COLUMBIA — A second suspect has been charged in connection with the Thursday homicide of a Columbia woman, Columbia police said in a news release.
Nicole Mae Palmer, 19, faces three charges: hindering prosecution; distribution, delivery, manufacture, or production of a controlled substance; and use or possession of drug paraphernalia.
Boone County Sheriff’s deputies detained Palmer and Blake N. Logan, 18, both of Columbia, at the Midway Travel Plaza a few miles west of Columbia on Thursday night. The pair was in a vehicle that police said was at the scene of a slaying just an hour earlier — the same vehicle police think Nicole Sue Crumby, 26, was shot in.
Logan has been charged on suspicion of second-degree murder, first-degree robbery and armed criminal action.
Crumby was pronounced dead after she was found lying in the parking lot of the Red Roof Inn at about 8:45 p.m. Thursday night. Witnesses told police they saw a white vehicle speeding away from the scene, and police used footage from motel security cameras to identify the vehicle in which Logan and Palmer were later found.
It is unclear if police believe Palmer was present at the scene of the slaying, or what — if any — role they believe she played in the incident at Red Roof Inn.
Neither Detective Jeff Westbrook nor Captain Stephen Monticelli could be reached for comment Friday night.
Check back with www.columbiamissourian.com as more details come in.