.

“We do have some some newer drivers, so we try to pair those up with veteran drivers, give them a chance to look at the equipment, understand the operations of the equipment,” Stone said. “We’ll also do some some individual training sessions with those drivers beyond the dry snow run.”

The exercise helps every driver familiarize themselves with routes, identify new traffic patterns or construction zones, and ensure equipment is ready before the first snowfall.

“[Drivers] look for medians, speed humps, anything that could provide difficulty during winter weather, get used to the intersections that are there,” Stone said. “Also, take a look at some of the cul-de-sacs, try to figure out where you would put snow within a cul-de-sac, because there’s generally driveways, mailboxes, inlets that you have to avoid. And then there could be parked car.”

Columbia’s Street Division maintains about 1,465 lane miles of roads and 1,100 cul-de-sacs each winter, with priority routes covering more than 691 lane miles.

When snowfall is less than 4 inches, crews focus on clearing priority routes and may address neighborhood streets during regular business hours if conditions allow. When snowfall exceeds 4 inches, crews operate around the clock to restore near-normal conditions on major roads before moving into residential areas. The city deems streets passable when a front-wheel-drive vehicle can safely travel one lane below the posted speed limit.

For more information on Columbia’s snow operations and response priorities, visit CoMoSnow.com.

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