A Columbia man charged with shooting and killing his ex-girlfriend Friday night on Typhoon court will make his initial court appearance this afternoon at 1, via video from the Boone County jail.
Boone County prosecutors have charged 27-year-old John Williamson III with first degree murder, armed criminal action and with unlawful use of a weapon for the weekend death of 27-year-old Azairah Brownlee, who was shot in the neck. Williamson’s initial court appearance is set for 1 pm, before Boone County Judge Stephanie Morrell.
Court documents say Williamson is the ex-boyfriend and that Friday night’s incident began with Williamson banging on the driver’s window of the victim’s car and then getting into the truck’s bed. The Columbia Police Department’s heavily-redacted four-page probable cause statement says Williamson and his ex-girlfriend then began fighting and that Brownlee was shot once.
The court documents also allege that Williamson punched Brownlee in the head with a closed fist 20 times in January. CPD’s probable cause statement also alleges that Williamson called the victim dozens of times in the hours leading up to the murder, and that Williamson restricted some of those calls to conceal who was calling.
