Category: kmiz-local-news

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The trial has been scheduled for next year for a Lincoln University sprinter who is accused of killing her boyfriend in Jefferson City in February.

Denita Jackson, 28, is charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action. She is being held at the Cole County Jail without bond.

A jury trial is scheduled to begin 9 a.m. Monday, Jan. 4, 2027. A pretrial conference is set for 3 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 22.

Jackson was accused of stabbing and killing her boyfriend Kevaughn Goldson after she allegedly found him with another woman at a residence on Fairmount Boulevard. Goldson and Jackson were members of LU’s track teams.

Goldson, 23, was a senior from Jamaica who was a sprinter on the LU track and field team, according to the LU Athletics website. Jackson’s hometown was listed as Berbice, Guyana on LU’s website and has an immigration detainer listed in jail records.

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Alison Patton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Some rural highways and interstates will go from 70 miles per hour to 75 mph as soon as Aug. 28, after Gov. Mike Kehoe signed a bill into law Monday.

However, some driver safety organizations say this could lead to more traffic crashes.

“Unfortunately, increasing the speed limit even just five miles an hour, that could have a negative effect on our roadway fatalities,” AAA spokesperson Nick Chabbaria said.

The law allows the Missouri Department of Transportation to change the speed limits, but it could “take some time.”

“The passage of this bill allows the department to increase that limit in areas where it’s determined to be reasonably safe to do so. MoDOT is evaluating those eligible locations now to determine where this increase may be a possibility,” spokesperson Taylor Brune told ABC 17 News over email.

She did not provide a timeline, but did say the department is evaluating certain factors like traffic volume.

According to a crash data report from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, 39% of 991 fatal crashes in 2023 involved speeding. Missouri Driver and Safety Education Association President Simon Anderson echoed AAA’s statement.

“Higher speeds could save drivers minutes a few minutes on a trip, but the research consistently shows that it’s going to come at a cost of lives,” Anderson said.

State Rep. John Voss (R- Cape Girardeau) had told ABC 17 News on May 1 that areas with populations fewer than 50,000 could be affected.  

Missouri Trucking Association Tom Crawford said the speed limit shouldn’t affect truck drivers because they typically drive under the current 70 mph speed limit to preserve fuel. He asks other drivers to stay vigilant on the highway.

“Professional truck drivers continue to preach the need for drivers to be attentive, as drivers increasing their speeds will approach other vehicles a little bit faster now from behind,” Crawford said.

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Erika McGuire

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Gov. Mike Kehoe signed House Bill 2372 into law Monday that includes several overhauls to healthcare laws in the state.

HB 2372, was sponsored by state Rep. Tara Peters (R-Phelps County) and state Sen. Mike Bernskoetter (R-Cole County). One provision in the bill, bans health insurers from placing time limits on anesthesia coverage during surgery.

In 2024, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield proposed a policy that would have limited reimbursement for anesthesia based on insurer-set time limits for surgeries and medical procedures.

State Rep. David Tyson Smith (D-Columbia), who sponsored the anesthesia provision, said the goal was to protect Missourians from big health insurance corporations.

“People were outraged, I think all over the country that Anthem Blue Cross tried to do this, and so they eventually backed off,” Tyson Smith said “I filed a bill that said look, no insurance company could do this and so this says across the board in missouri, you’re protected, if you’re under the knife and you’re in surgery, they can’t stop paying for your health seizure,”

Tyson Smith said insurance companies opposed the proposal, though he believes they were reluctant to publicly challenge it after the backlash over Anthem’s anesthesia reimbursement policy push.

“Insurance companies generally don’t like it, they might not publicly say it but the governor mentioned he had some pushback from insurance companies,” he said, “When we filed that the first time, right after everything happened and everybody knew about it, their insurance companies were quite as a church mouse. When it came up in committee, there was someone there from anthem, they sat in the back, didn’t say a word because they were embarrassed.”

When asked why he believes insurance companies would seek a time limit on anesthesia coverage, Tyson Smith said he believes it comes down to money.

“It’s money, we all know that, right? That’d be the only reason they would only lodge reason they wouldn’t want to pay for it,” Tyson Smith said. “The six year coverage would be money and to the detriment of people’s lives, it’s totally unacceptable and the fact that they would put this forward is disgusting,”

According to a health survey by Ambulatory Surgery Centers, 67% of respondents found anesthesia coverage to be their top-three financial challenges and expectations to pay anesthesia stipends jumped from 28% in 2024 to 44% in 2025.

Tyson Smith said there was was not a lot of opposition on the measure and it moved well through both chambers. The anesthesia portion of the bill goes into effect on Aug. 28.

Other provisions in the bill included in the bill, includes the fight against Alpha-gal syndrome. Alpha-gal is a tick-borne allergy that triggers severe reactions to red meat and mammal byproducts.

The bill requires any case of AGS to be reported to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services within seven days of a positive test. DHSS is also required to submit a report to the Centers for Disease Control.

Cases of Lyme Disease are also required to be reported to DHSS.

The bill also allows patients to establish relationships with physicians through telehealth interactions and by reducing barriers for ambulance services.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A portion of South Sinclair Road in Columbia will close for a month beginning Monday, July 20, according to a Tuesday press release from the city.

The closure – which is expected to last until 5 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 20 — will occur between Nifong Boulebard and Muirfield Drive to complete a roundabout at South Sinclair Road and West Southampton Drive “as part of a private development project,” the release says.

Northbound traffic on South Sinclair Road will be detoured to Muirfield Drive, while southbound traffic from Nifong Boulevard should follow detour signs to Forum Boulevard and West Southampton Drive.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The University of Missouri System crucial materials crossroads was picked by the U.S. National Science Foundation to receive $160 million in funding, according to a Tuesday release from the university.

The grant is the largest award in the state’s higher-education history, the release says.

“NSF Engines investments in critical technologies and future industries will transform America’s innovation infrastructure for decades to come,” acting NSF director Brian Stone was quoted in the release. “This NSF Critical Materials Crossroads Engine will be a substantial resource in the Midwest to onshore and sustain production capacity for critical minerals used across the transportation, energy, communication and national security sectors.”

The Critical Materials Crossroads was started at the UM System in 2022 and has more than 260 partners spanning higher education, industry, entrepreneurship, government and community workforce development organizations in Missouri and Kansas, the release says

“Critical Materials Crossroads is expected to create approximately 10,000 jobs by 2036 across manufacturing, research and development, logistics, engineering, construction and workforce training that will generate real economic growth for Missouri and the broader region,” the release says.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The westbound on-ramp to Interstate 70 from Providence Road in Columbia will close July 27 for several months, according to a Tuesday press release from the Missouri Department of Transportation.

Construction on the Providence Road bridge started in May and led to the closure of the off-ramp, which will stay closed for the whole construction project.

An end date for the on-ramp closure was not listed in the release.

The two eastbound ramps are still open, but they are expected to close at some point this summer, the release says.

The work is part of the Improve I-70 Project, which aims to make I-70 a three-lane highway across the state.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A former Moberly police officer who was found guilty of murder in June for his role in a 23-year-old woman’s death is back in jail after his bond was revoked.

David “Kip” Heyde, 69, of Moberly, was found guilty on June 26 of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Bailey Scott. The Moberly Police Department announced in a social media post on Tuesday that Heyde’s pre-sentencing bond was revoked.

A SWAT team arrested Heyde after he was seen in a vehicle that was heading north on Highway 63. The vehicle was stopped by officers in the 1300 block of Gratz Brown Street, the post says. The Moberly Area SWAT Team is a multi-agency team consisting of officers from the Moberly Police Department, the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, the North Missouri Drug Task Force, and Brookfield Police Department.

Randolph County Sheriff said Heyde was taken into custody “without incident.”

“We had him in custody in a short period of time. We had no issues taking them into custody and he’s in the Randolph County Jail,” Boggs said.

Heyde is currently being held at the Randolph County Jail without bond. A July 10 court filing says Heyde’s post-conviction bond was revoked “pursuant to Section 544.671 RSMO.” The statute states certain defendants are not entitled to bail for certain offenses.

Heyde initially bonded in Nov. while the investigation was still ongoing and had maintained his freedom until Tuesday.

The probable cause statement in previous reporting says Moberly police were called to a report of shots being fired in the 900 block of East Logan Street on July 6, 2025. Heyde allegedly claimed self-defense in the shooting when he spoke with police.

Heyde claimed Scott hit him during an argument after she alleged he was “attempting to kill birds at the front of his property,” court documents say. Neighbors had talked with ABC 17 News the week of the shooting about ongoing allegations that Heyde put bird feed in the street in front of his home.

Heyde allegedly told police he fired two shots at Scott, court documents say. Scott was found with a gunshot wound in her right torso, the statement says. The statement says Scott “had no obvious signs of trauma or injury to either of her hands.”

During the trial, state pushed back on claims that Heyde was hit by Scott, noting that in several interviews, Heyde used different language to describe the encounter.

His sentencing hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday, Aug. 21.

ABC 17 News has reached out to the county’s prosecutor for further comments but has not heard back.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man has been charged in Boone County after he allegedly pulled a gun out on an Uber driver on Saturday night.

Kevin Bennett, 52, was charged with carjacking, first-degree harassment and fourth-degree assault. He is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond.

The probable cause statement says the victim picked up Bennett at the Columbia Goodwill and drove him to Greyson Cottages on Nifong Boulevard. Bennett allegedly started screaming “no” and threatened to shoot the driver if she did not bring him to a Greyhound station, court documents say.

The driver was able to call for help with an ADT panic alarm in the vehicle, the statement says. Officers found Bennett in the driver’s vehicle with a stolen gun, the statement says. He was identified by his North Carolina driver’s license, police wrote.  

Bennett allegedly denied threatening the victim, but police told him there was an audio recording, the statement says. Bennett then allegedly claimed he was referring to someone else shooting at the vehicle, the statement says.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Cooper County Fair announced on Tuesday on its social media that the carnival company it had contracted has closed.

The Cooper County Fair is scheduled to be July 21-25.

The fair stated on its Facebook page that it received a letter on Monday afternoon from Amusement Associates indicating the company had closed “effective immediately as we are unable to insure our rental amusements and rides.”

“We understand that Amusement Associates LLC has outstanding contracts, with several event holders and we recognize the importance of ensuring that planned events continue to be serviced without unnecessary disruption,” the letter posted online states.

The fair wrote that its board is “looking in to every possibility and option.”

ABC 17 News reached out to Amusement Associates.

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Jazsmin Halliburton

CAMDEN COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A decision on a bond motion for an Osage Beach alderman will decided next week, a Camden County judge decided on Tuesday.

Osage Beach Ward 1 Alderman John Robert “Bob” O’Steen, 60, was charged in May with delivery of a controlled substance, two counts of drug possession and one count of unlawful use of a weapon. He posted a $250,000 bond on May 13 after he was arrested for allegedly buying drugs from an undercover officer.

Prosecutor Richelle Grosvenor filed a motion on Monday to revoke O’Steen’s bond, claiming that he violated the conditions of his bond after a urinalysis on June 29 determined that O’Steen tested positive for benzoylecgonine, which is a metabolite of cocaine.

Camden County Judge Heather Miller stated the bond decision will be heard at a Wednesday, July 22 hearing. The case was also bound over to the circuit court on Tuesday.

O’Steen’s attorney, Travis Noble, denied the claims in a message to ABC 17 News on Monday.

“We deny any drug use and are complying with all conditions of bond,” the message reads.

Court documents in previous reporting say O’Steen tried to buy two “8-balls” of cocaine for $500 from an undercover law enforcement officer on Tuesday. Law enforcement served a warrant at O’Steen’s residence and found drugs and nine guns, the statement says.

O’Steen’s defense argued in the courtroom that his charge of distributing a controlled substance should be dismissed. After hearing the testimony of two witnesses, the judge decided that all charges against O’Steen would stand.

One of the witnesses on the stand was the undercover officer that O’Steen allegedly bought cocaine from. In the testimony, the undercover officer said that the sale happened inside the officer’s car. The undercover officer and O’Steen were in the car for about 20 minutes, said the witness and O’Steen told him that he would hand out cocaine to his friends and people he liked at parties held at his home.

According to a second witness who was a member of the Mid-Missouri Drug Task Force, O’Steen’s phone was searched. The witness testified that there were text messages and pictures confirming that O’Steen would hand out drugs to other people.

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