Columbia hit-and-run suspect remains jailed on manslaughter charge; accused accomplice bonds out
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A suspected accomplice in a deadly Columbia hit-and-run, bonded out of jail over the weekend, while the suspected driver, Shunta Bohanon, was charged and remained in jail Monday.
Friday night, the pair were allegedly involved in a vehicle-pedestrian crash on East St. Charles Road that killed 47-year-old Mark Hunter Jr., who was pronounced dead at a hospital after being rushed fro the scene.
Sandra Sharp, 55, hasn't been charged. Because she posted bond, charges don't have to be filed until her bond hearing date on Sept. 10, Boone County Assistant Prosecutor Melissa Buchanan told ABC 17 News via email.
Sharp was arrested on suspicion of evidence tampering, resisting arrest and assault of a special victim, according to the Columbia Police Department.
Bohanon, 53, was being held Monday without bond in the Boone County Jail on charges of involuntary manslaughter, armed criminal action, leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death and evidence tampering in a felony prosecution, Buchanan said.
Police say they arrested both Sharp and Bohanon on Saturday, but did not give details of how they were arrested or why they are suspected in Hunter's death. CPD did say Flock cameras were used to locate the suspects.
A candlelight vigil will be held for Hunter on Friday at Hogan House, located at 313 Hogan Dr. in Columbia. The vigil starts at 7:30 p.m.
Hogan House is a food pantry and a non-profit that falls under the organization Do Something Right Now. The goal is for Hogan House to help out its neighbors in surrounding areas, like families on Hogan Drive or Demaret Drive.
Do Something Right Now Executive Director Sue Riley said Hunter was a part of one of those families on Demaret Drive, and he volunteered with Hogan House for the last three years.
"Mark was very quiet. He had a special little grin, and I always called him a gentle giant because he would work hard, but he wouldn't say a whole lot. He'd just look at you and smile," Riley said.
She said Hunter worked with Love Columbia for job coaching, and he recently got one.
"He was proud of himself, and he had every right to be," Riley said. "We had seen a lot less of him in the recent months because he had started working a job, but when he came around, I would tell him, 'Mark, I am so proud of you. You're doing so great."
