How you can be convicted of murder in Missouri without killing anyone (2024)

Joshua Brown was behind the wheel as a maroon Plymouth sedansped away from Deputy Matthew Chism in El Dorado Springs.

This was Nov. 2, 2014, just after midnight.

Chism had tried to stop the Plymouthfor a busted headlight, but Brown drove off, so Chism followed in his patrol car.

At some point during the pursuit through Cedar County, Brown slowed down to let his passenger —William Collins —get out and run away.

Chism stopped as well and chased Collins on foot as Brown drove away,throwing meth syringes out of the car window.

The foot pursuit turned into a shootout.

Chism and Collins shot each other to death.

Brown, the driver who had fled the scene and was not involved in the shooting, was charged with murder in the deputy's death.

Missouri is one of 45states in which someone can be charged with murder without actually killing someone through a mechanism known as felony murder.

To prove felony murder, prosecutors must show the defendant committed a felony and someone died as a result. In Brown's case, that felony was "hindering prosecution," which is classified among the lowest-levelfelonies on the books.

The case went to trial in 2016, and a Greene County jury found Brown guilty of felony murder, which carries a possible life sentence.

When it came time for sentencing, however, Greene County Judge Calvin Holden threwout the murder conviction, saying he consulted with other judges who felt like felony murder wasn't appropriate.

"I've never liked your charging of felony murder in this case," Holden told the prosecutor.

Despite Holden's high-profile decision in 2016, Cedar County prosecutors charged Brown with felony murder again on Jan. 4.

As other states have weakened theirfelony murder statutes in recent years, the charge remains fairly popular for Missouri prosecutors.According to data obtained by the News-Leader, 151people were charged with felony murder across the state from January 2017 through November 2018.

The cases involvesupplying drugs to someonewho overdosed, leading police on chases where innocent bystanders were killed, participating in drug deals where someone was shot and unlocking the doorfor robbers.

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Proponents of felony murder say it gives prosecutors a necessary tool to punish violent groups and protect the public. On the other hand, opponents say felony murder allows courtsto push lengthy prison sentences on offenders who never intended for someone to be killed.

Missouri's felony murder law is broad, expert says

A California law that went into effect this month limits who can be charged with felony murder to people who directly helped with ahomicide or were “a major participant in the underlying felony and acted with reckless indifference to human life.”

Other states, like Michigan and Kentucky,have gotten rid of felony murder altogether.

Missouri is one of the few states where any felony, no matter the seriousness, can be the basis for a felony murder charge.

Guyora Binder, a law professor at the University at Buffalo who has written a book on felony murder, said Missouri is one of the easiest states for prosecutors to convict someone of felony murder.

"In Missouri, you have seen people charged with felony murder as a result of participating in felonies that are pretty minor crimes or don't seem inherently dangerous," Binder said.

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Perhaps the most glaringcase came in 1986 in the St. Louis area.

James Colenburg was driving down a residential street when he fatally strucka 2-year-old child who ran in front of his vehicle. Since Colenburg was driving a car that he had stolen seven months earlier, a felony, and someone died, he was convicted of felony murder.

Binder said in Missouri, felony murder cases also don't require that the death be caused by an agent of the felony. So, for example, if a police officer hit and killed a pedestrian while pursuing a fleeing suspect,the fleeing suspect could be charged with murder.

"If police are overzealous or careless using force, it can be blamed on one of the felons that they are trying to arrest," Binder said. "That creates some perverse incentives for prosecutors."

He said prosecutors have also been known to charge people with felony murder as a way to encourage offenders to plead guilty to lesser crimes associated with a death.

Binder said the main argument of people who oppose felony murder laws like the one in Missouri is that the lawsdon't require offenders have the intent to kill.

"The basic argument is murder is the most serious form of homicide,it should be the most culpable," Binder said. "Many people think thatto be punishedfor murder, you should have to intentionallykill someone."

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Prosecutor says felony murder can be 'useful tool'

Darrell Moore, a former Greene County Prosecutor who now leads the Missouri Office of Prosecution Services, said felony murder can be an important tool for prosecutors —provided they use it correctly.

Moore said the charge is often used in situations like a home invasion where two people break into a home. One person shoots the homeowner and is charged with murder and the other burglar is charged with felony murder.

"You want to hold the other one responsible for being in that situation," Moore said.

Moore said felony murder should act as a deterrent for people who might engage in group acts like a robbery or home break-in where it's possible someone could be killed.

"The goal is to prevent people from being killed, to prevent murder," Moore said.

Felony murder convictions in Missouri carry a range of punishment of 10 years to life (30 years) in prison, and offenders have to serve 85 percent of their sentence before they are eligible for release.

While it's technically true that a low-level felony like "passing a bad check" could be used as the basis for a felony murder charge, Moore said it's much more common to see burglary, robbery or fleeing from police as the underlying felony charge.

During his time with the Missouri Attorney General's Office, Moore used a felony murder charge to convict Anthony Balbirnie in the 2012 death of Kighla Parks, a 15-year-old Willard girl.

The evidence showed that Parks died fromcerebral asphyxiation while having sex with Balbirnie, who was 47at the time. After Parks died, Balbirnie then drove to Truman Lake where he dumped the girl's body.

Balbirnie was charged with felony murder, using statutory rape as the underlying felony. He was convicted and sentenced to life plus 20 years in prison.

"I think it's a useful tool to help law enforcement and prosecutors remove dangerous individuals from the streets and try to protect the general public," Moore said. "You need to use it wisely and with discretion and not abuse it."

Aurora man charged with murder after cop shooting

Another southwest Missouri case moving through the court system illustrates the complicated nature of felony murder.

On May 5, prosecutors say Aurora police pulled over a car driven by 21-year-old Savannah Hill as they were trying toarrest her passenger, Mason Farris.

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Prosecutors believe Farris, who wanted Hill to flee, reached up and pushed Hill's leg, causing her to accelerate.

The car lurched backward and struck one of the officers, according to prosecutors. That's when a second officer shot into the car and killed Hill.

Lawrence County ProsecutorDon Trotter said Hill was "completely innocent," and he also declined to file charges against the officer who fired the fatal shot.

The only person charged was Farris, who is awaiting trial on felony murder.

Prosecutors say Farris pushing on Hill's leg and causing the car to hit the officer constitutes resisting arrest, and that led to Hill's death.

Farris'attorney Kyle Tolbert said he doesn't think felony murder is the right charge in this case.

"Mason maintains his innocence on this, that he did not do anything to cause the death of Ms. Hill," Tolbert said.

Tolbert said this isn't a typical felony murder case, like two people robbing a store and one of them killing the cashier. Instead, this case involves a police officer killing an innocent person.

Tolbert said there's a lot of evidence to sort through in this investigation.

"I think there's a lot that went wrong in this case," Tolbert said.

Tolbert said his office is gatheringevidence before decidinghow to move forward. Meanwhile, a potential life sentence is looming.

News-Leader reporter Giacomo Bologna contributed to this report.