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A Columbia man pleaded guilty Friday morning in Boone County Circuit Court to his role in connection with a brutal January 2014 drug-related killing. 22-year-old Martrell Smith had been charged with second degree murder in connection with the killing of 23-year-old Dontay Tolston in the 2000 block of Newton Drive in Columbia. On Friday morning,

It has been one year since University of Missouri system President Tim Wolfe promised sweeping changes to the way sexual assaults and harassment are handled on all four University of Missouri campuses. The announcement on January 29, 2014 came within days of an ESPN report that criticized Mizzou’s handling of the Sasha Menu Courey case.

Three people were arrested Friday morning following a search warrant involving the MUSTANG Drug Task Force and Jefferson City Police SWAT team. Investigators searched a home in the 1000 block of Buena Vista Street. 25-year-old Jamario Blanchard was arrested for a felony warrant out of Illinois for selling cocaine and assault, as well as possession

One man was arrested Friday for having marijuana. Fulton Police and the MUSTANG Drug Task Force searched a home at 9 Callaway Drive Friday and found marijuana and drug paraphernalia in the home. 41-year-old Charles Webb is charged with possession of marijuana and unlawful use of drug paraphernalia. Webb was released on summons and charges

This week’s shooting of a Missouri police officer is just the latest violence targeting law enforcement, something that surged in 2014. Joshua Hagood, 32, made his first court appearance Thursday after reportedly shooting a Springfield police officer in the head while he was checking into suspicious activity Monday night. The chief of the Springfield police

The owner of a Columbia grocery store this morning denied a report broadcast by ABC 17 News last night that his store was closing. Jerry Metcalf, majority owner of Patricia’s Foods, in east Columbia called the report an “absolute falsehood”. Metcalf who oversees six stores in Missouri said the grocery store had no plans to

State representative Bill Reiboldt doesn’t know much about Cuba’s agriculture, and while not a smoker, is familiar with the cigars the country is famous for producing. He’s glad, though, the island country ninety miles south of the United States’ coast is spurring a conversation about agriculture in Missouri. “This is my fifth year in Jefferson

Columbia police are looking for two men in connection with a carjacking early Friday. It happened in the area of Garth Avenue and Worley Street at around 1:15. The only suspect information available is that both suspects were wearing ski masks. There are no reports of any injuries. If you have information that can help

University of Missouri athletic director Mike Alden announced Thursday he will step down from his position effective August 31. Alden has been the athletic director for 17 years. According to a release, Alden will be an instructor in the College of Education at MU. “We are proud of what we have accomplished over the past

Concern grows as the number of people diagnosed with measles in the U.S. increases. Experts are linking the epidemic to the growing anti-vaccination movement among parents. Since the outbreak of measles at Disneyland in California earlier this month, even more states are confirming measles cases. The latest case is someone in suburban Chicago. Recently, cases

Police are seeing a high concentration of increased crime on one street in central Columbia. The Columbia police dispatch shows police were called to Washington Avenue more than 100 times over the last year. Those calls range from shots fired down to traffic stops. Eighteen of the calls were reports of disturbances, and 15 calls

Cole County officials met Thursday morning and approved a more than $2 million road construction project west of Highway 54. It involves the daily traffic at the light at Jefferson and Stadium. The project is part of a two year cooperative project between the city and county. “It’s really complex on what you do with

On Thursday lawyers for the Osage County Sheriff filed a motion for immediate stay, appealing a decision from the state to revoke his peace officer’s license. Sheriff Michael Dixon had thirty days to appeal Monday’s decision. The Missouri Department of Public Safety took away his license on Monday, which means Sheriff Dixon can not make

Jefferson City Police were led on a foot pursuit Thursday afternoon after two boys escaped from the Prenger Family Center. One of those boys was the 15-year-old boy who ran off from a JCPS field trip in St. Louis, and showed up at the ABC 17 News studios the same night, according to Juvenile Court

A low pressure system is starting to take shape over the southwest United States, and is expected to begin impacting Mid-Missouri’s weather on early Saturday. Typically, low pressure systems that develop over the southern states and track our way carry a little more moisture and warmer temperatures since they’re generated over a warmer climate. This

After nearly three years, a jury decided the fate of the man who killed a three-year-old boy in Morgan County. A Cass County jury found Thomas “T.J.” Presley guilty Wednesday of first-degree murder and child abuse. Presley beat Blake Litton to death the morning of February 16, 2012, while the boy’s mother, Jamie Litton, was

The celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. continued Wednesday night in Columbia as Myrlie Evers-Williams spoke to a crowd of nearly 1,000 people. Evers-Williams is a civil rights activist and former NAACP chairperson who has been working since the 1960s on preserving her late husband Medgar Evers’ legacy. Even though her speech was more

The Columbia Police Department has opened its lobby for online buyers and purchasers to exchange their items safely. The changes effective immediately. Columbia police said this is not in response to crime in Columbia. This comes just days after a Georgia couple went to buy a car off Craigslist and was killed. One woman who

The Kansas City Royals visit Jefferson City for the 2015 Royals Caravan

Wednesday, one man is on the run after firing multiple shots into a home in central Columbia. It happened around 4:20 Wednesday morning in the 600 block of Washington Avenue. A woman living in the home that was shot told Abc 17 it all started over a cell phone. The woman said a man showed