Category: kmiz-local-news

Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia teenager reached a plea deal with prosecutors Wednesday to drop a murder charge against him.

Cordero L. Riley Jr., 17, pleaded guilty in a Boone County court to unlawful use of a weapon and second-degree assault. Sentencing is set for Sept. 15. He remains in the Boone County jail pending sentencing.

Riley was charged as an adult last November with first-degree assault, second-degree murder, unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action in the death of Trevon Ashcraft, 18, in May 2024.

According to court documents, police used security footage to identify Riley as “subject 2,” who was wearing a black hoodie and pants along with a red ski mask during the shooting on Rice Road.

The probable cause statement says Riley can be seen on the security footage talking with other suspects outside the home and later, with a gun in his hand, ducking from bullets fired from the road.

The statement says Riley and another suspect later shot toward the black SUV, firing down Boyd Lane. The video shows Riley and one of his companions moving while firing. Riley’s companion moves into the line of fire and is fatally struck, the statement says.

Police say he told officers he did not know who he was shooting at, but they were 10 houses away. He also allegedly told police he continued to shoot the gun until it ran out of ammunition.

Quanina Lakeitha Lambert was charged with first-degree assault, second-degree murder and hindering a felony prosecution. Lambert took a plea deal last month, pleading guilty to second-degree assault and child endangerment. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Jordan Jerodisiah Brantley was charged with first-degree assault, second-degree murder and armed criminal action. A hearing is set for Aug. 18.

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Keriana Gamboa

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Several rallies happened across Mid-Missouri and the nation on Thursday to honor the legacy of late U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Georgia), regarded as a champion of the Civil Rights Movement.

We Stand United Missouri held its “Rally to defend the Constitution” at the Capitol in Jefferson City. Organizers say an estimated 300 people attended. 

The rally in the Rotunda featured remarks from the NAACP President Nimrod Chapel Jr. and several other groups.

“Today is we memorialize the legacy of John Lewis. I think that it’s more important than ever that we acknowledge not only our rights and responsibilities as citizens, but put those into motion,” Chapel said. “We did that today. We brought people from around the state here to Jefferson City.”

Chapel told ABC 17 News the group hopes to deliver a message urging Missouri state leaders to listen to the voices of the people.

“We’re definitely talking to those authority figures here in the Capitol, whether it’s the governor, the senators or the state representatives,” Chapel said. “We think that every elected official, both at the state level and on the federal level, need to understand that we, the people, drive this democracy. This is not top down. It’s bottom up. And I have to tell you, we are here at the bottom yelling at the top.”

Attendee Alison Kaiser called for justice amid a tense and divisive political climate.

“Both parties have done this when we have passed something on the ballot by initiative petition and the politicians reverse that. We cannot sit still for that,” Kaiser said.

The Mid-Missouri Solidarity Network said in a news release that organizers are gathering in the spirit of Lewis, five years after he died. He was known for “making good trouble” in the fight for democracy.

The Mid-Missouri Solidarity Network held a “Rally of Grievances and Preferred Visions” outside the offices of Republican Sens. Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt at 1:15 p.m. Another rally followed outside Rep. Mark Alford’s office in Columbia.

In Boonville, demonstrators with Good Trouble Mid MO gathered in front of the Cooper County Courthouse at 6 p.m. The organization When She Votes held a candlelight vigil in front of the Boone County Courthouse that was attended by dozens of people.

ABC 17 News contacted Gov. Mike Kehoe’s office on Thursday.

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Gabrielle Teiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Power has been restored in Boone County after more than 400 people were without power on Thursday morning, as thunderstorms rolled through Mid-Missouri.

The Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives outage map on Thursday morning showed 478 customers without power.

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Matthew Sanders

A special Missouri House committee began a series of hearings to take public testimony on property tax reform Wednesday.

The meeting in Jefferson City stretched through much of the day and included remarks by legislators. One of them was Columbia’s Kathy Steinhoff, a former teacher who talked about the challenges of changing the property tax system that schools depend on for most of their funding.

However, property taxes have grown quickly as real estate values have skyrocketed and the costs of providing education have increased. The increased tax burden is among rising consumer costs on everything from food to utilities to health care.

Do you think Missouri needs property tax reform? Let us know by voting in the poll.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Power is restored after storms rolled through Howard County Wednesday night.

The Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives outage map on Wednesday night showed 216 Howard Electric customers without power, while 50 Co-Mo Cooperative customers in Cooper County had no power and 28 Boone Electric Co-op customers with no power in Randolph County.

Ameren’s outage map showed that 164 of its Howard County customers had no power while 21 customers in Cooper County did not have power.

A flash flood warning was issued for Cooper, Howard and Saline counties until midnight.

An outage was also reported in Columbia at 10:01 p.m. near the intersection of Pershing Road and West Broadway that impacted 56 customers.

Check back for updates.

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Nia Hinson

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man convicted of being involved in a Mid-Missouri drug ring was released from federal custody on Wednesday.

Malcolm Redmon, 42 of Columbia, was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison in 2016 after pleading guilty to being involved in a cocaine-selling ring in Mid-Missouri from 2011-14. He was one of nearly 2,500 people convicted of nonviolent drug charges to have their sentence commuted by former President Joe Biden.

A federal judge ordered his release to a halfway house in Kansas City in June, according to online records.

An email sent to ABC 17 News Wednesday afternoon from the federal bureau of prisons confirmed Redmon was released from federal custody on July 16.

However, they would not confirm if Redmon had been released from the halfway house.

“For privacy, safety, and security reasons, we do not comment on the conditions of confinement for any individual in our custody, including release plans,” the statement reads.

Redmon’s cousin, Nathan Stephens says the two were close while growing up in Columbia and said he viewed Redmon’s father as someone he looked up to. Redmon grew up in public housing, faced with many challenges growing up, according to Stephens.

“Like many of us, he took to the streets. Especially when you’re living in an economically disenfranchised community,” Stephens said. “When you’re in an economically disenfranchised community and the opportunity to “do dirt” as we say comes available, it’s kind of hard to resist that because no one wants to continue to struggle, myself included. I’m not saying that that’s necessarily an excuse, but I’m saying it’s not like we had all of the choices that folks who may not necessarily be fans of his, or what I believe is overly critical fully understand.”

Stephens also served time in prison, before being released in 2000. He said he views prison as a place that isn’t designed to rehabilitate people and doesn’t believe in the system he referred to as “flawed.”

Stephens said Redmon served his time and is deserving of the second chance he’s been given, a feeling he said the family shares. According to Stephens, Redmon’s father’s health is deteriorating and there have been several deaths in the family within the last five years, making it that much more important that Redmon not serve anymore time.

He said he’s spoken to Redmon via Facebook, who’s been involved in a vocational program and seems to have a clear head and reconnected with his children and family.

Stephens said no one is in a position to judge Redmon.

“We have a current president sitting with 34 felonies but I guarantee you, many of the folks who would criticize and talk about Malcolm and myself and others are not talking about our sitting president,” Stephens said. “I would tell them to give that same energy to our sitting president that they would Malcolm, myself or others who are formerly incarcerated or currently incarcerated.”

Redmon was one of 27 people arrested in 2014 throughout Missouri and Illinois in relation with the cocaine ring. He was accused of being the leader of the operation. Federal authorities accused him of directing sales and converting cocaine to crack.

Stephens said while he’s looking forward to reconnecting with Redmon face to face soon, he and his family are hopeful Redmon chooses not to return to Columbia for a much needed change.

Stephens also views himself as a person who is living proof that a person can change, turning his life around after prison, working as an assistant professor in social work.

“When I came home, I started working for parks and recreation, working with young men like myself and Malcolm used to be, Stephens said. “I went from working at University of Missouri. I worked at Douglass Park for a number of years trying to steer our young people in the right direction but that’s the thing that people don’t talk about is a lot of those resources that we grew up with are no longer there.”

All of that doesn’t come without problems along the way.

“I’ve gone from prison to PhD and yet I still have to check the box when I apply for jobs. I lost a job at SEMO (Southeast Missouri State University) because of my background,” Stephens said.

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Keriana Gamboa

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia Solid Waste Assistant Utilities Director Tom Ratermann is encouraging the public to listen to new guidelines a day after the city announced it would begin recycling some materials.

Columbia’s recycling trucks will collect some materials and bring them to Jefferson City. The effort is part of the city’s first major step toward restoring recycling services after a tornado destroyed Columbia’s recycling facilities earlier this year. The City of Columbia is working with Federal Recycling & Waste Solutions in Jefferson City to help restart recycling operations.

City officials say keeping contamination low is key to maintaining the partnership the Jefferson City location and could qualify Columbia for rebates based on material quality.

“That’s why we’re really encouraging people to not put glass in it, not to put three through seven in it, and not to put clamshells. We end up getting docked for it, and it reduces any potential rebate,” Ratermann said.

Blue bags recycling placed at the curb by residents will be picked up and transported back to Columbia’s landfill, where city staff prepare the materials for shipment.

Funding to bring the materials to the Jefferson City site is coming from money that was previously used to maintain recycling drop-off sites that are currently closed. A timetable for when the drop-offs could be reopened was not immediately available.

City officials say drivers make three to four trips a week to Jefferson City, once there are enough materials fill a tractor-trailer.

Items that can be recycled, according to a Monday press release, include plastic bottles, some plastic container (such as detergent, milk or shampoo bottles) and aluminum cans.

Prohibited materials include glass, yogurt cups, dairy product tubs, plastic clamshell produce contains, black plastics or takeout containers, Styrofoam containers, packaging materials, plastic bags and trash.

The City of Columbia Utilities spokesman Jason West gave insight into what happens to the bag after you leave it on the curb.

“We’ve cleaned out this building and used part of it for the blue bags to be deposited here,” West said. “I have a crew that will come in and open the blue bags and empty those contents and dispose of the blue plastic bags.”

Leah Christian, owner of The Clean Refill, a local zero-waste small business, applauded the city’s efforts, saying it’s a positive sign to see recycling returning, but wants to remind people that reusing is also an alternative.

“I’ve told a few people this morning about recycling coming back to Columbia , and people are pretty excited about having that option for sure. I would just recommend for everyone to remember that reducing and reusing are the two steps to do before you recycle,” Christian said.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia Water and Light discussed changing the water rate during a budget meeting on Wednesday.

The rate increase would increase revenue 12% — or $3.6 million — in fiscal year 2026 that should also lower prices for near two-thirds of residential water customers.

The change would increase the base rate of meters smaller than an inch by 25 cents, while 1-inch meters would see a $5.62 increase. The proposed changes would also get rid of summer and non-summer tiered usage and implement the same rate year-round.

The city is also considering raising electric rates by up to 2.4% on Oct. 1.

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Mitchell Kaminski

Editor’s note: The idea of establishing a curfew was not discussed during the Office of Violence Prevention’s first meeting.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia’s Office of Violence Prevention Advisory Committee met Tuesday, as city leaders and law enforcement work to build collaborative strategies to address violent crime. 

So far in 2025, Columbia Police have reported 186 violent crimes, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol data. That’s on pace to fall significantly from the 470 violent crimes reported in 2024.

Gun-related violent crimes so far this year have been cut in half compared to the same point last year. Through June in 2025, there have been 69 gun-related violent crimes compared to 112 in the same period of 2024.

Through the first six months of this year, there have been two murder cases cleared compared to 10 at the same point in 2024. Last year saw 13 total cleared murder reports, according to MSHP data.

Last year there was a total of nine fatal gun-related crimes, eight of which occurred in the first six months. In the first six months of this year, there have been two reported.

There were 339 nonfatal gun-related crimes in 2024 and 165 through the first six months. So far in 2025, there have been 131, according to the data.

Boone County Prosecutor Roger Johnson said Columbia Police also reported that downtown shootings have dropped by more than 50% compared to last year. Johnson credited the implementation of Flock cameras, stronger partnerships with local and federal agencies, and CPD’s investment in intelligence personnel for helping drive down crime.

“One of the things that we know, historically, is a really small number of people are committing the largest amount of crime in the community,” Johnson said. “By taking those individuals off the street or getting them out of the criminal enterprise, we can reduce violence overall substantially.” 

Johnson, who has been working for Boone County for more than a decade, indicated there are trends in Columbia’s violent crime.

“Since I’ve been here and I’ve been here for quite a long time, there have been extensive periods of violent crime in Columbia’s history. There was a period of time with the violent crime that involved a lot of shootings downtown and over at the mall area,” Johnson said. “Some trends that we’ve noticed over time in the past, almost all of our homicides and violent crime are related to drug robberies.  And that’s really changed a lot.  A lot of the offenses. For a while, we had a large number of domestic-related homicides.” 

However, the largest issue Columbia currently faces is youth violence. 

Of this year’s violent crimes, 69 involved a gun, and nearly half were committed by offenders aged 24 or younger. That includes 47 incidents involving victims aged 18-24, 24 involving those aged 10-17, and 13 involving children 10 and under. A total of 155 people have been arrested for violent crimes under the age of 24, with 91 of those being people aged 10-17.

“The trend now is we’re really struggling with violent crime involving juveniles,” Johnson said. “We have young people in the community with guns, and that’s a recipe for problems. We’ve been talking with some people in the community about the possibility of having a curfew and especially in some areas where there are high levels of trouble. But that’s an ongoing conversation.” 

In October 2024, Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe introduced plans for a new office of violence prevention, a move that came weeks after a 3-year-old was shot in Columbia. D’Markus Thomas Brown was named the first administrator of the office in March. 

Since taking the position, Brown has established an advisory 13-member advisory committee. However, Brown says that during the group’s first meeting, the idea of establishing a curfew was not discussed.

The advisory committee is tasked with monitoring performance metrics for the Office of Violence Prevention, identifying funding gaps, and recommending partnerships with community-based organizations. The goal is for mass collaboration between city stakeholders.

“Really a system that is that is put together that others can utilize even in our community, different stakeholders to look to work together in that division and things that have been kind of normalized, will start to segway,” Brown said when asked what he was hoping to get out of the committee. “We will see more folks coming together as a community versus working in silos and being divided.”

Brown said community revitalization is one of his top priorities.

“Being able to enrich and look at places that have been disinvested and kind of have a normalized understanding for violence,” Brown told ABC 17 News. “If we could collaborate to give people the resources to beautify the places they live, I think we will see violence drop” 

Brown said the work is personal for him.

“I’ve seen those who have left this earth too early because of violence. I’ve seen children impacted because a parent has died,” Brown said. “I’ve seen those in our schools who have watched domestic violence happen and then are outworking those same patterns in their behavior.”

The committee is reviewing evidence-based strategies, including a community violence interrupter program, which employs neighborhood change agents to mediate conflicts and connect at-risk individuals with resources. Brown said the office is also exploring a Clean, Safe Neighborhood Initiative, modeled after efforts in St. Louis, to improve housing and safety conditions in high-violence areas.

Johnson, a member of the advisory committee, said partnerships between law enforcement and federal agencies have helped reduce shootings by about half compared to last year.

“The local community in Columbia has [had] underfunded public safety for decades,” Johnson said. “The city has invested in hiring new police officers, and that’s a big step. It’s not a problem that’s going to solve itself overnight, but we are seeing positive outcomes.”

Johnson said the committee is also looking at focused deterrence, which pairs law enforcement with social services.

“That’s the kind of stick side of focused deterrence and we’re hopeful that the Office of Violence Prevention can help on the carrot side, which is you present people opportunities to get out of crime, you provide them services and support if they’re willing to do that with them, knowing that if you don’t, then we’re going to be cracking down on them on the criminal side,” Johnson said. 

The committee includes members from local nonprofits, law enforcement, and community organizations. The next steps involve finalizing prevention priorities and identifying funding for upcoming initiatives.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Waynesville Police Department is asking the public for help in identifying remains discovered on Jan. 9, 2023, according to a Wednesday social media post from the department.

Skeletal remains were found in a wooded area near St. Robert, the release says. A sketch was used to create a possible recreation of the man’s face, the release shows.

The release says that the man was white, between 5 feet, 7 inches and 6 feet, 2 inches and was between the ages of 55-80.

The release says that there may be differences between the sketch and his real face. It’s not known if the man wore glasses.

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