Attorney calls complaint against CPD officer charged with manslaughter ‘fatally defective’

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The attorney for a Columbia police officer charged with manslaughter is calling the complaint against her "fatally defective," rendering the charge "void."

Columbia Police Department Officer Andria Heese was charged last month with first-degree manslaughter in a child's death nearly a year after she hit and killed 4-year-old Gabriella Curry on Jan. 4, 2019, in her patrol vehicle at Battle High School.

Heese's attorney, Donald Weaver, filed a motion to dismiss the case Tuesday, claiming the complaint against her is not supported by the probable cause statement.

The complaint against Heese says she ran the girl over "after entering an area typically used by pedestrians at a speed and coming from an angle which prevented her from avoiding" Curry.

A special prosecutor from Camden County, Heather Miller, filed the charge against Heese.

In the motion to dismiss, Weaver argues the probable cause statement establishes a "tragic accident occurred" but does not support that Heese acted in a criminally reckless way.

Weaver claims the probable cause statement establishes the opposite. The statement includes several witnesses saying Heese wasn't speeding and drove up on a curb where officers park often.

Weaver also argues she did not act recklessly because Heese got out of the car and tried to save Curry and called for help.

Weaver and Miller were not immediately available for comment.