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31-year-old Montez Lee Williams of Columbia is currently jailed without bond in Boone County (November 15, 2022 mug shot courtesy of the Boone County Sheriff's Department)

UPDATE: Columbia murder suspect will remain jailed without bond

31-year-old Montez Lee Williams of Columbia is currently jailed without bond in Boone County (November 15, 2022 mug shot courtesy of the Boone County Sheriff’s Department)

A Boone County judge has denied bond for a Columbia man charged with first degree murder for this week’s killing of a woman in an apparent domestic violence incident on Blue Ridge road.

31-year-old Montez Lee Williams is also charged with five other felonies, including armed criminal action. Columbia Police domestic violence enforcement unit Detective Maggie Franks identifies the victim as 42-year-old April Joann Brooks of Cuba, Missouri. She was found shot to death in a running vehicle.

Williams made his initial arraignment Wednesday via video in Boone County Circuit Court.

“Following the discovery of the body, detectives with the (CPD) criminal investigations division began their investigation and developed probable cause to arrest Montez Lee Williams, 31, of Columbia,” Detective Franks says.

Franks emphasizes that many of Columbia’s recent homicides have included elements of domestic violence.

“If there’s a chance that you, a loved one or anyone else in our community is experiencing an abusive or unsafe relationship, you can contact True North at 1-800-548-2480,” Detective Franks says, in a CPD Twitter post.

Just last weekend, Columbia’s Cadilac Derrick allegedly shot and killed 22-year-old Lea’johna Sanders and 53-year-old Laura Myers. Court documents say Derrick and Sanders had an infant son. Derrick is charged with two counts of second degree murder. Boone County Judge Tracy Gonzalez has ordered that Derrick be jailed without bond pending trial.

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