Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday morning at the Boone County Courthouse in a Columbia double murder trial.
37-year-old Cadilac Derrick is charged in Boone County with two counts of first degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action and two other felonies for the November 2022 deaths of a woman and her grandmother. Derrick is charged in the shooting deaths of 22-year-old Lea’johna Sanders and 53-year-old Laura Myers.
Court documents say that Derrick and Sanders had an infant son, and that indicate Sanders called 911 in November 2022 to say Derrick had been abusing her. Sanders told the dispatcher that Derrick would not leave her house and that he told her if she didn’t stay with him, he was going to kill her and her mother. Multiple gunshots were then heard on the 911 call, according to the Columbia Police Department’s probable cause statement.
939 the Eagle News was at the Boone County Courthouse for Monday’s pre-trial conference. Boone County assistant prosecutor Risa Perkins and Clayton defense attorney Joseph Whitener told Boone County Circuit Judge Brouck Jacobs they are ready for trial. 75 prospective jurors are being called to the Boone County Courthouse this morning. Prosecutor Perkins tells Judge Jacobs she expects jury selection to take about two hours. Counselor Whitener told the judge in open court that Derrick may or may not testify at the trial, which is expected to take three or four days.
