Cape Girardeau man to stand trial for July home robbery

Cape Girardeau County Associate Circuit Judge Gary A. Kamp ruled Martavius Scales should stand trial for a July 6 robbery.

At a preliminary hearing for Scales, 24, of 812 Good Hope St., a witness testified that Scales, along with another man, Nieko Kuykendoll, robbed her at gunpoint after accosting her in her residence on July 6.

She also testifed that she was shot at when she walked ouside her residence on July 29.

She later identified Kuykendoll from a lineup as the man who fired the shots and the man who'd been with Scales when she was robbed at gunpoint.

According to her testimony, on July 6, she answered a knock on her door to find two men inquiring about someone named "Slash." She told them she didn't know a "Slash," and closed the door. A minute later, they again knocked on the door, and when she opened it, they forced their way into the house.

Scales pointed a handgun at her and asked her "what she had," she testified.

She told them they could have anything they wanted in her house, and Scales took money and a cell phone, she testified.

At one point, Scales allegedly threatened to kill her and her baby if she called the police and reported the robbery.

The vicitm recognized Scales when she saw his photo on KFVS12 in connection with an unrelated shooting that occurred July 9 in the 600 block of Maple Street.

Police eventually apprehended Scales at the Pear Tree Inn in Cape Girardeau. Scales faces charges of armed criminal action and first-degree assault in connection with that shooting.

Scales' case on the robbery charge was bound over to circuit court Thursday afternoon following the victim's testimony. An arraignment was tentatively set for 9 a.m. Sept. 8.

Scales is held at the Cape Girardeau County Jail on $150,000 cash-only bond.

Kuykendoll was also held for trial after a preliminary hearing Tuesday. That case was set for arraignment Sept. 8 also.