A mid-Missouri man with a criminal record has been sentenced to 30 years in prison, for shooting a delivery driver near Hartsburg in November 2022.
Boone County prosecutor Roger Johnson praises the lengthy sentence against 35-year-old Dustin Higgins of Fulton, saying the gunshot broke three of the delivery driver’s ribs before the bullet exited his body. A jury convicted Higgins of first degree assault, armed criminal action and resisting arrest.
Prosecutor Johnson praises the sentence from Boone County Circuit Judge Joshua Devine, saying “violent crimes like this have no place in our community.” The incident happened in the early-morning hours, as the deliveryman unloaded a truck on James Sapp road near Hartsburg. Prosecutor Johnson says Higgins approached the victim and said “would a cop do this?”, before shooting the delivery driver. Boone County sheriff’s deputies identified Higgins as the shooter through phone records and social media accounts, according to Prosecutor Johnson. The suspect was captured in Columbia’s Home Depot parking lot, after a chase on Highway 63.
Missouri’s Probation and Parole Board revoked Higgins’ parole after the shooting, and he’s currently incarcerated at the maximum-security Jefferson City Correctional Center finishing his unrelated sentence for possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a firearm.
A Boone County grand jury indicted Higgins in June, noting he is a “prior and persistent offender.”
