Boone County Circuit Judge Kevin Crane has scheduled a Friday afternoon plea hearing in a high-profile Columbia infant death case.
A Boone County grand jury indicted 32-year-old Staffone Fountain, a former Columbia resident, for second degree murder, endangering the welfare of a child and abandonment of a corpse. The indictment replaced an earlier first degree murder charge. Fountain has ties to both Independence and St. Joseph. The indictment alleges that Fountain struck or placed his infant daughter Samone Daniels “in an unsafe sleeping environment or by a combination of striking S.J.D. and placing S.J.D. in an unsafe sleeping environment,” causing the child’s death.
The infant’s remains were discovered in 2019 in a tire near Columbia’s North Providence, near McKnight Tire. Former Columbia police chief Geoff Jones announced the charges against Fountain during an emotional June 2022 press conference at city hall.
939 the Eagle News has spoken to both Boone County assistant prosecutor Susan Boresi and defense attorney Jennifer Bukowsky. While they can’t talk any specifics, they do confirm Friday’s plea hearing is a go.
