Category: kmiz-local-news

Matthew Sanders

JEFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri House approved a bill on Tuesday that would tighten restrictions on the use of drones ahead of this summer’s World Cup games in Kansas City.

Senate Bill 1421 would add prohibitions on where drones can be flown into state law. Current law states that they can’t be flown over open-air facilities, but the bill would also outlaw flying near critical infrastructure. It also adds bombs and bomb materials as items that are illegal to deliver by drone.

The bill drew debate in the House, where members tacked on dozens of amendments with less than two weeks remaining in the session. The session ends May 15.

The House approved an emergency clause, so the bill would go into effect immediately upon being signed. The bill now goes back to the Senate for that chamber to consider changes made by the House.

Rep. David Tyson Smith (D-Columbia) successfully added an amendment that would allow convicted criminals in certain rehabilitation programs to get a limited driver’s license when they complete those programs

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Matthew Sanders

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Jefferson City man who ran from a crash last week, prompting a multi-day search amid concerns about his safety, has been charged with a felony.

Nathan J. Spencer, 20, was found safe Friday in a wooded area near Capitol View Drive, Jefferson City Police said. He had been missing since that Tuesday after he was involved in a crash on Highway 50/63 westbound. Police began the search because they were concerned that Spencer, who is autistic, might have had a mental health crisis before he ran from the crash scene.

Prosecutors in Cole County charged Spencer on Tuesday with felony leaving the scene of a crash and two misdemeanors — reckless driving and driving without a license.

A probable cause statement alleges Spencer was speeding and swerving between lanes when he rear-ended another vehicle. The statement says Spencer remains at a hospital, where he has been since he was found on Friday.

No hearing has been set.

Cole County Prosecutor Locke Thompson said cases involving individuals with autism or other mental health conditions are handled on a case-by-case basis, with a focus on whether the person understood their actions at the time.

“It’s always a case-by-case sort of analysis, and I think especially when you’re talking about something like autism, where there’s such a broad spectrum, that can kind of play into it as well,” Thompson said. “But any time you’re talking about a defendant who has or a suspect who has some sort of mental health diagnosis or special needs that are prevalent, you have to analyze whether at the time the crime was committed, they were able to understand and appreciate the nature and the circumstances of the crime.

“If they if they can, then they can still have the required mental state to have committed a crime. If they can’t, then they can’t have committed a crime because they don’t have the required mental state to have done so.”

Thompson added that charges such as leaving the scene of a crash can vary depending on the circumstances, from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class E felony. 

He also said cases involving potential mental health concerns can involve additional steps, including evaluations by the Missouri Department of Mental Health.

“If charges get filed, then the Department of Mental Health may get involved. If there’s a question as to either their competency or whether or not they understood the nature of the crime in the first place,” Thompson said. “Sometimes there are cases where it’s so obviously that sort of situation that the agency or even the prosecutor’s office might make that call and say, ‘You know, there’s no way this person could have understood what it was they were doing at the time they were doing it.’ Sometimes you’ll have enough evidence just off the bat to make that determination.”

Thompson noted that cases involving individuals with special needs or mental health diagnoses are not uncommon in the criminal justice system, though each situation varies widely.

Boone County Prosecutor Roger Johnson echoed that approach, saying legal outcomes often depend on a person’s mental competency and ability to understand the legal process.

“It depends on the circumstances/is case-by-case,” Johnson told ABC 17 News in a statement. “In some cases, because of a person’s mental condition, they may not be able to understand or participate in the legal process and defense. And if the person is not legally competent they can’t be prosecuted. There is a separate path the case takes. Also, a person may not be able to form the mental state required by the charged offense or they may not be able to appreciate the wrongfulness of their conduct, but those are defenses that the defense has to raise.”

Johnson added that cases involving individuals with special needs are relatively uncommon.

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Lucas Geisler

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia teenager was charged as an adult with murder, robbery and armed criminal action in a deadly Facebook Marketplace meetup.

Judge Tracy Gonzalez agreed to certify Mikel Jones, 17, as an adult in an alleged deadly robbery in southwest Columbia, minutes before charges were filed.

Columbia police believe he took part in a robbery set up through Facebook Marketplace that led to the death of Michael Ryan Burke on Ridgemont Court.

Jones was charged with second-degree (felony) murder, first-degree robbery and two counts of armed criminal action.

Three 18-year-old suspects — Alexis Baumann, of Hallsville, Kobe Aust and Joseph Crane — had already been charged as adults. Surveillance video places Jones with the three suspects the night Burke was killed, court documents claim.

Court documents filed in the case say that Baumann and the group arranged to buy a phone from Burke. The group had already met with and stolen from at least two other victims in the two days before the confrontation that led to Burke’s death, documents say. Those incidents took place on Claudell Lane and on Northampton Drive.

PC Statement RedactedDownload

A Facebook account with the name Jones set up the exchange, according to a probable cause statement.

Baumann allegedly told officers that the juvenile suspect, later identified as Jones, shot Burke, took his iPhone, then sold it at an ecoATM at the Walmart on Conley Road.

Jones was in county custody on Tuesday without bond.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Jefferson City Council on Monday night unanimously approved a new contract with All Seasons Landscaping for yard waste drop-off.

The new drop-off site will be at 2417 Southridge Drive.

The first year of the new contract will cost the city $231,600 and the city will have the option to renew the agreement for four additional years, which would include a 1% price increase each year.

Operating hours will be:

From April 1-Oct. 31:

10 a.m.-7 p.m. Wednesday through Friday

8 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday

Noon-5 p.m. Sunday

Nov. 1-March 31:

8 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday

Noon-5 p.m. Sunday

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A South Carolina man who is accused of killing a University of Missouri student 26 years ago appeared in court for the first time on Monday.

Sentrell Wilson, 45, of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, is charged with first-degree murder in the 2000 death of Candace Richie, 21.  

Wilson was arrested in South Carolina on Feb. 23 and was held at the Spartanburg County Jail until he was extradited to Boone County last week. He is being held without bond.

Wilson appeared in court Monday by video from the jail without an attorney and was given two weeks to find one. His next appearance is scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday, May 18.

A bond motion claims Wilson asphyxiated a woman and left her body where it was not found for several days, then fled Missouri.

The Columbia Police Department interviewed Wilson in 2000, but an arrest was not made at the time due to concerns about the ability to establish a clear medical cause of death, previous reporting shows.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The leader of a “cult-like” Amish community who was charged with several felonies, including manslaughter and sex crimes, was indicted by a Cooper County grand jury on Friday.

Sam Shetler, 42, of Boonville, is charged with three counts of trafficking for the purpose of slavery, a count of first-degree sodomy, first-degree sex abuse, four counts of kidnapping and one count of first-degree involuntary manslaughter. 

He is being held at the Cooper County Jail without bond. An arraignment is scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday, May 11.

Shelter is accused of forcing teenagers work at the t the Mercy and Truth-Amish and Mennonite Retreat without pay and rubbing oils on young females to “heal” them, court documents in previous reporting indicate.

Following his March arrest, more victims came forward and accused Shetler of posing as a doctor that gave a “lavender breathing treatment” to a baby who suffered from multiple viruses in 2025, including COVID-19, court documents in previous reporting say. The baby had died on March 6, 2025.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A woman accused of stabbing another woman early Friday has been arrested and charged.

Nakia Bonaparte, 27, of Columbia, was charged on Friday afternoon in Boone County with second-degree assault and armed criminal action. She is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond. A court date has not been scheduled.

The probable cause statement says multiple witnesses and the victim claimed Bonaparte stabbed a woman near the intersection of Claudell Lane and Worley Street after a fight occurred. Police wrote that the victim had cuts seen to her chest and arm.

Both witnesses allegedly saw Bonaparte then run to a vehicle the victim sat in after the stabbing and saw Bonaparte stab the tires of the vehicle before she left, court documents say.

Bonaparte allegedly told police that she went to Claudell Lane to fight one of the witnesses, but the victim had joined in, court documents allege. Bonaparte told police she pulled out the knife and swung it in self-defense, court documents say.

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Erika McGuire

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

P.E.A.C.E and H.O.P.E held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday for its new Teen Center.

The new center is located at 203 N. Providence Road in Columbia and aims to help at-risk youth. The nonprofits created the space to offer access to mentorship, educational support, life skills development, and programming focused on personal growth and leadership.

The center offers games, food, learning and activities areas and more.

Destiny of Hope Director Lonnie Lockhart Bey started his “boots on the ground” approach of helping at-risk youth in 2021.

Two years later the group received $320,000 in ARPA funding from the $25.5 million the City of Columbia received, with a agreement with the city that ends in 2027, according to previous reporting.

He says it has been a journey getting to the grand opening of the center.

“Ups and downs just trying to figure out how to put things in perspective,” Lockhart Bey said, “When you come out of prison after doing 26 years, it’s not much trust on the parts of those who are in positions to be able to help you to the next level.”

Lockhart Bey says Monday’s grand opening is about “breaking the cycle” with youth.

“We got to break that cycle of poverty mentally and emotionally, because with poverty comes trouble because now there’s anger there’s all these other things that’s occurring within this one body and combustion can simply be I’m going to do what I got to do,” he said.

In total the organization received $428,333.33 through the city ARPA funds and spent $335,057.29 as of January.

Lockhart Bey said the center also received grants from Boone County and donors and the center is on track to spend the amount given by the end of year. He said to run the center it will cost about $300,000 annually.

Community violence was one of five priorities for the city to address using American Rescue Plan Act funding. Other priorities included homelessness, behavioral crisis care, mental health services and workforce development.

The grand opening comes at a time where the Missouri State Highway Patrol reports crime among youth is down.

In 2025, MSHP reported gun crimes involving youth 10-17 years old was 33, which marks a drop compared to 2024 71 gun crimes involving youth was reported.

MSHP also reported there were 32 victims between 10-17 years old last year, while in 2024 there were 70 victims.

Lockhart Bey said there are several factors that are the driving force in youth violence.

“It’s hard to pinpoint one thing. There are a lot of factors and for me what I’ve come to understand that every child I talk to that’s up in age whether they are affiliated, whether they’re just out in the street trying to get money, everybody chasing the bag,” Lockhart Bey said. “So socieconomic, impoverishment is a key factor in why crime is so prevalent,”

The center will be open daily from 8 a.m.-7 p.m.

Those looking to become a part of the program can apply online.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Police had to use a stun gun on man who allegedly pointed a gun at someone on Saturday during a road-rage incident in Jefferson City, court documents say.

Robert Wallace, 44, of Jefferson City, is charged in Cole County with unlawful use of a weapon, armed criminal action and fourth-degree assault, a misdemeanor. He is being held at the Cole County Jail without bond.

An arraignment was held on Monday and Wallace appeared by video from the jail, where he pleaded not guilty. He intends to apply for a public defender, according to court filings. A counsel status hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday.

The probable cause statement says the victim told police that Wallace cut him off while driving. The two allegedly parked their vehicles in the middle of the road and started arguing with each other outside of their vehicles, the statement says. The victim allegedly started leaving and Wallace followed him before pulling up alongside him and pointing a gun at the victim, the statement says.

Police eventually found Wallace in Cole County and claimed he resisted arrest. Law enforcement used a Taser to subdue and detain the man, court documents allege.

Wallace allegedly told police that the victim drove “erratically” and threatened him, but changed his story when law enforcement told him they had video of the interaction, court documents say. He allegedly told police that he did not pulled a gun and was reaching for his dog, court documents say.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

An arrest was made in connection with a stabbing that occurred Monday in the 4500 block of Rice Road.

The Columbia Police Department wrote in a Monday afternoon social media post that it arrested Dariell Deshell Smith, 33, of Columbia, on suspicion of first-degree domestic assault and armed criminal action.

Smith was not listed on the Boone County Jail roster on Monday afternoon and charges were not yet listed on Casenet.

Police were called around 2:40 a.m. Monday and found the victim with minor injuries. They were brought to Boone Hospital and are stable, the social media post says.

An ABC 17 News videographer at the scene saw around 10 Columbia Police Department officers investigating near a home, previous reporting indicates.

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