Category: kmiz-local-news

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A court date has been scheduled in Ryan Ferguson’s civil case for later this month.

A Cole County jury sided with Ferguson and six former Columbia police detectives in November in their lawsuit against Travelers Insurance.

They claimed Travelers refused to pay out the remaining $2.9 million of a more than $11 million settlement Ferguson and the detectives inked over his reversed murder conviction for sports editor Kent Heitholt’s death in the Columbia Daily Tribune parking lot and decade-long incarceration. The jury awarded him $2.9 million in compensatory damages and $35 million in punitive damages.

Attorney Michael Berry asked a Cole County judge in June to add at least $1.3 million to the $43.8 million judgment he awarded. Berry said Walker did not properly add 129 days’ interest on the award.

Both sides have filed motions on how much Ferguson should be awarded. The hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 26.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Callaway County man is in jail after authorities say he choked a woman in June and pushed another person in southeastern Callaway County.

Gary Moore, 39, of Portland, Missouri, was charged with second-degree domestic assault, two counts of third-degree domestic assault and a count of fourth-degree domestic assault – third or subsequent offense. He was brought to the Fulton Reception and Diagnostic Center after he was booked into the Callaway County Jail.

The probable cause statement says on June 18, Moore ran out of the probation and parole office when they tried to attach an ankle monitor.  

One June 15, Moore allegedly went to the victim’s residence and choked her as she woke up, the statement says. He allegedly then said he was gathering his belongings and another victim brought him out to a shed, the statement says.

The first victim armed herself with a gun when he went back into the residence while Moore held an arrow, the statement says. He then allegedly attacked and choked the same victim again and threw her to the ground, the statement says. Law enforcement saw injuries on the victim.

During the attack, one of the other victims tried to intervene, but Moore reached through to grab the first victim, the statement says. A third victim was pushed during the attack, court documents say. Two of the victims reportedly heard and saw the first attack that occurred, the statement says.

All three people were unable to initially call police because Moore took their cellphones and reception is poor in the area where the attack occurred.

Moore first allegedly told law enforcement on June 20 that he went to get his property and ran toward the victim and took her gun, the statement says. On Aug. 7, he allegedly told law enforcement that he showed up unannounced but did not provide many details, court documents say.

The probable cause statement also says the first victim was arrested because she is a convicted felon and not allowed to have a gun.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The University of Missouri Research Reactor will hold a routine drill at 10 a.m. Monday morning that will simulate an emergency scenario.

MURR announced the drill in a Friday press release.

The drill will include police, firefighters and EMS personnel at 1513 Research Park Dr.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Cole County deputy pleaded guilty on Friday to a pair of misdemeanors related to a December 2023 crash that left a driver with serious injuries.

Mercy Gonzalez, of Jefferson City, pleaded guilty to reckless driving and failing to obey a traffic control device. She was sentenced to two years of unsupervised probation, was ordered to complete 40 hours of community service within six months and must successfully complete the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Emergency Vehicle Operations Course in October.

If she does not complete probation, she faces a year in jail. A Department of Public Safety spokesman wrote in an email that Gonzalez had an active peace officer license and is commissioned by the Cole County Sheriff’s Office.

Gonzalez was previously listed as a school resource officer in the Blair Oaks R-2 School District, though her information no longer appears on the district’s website.

The probable cause statement says Gonzalez crashed her patrol vehicle with a Honda Pilot at the intersection of Highway 179 and West Edgewood Drive in Jefferson City on Dec. 15, 2023.

The Honda was driving on West Edgewood Drive when it was hit by Gonzalez’s Dodge Charger that was driving 115 miles per hour while going south on Highway 179, court documents say. Gonzalez had her emergency lights on, but court documents do not clarify if she was in a chase. The statement says Gonzalez tried to steer away from the victim’s vehicle, but was unsuccessful.

The Dodge Charger hit the Honda at a speed between 104-107 mph, the statement says.

“Gonzalez failed to operate her emergency vehicle in a safe manner when she failed to reduce the speed of her vehicle for the steady red stop signal at an intersection as necessary to not endanger life or property. Gonzalez bears the sole responsibility for this crash,” a trooper wrote in the probable cause statement.

ABC 17 News reached out to the Cole County Sheriff’s Office and Blair Oaks R-2 School District.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Police exchanged gunfire with a shooter on the Emory University campus in Georgia on Friday afternoon, sources told ABC News.

The school warned the campus on its website, saying the incident was taking place near the Emory Point CVS.

A shelter-in-place order was put in place, but was lifted at 6:43 p.m. local time.

Police wrote on social media the shooter is dead and a law enforcement officer was injured. The scene remains active as the investigation continues.

Check back for updates to this developing story.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man who was charged with murder last month in a fatal Boone County crash is facing more charges.

After a grand jury indictment was filed on Friday, Donald Legleiter, 36, is now charged with second-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action, one count of first-degree property damage and a count of tampering with evidence.

He is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond. An arraignment for the new set of charges will be held at 9 a.m. Monday.

The crash occurred on Allen Street in McBaine on July 14. Previous reporting indicates Legleiter had backed up in his SUV and run over a motorcycle with Jeffrie W. Cash on it. Legleiter allegedly drove from the scene and abandoned the 2024 Toyota Highlander in a bean field, according to court documents in previous reporting.

Cash died from his injuries on July 17. Makayla Cash said her father was defending a woman from Legleiter, which led to the fatal confrontation, previous reporting says.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The state revoked a Columbia liquor store’s license to sell alcohol this week after the owners failed to answer multiple allegations.

The Missouri Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control revoked Spring Creek Liquor and Convenience Store’s license on Thursday after the owners did not appeal, a state spokesperson told ABC 17 News. An appeal could still arrive via traditional mail.

The store is owned by Liquor Vault LLC, according to the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office business records. The company did not respond to messages from ABC 17 News seeking more information.

State regulators had leveled 12 charges against the store: several counts of false answers on applications, two counts of violation of oath, a count of failing to report a change of fact, two counts of not disclosing an illegal financial interest and lack of good moral character.

The store was closed Thursday and Friday during normal business hours.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A 42-year-old man from Valley Springs, South Dakota, was seriously injured in a single-vehicle crash in the westbound lane of Interstate 44 in Pulaski County on Friday, according to a crash report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The report says the man was driving a 1997 Ford F-150 that was heading westbound when it went off the left side of the road and hit median cables. The truck then came back to the roadway, went off the right side of the road and overturned, the report says.

The man was not wearing a seatbelt, according to the report. He was brought to Mercy Hospital in Springfield by ambulance, the report says. The truck was totaled.

MSHP reports do not name those involved in crashes.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

An 80-year-old man from Warsaw, Missouri, was killed in a crash Friday morning on Highway 65 in Benton County, according to a crash report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The report says the crash occurred when a 1997 Ford F-150 – driven by the 80-year-old – was heading northbound, crossed the centerline and hit a 2013 Kenworth head-on. The Kenworth – driven by a 22-year-old Fortuna, Missouri, man – stopped on the shoulder of the southbound lane, while the Ford skid across the northbound lanes and overturned in a ditch, the report says.

The Kenworth driver wore a seatbelt and had no reported injuries.

The 80-year-old man was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, the report says. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The man’s body was brought to the Benton County Coroner, according to the report.

Both vehicles were totaled, according to the report. MSHP reports do not name those involved in crashes.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man was charged with two felonies after he allegedly attacked a youth on Wednesday in Camden County.

Kenneth Shumate, 36, of Jefferson City, was charged Thursday in Camden County with first-degree domestic assault and child abuse. He is being held at the Camden County Jail without bond. A bond hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday.

The heavily redacted probable cause statement says Shumate attacked a youth after they called someone or something a swear word. The victim was brought to an area hospital and required staples.

Law enforcement found blood in the parking lot of the incident, the statement says.

Shumate allegedly admitted to assaulting the victim to law enforcement, court documents say.

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