KWOS Jefferson City News Authority
A Columbia murder suspect admits he shot and killed Corey Jordan after a 2020 dispute involving money at a Douglass park dice game.
939 the Eagle News was at the Boone County Courthouse for Monday afternoon’s emotional hearing. 51-year-old Rickey Lee Murry pleaded guilty Monday afternoon to voluntary manslaughter, armed criminal action and unlawful possession of a weapon during the hearing in Boone County Circuit Court.
Prosecutors amended their earlier first degree murder charge to voluntary manslaughter, suggesting there could be issues at trial with witness testimony. Corey Jordan’s mother and about ten other family members were in the courtroom, opposed to the plea agreement. The mother testifies her son was killed over $3 at the dice game and that Murry should be in prison for the rest of his life.
The Columbia Police Department’s probable cause statement says Murry killed the victim after a dispute during a dice game over money. Court documents say Murry was “creeping around” Douglass park, hiding behind trees and vehicles before shooting Jordan to death.
The mother tells Judge Brouck Jacobs that she’s not pleased with the reduction of charges from first degree murder. The judge notes that it was the prosecutor’s office that amended the charges, not him.
Judge Jacobs has scheduled sentencing for September 8. The judge says he will take the victim family’s testimony into account at the September sentencing.
