COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A Columbia man was charged on Thursday with multiple felony counts related to child pornography. Paul Piersee, 40, was charged with first-degree promoting child porn and three counts of child porn possession. An arraignment was set for Thursday afternoon. He is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond. Court documents
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A University of Missouri spokesman told ABC 17 News that its Columbia campus on Thursday had received a threat that was deemed to be “not credible.” Spokesman Christopher Ave wrote in an email to ABC 17 News that MU’s police department “received a forwarded call reporting a potential threat to campus. The
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A woman has pleaded guilty to third-degree domestic assault in her husband’s 2024 poisoning in Cole County. Sara Scheffer pleaded guilty on April 13. The plea became public on Thursday. She will be sentenced at 2:30 p.m. Monday, May 11. She was originally charged with attempted murder. Scheffer is accused of trying
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A woman has been charged after she allegedly pulled a gun out on someone on April 10 outside the McDonald’s on Missouri Boulevard in Jefferson City. Tameka Whitfield, of Jefferson City, was charged on Wednesday with unlawful use of a weapon, armed criminal action and second-degree assault. She was not in custody
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Cole County has sued a company over a July 24, 2023, diesel fuel spill that occurred in a creek near a farm south of Jefferson City. The county is accusing Neumayer Equipment Company, from St. Louis, of breach of contract and negligence. The lawsuit claims that the county hired Neumayer to install
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Former Fulton Assistant Fire Chief Todd Gray has accused the City of Fulton of age discrimination in a lawsuit that was filed on Wednesday in Callaway County. Court documents say that Gray was first a volunteer firefighter for eight years, beginning in 1994, before being hired full-time as a firefighter in April
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Following testimonies from neighbors and her own children, 38-year-old murder suspect Heather Smith took to the witness stand Wednesday. Smith is accused of the 2025 deadly shooting of 37-year-old Kara Dills at Hunter Lane Apartments in April 2025. She claims the shooting was in self-defense. Smith faces charges of second-degree murder, child endangerment,
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The minor accused of stabbing another youth Tuesday night in central Columbia is in custody, according to the Columbia Police Department. CPD responded to the 200 block of Unity Drive around 5:30 p.m. and found a juvenile victim with a non-life-threatening stab wound, according to the post. The minor was arrested for
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Editor’s note: Updated court documents identify the dog rescue as the nonprofit where Stafford worked. COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A woman has been charged with a felony after she was accused of stealing money from a Jefferson City animal rescue. Stacy Stafford was charged on Monday in Cole County with stealing more than $750. A criminal
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A Chinese national pleaded guilty on Tuesday to taking photographs of military equipment and installation without permission, according to a Wednesday press release from the Department of Justice. Qilin Wu, 35, pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge. He was originally charged with a felony. He was accused of driving a minivan on Dec.
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A Columbia doctor who was accused of sexual misconduct last fall has been charged in federal court. Dr. Jonathan Morris, who owns Columbia Urgent Care on North Providence Road, is charged with 15 counts of illegally prescribing drugs and 23 counts of health care fraud. He was indicted on April 8 and
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A man who was charged with driving while intoxicated in a weekend crash that killed a man in Jefferson City is now charged with manslaughter. Prosecutors in Cole County filed an amended complaint on Wednesday that now charges Robert Roy Rackers Jr. with driving while intoxicated that caused the death of another,
Continue Reading COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) One person was stabbed on Tuesday in central Columbia. Officers closed off Unity Drive, a short street in central Columbia in the middle of West Worley and Ash streets and McBaine Avenue and Oak Street. The victim was identified by police, but they are not publicly releasing identifying information at this moment,
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) Officials have confirmed that a man who was hit by an allegedly inebriated driver on Sunday in Jefferson City has died. Richard Robben, 59, was on an electric bike when he was hit by Robert Roy Rackers Jr. in the 100 block of East Dunklin Drive after 5 p.m. Sunday. Rackers, 36,
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The state presented more witness testimony Tuesday as the jury trial for a deadly 2025 Holts Summit shooting continues. This testimony included new information on both Smith’s retelling of events and the whereabouts of Dills’ gun following the shooting. A 12-person jury was picked Monday to decide the fate of 38-year-old Heather
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A man serving a life sentence at Jefferson City Correctional Center has been indicted on a murder charge. Brandon Bibbs, 45, is charged with second-degree murder in the June 27, 2024, death of a Jefferson City inmate. The name of the deceased inmate was not immediately named in court documents. A probable
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BOONVILLE, Mo. (KMIZ) A Cooper County judge denied bond for the leader of a “cult-like” Amish community after new charges, including manslaughter, were filed against him this week. Sam Shetler, 42, of Boonville, appeared Tuesday in front of Judge Keith Bail after the new charges were added for a previously scheduled bond reduction hearing. Bail
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A 16-year-old boy will face the adult criminal justice system after he was charged with murder and other crimes Tuesday in connection with a robbery and shooting last June. Deshawn D. Brown of Columbia was charged Tuesday with first-degree robbery, armed criminal action and second-degree murder in the killing of Zarian Simpson.
Continue Reading COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A man was charged Monday in Audrain County after he allegedly poured gas on the yard and porch of a Mexico, Missouri, home early that morning. Cheyenne Hott, of Mexico, Missouri, was charged with first-degree attempted arson, armed criminal action and fourth-degree domestic assault, a misdemeanor. He is being held at the
Continue Reading COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) The leader of a “cult-like” Amish community who was charged with felonies last month is now charged with manslaughter in the 2025 death of an infant. Sam Shetler, 42, of Boonville, is now charged in Cooper County with three counts of trafficking for forced labor, a count of first-degree sodomy, first-degree sex
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