One person arrested, two suspects sought in connection to Walmart shooting Monday

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Columbia police arrested a man in connection to the Monday night shooting at the Walmart on Broadway.

Police arrested DeAngelo D. Hughes, 21, for the charge of tampering with evidence in a felony prosecution and has been taken into the custody of the Boone County Jail.

Three men are now charged after a Monday evening shooting at the Walmart off Broadway in Columbia.

Gerrod Taylor, 20, and Dequan Hughes, 21, have both been charged with first degree assault and armed criminal action. Police are still looking for both Taylor and Hughes and asking for the public's help in locating them.

Columbia police responded to reports of a disturbance at the Walmart parking lot just after 8 p.m. and then were told shots had been fired.

Witnesses told police that two men were having an altercation with two other men when one man took the gun from another and fired at the other two men.

Officials report Gerrod Taylor and Dequan Hughes then ran after the other two men before allegedly firing five more shots toward the men in the area of Hy-Vee.

The investigation into the shooting on Tuesday led to officers finding a gun in some bushes at the northeast corner of Park Deville Dr. and Broadway.

After finding the gun, officers watched the area to see if anyone would then come and try to retrieve the gun. Police reportedly witnessed a car drive up to the bush, a man got out of the vehicle and approach the bush where the gun was located.

Court documents report officers got information on the vehicle used to drive up to the bush and took that man into custody on other charges.

Police report that Hughes's brother was the person at the bush and connected the brothers during the investigation.

Police then identified Taylor and Hughes in the shooting using video surveillance.

Warrants for the arrest of Taylor and Hughes were issued Tuesday.

The court issued no bond for the men.

Boone County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, Morley Swingle, says Taylor has violated his probation with these new charges. Taylor was charged with unlawful use of a weapon in 2020, after a Juneteenth event at Douglass Park, where one person was shot in the leg. Taylor did plea to a lesser charge of exhibiting a weapon and received 5 years of probation.

In regards to the twin brothers, Dequan Hughes and DeAngelo D. Hughes, this is their first offense. Swingle says usually a judge would take that into consideration, but because they put the public at risk by shooting in a crowded public parking lot, the sentences could be greater.

"He has no criminal history and criminal history is something a judge wakes into consideration when deciding a punishment but on a violent crime like this it often doesn’t matter whether you have a criminal history or not a judge is going to give a stiff sentence just based on the facts of the crime itself," said Swingle.

As, Judge Stephanie Morrell, has already set no bond for both men charged.

"Judge Stephanie Morell set the bond at no bond and she made a finding that there was no amount of money or non-monetary conditions or probation that could protect the community under these circumstances he is likely to remain in jail until if and when his case goes to trial," said Swingle.

 Swingle says he originally set the bond at $400,000, but Morell decided to take the price higher because of the threat it caused on the public's safety.

"The judge even set the bond higher than we requested at no bond for that same reason so I think it does send a strong message that if you’re foolish enough to try to have a shootout in a Walmart parking lot in broad daylight, something bad is going to happen to you,” said Swingle.

Police are still trying to locate both Gerrod Taylor and Dequan Hughes. Anyone with information about this incident or their whereabouts is asked to please contact the Columbia Police Department at 573.874.7652 or CrimeStoppers at 573.875.TIPS (8477) to remain anonymous.