Category: kmiz-local-news

Matthew Sanders

BENTON CO, Mo. (KMIZ)

Two people were arrested in Springfield, Missouri, on Sunday and charged with murder in connection with the 2021 death of a Columbia man.

Cody Garrett, 28, was reported missing on June 21, 2021. Benton County deputies found Garrett’s vehicle and remains off the trails near a bike park outside Warsaw, Missouri. An autopsy showed he had died by homicide.

Kayley and Michael Birnbaum were arrested Sunday after new evidence was discovered, according to a Benton County Sheriff’s Office social media post. Charges were not available in online court records Tuesday afternoon.

Michael Birnbaum (Greene County Jail)

Kayley Birnbaum (Greene County Jail)

“We received a call from the family making an inquiry as to what the status of the investigation was. The family was disappointed that so much time has passed and that we didn’t have any additional answers for them, so much so that it piqued our interest to pull that case file and put another fresh set of eyes on it,” Capt. Kelly Lowe, of the Benton County Sheriff’s Department, said. “In doing so, we put a set of eyes on it that was unaware of the case, whatsoever. And as he went through the information that we had gathered, he identified a couple of areas that he believed he could establish some additional information on. And in the process of that, and over the period of about a week, we got two people in jail for for the murder of Mr. Garrett.”

According to authorities, the sheriff’s office conducted new interviews, investigated digital evidence and sent previously untested items to crime laboratories. About a month after Garrett’s family contacted the sheriff’s office, arrests were made. The Birnbaums are accused of planning the killing and carrying it out. The two were arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder and armed criminal action.

A probable cause statement says the Birnbaums killed for $50,000 in life insurance money because one of them was the beneficiary. Garrett had been shot in the hand, arm, body, and head and impaled in the abdomen with a novelty sword. Authorities found a bag of novelty weapons, including a sword similar to the one used to impale Garrett, in the Birnbaums’ home. The couple burned some evidence and threw the pistol in the Missouri River before they left the murder scene.

Kayley Birnbaum told investigators that she and Michael Birnbaum researched remote spots where they could kill Garrett unnoticed; did reconnaissance at the site before the killing; researched cleaning supplies; planned to kill Garrett on a day before a rainstorm to destroy evidence; and lured Garrett to the spot.

“About 150 man hours, if not more, of a single deputy working every lead, every possible avenue that this case could take. This took him out of town, of course, because all of the people involved at the time and the names that he needed to get in touch with are no longer in the area of Benton County. So, a lot of traveling back and forth, a lot of attempts to dig up old information and turn it into new and identify where people were and how to get a hold of them,” Lowe said.

Michael Birnbaum called police on Sunday and turned himself in at the Springfield Police Department. He gave officers a handwritten statement saying he had shot and stabbed Garrett, according to the probable cause statement.

“The Springfield Police Department was outstanding in their assistance with us. Once Detective Johnson identified what he needed to accomplish and what his objectives were, he reached out to them and they provided us not only with assistance, but with additional manpower people to take us around where we didn’t know areas, and they were just astronomical in helping us come together,” Lowe said.

The Benton County Sheriff’s Office explained that the investigation’s progress was slowed because they only had one homicide detective handling multiple cases.

“Any homicide investigation is tough because you have everything from evidence to facts to theories to it just you’re going every direction. I think a lot of it at the time was that the staffing levels that we had, the call volume that we had, and then we had just moved into the building. So there was a whole lot of things going on,” Lowe added.

The Birnbaums were in the Benton County Jail on Tuesday with no bond. No hearings had been set in their cases. The sheriff’s office says the investigation is ongoing.

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Haley Swaino

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

An estimated 14,000 Missourians ages 55-64 could lose their federal food benefits if changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program make it through the Senate.

The U.S. House last week approved the “big, beautiful bill” which includes cuts to social program budgets such as Medicaid and SNAP, known commonly as food stamps.

Millions of low-income Americans could lose food assistance under House Republicans’ tax and spending cuts package, according to a recent Congressional Budget Office analysis.

Nationwide, CBO estimates that these measures would strip roughly 3.2 million people of their food stamp benefits in an average month over the next decade.

“Across the state of Missouri, we [The Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri] know that about one in every seven adults is considered to be food insecure, and I think that’s pretty fair across the country too,” CEO and President of The Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri Lindsay Lopez said.

One of the most controversial provisions of the bill includes expanding the program’s current work requirements to adults ages 55-64.

This would mean that unless an adult meets a 20-hour-per-week work requirement or qualifies for an exemption, such as having a disability, they would only be able to receive food benefits for three months in a three-year period.

Lopez said most people receiving food assistance through the Food Bank have at least one person in their household who is employed.

“But they may just be underemployed, meaning that it’s just very difficult for them to make ends meet with the amount of money that they end up with in their paycheck once or twice a month,” Lopez said.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that about 14,000 Missourians ages 55-64 with no children and no disability are at risk of losing food assistance under the proposed expansion of SNAP’s work requirement, according to an analysis of SNAP quality control data for the 2022 fiscal year.

The bill is expected to undergo multiple changes in the Senate.

Republican Rep. Bob Onder, of Missouri’s 3rd District, said in a statement he was proud to vote “yes” on the bill.

“Our social safety net programs need to be protected so that they will be available for the truly needy and vulnerable,” Onder said in an email. “For that reason, eligibility should be checked regularly to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. Likewise, able-bodied, working age adults who are able to work should do so as a condition of participation in these programs. For that reason, I support these requirements in both the food stamp (SNAP) and Medicaid programs, as embodied in the Reconciliation bill (“Big Beautiful Bill”). “

Democratic Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver, of Kansas City, issued a statement Thursday following the house approval.

“At a time when income inequality is at historic levels and working class families are pleading for relief, congressional Republicans are making the largest cuts to Medicaid and SNAP in American history, ripping healthcare and food assistance away from vulnerable families, to give another tax break that lines the pockets of billionaires like Elon Musk and Donald Trump,” Cleaver said.

The package, which aims to carry out President Donald Trump’s agenda, brings historic cuts to some of America’s safety net programs. The proposed legislation would deliver trillions in tax cuts, but at the expense of significant cuts to federal funding for food assistance and Medicaid to balance out the financial impact.

In 2023, SNAP provided aid to roughly 42 million Americans monthly, 12.6% of the U.S. population. The USDA says about 12.2% of Missouri households are food insecure.

As written, the bill would reduce federal spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by roughly $286 billion over the next decade, according to the CBO analysis.

The bill’s cuts could take food assistance away from families with children 7 years old or older.

Overall, 54,000 Missourians ages 18-64 with school-age children and no disability are at risk of losing food assistance under the proposed expansion of SNAP’s work requirement, according to CBPP analysis of SNAP quality control data for the 2022 fiscal year.

The vast majority of people at risk of losing SNAP would lose the assistance that allows them to purchase groceries. Research shows SNAP’s work requirement does not increase employment or earnings.

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Matthew Sanders

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Gov. Mike Kehoe unveiled plans for a special session to take up legislation to incentivize sports teams to stay in Missouri and fund capital projects like a University of Missouri nuclear reactor during a Capitol news conference Tuesday.

Kehoe will bring lawmakers together next month to discuss financial incentives for stadium projects for the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals and funding for capital projects including the NextGen MU Research Reactor.

The Show Me Sports Investment Act is aimed at keeping the two sports teams from moving to Kansas after lawmakers failed to pass a plan during their regular, annual session. The proposal would give the state’s professional sports teams access to state funding for stadium projects through new bonds, but only if certain requirements are met.

The project must cost at least $500 million and involve stadiums with more than 30,000 seats. The state could cover up to 50% of the total cost and eligible teams could also access a tax credit worth up to 10% of their investment.

“The Kansas City Chiefs and Royals are Missouri’s teams and they drive billions of dollars in economic activity through tourism, job creation and small business, including hotels, restaurants and retail,” Kehoe said.

Kehoe emphasized the importance of keeping Missouri’s sports teams in the state, citing their role in economic development.

“This just isn’t about football and baseball, as I said before, this is about economic development. These two organizations that have businesses, employees and a ripple effect on our state’s economy that we do not want to move to any other state,” Kehoe said.

Arrowhead Stadium generates $28.8 million in state tax revenue, sustains more than 4,500 jobs and promotes more than $572 million in economic activity in Jackson County alone, Kehoe said. A new stadium for the Royals would support 8,400 jobs and generate $1.2 billion in annual economic output, Kehoe said.

Budget appropriations are also a priority during the special session, including funding for the NextGen MURR project — a proposal that failed to pass during the regular legislative session. The original allocation in House Bill 19 included $50 million for the University of Missouri Research Reactor, but Kehoe is now asking for half of that amount.

“MURR has developed life-saving medicines for patients around the world and Missouri is proud to be home to this incredible nuclear resource,” Kehoe said.

Kehoe touched on how many lives the nuclear reactor saves each day by providing radioisotopes to people around the world. According to MURR’S website, 450,000 patients were treated lat year with radioisotopes produced at MURR.

Other budget appropriations included in House Bill 19 are funding for a mental health facility, a new juvenile center in Cole County and funding for a conference center in Downtown Jefferson City.

Other priorities to be addressed in the special session include assistance for families affected by recent severe storms across the state. Kehoe wants lawmakers to approve a tax deduction for insurance deductibles paid by homeowners repairing damage from this spring’s storms.

The assistance would be capped at $5,000 per household per calendar year.

Kehoe said he will push for changes to the Missouri Housing Trust Fund to make the state’s disaster response stronger. The proposal includes expanding eligibility and eliminating administrative burdens and costs to speed up aid distribution.

It would also lower eligibility standards for emergency housing assistance and grants for construction and home repair.

Over the past three months, severe storms have caused damage across several Missouri counties, including Phelps, where an EF-2 tornado destroyed dozens of homes and businesses in Rolla. Earlier this month, seven people were killed when tornadoes tore through the St. Louis area.

A tornado also destroyed the City of Columbia’s recycling facility.

Kehoe said during the press conference Tuesday that the structural damage in St.Louis is worse than the Joplin tornado.

House lawmakers have been told to be ready for a session that will start at noon June 2.

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Jazsmin Halliburton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia woman charged in connection with a baby’s death is set to be in court Tuesday morning at the Boone County Courthouse for a pre-trial conference.

Sarah D. Brown is charged with first-degree involuntary manslaughter for the death of Ayla Gibson. Prosecutors charged Brown after she allegedly put Gibson in a crib with a loose, unfitted blanket and pillow in a position that resulted in death by suffocation, according to court documents.

Gibson’s parents allegedly told Brown the baby had a viral lung infection and told Brown to have the baby sleep on her back, but a probable cause statement says Brown ignored the parents’ instructions.

Brown allegedly admitted to police that she lied about how she found the baby. She told police she found Gibson lying on her back.

Court documents say the daycare was unlicensed. Brown had 12 children in her care at the time of Gibson’s death and was not licensed with the state.

Brown will be in front of Judge Jeff Harris at 10:30 a.m.

Brown’s jury trial is set to begin on June 10.

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Matthew Sanders

What is usually the unofficial start of the summer vacation season felt more like March or April in Mid-Missouri.

Temperatures over Memorial Day weekend didn’t climb past 72 degrees in Columbia on Saturday or Sunday. Monday was cool and cloudy, too.

Hundreds of people didn’t let the weather stop them from attending Columbia’s renewed Gold Star Memorial Day Parade. But for people who spent the weekend at the Lake of the Ozarks, there wasn’t much fun in the sun to be had.

Did the weather ruin your holiday weekend? Let us know by voting in the poll.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man accused of firing shots in a south Columbia apartment complex told police that he was drugged at a bar and didn’t remember the events, according to a probable cause statement.

Gabino C. Hernandez, 28, whose hometown is listed as Anderson, Missouri, in jail records, remained in the Boone County Jail without bond Monday. He was charged Friday with four felonies — two counts of unlawful use of a weapon and two counts of armed criminal action.

A probable cause statement says a victim told police that Hernandez was “out of it” and couldn’t be reasoned with when he fired a gun in the parking lot and a stairwell of Aria Apartments early Friday. One of the two victims told officers that Hernandez had a gun tucked into his waistband and pointed the gun at him, the statement says.

The man told police he was “pretty sure” that Hernandez wanted to shoot him, according to documents.

Hernandez told officers he didn’t remember what happened after being drugged at a bar, the statement says.

Surveillance video showed Hernandez walking around the apartment complex with a gun at about 2 a.m. Friday, when dispatchers received several shots-fired calls, the statement says.

No hearings have been scheduled.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance were among the speakers at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day.

The leaders spoke after placing a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The event is an annual observance of military members’ sacrifice.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Louisville Courier Journal filed a complaint on Friday against a Kentucky school board that hired former Columbia Public Schools Superintendent Brian Yearwood.

Jefferson County Public Schools said in a social media post on Thursday that the Board of Education voted 5-2 on Thursday to offer a contract, though it did not initially announce who it would hire. A state representative in Kentucky had congratulated Yearwood in a social media post, which local media including WDRB indicated was a sign for the hire.

The school district on Friday eventually named Yearwood in a social media post of its own, stating that it was in contract negotiations with him.

The complaint filed by the Courier Journal claims the district violated Kentucky’s Open Meetings Act by voting in a closed session, holding a “sham vote in open session to ratify a decision made during a closed session,” and refusing to disclose in a public meeting which candidate it hired.

JCBOE OMA Complaint Letter(1354673.1)Download

Yearwood’s Columbia departure

Yearwood stepped down from his position as CPS superintendent in November and was paid $667,268.90 in a contract buyout. Yearwood was hired by CPS in 2021. He was under contract through June 2027, making about $260,000 per year. Chris Belcher was named the district’s interim superintendent before Jeff Klein was hired.

CPS announced in November that Yearwood would step down immediately “to spend time with family in Texas,” previous reporting indicates. Yearwood announced in August that he had been diagnosed with cancer. That diagnosis was not mentioned in his resignation letter.

Yearwood’s separation agreement with CPS states that he agreed to the mutual public statement between the two parties and cannot make any further public statements.

In an interview with ABC affiliate WHAS11 last week, Yearwood stated, “”I did nothing unethical, I did nothing immoral and I did nothing illegal. I’m a man of faith and I would do nothing to dishonor my family. I would do nothing to dishonor myself. And there are times where there are differences of opinion and things like this do happen. But I assure you, it was nothing that touched on any of those.”

Yearwood was also a finalist for a superintendent position in Kansas and Delaware.

At a community forum held by the Garden City, Kansas, school district in January, Yearwood was asked what his most-vocal critic would say about him as a school leader.

“They would say he doesn’t have much patience for red tape that slows down the process of getting things done to benefit scholars. I’ve had to sort of temper because there, there, there are rules you must follow,” he said in a video. “And again, I’m not talking about circumventing rules or doing anything. That’s not it. But sometimes, when we know something is great for a scholar or scholars or school, sometimes the process gets bogged down.”

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Erika McGuire

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Gold Star Memorial Day Parade was front and center on Broadway in Downtown Columbia on Memorial Day after a six-year hiatus.

Hundreds gathered along Broadway on Monday morning to honor and remember military heroes and their families.

The title “Gold Star” is reserved for families of military members who died in the line of duty. It is meant to honor the service member’s ultimate sacrifice while acknowledging their family’s loss, grief and continued healing.

Anna Johnson attended the parade and had numerous family members who had served in the military. She said Memorial Day is a powerful reminder of the sacrifices made by service members.

‘I appreciate the fact they are willing to do what some of us are not and that they have the courage and are willing to fight for our country, could never thank them enough,” Johnson said.

Former Boone County Commissioner Linda Vogt is a Gold Star family member and lost her brother, Ralph R. Quick, during the Vietnam War in 1970. He left for Vietnam on Dec. 5, 1969, and lost his life on March 23, 1970.

“He died the day before his 23rd birthday in Vietnam,” Vogt said. “It was very difficult for our family. We’re proud he served, he wanted to serve. He wanted to be a helicopter pilot, and so he did get to do that, killed him, but he got to do that.”

Vogt said her brother fought tirelessly to join the military, despite medical issues that initially kept him out.

“He broke his neck trying to get into the service because he had problems with sinuses, and they wouldn’t take him,” she said.

Quick left behind a wife and a 2-year-old daughter, Vogt said.

“She had to grow up fatherless. But with all that being said, we still had a lot of pride in the fact that he wanted to serve our country,” Vogt said. “In all honesty, my family is kind of a family of public service.”

When Memorial Day comes around, Vogt says it is a painful reminder that her brother is no longer here.

“I try to avoid it to tell you the truth because you know it is a little painful,” Vogt said, “Absolutely heartbroken, it took two years to get my heart back in shape after that. It was a terrible loss to our family,”

Vogt says her family was the only way she was able to cope with the loss of her baby brother. She said taking care of her children helped her get through the grief.

Meredith Black also attended the parade and was glad to see it return after several years. Her father was a captain in the Marine Corps during World War II.

“They have made the ultimate scarify and their families have lost someone who was very near and dear to them and just seeing the cars go by today of the Gold Star families and the little children who were part of it, it’s heartbreaking but it makes us realize how grateful we need to be for those who have sacrificed so much,” Black said.

“My husband’s great, great, great uncle, he was 19 years old in World War I in France, and he was killed in action, but he was returned home to the United States and is buried near his mother in Oklahoma,” Black added.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe on Tuesday will announce special session details for the Missouri legislature, according to a Monday news release from his office.

Kehoe is expected to make the announcement at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Capitol. The governor had floated the idea at the end of the regular session earlier this month to pass the “Show Me Sports Investment Act,” which would give the state’s professional sports teams access to state funding for stadium projects.

House Speaker Jon Patterson (R-Lee’s Summit) has told his caucus that the session will take place June 2-13, said state Rep. Dave Griffith (R-Jefferson City). The House is likely to work on its legislation starting June 9, Griffith said, though that date is subject to change.

The Kansas City Chiefs and Royals have made some public statements about moving across state lines after Jackson County voters said “no” to a proposal in 2024 to extend a sales tax to help finance a downtown baseball stadium and upgrades to Arrowhead Stadium.

Previous reporting indicates that to qualify, the project must cost at least $500 million and involve stadiums with more than 30,000 seats. The state could cover up to 50% of the total cost, and eligible teams could also access a tax credit worth up to 10% of their investment. 

“I really believe that the Clark family wants to stay in Missouri and I think this is a gesture on our part to show both the Chiefs and the Royals that we want them to stay,” Griffith said.

The bill had passed the Missouri House, but did not make it through the Senate before the session ended.

Rep. David Tyson Smith (D-Columbia) said he would like to keep the Chiefs within Missouri, but also said he believes there has to be thought about whether or not tax payers should have to pay for that.

Smith said it’s hard to tell if the act will be approved, given the Senate’s decision to repeal voter-approved sick leave requirements.

“There was so much chaos at the end. It may not pass again. I mean some people in the senate are very mad about the repeal of Prop A,” Smith said. “The senate is very upset about that, and so they may purposefully kill the stadium project to send a message.”

Some lawmakers have also expressed interest in including capital projects in the special session. The House failed to pass a capital improvements budget, HB 19, that included money for projects in Mid-Missouri, such as a Jefferson City conference center and the University of Missouri’s NextGen Research Reactor.

Griffith said house lawmakers did not take it up because add-ons from the Senate exceeded their expectations but is hopeful conversations can be had and work can be done during the special session.

The school announced it was working with Hyundai and MPR Associates to begin designing the billion-dollar NextGen reactor in south Columbia. An expansion is also underway at the school’s current reactor on Providence Road. 

Smith said he’s hopeful the governor will bring that back on the table, which would help with cancer research.

“I mean, we’re treating people who are sick and dying. MURR is one of the most unique facilities we have in America, not only in Missouri,” Smith said. “Promises were made and those promises need to be honored so we can have that money.”

Griffith said he’s pushing for money for a new juvenile center to be built in Cole County. The project has been in the works and would build the new center on St. Mary’s Blvd. but funding for it was left uncertain after the house failed to pass the bill.

Cole County Sheriff John Wheeler told ABC 17 News previously the new center would help with safety, as well as cut down on transportation expenses.

“Our detention center was built in 1973 and it’s really out used, it’s outgrown its use. There’s not enough places for us to put the juvenile offenders,” Griffith said. “And $4 million is really a small amount for us to be able to lead that project.”

Griffith said he’s also hopeful improvements to a new conference center in Jefferson City will be approved.

The session is expected to start in the Senate, according to Griffith.

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