Month: May 2021

A Springfield man has been convicted of multiple charges in connection with two shootings on a trail near Willard in 2019.

A jury deliberated less than 90 minutes before finding Kwaim Allen Stenson guilty on assault and weapons charges.

Prosecutors claimed Stenson had driven up to a bicyclist in Springfield and shot at them through his car’s window, then drove onto the Frisco Highline Trail where he shot a man walking with a woman. Stenson was captured in Fair Play, where they found a 9 millimeter handgun, ammunition and shell casings in the car.

At the scene of the first shooting incident, police found a broken off side mirror that was connected to the car driven by Stenson.

One of the victims testified during the trial that he still suffers pain every day from the bullet wounds he suffered to his abdomen from Stenson’s assault.

Stenson did not take the stand in his own defense and Stenson could not provide his defense team with any witnesses on his behalf.

Defense attorneys tried to claim the arrest and search of Stenson was illegal, but Judge Michael Cordonnier rejected the motion.

Stenson is facing life in prison when sentenced on July 23.

(mugshot courtesy Greene County Sheriff’s Office)

College of the Ozarks has had their lawsuit against the Biden administration denied after a two and a half hour hearing.

Judge Roseann Ketchmark, an Obama appointee, denied the temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction on Wednesday.

The school had stated that changes made by the Department of Housing and Urban Development regarding a Biden executive order that states “all persons should receive equal treatment under the law, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation” would force the Christian school to put males into female dorm rooms, or require the school to allow biological males into female showers and bathrooms.

The Alliance Defending Freedom had joined with the school in the suit.

Julie Blake, an attorney for ADF, argued on behalf of the school that they should not need to wait for actual enforcement actions to challenge the constitutionality of the law, and the school faced significant fines and penalties if they did not allow men into women’s spaces.

A lawyer for HUD said the directive from President Biden was not aimed at colleges and that there was no immediate threat of a complaint to HUD about the school.

Police say a man has died after being found in the middle of the street with a gunshot wound in the 1600 block of east Chestnut Street in Springfield.

That’s west of Chestnut Expressway and Glenstone.

Officers responded to the scene around 3:30 a.m. Thursday.

They say the man was unresponsive when they arrived on scene.

The victim was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Police in Ozark have arrested a person of interest in a homicide investigation.

Officers found a man dead from a gunshot wound outside a home in the 2700 block of north 31st Street.

They took a man into custody at the scene.

Police have not yet released the victim’s name.

Edited Press Release

A Fair Grove, Missouri, man who is a member of the Southwest Honkys violent prison gang was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a drug-trafficking conspiracy in which investigators intercepted a shipment of nearly 9.5 kilograms of methamphetamine.

William F. Jones, 45, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 25 years in federal prison without parole.

On May 21, 2020, Jones pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Christian County, Greene County, and Polk County, Missouri, from Dec. 21, 2016, to Oct. 15, 2017.

Jones was identified as a high-level member of the Southwest Honkys prison gang who had declined a top leadership role.

Jones, under the surveillance of law enforcement, drove to the Kansas City, Missouri area on Oct. 11, 2017, and checked into an Independence, Mo., hotel. A few days later, co-defendant Justin L. Rhoads, 33, of Lebanon, Mo., met Jones in the hotel’s parking lot. They put a large duffel bag in the cab of Rhoads’s pickup truck, and he left the parking lot. Rhoads was later stopped by a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper on Missouri Highway 13, just south of Humansville, Mo. The trooper searched Rhoads’s vehicle and found 10 Ziploc-style plastic bags inside the duffel bag that contained a total of approximately 9,439 grams of methamphetamine, which was determined to be at least 93 percent pure.

Rhoads pleaded guilty to his role in the drug-trafficking conspiracy and was sentenced on Jan. 21, 2021, to 12 years in federal prison without parole.

Springfield Police have released details concerning the officer involved shooting on East Kearney at a Kum N’ Go, including identifying the main suspect in the incident.

The Springfield PD began investigating a homicide that took place on Monday, May 17, at 3231 West Page. Detectives determined that one of the individuals involved, John Hilt, 36, had an outstanding warrant from Christian County for resisting arrest.

On Tuesday, May 18, the SPD’s Special Investigations Section began surveillance of Hilt. He was followed to a Kum N’ Go at 3445 East Kearney, traveling in a vehicle with another male and a female.

Detectives attempted to arrest Hilt at the convenience store on the outstanding warrant when Hilt pulled a gun and opened fire on the detectives. Two detectives returned fire at Hilt, who fled in the vehicle with the female. The other male that had been in the car suffered a gunshot to the chest and arm. He was transported to a local hospital for the injuries which were not life threatening.

Police followed Hilt’s vehicle to the Welcome Inn at 3550 East Evergreen. Officers set up a perimeter and eventually were able to take Hilt into custody. Hilt had been hit in the neck and arm during the previous gun confrontation, and was transported to a hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening wounds.

The woman who was in the car was not injured.

Both officers involved in the shooting are on administrative leave pending an internal investigation, per department policy. The Greene County Prosecutor will review the case for potential charges.

The SPD’s Criminal Investigation Division is actively investigating the incident, and anyone with information is asked to contact the department at 417-864-1810 or call anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 869-8477.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol has released the names of two people from Urbana killed in a head-on crash on Highway 65 north of Buffalo.

Troopers say Susan McColum was killed when her car was struck head-on by a minivan that was attempting to pass another vehicle around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday.

A passenger in the car, Matthew Burns, 59, also died at the scene.

The driver of the minivan was airlifted to a hospital in Springfield with serious injuries.

Springfield police are looking for a suspect in an officer-involved shooting Tuesday afternoon.

It happened at a Kum & Go near Highway 65 and Kearney.

Officers went to the convenience store to question someone who was wanted, when two men fired shots at them.

Police fired back. One of the men is hospitalized after being hit. The other one escaped. Police searched a nearby motel for the suspect.

They have not released a description of that man.

No officers were injured in the incident.

The City of Springfield announced the city’s year-to-date tax revenues are up over 7.8% compared to the city’s budget through May 2021.

The sales tax revenue for the city received from the Missouri Department of Revenue in the May 2021 check was $3,656,149. The year-to-date through May actual revenues are $37,078,039. The budgeted amount to date is $2,684,717.

The check for May represents transactions the state processed in April that came mostly from the month of March.

Compared to last year’s actual revenue, totals are up 5.42%.