Woman wanted in Callaway County murder case in custody in California
FULTON, Mo. (KMIZ)
A woman suspected in the killing of a Columbia man in 2019 has been arrested and is in a California jail, the Callaway County sheriff said Wednesday.
Emily Ricketts of Indianapolis, Indiana, was in the San Diego County Jail on Wednesday and a hearing on her extradition to Missouri was set for Wednesday afternoon, Sheriff Clay Chism said. Deputies will bring her back to Fulton depending on the result of the hearing, he said in an interview Wednesday.
"Our investigators have been working with federal agents and local agents as well for almost three and a half years now," Chism said.
Investigators are still looking for Ruben Corales Cabrera, whom they believe is in Mexico, Chism said. Ricketts and Cabrera were each charged with first-degree murder after the killing of Lauro Garza-Perez, who was found dead in the 1500 block of Highway 40 near the Boone-Callaway County line.
"We will continue the efforts to get Mr. Cabrera back to the country to answer to the charges as well," Chism said.
Chism said the investigation revealed the shooting was part of a "significant drug nexus" operating in Mid-Missouri.
"Here's another example of how drugs are not always non-violent crimes and people die because of it," Chism said.
Chis described the killing as "horrific."
The two suspects maintain connections to Mid-Missouri, Chism said, and his office has worked with Boone County authorities and federal agents on the case.
Ricketts was found and arrested in Mexico and taken to the United States, Chism said.
According to court documents, Ricketts was in the passenger seat of a dark grey Volkswagen Jetta with Garza-Perez. The two were being followed by Cabrera, who was driving a red Chevrolet Corvette on Old Highway 40, a Callaway County Sheriff’s Office investigator wrote in a probable cause statement. Surveillance video showed that Cabrera got stuck in a ditch near the county line, then allegedly chased Garza-Perez into the Laser Transports parking lot and shot him repeatedly, court documents said.
Authorities say Ricketts then got into the driver seat of the Volkswagen, picked up Cabrera and drove him to get his car out of the ditch.
