Category: kmiz-local-news

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Boone County judge dismissed the final group of defendants who were remaining in the wrongful death lawsuit surrounding University of Missouri student Riley Strain.

Strain died during a fraternity trip to Nashville, Tennessee, in 2024. Strain’s family sued the Delta Chi fraternity and its members, claiming the chapter did not follow its protocols for keeping members safe.

Strain was kicked out of a bar the night of March 8, 2024, and video showed him walking through downtown Nashville by himself, previous reporting shows.

His body was later discovered floating in the Cumberland River on March 22, 2024. Strain’s autopsy and toxicology report showed that alcohol contributed to his accidental drowning. Nashville police stated that “no foul-play-related trauma was observed” after Strain’s body was found.

Judge Joshua Devine had dismissed several defendants in the case in December. The remaining defendants were dismissed on Wednesday for similar reasons to the Dec. 17 ruling.

“While the Court has great sympathy for the profound and tragic loss suffered by [the Strain family], it is unaware of any court in the United States which has recognized the existence of a so-called ‘special relationship’ that might give rise to a claim for damages based on a duty owed by one adult fraternity member to another due to their shared status as ‘fraternity brothers,’” the Dec. 17 ruling says.

Wednesday’s ruling also says a number of the defendants were unable to be served a summons.

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Matthew Sanders

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Declaration of Independence was read Wednesday at the Cole County Courthouse, one of hundreds of sites across the country that hosted readings.

The events marked the 250th anniversary of public readings of the Declaration a few days after it was written.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man was charged with a felony on Tuesday in Morgan County after he allegedly pulled out a gun during a road rage incident on Monday.

Robert Riggs, 60, of Cole Camp, was charged with unlawful use of a weapon. He was brought to the Morgan County Jail and posted a $10,000 bond on Tuesday. Riggs applied for a public defender and a counsel status hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, July 21.  

The probable cause statement says a family was riding in a vehicle in Stover when Riggs pulled out a gun and pointed it at them.

The driver drove to the Cole Camp Police Department after Riggs allegedly yelled at them when they pulled into a church parking lot, the statement says. The driver allegedly told deputies that they tried to pass Riggs and another biker, but Riggs would not allow them to pass, the statement says.

After the family did pass Riggs, he pulled up beside them and pulled out a gun, court documents allege.

Riggs spoke with police at a Casey’s in Cole Camp and claimed that the family’s vehicle almost hit him while they tried to pass, the statement says. He also allegedly claimed another vehicle was coming from the opposite direction and that it was unsafe to pass, the statement says.

He allegedly admitted to pulling out the gun, but denied pointing it at the family, claiming he “got his point across,” court documents say.

The driver of the other vehicle was able to confirm Riggs’ identity after police showed them a photo a deputy took of him, the statement says.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A portion of East Ash Street in downtown Columbia will close for about a month beginning on Thursday so a mural can by painted on a building at 110 Orr Street, a Wednesday press release from the City of Columbia says.

The closure between Orr and St. James streets will begin 7 a.m. Thursday and is expected to last through 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 7, the release says.

Westbound traffic on East Ash Street will be detoured north via St. James Street to Park Avenue or south through Hubbell Drive, the release says. Barricades will be placed on the road to prevent traffic from entering the area.

Sidewalks and parking lanes in the area were already closed as crews work to build a new park at a former superfund site. That closure is expected to last through Nov. 27.

The empty lot at Orr Street and Park Avenue used to be owned by Ameren. Previous reporting from 2023 says the site was determined to be a contaminated Superfund site and was cleaned up starting in 2014. The park will be named North Village Park.

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Marie Moyer

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The City of Columbia is expected to receive the required waterway permit from the Department of Natural Resources, with an ordinance to manage encampments near bodies of water up for a final vote in the coming weeks.

“The department expects to issue the permit by the end of this month,” DNR spokesman Brian Quinn said in a statement.

If approved, the measure would update City Ordinance 12A-178, which bans dumping trash, yard waste and other debris into waterways, adding, “human waste or litter from encampment activities or other gatherings in close proximity to any waterway.”

Columbia illegal dumping memoDownload

The update was created as part of the City’s stormwater management plan, which is required for the DNR’s MS4 permit. The MS4 permit is a federal EPA regulation that helps control the area’s water quality by preventing pollutants and trash from entering the water, while allowing the city to dispose of its sewage legally.

DNR has not been satisfied with Columbia’s current stormwater management plan and previously required the City to create ordinances that resolve the issue of pollution from homeless camps. DNR has stated that Hinkson Creek, Grindstone Creek and Hominy Branch contain E. coli from human waste from homeless encampments near the streams.

The measure is up for final reading by the City Council on July 20.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Lohman man pleaded guilty on Wednesday to federal child sex abuse material charges, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.

Anthony Dale Pitts-Fugate, 33, pleaded guilty to two counts of producing child sex abuse materials in separate cases. Charges were filed in 2023.

The release says an undercover agent for the FBI was monitoring aa “public online group” that were sending child sex abuse materials to each other, which included Pitts-Fugate sending images of a young child.

The release says Pitts-Fugate contacted a 16-year-old girl and requested sexual images from the youth. FBI agents applied for a search warrant for his SnapChat accounts and determined Pitts-Fugate portrayed himself as a 16-year-old to convince minors to give him child sex abuse materials, the release says.

Court documents in previous reporting claim Pitts-Fugate sent child sex abuse materials to an undercover FBI agent in a KIK chatroom.

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Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The siblings of a man killed in a fire at a home for disabled people in Fayette have sued, claiming negligence by the company that operated the facility caused their brother’s death.

Connie Mallick and Robert Bittle filed the lawsuit Tuesday against Linda Perkins Home, Inc., over the death of their brother, Donald Bittle. Bittle was one of two residents who died in the January 2026 fire; an employee also died.

Bittle was determined to be fully disabled in September 2023 and lived at the home, the suit states.

The group home did not have working smoke detectors on the top level, where Bittle’s room was located. The lawsuit also claims that the home was not built with proper gypsum fire barriers between its foam insulation and interior walls, causing the fire to spread quickly.

Donald Bittle died of smoke inhalation.

The home was also lacking an interior stairway, “leaving upper-level residents with no interior path of egress to safety,” the lawsuit states.

The siblings have requested a trial by jury.

The Department of Mental Health had certified the individualized supported living facility in 2024, according to an email from spokeswoman Debra Walker. ISLs are recertified every two years. Walker’s email says in 2024, “there were no fire safety or environmental concerns.”

A 2023 federal review of individualized supported living facilities in Missouri found some areas of oversight could be improved. The report said the state does not require providers to conduct periodic background checks on staff and found some facilities were missing documentation related to staff training and reviews.

A fire marshal’s investigation stated the cause was undetermined.

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Matthew Sanders

HUNTSVILLE, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Randolph County judge denied bond Wednesday for one of six suspects in the death of a Moberly teenager.

Julian Mason, 26, made his first court appearance in the death of Kayla Huff before Judge Mason Gebhardt. Mason is charged with kidnapping, tampering with evidence, second-degree burglary and first-degree property damage.

Mason pleaded not guilty Wednesday. His defense also asked for a $25,000 bond, which Gebhardt denied, saying Mason was a flight risk.

Huff, 16, was last seen May 6 before her body was found about a week later after an extensive search of Rudolf Bennitt Conservation Area.

Five adults and a minor have been charged with crimes ranging from murder to evidence tampering in Huff’s death. Alayna Mason, 20, is charged with first-degree murder and allegedly told police that she and other suspects beat and shot Huff before putting her in a car trunk and dumping her body.

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Jazsmin Halliburton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A California, Missouri, woman suffered serious injuries in a crash involving a semi truck in Moniteau County on Wednesday night.

According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, a 52-year-old California woman was driving a 2004 Chrysler PT Cruiser west on Highway 50 at Route H just south of Clarksburg at 8:55 p.m. in Moniteau County. A 57-year-old Columbia man, also heading westbound, was driving a 2026 Peterbilt 579 semi-truck and was attempting to pass the woman; she then made a left turn and collided with the semi.

The woman was flown to University Hospital with serious injuries. The male driver was not injured.

Both drivers were wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, according to the report.

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Matthew Sanders

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Jefferson City man was sentenced Tuesday to seven years in prison for a homicide outside of a bar.

Kamari Balton had been charged with murder in the August 2024 death of 49-year-old Rafael Ayala at Twisted Chicks, a Jefferson City bar. The owner told ABC 17 News at the time that the incident happened outside the business.

Balton pleaded guilty in May to involuntary manslaughter.

Police released few details about the case, such as how Ayala died and the possible motivation, and prosecutors used the grand jury to indict Balton, keeping details out of public charging documents.

The amended complaint in the case says Balton caused Ayala’s death by “striking” him.

Judge Brian Stumpe sentenced Balton to seven years in prison with credit for time served.

Balton remained in the Cole County Jail on Wednesday. He’s been in jail since September 2024, according to jail records.

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