St. Robert Man Found Guilty of Multiple Felonious Charges

Kevin Hillman, Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney, announces that Tuesday, 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 Mr. 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. Mr. Lavender is a convicted felon and was on probation for Unlawful Use of a Weapon at the time of the offense. Judge John Beger had 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, where he will remain until sentencing on July 15th.