Man found guilty of murder in October 2022 death of woman pushed off Highway 63 bridge

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Boone County jury found a Columbia man guilty of murder in the death of Kaylen Schmit.

Jessie Williams, 33, was found guilty of second-degree murder in the October 2022 death of Kaylen Schmit. He is accused of pushing Schmit off the Highway 63 bridge near Clark Lane. Schmit, 24, fell 38 feet into a wooded area and died hours later at a hospital.

Williams was previously charged with first-degree murder. He will be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. Friday, July 12.

Williams appeared in court Thursday alongside his public defender Daniel Hickman. Williams was wearing a blue button up shirt and thick-framed glasses.

The courtroom has heard from 11 witnesses on Thursday as of 7:10 p.m. The jury took a break around 4:30 p.m. When they return, the state is expected to call its last witness. The closing arguments in the case ended around 8:35 p.m. and the verdict came in after 10:30 p.m.

The last witness before the jury went to break was criminal pathologist Dr. Keith Nolan, who works at the Boone County Medical Examiner's Office.

Nolan testified that Schmit's cause of death was due to blunt force trauma. He said while he did not witness the incident, he believes her death to be a homicide.

However, in the cross-examination, the defense pointed out since Nolan did not witness the event, his opinion is based on statements from others. Nolan also said that Schmit had a history of suicidal ideation and at least one prior suicide attempt.

Most witnesses on Thursday were members of the Columbia Police Department who worked on the case. The jury heard from one officer, two criminal investigators and three detectives on Thursday.

Surveillance video was shown that had been collected by detectives. It included video inside and around the Break Time gas station near Conley Road on the day of Schmit's death that showed Schmit and Williams together, along with another man, on the afternoon of her death.

Video from the Best Western hotel showed a white truck pulling over on the Highway 63 overpass and a shirtless man walking south on the highway around the same time Schmit would have fallen to the ground.

More surveillance video from nearby businesses then showed a shirtless Williams walking South by himself past the Break Time and in front of Walmart, Lowe's and Sam's on Conley Road that evening.

CPD body camera footage was also shown from the officer who arrested Williams, and from a detective who spoke to Williams once he was detained.

Det. Joel Mueller said in his testimony, and his body camera video showed, that Williams said "death" for the reason he was at the jail that night. However, Williams later said in that video he was "sick" and "felt dead inside."

Two DNA analysts for the Missouri State Highway Patrol also testified Thursday.

Gretchen Hagen, of the MSHP Crime Lab, said Williams' DNA was unable to be detected on a fingernail clipping that she determined to be Schmit's.

Kaitlee Metcalf said evidence of five males' DNA was found on Schmit's fingernail sample she observed. She said when there are more than two mixtures of male DNA, they are unable to determine the exact DNA. Therefore, she said Williams was not able to be included or excluded from being in that sample.

The trial began Wednesday. Jurors were selected Wednesday morning and heard an opening statement from Assistant Prosecutor Susan Boresi. The defense reserved its statement.

The jury heard from five witnesses on Wednesday, including two people who lived in a nearby homeless camp at the time of Schmit's death, two people who were driving on Highway 63 when they claim to have seen two people in a struggle near the guardrail on the overpass and one CPD officer who was first to respond to the scene.

According to the probable cause statement from 2022, witnesses told police that Williams and Schmit had been seen arguing in a nearby homeless camp before the incident. Other witnesses saw the two walking on the Highway 63 overpass, with one witness telling police he saw Williams grabbing Schmit's legs to throw her over the guardrail on the Highway 63 bridge.

Police say Williams answered questions indicating he pushed Schmit from the bridge because he had mental issues and was sick. However, the statement does not say Williams directly confessed.

Williams was on parole for the August 2018 stabbing of a homeless man. He was previously in the Missouri Department of Corrections from December 2019 until Aug. 8, 2022.

According to CaseNet, Williams was convicted of two assaults in 2019. He pleaded guilty in 2019 to a December 2018 assault and was also charged for handcuffing himself to a Boone County officer and attacking and choking her.

First-degree murder is punishable by life in prison or execution in Missouri.

The prosecution and defense declined to comment.

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