Columbia man takes plea deal in deadly shooting

EDITOR'S NOTE: The story has been updated to note the sentence is concurrent.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Prosecutors have struck a deal with a murder suspect in a Columbia shooting that will send him to prison for decades.

Bryton S. Allen, 20, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon last week in the death of Deshon Houston, 33, outside a home on Dove Drive in June 2023. Allen was sentenced to 20 years in prison -- 20 for murder and 15 for unlawful use of a weapon to run concurrently -- with credit for time served, according to court records.

Prosecutors dropped other counts against Allen including armed criminal action.

Allen was one of the men accused of shooting from two vehicles, a white Ford Explorer and a gold Acura, when Houston was shot in the head, according to court documents. The vehicles sped away from the scene after the shooting and the Ford Explorer, which had allegedly been stolen, crashed.

Prosecutors initially charged Allen with second-degree murder, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon. A grand jury in May added charges of vehicle tampering and illegal gun possession against Allen and changed the murder charge to first-degree.

He is being held at South Central Correctional Center. Allen was sentenced to four years in prison on Nov. 27 for another case. He pleaded guilty to resisting arrest in 2021 and was initially sentenced to probation.

Another man accused of murder in the shooting -- Alqueze Jones, 20, of Columbia -- also had updates to his case on Friday. An order for a change of judge was granted in that case. He has a hearing scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Monday.