Execution set in double Columbia killing

The Missouri Supreme Court late Thursday afternoon scheduled a September 10 execution date for convicted killer Earl Ringo Jr.

Ringo was convicted of two counts of first degree murder and was sentenced to death for the brutal July 4, 1998 double killing at Columbia’s Ruby Tuesday restaurant on Bernadette. Prosecutors said Ringo killed Ruby Tuesday employee Joanna Baysinger and delivery driver Dennis Poyser. Baysinger and Poyser, who lived in Indiana, were both shot to death during a robbery.

Ringo and a friend, Quentin Jones, were captured by authorities later in July 1998 near Jeffersonville, Indiana. Jones pleaded guilty to first and second degree murder and later testified against Ringo, who was convicted and sentenced to death.

Ringo is currently incarcerated at the maximum-security Potosi Correctional Center in Mineral Point. He’s set to be executed on September 10 in Bonne Terre. Jones is currently incarcerated at the Jefferson City Correctional Center. He’s serving a life sentence, without the possibility of parole.