Murder charges against

The Boone County Prosecutor’s office dropped first-degree robbery and second-degree murder charges Tuesday against one of three men charged in the March slaying of Carlos Kelly.

Felson Barney, 29, was accused of holding a gun while Travis Midgyett hit Kelly in the head with a board in Kelly’s apartment on Cynthia Drive.

Midgyett, 26, and Rodney Cunningham, 30, are charged with first-degree robbery and second-degree murder.

Midgyett has a motion hearing at 9 a.m. today in the Boone County Courthouse, and Cunningham has a motion hearing at 1:30 p.m. Monday.

Boone County Assistant Prosecutor Steven Berry declined to comment on why the charges against Barney were dropped.

Boone County Public Defender Amy O’Keefe said she did not know why the charges were dropped but she said justice was served.

“There was no forensic evidence or eyewitnesses that linked my client to the scene,” O’Keefe said. “There were three other eyewitnesses, and none of them said they could identify my client. The one eyewitness that made a statement recanted it. In fact, he said he lied.”

Even though the charges have been dropped, Barney, who was on parole at the time of the crime, could spend another seven years in prison.

Brian Hauswirth, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Corrections, said Barney is serving time for four unrelated crimes: armed criminal action, two counts of first-degree attempted robbery and possession of a controlled substance.

Barney is scheduled for a parole hearing Oct. 26 at Jefferson City Correctional Center, Hauswirth said.