Nixa Police Need Public's Help To Solve Homicide:

-

Gerald "Jerry" Dunn

-

It's been five years since a twenty three year-old man was killed by a hit and run driver on Highway 14 at Tiffany Boulevard in Nixa, and his family still has no answers.

At about 1:30 a.m. on July 11, 2006, Nixa Police received a call about a body in the road just east of the intersection.  When authorities arrived they found Gerald "Jerry" Dunn dead.  However, there was no blood or other evidence at the scene.  

Detective Jason Hartsell says tire marks were visible on Dunn’s body and autopsy results confirmed the man had been run over.  “We are looking for any information we can get,” Hartsell says. “Someone out there knows something and needs to come forward.”

-

-

Investigators have determined that Dunn left a friend's house after an argument and that's where the trail turns cold - there not sure if Dunn was hit there or somewhere else and placed there, “We are investigating this case as a homicide due to the little information we have to go on,” Hartsell says. “However, we do not have any suspects.”

If you have any information that could help solve this crime you're asked to contact the Nixa Police Department at (417) 725-2510.

Former State Trooper Headed To Prison:

Kenny Lynn Dean (mug shot CCSO)

A former Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper is headed to prison after violating his parole for assaulting his wife.

Thirty three year-old Kenny Lynn Dean, who was assigned to Troop D (southwest Missouri) from January of '01 to March of '04, was charged last June with kidnapping, burglary and beating up his estranged wife Tracy in Christian County.  Those charges were amended to second degree domestic assault, which he pleaded guilty to on February 18th of this year, and was placed on 5 years probation.

Christian County chief assistant prosecutor Chris Lebeck says that after Dean was released from the Christian County jail he went to Tracy Dean's home in Nixa and held her against her will for at least 24 hours.  A family member called authorities after they had not heard from the woman. 

As police officers arrived at Tracy Dean's home they found her running to a neighbor's house for help. Officers attempted to apprehend Dean, who fled in a vehicle and led officers on a high speed chase, "But he wasn't havin' any part of that and sped up," according to Nixa police Detective Jason Hartsell.

Dean's former colleagues and officers with the Ozark police department assisted in the chase that ended at 2405 W. Westwind Drive in Ozark after the vehicle Dean was driving was disabled by spike strips.  Dean then bolted from his vehicle and attempted to steal a pickup truck parked in the driveway.  Unsuccessful, he ran into the open garage of strangers and picked up a large metal object and assaulted Trooper Scott Rice and Ozark police officer Tim Fielden.

Dean also pleaded guilty last week to two counts of second degree assault of a law enforcement officer and one count of burglary.  He will be sentenced on those charges on August 12th.

Dean was also sentenced to four years in prison for defrauding a secured creditor and was sentenced to four years in prison on that charge which will be served concurrent (at the same time) to the five year sentence.



In February of 2009 Stone County prosecutor Matt Selby charged Dean with first-degree domestic assault, second-degree felonious restraint and second-degree domestic assault and endangering the welfare of a child after Dean allegedly kidnapped Tracy Dean from their Highlandville home and beat her up at several places in Stone County before bringing her to her mother's home in Riverfork Ranch and holding both women against their will there.  That assault left Tracy Dean with bleeding on her brain and a fractured wrist.

He is scheduled to stand trial on the Stone County Charges in August of this year.

Nixa PD Needs Your Help In Identifying Suspect Who Tried To Rob Pharmacy:

Authorities In Nixa Need Your Help Identifying This Man

Police in Nixa are asking for the public's help in identifying a suspect who attempted to rob the pharmacy at Price Cutter in Nixa this afternoon (02-23-11.)

Detective Jason Hartsell says a white male approximately 19 to 25 year-old demanded two types of narcotics from a clerk and told her not to push any alarms.

The clerk told the suspect no.  A manager of the store chased after the man as he fled.  Hartsell says the suspect ran into a car on the Cox Health lot as he made his getaway.

The suspect is believed to be driving a light colored (possibly tan) SUV (possibly a Lexus). 

Witnesses were able to give police officers the first three characters on the license plate, FD8. Hartsell says the suspect a car on the Cox Health lot as he made his getaway. 

The man is described as six feet tall and was last seen wearing a black stopping cap with light stripes on it and a North Face jacket.

If you can help police identify the suspect you're asked to call the Nixa Police Department at 417-725-2510 or 9-1-1.

Fight Between Neighbors In Nixa Turns Deadly; Suspect Released As Investigation Contiues:

An alleged fight over money between neighbors turned deadly about 8 p.m. last night in the 400 block of South Patricia Avenue in Nixa.

Detective Jason Hartsell says 51 year-old Rex Hicks and his girlfriend called their neighbor R. B. and his wife and began arguing about $200 R. B. owed them for an entertainment center.  Hartsell says Hicks (who lived at 417 Harrison) and his girlfriend then went to 410 South Patricia where the ongoing feud turned deadly when Hicks was shot with a hunting rifle after being told to leave the property.

Hartsell says it's not the first time authorities had been called to break up disturbances between the neighbors.

Hartsell will meet with Christian County prosecutors this afternoon to determine if involuntary manslaughter charges will be filed in this case.

R.B. is being held in the Christian County jail on a 24 hour investigative hold pending the filing of formal charges.
-
UPDATE 01-18-11 @ 9:20 P.M.:

According to assistant prosecutor Donovan Dobbs, R. B. was released from custody and the investigation into the shooting continues.  "They're (police) looking into different things, talking to additional people and continuing the investigation. There wasn't enough evidence to charge him right now so he was released this evening."

Springfield Man Charged With Assault After Stabbing Nixa Man In The Neck:

Frederick Lee Robinson

One man is behind bars while another fights for his life after an altercation in the early morning hours of April 10th in Nixa.

Christian County Prosecutor Ron Cleek has charged Frederick Lee Robinson, 34, Springfield, with felony assault and armed criminal action after Robinson allegedly stabbed Ryan Jones in the throat over a $50 debt at Jones’ apartment at 1212 Viola in Nixa.

Detective Jason Hartsell writes in the probable cause statement that authorities followed a blood trail from Jones' apartment to the apartment directly above Jones'. There they found Robinson, who visiting a friend, with a cut on his hand. According to court documents detectives recovered a knife, that still had human flesh on it, in a tub of Christmas ornaments in the woman's apartment. The woman told cops that she had never seen the weapon before.

Jones remains in critical condition at a Springfield hospital.

Robinson is being held in the Christian County jail on $100,000 bond.