Man found guilty of murder in woman’s death in October 2022 sentenced to life in prison
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A Columbia man who was found guilty of murder in May was sentenced to life in prison on Monday.
Jessie Williams, 33, was found guilty by a jury on May 16 of second-degree murder in the October 2022 death of Kaylen Schmit. He is accused of pushing Schmit off the Highway 63 bridge near Clark Lane. Schmit, 24, fell 38 feet into a wooded area and died hours later at a hospital.
Williams appeared in court for his sentencing. Monday's sentence will run consecutive to a seven-year sentence in another assault case. Williams' attorney asked for a new trial, but was denied that request.
Surveillance footage presented by the Columbia Police Department in May showed Schmit and Williams together, along with another man, on the afternoon of Schmit's death. The footage was captured inside and around the Break Time gas station near Conley Road.
Additional video from the Best Western hotel showed a white truck stopping on the Highway 63 overpass and a shirtless man walking south on the highway around the time Schmit fell, previous reporting shows. Further surveillance from nearby businesses captured a shirtless Williams walking south alone past the Break Time and in front of Walmart, Lowe', and Sam's on Conley Road that evening, previous reporting indicates.
According to the probable cause statement from 2022, witnesses told police that Williams and Schmit had been seen arguing in a nearby homeless camp before the incident. Other witnesses saw the two walking on the Highway 63 overpass, with one witness telling police he saw Williams grabbing Schmit's legs to throw her over the guardrail on the Highway 63 bridge, previous reporting indicates.
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