93.9 The Eagle – The News and Talk of Columbia, MO
A Columbia man who’s charged with the Christmas Day killing of his girlfriend is scheduled to be arraigned this (Monday) morning in Boone County Circuit Court. Court documents indicate the victim was strangled to death, while holding her one-year-old child.
A Boone County grand jury has indicted 38-year-old Jeffrey Edward Skaggs for second degree murder and for endangering the welfare of a child. The indictment replaces charges that were filed in January. Boone County prosecutors note Skaggs has “an extensive criminal history”, which includes resisting arrest and drug convictions.
The Boone County Sheriff Department’s redacted one-page probable cause statement has said that deputies were dispatched to the 6000 block of East O’Rear road for a cardiac arrest early Christmas morning and found Skaggs with the dead 41-year-old woman. Court documents have quoted Skaggs as admitting to assaulting the victim before she died. Court documents also say the woman’s cell phone captured a portion of the assault, allegedly showing Skaggs being the aggressor and assaulting the woman as she was holding her one-year-old.
Skaggs, who’s jailed without bond, is set to be arraigned at 9 this morning before Boone County Circuit Judge Kevin Crane.
