Category: kmiz-local-news

Erika McGuire

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Central Missouri Humane Society is seeking help from foster families after 15 severely neglected dogs were rescued from an impoundment case by Columbia Animal Countrol.

In a press release Tuesday morning, CMHS said the adult dogs arrived extremely emaciated, terrified and under socialized. The shelter said the animals had spent most of their lives in the woods, surviving with very little support.

“While the dogs are beginning to trust shelter staff and show small but beautiful signs of progress, they are not yet ready for adoption. They need time, patience, and gentle guidance to recover, gain weight, and learn the basics of being a dog. Many are too underweight to undergo spay/neuter surgeries at this time. CMHS is looking for fosters who can provide a low-stress home, offer love and consistent care to help the dogs build confidence, and work closely with the CMHS veterinary team to follow an individualized treatment plan.” the release said.

Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services spokesman Austin Krohn said the case began with a July 31 complaint about three possibly aggressive dogs on Squire Court Road. The caller said the dogs were attacking their pets and a neighbor’s animals.

When Animal Control Officers investigated, Krohn said, they found the three dogs and followed them back to a property on Squire Court Road. When they entered the property to make contact with a possible owner, they noticed several dogs that appeared underweight and possibly ill.

On Aug. 1, officers found 15 dogs on the property in various states of neglect.

“Completely emaciated, really dirty, lots of scars, lots of open wounds, covered in flees and parasites, they weren’t going to make it a whole lot longer without help,” Michelle Casey Associate Director and Campaign Manager with CMHS said.

The shelter says the dogs were living the woods with very little support to survive.

“They’re medium sized dogs, most of them are around 30 pounds or under, so they’re not huge dogs, they’re short coated. there may be some shepherd, definitely some lab,” Casey said.

Since arriving at the shelter, Casey says the dogs have shown signs of improvement, but still need extra one-on-one care and socialization. One of the dogs recently gave birth to two puppies. She said so far, three of the dogs have been taken in by foster families.

“Often its the scars you can’t see that take the longest time to heal, so these guy definitely need a little extra love and attention, but they’re available for foster right now, they will do so much better in a foster home rather than there at the shelter where they can get that extra love that they need,” She added.

Casey says three of the dogs are already in foster care, but each will recover at a different pace.

“A lot of them are going to have to gain quite a bit of weight before they’re even eligible to get a spay neuter surgery,” Casey said.”It’ll be a little bit of a longer term foster situation. Definitely a couple weeks at minimum. But we’ve already placed a couple of them in foster and the before and after pictures are just incredible even after just a week, there’s a huge difference in these dogs, the fosters have said its incredibly rewarding working with dogs like this that have been in a traumatic situation.”

According to the Columbia/Boone County Health Department one person has been charged with animal neglect. ABC 17 News has reached out to the health department to find out the identity of the person charged.

Boone County Prosecutor Roger Johnson said he is not aware of any charges being filed in the case.

But, he said it doesn’t mean no one was charged or ticketed.

“Charges could go to the city, could still be in transit, or we could have it but I don’t know about it yet,” Johnson said in an email Tuesday evening.

“Animal neglect can be a misdemeanor on the first offense thats punishable by up to 15 days in jail or if its a repeat offense it can be a misdemeanor thats possibly up to six months in jail, in addition to that there can be fines up to $2,000,” Johnson added.

However, Johnson said, cases involving multiple animals can lead to multiple charges and stronger penalties.

“If someone has a large number of animals there potential that you could have a separate charge for reach one of the animals, so the number of time in jail and find could multiply, in addition there are heightened charges if the animal ends up being injured because of the neglect,” Johnson said.

To determine if someone can own an animal again after being charged, Johnson says there’s a hearing process to decide whether the animal should be returned, placed in foster care, or sent to a shelter.

“There a process where the person can get a hearing to decide if the animal should be returned to them, or whether they’ll be fosters or sent to the shelter,” Johnson said. “Potentially they’d be on the hook for paying the cost of housing the animal at the shelter while the case is pending and they would have to pay that amount for the care of the animal that they were initially caring for,”

The owner was present during the search and chose to give up ownership of all the animals. The dogs were taken to CMHS after receiving vaccinations and a health evaluation.

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Nia Hinson

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The City of Columbia officially has a residential facility for adults undergoing treatment for behavioral health conditions

Burrell Behavioral Health hosted a grand opening for the center, located at 1611 Town Drive, on Tuesday. Burrell bought the property in January, after the former Rainbow House closed. The organization started the program in Springfield, Missouri and is now hoping to have success in Columbia.

The program will work to offer long-term residential treatment to individuals for a period of six months to two years, providing therapy and nursing care to clients. Director of Adult Community Services for Burrell Legacy Central Region Brenna Ishler said each client has an individual treatment plan, but on average, people participate in the program for two years.

The center has 16 bedrooms designed to house one person per room.

“They come to us from pretty restricted settings usually so they might be in the hospital, in a residential care facility, they may have been incarcerated,” Ishler said.

Ishler said the program is designed to provide structure to those who choose to sign up.

“Every day the clients follow a pretty strict schedule. So they wake up in the morning, they participate in household responsibilities and chores, they work alongside our behavioral health technicians. The behavioral health technicians teach them how to do those chores,” Ishler said.

Chores include cooking and doing laundry. Ishler said clients will also meet with a case manager and participate in social and skill building groups during the day. Clients will also go through individual and group therapy, as well as meet with a psychiatrist.

Ishler said one of the most important steps in the program is a white board posted in one of the community rooms.

The board allows clients to see their success and where they tested on different chores, allowing them to watch themselves progress toward successful graduation, Ishler said.

Burrell North Central Region President Matt Gass addressed people attending the ribbon cutting, saying the center also aims to provide people with hope.

“The belief that tomorrow can be brighter than today… at 1611 Towne Drive, hope has an address,” Gass said.

Boone County Presiding Commissioner Kip Kendrick attended Tuesday’s ribbon cutting, noting he has a personal connection to the work being done, having previously worked for Burrell. Kendrick said more can always be done, but the center’s opening is the right step for Columbia and Boone County.

“I hold a special place in my heart for all of the social workers out there who do this work because I know how challenging it can be and how important it is,” Kendrick said. “We know that more beds are needed but you can’t get there without starting, right?”

State Rep. Gregg Bush (D-Columbia) said the demand is something that representatives are also seeing, and are hoping to address.

“Families will actually ask me about this, ‘what are the services that I can have?'” Bush said. “Right now ,those resources are taxed and we’re doing our best to try to fill in the gaps and I’m really happy that we’ve been able to open up more capacity for the people that need our help the most.”

Ishler said clients will have to pay $600 per month for room and board. Treatment is billed through Medicaid. The organization is still waiting on official final approval to set a definitive open date.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

No injuries were reported after a fire occurred at Modine Manufacturing on South Country Club Drive in Jefferson City, according to a Tuesday email from the Jefferson City Fire Department.

Crews were called at 11:20 a.m. and found moderate smoke coming from the western part of the building, the release says. Dust collectors in the manufacturing line caught fire, according to the release.

“Fire officials commended the employees for their quick evacuation and effective accountability measures, which ensured the safety of everyone inside at the time of the fire,” the release says.

The release says the fire was put out before it could spread and employees were evacuated from the building for 30 minutes.

The fire is still under investigation, the release says.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Mizzou Tiger football players took questions from reporters after another day of fall camp on Tuesday.

Watch their answers in the media player.

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Haley Swaino

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Cole County Commission signed a contract Tuesday to study the salaries of the county’s more than 350 full-time employees.

The $52,500 contract with Condrey and Associates, a human resources firm based in Georgia, will review only full-time positions, with a focus on correcting existing salary compression. Salary compression happens when pay increases for new hires, but doesn’t go up at the same rate for veteran employees.

Commission documents say the study will analyze the existing salary structure and recommend changes based on market pay rates. The focus will be making sure those salaries are competitive.

The county sought a contractor with a minimum of five years professional experience in conducting salary studies for local governments. They also required the firm to have completed at least 10 studies before signing with Cole County.

The last classification and pay plan study in the county was done by the Archer Company in 2006.

The county has approved almost $87 million for salaries. A 2.2% cost-of-living raise plus $500 was approved for salaries within the budget for the 2025 fiscal year.

The study will also seek to understand specific concerns of county employees and officials.

The study will include the assessor’s office employees. Cole County Assessor Christopher Estes told ABC 17 News that salaries at his office are not competitive.

“Almost without exception, you’re going to find that the salaries in the assessor’s office are anywhere from $2,000 to $9,000 less [than jobs with similar descriptions in Cole County],” Estes said.

Estes said troubles began when Missouri’s appraisal commission raised education requirements in 2008.

“They changed it to require that you had a four-year college degree before you could enter the program to become an appraiser, which is just crazy,” Estes said. “You don’t have to have a four-year degree. But the appraisal commission made that change.”

Estes said he now has to make his employees go through even more training.

“So if you go to college for four years, you get out of college and you want to get work for me, I’m going to have to send you through another four years of training to become an appraiser,” Estes said. “And you’re probably going to make about $40,000. Not a very good salary.”

He said he has brought these concerns to the commissioners.

“I’ve gone to the county commissioners and said, ‘Hey, we need to pay my people more,'” Estes said. “And they did a large raise in ’20, I think ’23 and ’24. And both times we got less than everybody else did. The last adjustment that was made for the rest of the county was well over what we got. So all of the people in my office that have comparable jobs … in another office, my accounting clerks and things like that, where the jobs are very similar, their salaries are well below what the other offices are.”

Estes hopes the study will correct the wage gaps his office faces. He said these issues continue to make retention and hiring difficult.

“I’m hoping that the employees in the assessor’s office are treated with the respect and dignity that they deserve and to receive the salaries that are competitive with the other county offices in Cole County, because that’s who they should be competitive with,” Estes said.

Condrey and Associates is required to schedule an initial meeting with the county to discuss how it plans to perform the study. An orientation is scheduled for Sept. 16.

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Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo.

Charges have been filed against the man involved in an hours-long standoff at Stephens Lake Park on Monday.

Tre’Shon Terrell Smith, of Columbia, is charged with third-degree assault of a special victim, fourth-degree assault, first- and second-degree property damage and resisting arrest. Two of the charges are felonies.

The probable cause statement says multiple calls came in reporting a man was in the park with a knife and alcohol Monday afternoon. A drone unit with the Columbia Police Department saw multiple injuries on the man and saw him with a knife.

Probable cause statementDownload

The Columbia Police Department urged the public to avoid Stephens Lake Park during the response.

“Please avoid Stephens Lake Park! Columbia Police are currently responding to an active incident. We’re asking the public to avoid the area while the incident unfolds,” CPD wrote in a social media post.

A CPD spokesman said police were sent to the park at about 2:20 p.m. for a call of a suicidal person. The man had a knife and had threatened “suicide by cop.”

Court documents say Smith was trying to harm himself and destroy property at Stephens Lake Park. Officers used a stun gun to take him into custody. The documents say he also destroyed several picnic tables at the park.

An ABC 17 News reporter saw police on scene Monday putting Smith in handcuffs just before 7 p.m.

Officer Benjamin Ludwig wrote in the probable cause statement that he was responsible for taking Smith to University Hospital’s psychiatric center.

Smith allegedly damaged Ludwig’s police car during the drive by kicking it and causing more than $750 in damage. Ludwig said Smith also threatened to locate and harm him, Officer Matthew Kempfer and Kempfer’s family.

Ludwig also said he observed Smith make statements to multiple officers about how he would locate them and their families on social media and how he wished to sexually assault their partners.

Smith allegedly attacked Kempfer and hospital employees while being taken to receive treatment at University Hospital. Documents say he cut Kempfer and bit a hospital employee.

Criminal complaintDownload

Smith remained at the University of Missouri Psychiatric Center on Tuesday morning. A judge set bond at $10,000. The state sought a $25,000 bond, citing the extension resources used in taking Smith into custody and the aggression he showed to first responders. The bond memo also says he tried to escape custody multiple times.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Increases in rent and medical costs drove Midwest inflation in July compared to the year before, but prices for food and energy fell for the month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Year-over-year inflation in the Midwest, including Missouri, was up 2.6% in July, the bureau stated in a news release Tuesday. That increase was driven largely by a 5.1% increase in home ownership costs, a 3.6% increase in medical costs and a 5% increase in rent.

Those increases were balanced by falling food and energy prices that pegged inflation at just 0.2% compared to June. Natural gas and gasoline prices decreased, while electricity prices were up in July, according to the release.

Food prices were down 0.2% compared to June. Grocery prices fell 0.5% while food consumed away from home increased 0.3%.

Energy and food prices were all higher compared to last year, with natural gas prices rising 14.6% during that time.

The Midwest numbers were similar to those reported nationally, with prices up 0.2% compared to June and 2.7% compared to the year before.

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Meghan Drakas

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia/Boone County chapter of Crimestoppers typically offers rewards in cases involving warrants and drugs. However, the organization has a role in helping solve the city’s unsolved homicides, too.

Crimestoppers board president and former Boone County Sheriff’s Office deputy John Fields said the local chapter was founded in 1980. Fields estimates the local chapter’s work has helped lead to over 250 arrests.

The organization helps law enforcement by providing money for information leading to felony arrests.

Fields said that most of the tips Crimestoppers receives concerns warrants and drug cases, but there’s a large push for information on unsolved homicides. He estimates the organization has helped solve one or two homicides over the years.

“It’s unfortunate that not too many people give information on homicides, and that’s what we want,” Fields said. “We’re actively working with some other victims of homicides right now … we know that through working with the mothers of some of these victims of homicides that there were witnesses. And we would love for these witnesses to come forward and give these mothers some closure.”

According to the Columbia Police Department, 16 unsolved homicide cases with 18 victims dating back to 1985 remain unsolved. Those cases include Edmond ‘Ricky’ Randolph Jr., who was killed on June 25, 2016, on Leeway Drive in northeast Columbia.

Authorities investigate the homicide of Edmond ‘Ricky’ Randolph Jr. on June 25, 2016, on Leeway Drive in Columbia, Mo.

Police say the 25-year-old was shot to death inside an apartment. No arrests have been made in the case.

Columbia Police say Crimestoppers is a great tool, but in a homicide case, police say it’s helpful if witnesses contact police directly.

“Crimestoppers is a great tool for remaining anonymous,” CPD Lt. Matt Gremore said. “There’s a time and a place for that in an unsolved homicide investigation. What I really need to have is for someone to come forward to the police department that has that information firsthand. They can start with Crimestoppers to provide that.”

Fields said that throughout the years, Crimestoppers has received several tips on this case. Gremore said the last tip Crimestoppers received on the Randolph case was in 2021.

Edmond ‘Ricky’ Randolph Jr., date unknown (Credit: Nicole Craig)

More than a year after Randolph’s murder, Columbia/Boone County Crimestoppers amended its policy to accept personal donations in addition to the standard reward money. This was changed due to an anonymous individual wishing to donate $5,000 for any tip leading to the arrest of Randolph’s killer.

“This happened right before I started with Crimestoppers, but I don’t think we had too many tips,” Fields said. “We didn’t get anybody to come forward.”

Since 2017, Fields said, the reward for Randolph’s case has dropped back down to the standard number — $2,500.

Fields said the organization is funded through private donations.

“Our model is, if you see something, say something because we know you know something, just get paid for what you know,” Fields said.

Fields said tipsters are never asked for their name or phone number, but are assigned a number. Individuals are encouraged to call back at a later time with their number to see if their tip led to an arrest, and they can collect a reward.

“There’s a lot of people that call in information, but unfortunately, a lot of them don’t call back to get the reward,” Fields said. “So we’ve had several cases that people have called in to give us information on, that have led to an arrest.”

Watch the latest “Mid-Missouri’s Cold Case Files: The Case of Edmond ‘Ricky’ Randolph Jr.” at 10 p.m. Thursday on ABC 17 News.

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Marie Moyer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Several people could get dropped from the lawsuit filed by the family of former University of Missouri student Riley Strain at a court hearing Tuesday.

Strain’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Delta Chi fraternity in March, claiming the fraternity did not follow safety protocols during a March 2024 fraternity “formal” event in Nashville that led to Strain’s death. The lawsuit also claimed Strain’s fraternity brothers did not accompany him back to the hotel when he was kicked out of a bar and didn’t check on him until later.

Jacob Lewis, the family’s attorney, argued that both the national Delta Chi organization and Strain’s fraternity brothers were obligated to both monitor the event and help Strain.

“This was a foreseeable act, particularly for a fraternity that is well aware of the consequences of alcohol, Lewis said. “If you put somebody in a position that they now need help because of your actions, you have taken upon yourself a duty.”

Lewis added that Delta Chi has several training and safety videos as well as an online member portal, so the organization would be able to stay in touch with fraternity activities.

“They regularly communicate with people through social media apps they have, though the portal that they have, they can exert an area of control that would not have been possible even 30 or 40 years ago,” Lewis said.

The defense argued that the fraternity was not responsible for Strain’s actions, adding that it’s unreasonable to expect the organization to closely monitor the events of more than 100 local fraternities across the nation.

“The allegations don’t involve forced alcohol consumption, there’s no allegations that Mr. Strain had a bottle of vodka taped to his hand, but this was free and voluntary intoxication by someone who could legally purchase and consume his own alcohol,” defense attorney Clayton Tompson said. “National organizations do not have sufficient resources to monitor activities and protocols.”

Since its filing, numerous defendants have requested that Devine remove them from the lawsuit. Attorneys agreed on dismissing nine fraternity members earlier this month.

Some attorneys during Tuesday’s hearing argued that the suit was filed in the wrong state, arguing that the core events of Strain’s death happened across state lines.

“We’re going to be dealing with the EMS, police officers, investigators,” said Robert Wulff, who is the defense attorney for one of the fraternity members. “Any witnesses that may come forward in future discussions, all of that is going to be taking place in Tennessee.”

Lewis argued Missouri is the correct state to hold the trial since the event was planned and alcohol was bought at the Delta Chi house. This includes Jell-O shots that were allegedly made, along with transportation being organized to bus members from the home to Nashville.

“Riley Strain was offered and did consume jello shots, he did those things, we claim, the entire trip across Missouri,” Lewis said.

Strain went missing on March 8, 2024, after being kicked out of Luke’s Bridge 32 bar on Broadway and 3rd Avenue just before 10 p.m. Police found his body in the Cumberland River on March 22, 2024. Strain’s death was ruled a drowning, with a toxicology report also finding alcohol and other substances in his system.

Boone County Judge Joshua Devine did not make any decisions Tuesday, adding that there was “a lot to consider.”

Devine did grant the defense attorneys a week to file additional suggestions for their motions, which are due on Tuesday, Aug. 19.

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Jazsmin Halliburton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Jefferson City Police Department detective will not be allowed to testify at a murder trial about what the suspect’s cellphone said about his whereabouts the day of the crime.

The defense for Sergio Sayles, 39, has filed the motion to exclude the detective’s testimony. A hearing was held on Tuesday morning.

Sayles was charged in 2023 with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, tampering with evidence, misdemeanor second-degree stalking and misdemeanor second-degree harassment. Sayles is accused of killing Jasmine King in April 2023. Police found King dead from stab wounds to her head, face, neck, torso and back in her home in the 300 block of West Ashley Street in Jefferson City.

Prosecutors originally sought the death penalty, but in April, Sayles waived his right to a jury trial in exchange for the state dropping the death penalty.

According to online court records, Sayles’ defense lawyer filed multiple motions in that same month:

Motion to suppress statements Sayles made during interrogations after he requested an attorney.

Motion to exclude cellphone testimony.

Motion to dismiss the indictment against Sayles based on prosecutorial misconduct during grand jury proceedings.

Motion to dismiss and for other sanctions for destroying Sayles’ car.

Motion for disclosure of plea agreement and/or inducements to prosecution witnesses.

The exclusion of cellphone testimony was sustained; the state will call another witness to replace what was previously going to be a Jefferson City Police Department detective’s testimony regarding cell location.

Arguments for the other motions were ongoing Tuesday morning.

A bench trial is set for 9 a.m. Nov. 3 in the Boone County Courthouse in front of Judge Brouck Jacobs.

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