Callaway County murder suspect had first hearing Tuesday, bond hearing scheduled

FULTON, Mo. (KMIZ)

A woman accused of being an accessory to a murder had her first hearing Tuesday.

Emily Ricketts, 26, of Indianapolis, Indiana, appeared for the hearing by video from the Callaway County Jail and was advised of the charge, according to Casenet. A bond hearing will be held 2 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30 at the Callaway County Courthouse.

She is currently being held without bond.

Ricketts was charged in January 2019 with accessory to first-degree murder in the death of Lauro Garza-Perez, who was found dead in the 1500 block of Highway 40 near the Boone-Callaway County line. Investigators are still looking for Ruben Corales Cabrera, whom they believe is in Mexico, Chism said in early November.

Chism said on Nov. 9 that the shooting was part of a "significant drug nexus."

Ricketts was found and arrested in Mexico and taken to the United States, Chism said.  She was booked into the San Diego County Jail.

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.