COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A Boone County jury made its recommendation on how much prison time a Florida man should face for opening fire in a Columbia restaurant. The jury recommended a seven-year sentence for second-degree assault, the maximum allowed under the law. The jury also recommended and eight-year sentence for armed criminal action after about
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A jury found a Florida man guilty Wednesday on charges related to a 2024 shooting inside a Columbia restaurant. After a two-day trial and several hours of deliberations, jurors convicted Alexis Gonzalez, 38, of assault and armed criminal action. Gonzalez was acquitted of unlawful use of a weapon. Gonzalez, 38, of Orlando,
Continue Reading Editor’s note: The date and area of the shooting was corrected. COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Witnesses took the stand Tuesday in day one of the jury trial for the man charged in connection with a shooting inside a Buffalo Wild Wings in Columbia in 2024. A jury of nine men and five women were chosen for
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A Boone County judge denied a bond amendment Friday for the first man arrested in connection with a deadly Columbia shooting earlier this week. Damarius Kavanaugh, 19, of Columbia, was charged with second-degree murder, armed criminal action, illegal gun possession and tampering with physical evidence after William Riechers, 20, of Columbia, was
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A Higbee woman has sued the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission in connection with her husband’s death in 2022. Anna Campbell filed the lawsuit on Wednesday in Randolph County, accusing the MHTC of negligence. Previous reporting shows Kevin Campbell and a 9-year-old passenger were killed in a crash on Country Road 2795
Continue Reading COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A settlement has been reached in a wrongful death lawsuit in connection with a Randolph County crash where an unborn baby died. Court filings show Hayden Wilson reached a $25,000 settlement with the mother of the unborn child. A motion was filed on Tuesday for a judge to approve the settlement. Wilson
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The family of a woman who died from a fentanyl overdose in 2023 has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against an extended stay hotel in Columbia. The lawsuit was filed on Thursday in Boone County by Stacy Thomas, the mother of Brianna Surface. Surface, 21, died from an overdose on Aug. 7,
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) – A man who admitted to illegally having a gun during a deadly shooting received a decade-long prison sentence. Judge Joshua Devine sentenced Steven S. Jones to 10 years in prison on Thursday morning. Jones pleaded guilty in January to unlawful possession of a gun following a shooting outside Jake’s Bar on
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A class action lawsuit was filed on Thursday against one of Columbia’s biggest employers. A complaint was filed in the Western District Court of Missouri against Veterans United Home Loans. The plaintiffs in the class –which includes Christian Payton, Salem Zahn and Ernest Easter – are seeking at least a $5 million
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The family of a woman who was killed in flooded waters in Boone County in 2024 claims the City of Columbia and Boone County were at fault. The wrongful death lawsuit filed Friday in Boone County alleges the city and county “failed to use ordinary care to either prevent Gillespie Bridge Road
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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ) A bench trial began Monday in Jefferson City over the language that would place Missouri’s new congressional map on the November ballot. The trial is the latest in a series of lawsuits challenging the congressional map the General Assembly passed during a September 2025 special session, a map that could possibly
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A woman charged with felony murder is still listed on the Boone County Jail roster on Friday evening, a day after she was given a bond. Alexis Baumann, 18, of Hallsville, saw her bond reduced to $50,000 on Thursday and is eligible for home detention. She is charged with first-degree robbery, two
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A former Army specialist received a life sentence on Friday for killing a sergeant at Fort Leonard Wood. A military judge sentenced Wooster Rancy to life in prison without parole. A jury found him guilty on Wednesday of murder and obstruction of justice for the killing of Sgt. Sarah Roque in 2024
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Hawthorn Bank has asked a Cole County judge to toss out a lawsuit filed by a group last week that sought to block the land auction of a piece of land. Gary Scheperle, Mark Knapp, Tony Porter, Steve Brandt, Gary Bemboom, Tony Brenneke and Charles Steck sued the bank on Friday, claiming
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway filed a discrimination lawsuit on Wednesday against MSHSAA in the Eastern District Court of Missouri. Hanaway accuses the Missouri State High School Activities Association of two counts of unlawful race and sex discrimination, unlawful discriminating with respect to conditions of employment and discriminatory protection of the
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) – A military jury found an Army specialist guilty of a Fort Leonard Wood murder on Wednesday. The jury convicted Specialist Wooster Rancy of murder and obstruction of justice after a week-long trial in Pulaski County, according to Army trial counsel spokesperson Michelle McCaskill. The trial will head to a sentencing phase,
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A motion was filed on Friday seeking to move a teenager accused in a January 2025 Columbia shooting to the Boone County Jail. Samiyon Myers, 16, of Columbia, is charged with first-degree assault, delivery of a controlled substance, two counts of armed criminal action, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon,
Continue Reading COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A group of people sued Hawthorn Bank and Cole County on Friday in order to block the land auction of a piece of land that was intended to become a county park by its former owner. Gary Scheperle, Mark Knapp, Tony Porter, Steve Brandt, Gary Bemboom, Tony Brenneke and Charles Steck are
Continue Reading 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.
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The unlicensed Boone County daycare owner took the stand in her own defense Thursday in the manslaughter trial against her. Brown is charged with first-degree involuntary manslaughter for her alleged role after Ayla Gibson died in her care on May 25, 2023. Brown detailed her experience in childcare noting she had been
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