Elijah H. Watts
Editor's note: This article has been updated to add information about the victim.
A man was shot and killed late Saturday night in Sedalia.
According to a Sedalia Police Department news release, officers responded to 11th Street and South Ohio Avenue at 11:28 p.m. Saturday for a report of gunshots and a subject on the ground. Upon arrival, officers located the victim who had been shot several times. Attempts to revive the victim were not successful and he was pronounced dead at the scene by Pettis County Coroner Skip Smith, according to Sedalia Police Chief Matthew Wirt.
SPD identified the victim Sunday afternoon as 25-year-old Adrian R. Clark, of Sedalia.
“Then they started working on canvassing the area for any information,” Wirt told the Democrat on Sunday. “They were able to get a few leads along the way and be able to track down the suspect through those leads just during the initial investigation.
“It’s great teamwork between the patrol and officers and the detectives to get those quick leads and for folks in the neighborhood and the public to give us the information. Very appreciative of that and the community. Through that front end information, they were able to track down the suspect and make an arrest.”
Officers arrested 27-year-old Elijah H. Watts, of Sedalia, and are requesting charges of second-degree murder, armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon, and felon in possession of a firearm.
“It is still super early in the investigation,” Wirt said. “We’ll have more hopefully in the days to come and we’ve got lots of evidence and lab work and all of that sort of stuff to get done. At least we’ve got it, at this point, wrapped up enough that we can have somebody in custody for it...” said Wirt. “We’re not looking for any more suspects.”
The Missouri State Highway Patrol and Pettis County Sheriff’s Office assisted with scene security.
Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to contact the Sedalia Police Department at 660-827-7823.
