Columbia police reopen death investigation following family questions
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Columbia police will take another look at a 2020 death following questions raised by the deceased man's family.
Chief Geoff Jones wrote in a Dec. 8 letter that he would reopen both the death investigation and internal affairs investigation surrounding the death of Freddie McKee. The 37-year-old man was found dead outside a home on July 2020 on Switzler Street.
Medical examiners first ruled McKee's death as accidental from a drug overdose. McKee's mother, Doressia McKee, questioned the work police and medical examiners did in looking into his death. She claimed police did not interview relevant witnesses or take more seriously injuries to his body that the medical examiner noted.
Doresia McKee asked the Columbia Citizens Police Review Board to look at the case in Nov. 2021 after Jones initially found nothing wrong with the department's work. The board recommended on Nov. 30 that the chief reconsider his decision in the internal affairs case after a review, but did not say what specifically led them to that decision.
Jones wrote on Dec. 8 in a latter obtained by ABC 17 News through McKee that he would reopen both the internal affairs case and the death investigation.
"I will request an uninvolved Detective Sergeant to research the available information to determine if there are any additional actions to be taken in the death investigation," Jones's letter said.
The city did not respond to a request for comment on the cases.
