UPDATE: Plea hearing scheduled for Monday in high-profile Columbia murder case

The suspect in a high-profile Columbia killing is scheduled to appear in Boone County Circuit Court Monday morning for a plea hearing.

31-year-old Larry Brownlee Jr. is charged with second degree murder and two other felonies for the shooting death of a three-year-old child in September 2023. Online court records show defense attorney Kevin Lorenz has filed a motion that says Brownlee has reached a plea agreement with the state. The plea hearing is scheduled for 9 am Monday at the Boone County Courthouse before Judge Stephanie Morrell.

The Columbia Police Department’s redacted probable cause statement in this case quotes the child’s mother as telling CPD investigators that Brownlee asked her multiple times “not to tell on him.”

The probable cause statement indicates the child’s mother told CPD detectives conflicting stories about what happened that day. She’s quoted as originally telling police that the child was shot as they were returning from grocery shopping but later told police she was in the kitchen when she heard a “pop” in the bedroom and saw the child shot in the stomach.