An inmate in a high-profile Columbia killing will be released from prison on parole in May.
34-year-old Javion Lawhorn is serving a seven-year prison sentence for involuntary manslaughter and second degree assault for the 2019 shooting death of 18-year-old Nadria Wright, who was killed after leaving the McDonald’s on Columbia’s Business Loop. She had gone to McDonald’s to get a milk shake.
Lawhorn was originally arrested for murder, but Wright’s mother, Shaunda Hamilton, has told 939 the Eagle that she was shocked to learn in March 2021 that Lawhorn had entered an Alford plea to first degree involuntary manslaughter and second degree assault. An Alford plea is a guilty plea in which the defendant maintains innocence but admits that the prosecution’s evidence would likely result in a guilty verdict at trial.
Ms. Hamilton has also said that former Boone County assistant prosecutor Morley Swingle did not inform her about the Alford plea in 2021.
Missouri Department of Corrections spokesman Karen Pojmann tells 939 the Eagle that Lawhorn is scheduled for release from prison on May 28, 2024. Lawhorn is currently incarcerated at the Moberly Correctional Center (MCC).
