Man charged in Jefferson City homicide

A Jefferson City man was charged on Monday, accused of being involved in a drug deal that resulted in the death of Nilez R. Nichols on Nov. 19.

Semaj L. Harris, 20, was charged with second-degree murder and first-degree burglary. Harris is being held at the Cole County Jail on a $100,000 cash bond.

Officers were sent a little after 6 p.m. on Nov. 19 to the 1900 block of Stadium Boulevard after getting several calls that a person had been shot. Police found a 19-year-old Nichols of Jefferson City dead from a gunshot wound inside a home, the Jefferson City Police Department said in a news release.

Harris told investigators that he went to the 1900 block of Stadium with two other people to get marijuana, a Jefferson City Police Department detective wrote in a probable cause statement. Harris forced open the door of a residence while an unnamed “co-defendant” was in a struggle for a gun inside, the statement said. Harris was identified by a witness, according to the statement.

Police say Harris pointed a gun at the witness and told him to stop fighting. Nichols chased Harris and his companions after they left the home, according to the statement. He was shot on the sidewalk outside the home and collapsed after going back inside, but the probable cause statement did not say whether Harris was the shooter.

JCPD said more charges are expected to be filed in the case.

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