One of two Jefferson City men charged after they fired weapons outside an apartment building in December 2019 has been placed on five years of supervised probation.
Jerome Malone, 55, pleaded guilty during a hearing before Cole County Circuit Judge Dan Green to unlawful possession of a firearm, receiving stolen property, unlawful use of a weapon and resisting arrest.
If he violates his probation, he faces four years in prison.
Clifton Grinston, 34, is charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful use of a weapon in the case. He is scheduled to appear before Cole County Presiding Judge Jon Beetem next month.
Officers were called to the 200 block of West Atchison Street for a report of shots fired, according to a Jefferson City Police Department probable cause statement.
A witness said two men had fired multiple rounds. The witness said one of the men had fired two rounds, then handed the gun to another man who fired two more rounds. The witness said the men had gone in the back door of the building and left a few moments later, with one of the men then firing another round of ammunition.
An officer saw multiple shell casings, later identified as 9mm rounds, on a rear porch and heard voices arguing from inside.
Officers found Malone and Grinston inside the building, dressed in dark clothing in a stairwell.
In one of the apartments, officers found a box of 9mm ammunition and a pistol holster.
Grinston and Malone were asked to step outside, and the witness identified them as the men who had been shooting the gun.
After getting a search warrant, officers went back through the apartment. They found two pistols in the kitchen, one of which was a 9mm gun that had been reported stolen Sept. 14, 2019, in Jefferson City. The other weapon was a .25-caliber pistol.
Malone admitted he and Grinston had been shooting guns, but Grinston said Malone had fired the gun. Grinston also reportedly said he had tried to fire the .25-caliber gun but it didn't work.
