COLUMBIA — The 17-year-old charged as an adult in the January shooting death of Michael Ryan Burke appeared by video in Boone County court Wednesday for his initial appearance.
Court documents show Mikel Jones was certified as an adult Tuesday and charged with second-degree felony murder, first-degree robbery and two counts of armed criminal action.
During Wednesday’s hearing, a judge denied bond for Jones and set a bond review hearing for May 12.
According to a probable cause statement, Jones allegedly shot and killed Burke during a Facebook Marketplace iPhone sale on Jan. 18 before fleeing the scene.
Jones faces charges alongside three other teens — Alexis Baumann, Kobe Aust and Joseph Crane — who are between 18 and 19 years old. The probable cause statement says Aust, Baumann and Crane were inside the vehicle that left the scene after the shooting.
Authorities accuse the suspects of stealing phones from several people in Columbia as part of a scheme that eventually led to Burke’s death at his home, according to previous KOMU 8 reporting.
Tara Eppy, superintendent of Columbia’s Robert L. Perry Juvenile Justice Center, previously said Jones had been referred to the center 18 times before the incident. Six of those referrals involved status offenses, meaning the behavior was not criminal but considered misconduct, according to earlier KOMU 8 reporting.
Jones remains in the Boone County Jail without bond.
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