The Cole County Grand Jury has indicted a Jefferson City man charged in connection with a 2017 murder in Cole County.
Shavontay Estes, 24, is charged with one count of second-degree murder and one count of armed criminal action.
The indictment indicates the grand jury felt there was enough evidence to send the case to the circuit courts for possible trial.
The killing occurred June 11, 2017, in the 5200 block of Collier Court, where Cole County deputies found Dennis Thompson, 35, dead from apparent gunshot wounds.
Thompson was found deceased on a couch with two wounds to his neck and one to the jaw, according to a Cole County Sheriff's Department probable cause statement. A throw pillow with a hole through it and blood residue was found near the couch. Bullets recovered at the scene were determined to be .357 or .38 caliber. No firearm was found in the residence or in the surrounding area.
The person who called police about the incident said Thompson had come to the residence asking to sleep there. Estes later went to the apartment also asking to spend the night.
The caller told deputies he had gone back to bed and that was the last he saw of them, Thompson and Estes were sleeping on separate couches.
During further interviews, investigators said, multiple people on Collier Court claimed Estes had shown them a revolver he had the night of June 10, 2017.
Another Collier Court resident told deputies Estes had been watching movies with her until the early morning of June 11, 2017, when her mother said Estes had to leave. She claimed Estes had left with the gun in his possession.
When the original caller awoke, he said, he found Estes had left the residence and Thompson was dead on one of the couches.
Investigators reportedly talked with Estes' aunt, who lives across the street from the home where Thompson was killed. She claimed Estes had knocked on her door around 5:30 a.m. June 11, 2017, and asked for a ride into Jefferson City. She said she eventually took him to an area behind Capital Region Medical Center.
Authorities learned Estes, his cousin and a friend had been taken to Collier Court by a female acquaintance of Estes' cousin. That woman claimed Estes had elected to stay on Collier Court while the cousin and friend went to Jefferson City with her.
A few hours after the crime occurred, deputies located Estes in Jefferson City and took him in for questioning. Estes claimed he had been at home all night with his wife, with the exception of going to a liquor store.
Estes denied he had gotten a ride from Collier Court from a family member, but authorities said video obtained from a camera in that area showed a person did leave the apartment where the killing took place around the same time Estes' aunt had stated. The person in the video is allegedly shown walking to the apartment building Estes' aunt lives in, and the aunt's SUV is seen leaving the area soon after with two people inside.
Authorities claimed, in their interviews with Estes' wife and two others, none of their stories were the same about where Estes was at the time of the shooting. All three told varying stories that did not place Estes on Collier Court, but none were consistent other than to say Estes was not on Collier Court.
Investigators obtained video from a camera pointed toward Collier Court from the night of June 11, 2017, and after reviewing the video authorities claimed they could see what appeared to be a muzzle flash in the window of the residence where the killing occurred shortly after 5 a.m. A figure is shown leaving the residence and walking to the apartment building where Estes' aunt lives. Not long after that, two people are shown getting into a vehicle matching the description of the aunt's.
Based on the time frame of the aunt's vehicle leaving the area, investigators said, they were able to locate the same vehicle as it traveled the path given to them on several other videos. This reportedly culminated with the aunt dropping off Estes behind Capital Region Medical Center and Estes, shown on video, walking up a sidewalk in the clothes described by his aunt.
Estes told authorities his wife would be able to verify he had been home throughout the night, but investigators said phone records reportedly showed Estes' wife sending messages asking where he was at 2:05 a.m. June 11, 2017. At 9 a.m. June 11, 2017, Estes' wife allegedly sent a message to her boss saying there was an emergency and she had to leave work. Estes was not detained for this investigation until around 2 p.m. June 11, 2017.
Estes' cousin was arrested on an unrelated charge Aug. 22 of this year. During an interview, authorities told the cousin the investigation into the 2017 murder was ongoing and that an arrest was close. Estes' cousin then reportedly acknowledged his original statements to investigators were false about where Estes had been that night. The cousin said Estes had been on Collier Court and Estes later confided to him he had shot Thompson.
No motive for the shooting is noted in the probable cause statement.