Category: kmiz-local-news

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Jurors have agreed that a man found guilty of killing a Hermann police officer in 2023 should face the death penalty.

Kenneth Simpson, of Steelville, was found guilty on Saturday of first-degree murder, first-degree assault, two counts of illegal gun possession, one count of illegally possessing a weapon and two counts of armed criminal action. Jurors in Franklin County unanimously agreed on Friday that Simpson should be put to death, according to a Friday night press release from the Attorney General’s Office.

“Justice has been served. With grateful hearts, The family and The Chief Mason Griffith Foundation now begin rebuilding. We will move forward one day at a time, doing what Mason lived for helping others, serving with purpose, and choosing what is right,” Angela Koepke, Mason Griffith’s mother-in-law and operations director of the Mason Griffith Foundation, said in a text message to ABC 17 News.

Judge Craig Hellmann will issue Simpson’s formal sentence at a later date, the release says.

Simpson was accused of shooting and killing Sgt. Mason Griffith and wounding Officer Adam Sullentrup in March 2023. The trial started last week in Franklin County after it was moved from Gasconade County, where the shooting happened.

Simpson shot both men within 15 seconds on March 12, 2023, at a Casey’s convenience store in Hermann. The case was moved in 2023 from Gasconade County to Franklin County.

Police caught Simpson following a more than 12-hour standoff. The state of Missouri, on Sept. 14, 2023, filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty against Simpson.

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Camdenton home was considered a total loss after it was destroyed in a fire on Friday morning, according to a social media post from the Mid-County Fire Protection District.

Crews were called at 6:33 a.m. to the 700 block of Dry Hollow Road and found the home engulfed in flames with the roof collapsing, the post says.

No injuries were reported in the fire and everyone inside the home was able to get out, the post says. The scene cleared at 10:08 a.m. and the cause has not yet been determined, the post says.

“The temperature at the time of the fire was in the low teens, which made control efforts more difficult due to the equipment and hoses freezing. Water was shuttled to the scene using MCFPD tankers,” the post says.

Click here to follow the original article.

Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Within the first month of 2026, Columbia has seen six shootings, two deadly.

Minors were involved in at least two of those incidents.

Columbia Police Department officers on Thursday found two victims, one with life-threatening gunshot wounds and one with minor injuries, after a north Columbia shooting. Officers investigated three locations: the Casey’s convenience store on Clark Lane, the area near Victory Church on Ballenger Lane, and the 4500 block of Alan Lane.

The violent stretch has led to renewed calls for immediate action to stop the bloodshed. It’s not the first time that a lot of violence in a short time has sent the issue to the top of public discourse in Columbia.

In 2019, Columbia hit a 20-year high with 12 deadly shootings, one of which was later declared justified. Six of those killings happened within a violent two-week time frame in September.

One of those killed was 23-year-old James Hickem. Police were sent to a shots-heard call on Sept. 25, 2019, in the area of McBaine Avenue and Duncan Street. Police found Hickem with gunshot wounds. He was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead. Police have still never arrested his killer.

To try to curb the bloodshed, Mayor Brian Treece formed the Violent Crimes Task Force in 2020, with a law enforcement-focused strategy. It was made up of Columbia and University of Missouri police officers, ATF agents and Boone County sheriff’s deputies.

The task force recovered 55 guns from people who were prohibited from having them and made a number of arrests. It was disbanded in 2021 after the state of Missouri passed the Second Amendment Preservation Act, which created penalties for local law enforcement officers who enforce federal gun laws.

A federal judge in March 2023 determined SAPA violated the U.S. Constitution. Courts objected to SAPA’s language declaring certain federal gun laws unconstitutional, a provision that led to the entire law being struck down. However, the task force has not been brought back together.

And now, conservative lawmakers are moving a revamped SAPA through the Missouri General Assembly.

Multiple bills are being heard in Missouri Senate committees after a bill passed the House last year but fell victim to end-of-session maneuvering over other issues that stalled the Senate.

Law enforcement officials from across Missouri testified in opposition to the proposed legislation last session, including representatives from police departments in Branson, Rolla, Versailles, Columbia and other cities.

In late September 2025, Mayor Barbara Buffaloe agreed to create a task force to address crime in Columbia, after it was requested by University of Missouri System President Mun Choi, following a deadly downtown shooting that killed Aiyanna Wiliams and hurt two others. The shooting happened on Sept. 27, which was the weekend of MU’s homecoming.

About a week after her announcement, Buffaloe told ABC 17 News in an interview that she was no longer putting together a task force to address downtown crime.

Another cooperative effort to curb violence in Columbia is the Violent Crime Abatement Team, which was formed on Jan. 1, 2025. The team holds monthly meetings at the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Local agencies and prosecuting offices involved in the discussions are:

Columbia Police Department;

Boone County Sheriff’s Office;

MU Police Department;

Boone County Prosecutor’s Office;

Jefferson City Police Department;

Cole County Sheriff’s Office;

Cole County Prosecutor’s Office;

Callaway County Sheriff’s Office;

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives;

Federal Bureau of Investigation;

Drug Enforcement Administration;

Internal Revenue Service

The City of Columbia is now working with the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform to study violent crime in the city.

The city will pay more than $290,000 for the research, according to city council documents. The institute will also analyse which organizations are active in community violence intervention and how they serve people in need.

Office of Violence Prevention Administrator D’Markus Thomas-Brown said the study would use crime data from the past one to two years and show city leaders where violence intervention and prevention are needed. The results would be available within four to six months once the institute receives Columbia’s data.

In the meantime, the Columbia Police Department is ramping up enforcement of misdemeanor offenses downtown in an effort to reduce violent incidents in that area. The department is also redeveloping a full-time dedicated downtown unit, but Chief Jill Schlude said resources don’t allow for it until this summer.

Learn more about the James Hickem homicide case in “Mid-Missouri’s Cold Case Files: The Case of James Hickem at 6 p.m. Wednesday on ABC 17 News.

Previous Cold Case Files stories

CPD is investigating 17 unsolved homicide cases with 19 victims dating back to 1985. ABC 17 News has covered eight cases in our “Mid-Missouri’s Cold Case Files” reporting.

Antonio Houston and Danielle Marine

Michael Walker Jr. & Jeffery Jones

Garbrielle Rhodes

George Showalter

Virginia ‘Ginger’ Davis

Edmond ‘Ricky’ Randolph Jr.

Jamar Hicks

Bryant Wilks II

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Brent Hodge will be the next superintendent of the Boonville R-1 School District, the district announced in a Thursday social media post.

Hodge has served as the principal of Boonville High School since 2023 and was picked out of a national field of 18 candidates, the post says. Current Superintendent Mark Harvey will continue serving in the role through July 1, the post says. The district will begin its search for Boonville High School’s next principal, the post says.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve the Boonville R-1 community and excited to get started as superintendent,” Hodge was quoted in the release. “Boonville has a strong sense of pride and a real commitment to students, and I’m looking forward to building on that together. I’m eager to work alongside our staff, families, and community to support our educators, strengthen Pirate pride, and help every student grow and succeed.”

The post says Hodge started his career as a science teacher and has served as a high school assistant principal, principal, and superintendent in Missouri school districts.

Hodge has a bachelor’s degree in biology education from the University of Central Missouri, a master’s and specialist degree from William Woods University and a doctorate in educational leadership from Saint Louis University, the post says.

Click here to follow the original article.

Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Both parties in a lawsuit over charter school applications in Boone County asked a judge on Friday to vacate a hearing next week after Saint Louis University rescinded its application for Frontier Schools.

Columbia Public Schools filed a lawsuit last month, claiming the establishment of charter schools in Boone County is unconstitutional.

It focuses on one of two groups that want to create a Boone County charter school — Frontier. The Columbia Board of Education has written to the state board opposing Frontier, previous reporting shows.

Senate Bill 727 was passed in May 2024 and says charter schools may be operated only in counties “between 150,000 and 200,000 inhabitants.”

Friday’s motion says Saint Louis University and Frontier Schools plans to resubmit their application by the end of March. Saint Louis University withdrew its application after receiving guidance from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, court documents say.

The state had filed a motion to dismiss last week. An amended notice of hearing was filed on Friday for the Missouri Charter Public School Association’s motion to intervene on 11 a.m. Monday, Feb. 23.

Click here to follow the original article.

Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri attorney general on Friday sued the U.S. Census Bureau over its counting of undocumented immigrant populations for the purpose of drawing U.S. House districts.

Attorney General Catherine Hanaway filed the lawsuit Friday in federal court for the Eastern District of Missouri. Missouri is asking for an injunction to stop factoring in undocumented immigrant populations into congressional district counts.

“This case concerns whether the People still retain the right of self-government — or whether aliens who trespass into the United States can hijack control of our Republic’s system of representation,” Hanaway wrote in the legal filing.

Hanaway argues that the policy violates both the Constitution and principles of representative government. Undocumented immigrants should be treated like foreigners who are visiting the United States for the census — they are not counted.

The same applies to temporary visa holders, she writes.

Missouri census lawsuitDownload

The lawsuit claims that counting undocumented immigrants in the census has distorted representative apportionment, providing more political power to areas with larger undocumented populations.

“Including illegal aliens in the decennial Census and apportionment has unlawfully inflated the representation of States like California and New York,” Hanaway wrote. She claims undocumented immigrants make up about 10% of the population of Los Angeles.

Hanaway is also asking the court for a judgment that undocumented immigrant populations be stripped from the 2020 census count.

Click here to follow the original article.

Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri men’s basketball team is preparing to host Mississippi State at Mizzou Arena on Saturday.

Hear from Coach Dennis Gates and swingman Mark Mitchell.

Click here to follow the original article.

Alison Patton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Boone County jury on Friday found a home daycare operator not guilty of negligence that caused a baby’s death.

The jury went into deliberation around 1 p.m. and came back about two hours later with its not guilty verdict.

Sarah Brown faced three to 10 years in prison. Brown had been running her unlicensed, at-home daycare center for about 30 years, she said Thursday while on the stand. In 2023, a baby in her care, 3-month-old Ayla Gibson, was found dead, face down in a crib.

Brown was charged with first-degree involuntary manslaughter in the girl’s death. The jury could alternatively find Brown guilty of second-degree involuntary manslaughter or innocent.

During closing arguments, Brown’s attorney Richard Hicks asked the jury to make a decision based on the facts.

“Not every tragic event is a crime. Hold the state to the burden. Make sure that the evidence leaves you fully convinced, that’s the rule,” Hicks told the jury.

Friday began with both the prosecuting attorney and her own attorney questioning Brown.

Gibson was at Brown’s daycare from May 23 to 25. During that time, Brown said she had 12 children in her care, and the state attorney clarified that nine of them were less than 7 years old.

Brown said she placed Ayla Gibson in a crib in a secluded room with a pillow that propped the child on her side. Brown also said she checked in on her once between laying her down for a nap and finding the child dead, but she couldn’t remember when that check-in was.

During Thursday’s trial, a Columbia Police Department detective pointed out inconsistencies with Brown’s statements as to when she checked in on Gibson.

The detective testified that Brown claimed she checked in on the baby 15 minutes after putting the baby down for a nap, and Ayla was in the same position as when she was put in the crib. Two other statements claim Brown found the baby face down at varying times after laying her down.

Prosecuting attorney Melissa Buchanan said this inconsistency and lack of attention is negligent.

“An accident based on criminally reckless conduct is still a crime, and you don’t have to mean to kill someone under the law to be held accountable for your reckless actions,” Buchanan told the jury.

During Ayla Gibson’s stay, Brown said she noticed the child had labored breathing and advised the mother, Leah Salisbury, to take her child to the doctor.

Hicks said the Gibson’s illness could have been a factor in her death, which means her death wasn’t negligent. Buchanan said the autopsy shows the child suffocated.

The prosecuting attorney clarified that Salisbury had taken Ayla to the doctor, and after the visit, Salisbury gave Brown a special swaddle to use. Brown said on the stand that she couldn’t figure out the special swaddle and chose to use her own.

Click here to follow the original article.

Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man suspected in a Columbia shooting that left two people injured was part of a group that opened fire on a vehicle carrying three people, according to court documents.

Ammanuel A. Minuye, 23, was arrested Thursday and charged with first-degree assault, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon in the northeast Columbia shooting.

Officers were called at about 7 p.m. Thursday to the 4500 block of Alan Lane. Officers found a victim in the 3900 block of Clark Lane and another in the 1700 block of North Ballenger Lane, according to the Columbia Police Department. The victim on Clark Lane had minor injuries, but the Ballenger Lane victim’s wounds were life-threatening, CPD says.

One of the victims, according to a probable cause statement, was with Minuye when the group in the car fired back at them.

The statement says Minuye and two other people approached a car that was sitting on Alan Lane, and that one person in Minuye’s group opened fire, according to the people in the car. The people in the car fired back, hitting a person who was with Minuye, the statement says. That person was found with a gunshot wound on Ballenger Lane.

The people in the car drove to a nearby Casey’s, where police found one gunshot victim.

Minuye told police that only one other person was with him that night, but security video shows he was with two people, the statement says.

Both victims were stable at a local hospital Friday morning, police say. Minuye was in the Boone County Jail on no bond on Friday. Judge Jayne Pearman scheduled a bond hearing for Minuye on Feb. 5 and a preliminary hearing on March 17.

Ward 3 City Councilwoman Jacque Sample said the recent shootings in the area are deeply concerning.

“Any act of gun violence — whether it results in injury, loss of life, or simply the fear it creates — affects not only the individuals directly involved, but entire neighborhoods,” Sample told ABC 17 News in a statement.

Sample emphasized that public safety requires a collaborative approach involving law enforcement, community organizations, schools, families and local government. While declining to comment on the specifics of the ongoing investigation, she said city leaders must continue examining data-driven strategies, including:

How we are supporting proactive, community-based policing strategies.

Whether our data identifies patterns that allow for early intervention.

What prevention efforts — particularly those focused on youth engagement and conflict resolution — can be strengthened.

How environmental design, lighting, and neighborhood infrastructure may contribute to safety.

How we ensure residents know how to report concerns and access resources.

“Ward 3 deserves to feel safe. Every neighborhood in our city deserves to feel safe,” Sample said. “I remain committed to working with my fellow council members, our city staff, law enforcement, and community partners to examine practical steps that reduce violence and increase trust. I also encourage residents to stay engaged—attend meetings, share information, and remain active participants in strengthening our community. Safety is not partisan. It is not ideological. It is fundamental. And it must remain a priority.”

Click here to follow the original article.

Erika McGuire

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia Police Department confirmed officers found two victims following a reported shooting Thursday night.

According to a CPD spokesperson, officers investigated three locations: the Casey’s convenience store on Clark Lane, the area near Victory Church on Ballenger Lane, and the 4500 block of Alan Lane.

Police responded to a report of shots fired at 7:10 p.m. in the 4500 block of Alan Lane, where they found evidence of a shooting.

Officers later located one victim with life-threatening injuries near Victory Church and a second victim with minor injuries at Casey’s. Police asked the public to avoid Ballenger Lane and Alan Lane until the scenes were cleared shortly after 10 p.m.

No arrests have been made, and it’s not clear what led to the gunfire.

An ABC 17 News photographer arrived at the Casey’s convenience store in the 3900 block of Clark Lane around 7:30 p.m. and saw at least four Columbia Police Department vehicles and one ambulance.

Police were also seen searching the area near Lillian Drive and Ballenger Lane, close to Clark Lane. It is unclear whether the two scenes are connected.

ABC 17 News has reached out to CPD for additional details.

Check back for updates as this is a developing story.

Click here to follow the original article.