Third person charged in connection with Business Loop 70 shooting
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A third person has been charged in a Jan. 26 shooting of a vehicle on the Business Loop 70 roundabout.
Christopher Leonard Carter was charged Friday with first-degree assault, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon. Two other men had already been charged.
Michael Isaiah Whitley, who the shooting target named as the shooter, was previously charged with first-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action in connection with the case. Courtney Antron Brown Jr. is charged with unlawful use of a weapon.
According to court documents, a detective who spoke with Carter does not believe he was the shooter but that he was in the vehicle at the time of the shooting.
Police were sent to the roundabout Jan. 26 on a report of shots being fired from one car toward another. The roundabout was closed briefly after the incident.
Police located the suspect vehicle the same day as the shooting and spoke with the owner of the vehicle during a stop. Officers found a .45-caliber cartridge casing wedged between the trunk lid and rear windshield of the video, according to a probable cause statement. Police say they found multiple .45-caliber casings at the scene of the shooting.
The owner of the vehicle told police Carter and Brown had been staying with them for at least one week.
The owner of the vehicle told police the day of the shooting, Carter and Brown were at her residence, but when she woke up later Carter and Brown were gone along with their belongings.
Between the day of the shooting and Jan. 30, detectives with the violent crimes task force saw several videos on social media of Carter and two other men with a handgun they referred to as a "45." According to the documents, one of the videos was posted on the night of the shooting.
On Jan. 30 detectives with the violent crimes task force stopped a vehicle for a window tint violation leaving the Motel 6 off of I-70 Drive. Carter was a passenger in the vehicle. Carter had a handgun that was confirmed stolen and approximately 9 grams of marijuana, police say.
Law enforcement got a search warrant to search Carter's cellphone. Detectives found four screenshots from the victim's Facebook page, according to the probable cause statement.
During his booking, Carter asked officers what he was being charged with, and they responded he was being charged in connection to the traffic stop, police say.
According to a probable cause statement, he then asked officers if he was being charged in connection with the "other two things." The statement said officers had only asked Carter about an armed robbery and the shooting.
An armed robbery occurred at the Domino's on I-70 Drive just minutes before the shooting.
Carter told investigators that he was not the shooter, leading a detective to believe Carter was in the vehicle at the time of the shooting, according to the probable cause statement.
Carter was in the Boone County Jail on Friday on a $150,000 cash bond. He is charged in a separate case with stealing a gun, misdemeanor drug possession and having drug paraphernalia. His bond in that case is set at $50,000 cash only.
Carter has been in the Boone County Jail since Jan. 31, according to online court records.
