Family and friends of an inmate who was shot inside the Cole County Jail dispute allegations the prisoner shot himself. They demanded more details from the investigation be released to the public during a protest Wednesday outside the Cole County Courthouse.
Brandon McNeese shot himself at the jail Nov. 25 and was taken to a local hospital for treatment and brought back to the jail on the same day, authorities have said. McNeese now faces possible additional charges stemming from the shooting.
So far, the Cole County Sheriff's Department and other investigating agencies have given little explanation for how a gun appeared in the jail. Sheriff John Wheeler said Wednesday he was still unable to release anymore information.
A joint investigation with the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, U.S. Marshals Service, Missouri Highway Patrol and the Cole County Sheriff's Department was launched after the shooting. It hasn't been determined whether charges in connection with the shooting will be filed at the local or federal level, Cole County Prosecutor Locke Thompson told the News Tribune.
In October 2018, McNeese was indicted by a federal grand jury on drug distribution and illegal firearm charges in Jefferson City, according to court records. Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone convicted of a felony to possess any firearm or ammunition. McNeese has a prior federal felony conviction for possessing crack cocaine with intent to distribute. The 2018 case is scheduled to go to trial in June.
On Wednesday, McNeese's wife, Kathleen, said her husband called her after the shooting and told her he had been shot from behind.
Kathleen McNeese said they were protesting Wednesday because they "needed to speak up louder to get something done."
She noted Brandon has been in the jail for more than a year.
"They (the inmates) still have rights, and the family has the right to know what is going on," said Eudoria Wilson, a friend of Kathleen McNeese, who joined Wednesday's protest. "There's so many loose ends, but in the end, there are two questions that need to be addressed: how did a gun end up in the jail, and how does a shooting occur in the jail?"