Four of six suspected in fatal shooting arraigned

COLUMBIA – Police have obtained one of the guns used in the fatal shooting of Ronald Cornell Brown, 18, in northeast Columbia early Monday morning, according to a probable cause statement filed in Boone County Circuit Court. The shooting is thought to have been the result of two botched robbery plans.

Based on statements made by one of the men during interviews, police found the handgun fired during the shooting in a bush between the former Sky Hi Bar and Grill and the Golden Corral restaurant on Clark Lane.

More details of the shooting were outlined in the statements filed with the court for the arraignment of four of the six men suspected of involvement in Brown's death.

Andre Joshia Lee, 21, Nicholas James Weavers, 21, Ashtin Levi Weger, 19, and Michael Leshawn McHenry, 17, were charged Tuesday in Boone County Circuit Court with first-degree attempted robbery and second-degree murder.

The four men are each being held on $500,000 cash-only bond for each charge.

The two other young men suspected of involvement in the shooting will have detention hearings in juvenile court on Wednesday morning.  

One of the young men was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder, first-degree attempted robbery and armed criminal action.

The other was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder, first-degree attempted robbery and possession of a controlled substance.

According to the statement, McHenry told police that he, Weavers and two juveniles intended to rob Weger, Lee and Brown of the $2,100 they expected Weger to have brought to purchase a large amount of marijuana.

In turn, Weger told police that Lee and Brown intended on robbing the four men of the marijuana, according to the statement.

Shortly after their arrival at Ballenger Liquor and C Store, Weger told police that a dark-colored Jeep Cherokee, occupied by McHenry, Weavers and the two juveniles, drove up.

One of the young men then got out and fired a handgun at the three men, according to the statement.

The groups then fired on each other, during which Brown was shot in the lower abdomen and pelvic area. He was later pronounced dead at University Hospital.

Police found the vehicle, owned by one of juveniles, in the parking lot of Home Depot at 3215 Clark Lane.

Counsel status hearings for McHenry, Weavers and Weger are scheduled for Friday.