UPDATE: Holts Summit woman sentenced to 32 years for murder

By Brian Hauswirth
boonecountycourthouse

A woman from mid-Missouri’s Holts Summit has been sentenced to more than three decades in prison for the 2025 shooting death of her neighbor during a heated argument.

Our news partner ABC-17 reports 38-year-old Heather Smith has been sentenced to 32 years in prison for the shooting death of Kara Dills.

Smith was convicted in April of second degree murder, armed criminal action and three other felonies.

939 the Eagle News covered some of that April trial. The heated argument started over children riding bikes in a Holts Summit apartment complex.

Smith testified during the April trial and told the jury that it was self-defense.