COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A woman was charged in Pulaski County on Wednesday after she allegedly put a dead fetus into a cooler and gave it to a man. Makayla Haedt was charged with first-degree harassment. An arraignment was held on Friday and a bond hearing was scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 28. Information about
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A Columbia man was charged Friday with arson and murder in a June house fire on Paris Road. Brandon Butchkoski, 47, is accused in the death of Donovan Baylis. Baylis died after he was burned in a fire that was set at his home. Baylis died about a month later at a
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A Columbia mother is asking community members to be brave and come forward to the police to help solve her son’s 2017 murder. “It has really affected us … We just need someone to speak up and say what they saw,” Vivian Morgan said. “I guess they fear for their life, which
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Sedalia Mayor Andrew Dawson in a Thursday statement called the behavior of former Ward 1 Councilman Tom Oldham “not acceptable.” Oldham stepped down from his post on the Sedalia City Council in April after the Pettis County Sheriff’s Office launched an investigation into Oldham. The city said then that the resignation came after “serious
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EDITOR’S NOTE: AI was used to research the background for this story. COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Seven businesses have signed up for Columbia Police to enforce trespassing and parking rules while they’re closed — four of them since Friday. University of Missouri and Columbia city leaders are asking downtown businesses to sign a form that would
Continue Reading COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The Columbia Police Department says it has arrested a man accused of killing another man after setting a porch on fire in June in the 1500 block of Paris Road. Police wrote in a social media statement that it arrested Brandon Butchkoski, 47, of Columbia, on Thursday on suspicion of second-degree murder
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A woman was charged in Montgomery County on Thursday after three children allegedly tested positive for methamphetamine. Missy Lacomb, of Middletown, was charged with three counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child. A criminal summons was served to Lacomb on Thursday, according to court filings. A hearing is scheduled for
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Several parents of University of Missouri students are growing worried about sending their children off to school in Columbia, records show. Email records obtained by ABC 17 News show several parents have reached out to UM System President Mun Choi in the wake of a deadly downtown shooting. Stephens College student Aiyanna
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The Boone County Sheriff’s Office says no one was hurt after a home in the 4200 block of Santa Barbara Drive was hit by gunfire on Tuesday morning. Sheriff’s Office spokesman Brian Leer told ABC 17 News that deputies responded to multiple calls about shots being fire at 12:30 a.m. Tuesday. A
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ) A Jefferson City man accused in a domestic shooting was denied bond Wednesday. Michael Anthony Davis, 40, will remain in the Cole County Jail after Cole County Judge Joseph Shetler ruled against allowing him out on bond. Davis is charged with first-degree domestic assault, three counts of armed criminal action and
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A Columbia man was charged with three felonies after he allegedly locked a woman in a room at a gym and sexually abused her on Tuesday. Daniel Melendez, 37, was charged with first-degree sexual abuse, second-degree kidnapping and first-degree burglary. He is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond. An
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The City of Columbia says it plans to make advocating for changing the state’s juvenile gun law a priority next year. During its meeting Monday night, council members unanimously approved making amending the state law to match federal law regarding possession of handguns by minor a legislative priority in 2026. The council
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) As of Monday, the Columbia Police Department has documented fewer than 7,400 crimes in Columbia in 2025, according to CPD’s crime dashboard. During the investigation of each crime, police try and collect evidence to build a case. This evidence can include conversations, eye witness testimony and physical evidence such as documents, shell
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The issue of violent crime is again dominating public conversation in Columbia this fall. A Stephens College student from Columbia was killed last month as a random bystander in a shooting. The suspected killer used a handgun and allegedly fired 11 shots at innocent people. Since then, University of Missouri President Mun Choi has called
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CNN, POOL, SEE PREFONTS By Holmes Lybrand, Hannah Rabinowitz, Devan Cole, Katelyn Polantz, Betul Tuncer, Emily Condon, Dalia Abdelwahab, CNN (CNN) — Former FBI Director James Comey pleaded not guilty to two criminal charges at his arraignment Wednesday, where his lawyers said they plan to file several motions they hope will kill the case before
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Columbia Police Chief Jill Schlude called the number of legal guns being carried downtown “shocking” in her statement to Columbia city leaders at Monday night’s council meeting. “Two of my assistant chiefs worked downtown over the weekend, and the remark that they made to me after the first night was they were
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Two people are in critical condition after they were shot Tuesday morning in the 1100 block of Cordell Street, according to a press release from the Jefferson City Police Department. The release says officers were called at 5 a.m. for a “weapons offense” and found two people suffering from gunshot wounds. Both
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) – A police interrogation, pictures on a cellphone and the use of new bullet technology helped Columbia police identify a possible suspect in an April downtown shooting. Newly released court documents lay out the case against Travis A. Jones Jr., 22, for a shooting at Broadway and Ninth Street on April 13.
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) – A well-known St. Louis attorney will handle the murder case of a man accused of killing a Stephens College student downtown. Attorney Scott Rosenblum’s firm will represent Misael Covarrubias in his case. Covarrubias is being held without bond for allegedly killing Aiyanna Williams on September 29 and hurting two others in
Continue Reading COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The Miller County Coroner’s Office wrote in a Monday social media post that a man who died while in custody of the law enforcement died from a “sudden cardiac arrest, secondary to acute methamphetamine toxicity.” The coroner’s office previously wrote on Aug. 18 that Albert Clark, 54, had a plastic bag in
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