Pulaski County jury found Marcus Lavender, of St. Robert, guilty on multiple charges

Kevin Hillman, Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney, has announced that after a two-day trial, a Pulaski County jury found Marcus Lavender, of St. Robert, guilty of Assault in the Second Degree, Armed Criminal Action, Endangering the Welfare of a Child in the First Degree and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm. In addition, the Court found that he is a prior and persistent felony offender. These charges arose from an incident in June 2019 on Harvey Drive of Highway 28. The incident began after the defendant accidentally killed his neighbor’s children’s kitten. When the neighbor confronted Lavender about the dead kitten, Lavender became angry and retrieved a 9mm handgun and began to shoot at his neighbor and his children. He struck the neighbor in the leg causing an injury that required his neighbor to be transferred to the University Hospital in Columbia for treatment. Although none of the bullets struck the children, they were in the yard and next to their father when he was struck. Lavender is a convicted felon and was on probation for Unlawful Use of a Weapon at the time of the offense. Judge Beger has previously revoked his probation and sentenced him to eleven years in the Department of Corrections. Prior to the trial, the Missouri Board of Parole saw fit to parole Lavender, despite these charges, and he has been in the Pulaski County Jail awaiting trial and sentencing. On July 15th, Judge John Beger sentenced Marcus Lavender to ten years in the Department of Corrections on each count as a prior and persistent felony offender. In addition, Judge Beger ran counts one, two, and three consecutive to one another with count four running concurrently. This means that Mr. Lavender will serve thirty years in the Department of Corrections. Prosecuting Attorney Hillman said, “I want to commend the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department for their response and hard work in investigating this case. I also want to thank the victims and their families who had to testify about this incident on several occasions and spent two long days at the Courthouse to ensure justice was rendered. Finally, I want to applaud my Assistant Prosecutors who worked hard to make sure a dangerous felon like this defendant will spend a long time in prison where he belongs.”