Final 2023 north Columbia murder suspect pleads guilty, gets 15-year sentence
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The final suspect with a pending case for a deadly north Columbia shooting pleaded guilty on Thursday to charges of conspiracy to commit a crime and unlawful weapons offense.
Ja’Shaun Barney, 21, of Columbia, pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a weapon and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder. Judge Joshua Devine gave Barney 15 years in prison for the weapons charge and 10 years in prison for the conspiracy charge, which will run concurrently.
Barney and another suspect, Damarkus Williams, were driving two separate vehicles on June 26, 2023, while passengers in the vehicles shot at the victim, Deshon Houston, and targeted another individual, Elijah Fox-Brown outside a home on Dove Drive. Houston died in the shooting.
Assistant prosecutor Tony Gonzalez said in court that Barney will have to serve 85 percent of his sentence before he becomes eligible for parole. He is expected to be transported from the Boone County Jail to the Missouri Department of Corrections within the next few days.
The plea and sentence on Thursday puts an end to the nearly three-year long court process stemming from Houston's death.
Court documents allege Barney was driving a vehicle while Deazes Turner, Deljuan Turner and Alqueze Jones shot at Houston in June 2023. Williams was allegedly behind the wheel of another vehicle while Bryton Allen also fired at Houston.
Williams, 21, was sentenced to 10 years at the Missouri Department of Corrections for a guilty plea in November to second-degree conspiracy to commit murder, according to previous reporting.
Turner, 22, was sentenced to 21 years in prison; Jones, 22, was sentenced to the same amount of time, and both were charged with second-degree murder.
Allen, 22, was sentenced to 20 years for second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon. He was also sentenced to four years in prison for an unrelated case that involved resisting arrest in 2021.
Jajuan Crockett pleaded guilty in May to second-degree murder, tampering with a motor vehicle, two counts of stealing and one count of tampering with evidence. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
