Change of venue, new judge granted in Quatavia Givens case

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Cole County judge granted a change of venue and a request for a new judge Wednesday morning for a woman charged in the 2018 death of a Jefferson City child.

Cole County Prosecutor Locke Thompson said Quatavia Given's case would likely be reassigned to a judge determined by the Missouri Supreme Court. He says the timeline for reassignment is unknown.

Thompson said the change of venue was requested due to the high-profile nature of the case in Cole County.

The jury for the original trial was set to be drawn from Johnson County before the change of venue request was approved.

Givens was charged in 2018 in connection with the death of 4-year-old Darnell Gray. Those charges were dismissed by a Cole County prosecutor then upgraded in Aug. 2021 to first-degree murder, child endangerment and abandoning a corpse.

Gray's body was found in a wooded area on Oct. 30 and reportedly showed signs of blunt force and sharp force trauma.