Man charged with second-degree murder for deadly Columbia crash
UPDATE: Keller has been charged with murder in the 2nd degree, vehicular intoxicated as well as assault in the 2nd degree, operating a vehicle while intoxicated resulting in injury.
According to a probable cause statement, Keller’s speech was slurred, his eyes were bloodshot and he could not perform a field sobriety test at the time of his arrest. He also had an open bottle of Fireball.
Keller appeared in court via video Tuesday. The state asked that his bond be set at $1 million, cash only, but a judge said no, adding he believes Keller is a danger to the community.
ABC 17 News also spoke to the Audrain County Prosecutor. He tells us he has filed a motion to revoke Keller’s probation–stemming from his 2011 arrest for domestic assault–in light of the recent charges.
ORIGINAL: The man arrested for second degree murder in connection to a deadly Columbia crash is expected to appear in court today.
According to the Boone County Sheriff’s Department, Joshua Keller has a court date scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Keller has not yet been charged. He was arrested in connection to a deadly Columbia crash that killed 39-year-old Sebastian Sneed. The crash happened around 8:40 p.m. Friday, December 30 at the Business Loop and Eastland Circle.
Sneed had his 6-year-old son in the car at the time. The child sustained moderate injuries, but Sneed was pronounced dead at the scene. A press release from the Columbia Police Department later revealed Sneed’s car flipped, and his 6-year-old child was able to crawl out of the wreckage.
ABC 17 News dug into Keller’s criminal history. According to court records, Keller was charged with 2nd degree domestic assault in 2011. He served 120 days in prison and was then placed on five years probation.
Fast forward to May of 2014 when Keller was charged with DWI as a persistent offender. His probation was revoked and he went back to prison for about four months before he was released on supervised probation.
Then, in May 2016, Keller was arrested in Ashland for driving while suspended and failure to register a motor vehicle. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to pay a fine of $330, which he never did.
At that point, the Audrain County Prosecutor filed a motion to revoke Keller’s probation–stemming from that 2011 assault case–once again. However, instead of sending him back to prison, a judge chose not to revoke Keller’s probation and ordered him to perform 100 hours of community service.
A warrant was also issued for his arrest in November–about one month before the deadly crash– due to the driving fines Keller never paid.
ABC 17 News will have a reporter in court today and will have more on this story in our later newscasts.
