Man gets 10-year sentence for having gun during deadly shooting
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) -
A man who admitted to illegally having a gun during a deadly shooting received a decade-long prison sentence.
Judge Joshua Devine sentenced Steven S. Jones to 10 years in prison on Thursday morning. Jones pleaded guilty in January to unlawful possession of a gun following a shooting outside Jake's Bar on St. Charles Road in 2024 just outside Columbia city limits.
Boone County sheriff's deputies arrested Jones shortly after the shooting on December 12, 2024. Deputies said surveillance footage showed Jones pull a gun out of his waistband. Jones allegedly admitted to law enforcement that he had a gun and shot it at the victim. A 1997 conviction for felony assault made it illegal for Jones to have a gun.
Devine said in court that the events that December night were senseless, and denied Jones probation.
Deputies never arrested Jones on suspicion of murder or manslaughter and prosecutors never charged him with those crimes. The sheriff's office said at the time of his arrest that "extenuating circumstances" needed further investigation.
