Suspect in Holts Summit murder trial takes the stand Wednesday

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Following testimonies from neighbors and her own children, 38-year-old murder suspect Heather Smith took to the witness stand Wednesday.

Smith is accused of the 2025 deadly shooting of 37-year-old Kara Dills at Hunter Lane Apartments in April 2025. She claims the shooting was in self-defense.

Smith faces charges of second-degree murder, child endangerment, armed criminal action and three counts of unlawful use of a weapon. The trial is being held in Columbia on a change of venue.

The shooting allegedly came after an altercation between children who were family members of Smith and Dills while riding bikes in the parking lot of the apartment. It's alleged that Smith, a resident of the apartments, confronted Dills' mother, who was also a resident, twice about their children before the shooting. Several witnesses on Tuesday accused Smith of flashing a gun in the waistband of her shorts at Dills' mother during this interaction.

Dill's sister then allegedly confronted Smith after Smith's first interaction with Dills' mother.

While Smith confirmed on the stand that she had a gun the day of the shooting, she claims she did not flash it at Dills' mother. She added that Dills' family was verbally aggressive towards her during interactions about the children.

"I initially walked over to try to talk to them to know that the things that her mother was telling her were not true, that nobody had threatened her children," Smith said. When [Dills' sister] left, [Dills' mother] started to yell things at me."

Smith claimed during the second interaction with Dills' mother, where Smith allegedly flashed a gun, she yelled, "I'm not scared of anybody." Which prior witnesses have reported Smith saying.

"If it was just a defense mechanism and I hope that maybe they would back off, I felt that they were trying to intimidate me, so I didn't want them to feel like they were getting what they wanted," Smith said.

When Dills arrived at the apartments to confront Smith in the parking lot, Dills allegedly pistol-whipped Smith during the confrontation and walked away. When Dills hit Smith, the gun went off, grazing a man on his head. Smith then allegedly shot Dills in the stomach, killing her.

Dills' boyfriend as well as Dills' sister and nephew, were also in the parking lot during the main confrontation before the shooting. Dills' nephew also allegedly tried to disarm Smith by jumping for the gun, but was unsuccessful.

Smith alleged Dills shoved her during the argument. Smith adds that while she did point her gun at Dills' boyfriend, she felt threatened.

"I was so nervous and scared because I was surrounded by people bigger than me," Smith said. "I think it was three carloads of people that had pulled in and then all of a sudden I was being rushed by five people."

Other family members of Dills confirmed seeing Dills shove Smith; however, they also claimed Smith pointed the gun at several people in the group.

"She pointed it at me, she pointed out [Dills' nephew], I mean, she pointed at the whole apartment complex," Dills' boyfriend Aireon Terrill said. "She said she was going to use it while she was pointing it right dead in my face."

Terrill added he was not trying to be threatening in the situation.

"I am walking towards her because I'm not going to let nobody else get shot," Terrill said. "My purpose was to deescalate the whole situation, I'm the biggest person out there and trying to deescalate the situation and it never worked that way."

Video surveillance showed Smith threatening witnesses with a pistol in the parking lot. Smith allegedly pointed the gun at both Dills and Dills' boyfriend in the parking lot before the shooting.

Both the state and defense rested on Wednesday. The court plans to reconvene on Thursday morning.