Boone County settles open records lawsuit with family of man killed

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Boone County will hand over records related to a sheriff's department investigation into man's killing.

David Roland, attorney for the family of Ahmonta Harris, said the family and county settled a lawsuit Harris' mother and widow filed in June. The family claimed the county unlawfully held onto unredacted copies of the death investigation, despite a state law saying family members are entitled to them.

Harris, a well-known community activist in Columbia, was shot and killed in Nov. 2018 on East Limoges Drive. The Boone County Sheriff's Department said Harris broke into the home for a robbery. Deonte Gainwell shot and killed him, which the county prosecutor said was justified.

Roland said the county will hand over the reports and videos with some redactions, including a juvenile and another person the family agreed to keep redacted. He said the family still had questions about Harris' killing and the investigation that went into it.

“It is unfortunate that the Harris family was required to file a lawsuit to get Boone County to fulfill their responsibility to produce these records, but we are gratified that the County chose to comply quickly rather than to wage a long, costly legal battle,” Roland said.

County counselor C.J. Dykhouse said the two sides had reached an "amicable resolution."

The county initially asked the Harris family pay more than $2,000 for redacted copies of the report.