Sentencing is set for this afternoon for a Columbia man convicted of the gruesome murder of a woman thrown 38 feet to her death from a Highway 63 overpass near Clark lane’s Bob Evans.
A Boone County jury deliberated for a few hours in May before convicting 33-year-old Jessie Williams of second degree murder. Williams was originally charged with first degree murder for the death of 24-year-old Kaylen Ann Schmit, who died in October 2022. 939 the Eagle News covered Williams’ May trial at the Boone County Courthouse. Boone County assistant prosecutor Susan Boresi told the jury at trial that Ms. Schmit’s liver was split open from her 38-foot fall and that she also suffered fractured ribs.
Williams was paroled from prison in August 2022, less than two months before Schmit was killed.
Williams is scheduled to be sentenced Monday at 2:30 by Judge Brouck Jacobs in Boone County Circuit Court. He could face a potential life prison sentence, but a life prison sentence for second degree murder is calculated at 30 years. Williams will be eligible for parole after serving at least 85 percent of his sentence.
It’s unclear whether Williams will take the witness stand on Monday.