Charges dismissed against murder suspect

Prosecutors have dropped charges against a man accused of murder in connection with a fatal shooting last year at a now-defunct Cape Girardeau nightclub.

Malcolm U. Harris had been charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action after the Dec. 16 slaying of Nicholas Gilbert at The Spot nightclub, 433 S. Sprigg St.

The Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney's office on Wednesday dismissed the charges filed Dec. 17 by assistant prosecutor Angel Woodruff, citing insufficient evidence to present the case to a jury.

Public defender Jennifer Slone declined to comment on the specifics of the case, but she said under Missouri law, prosecutors have the option of dropping charges against a defendant and reinstating them if evidence emerges, although that scenario is "extremely rare."

Darin Hickey, public information officer for the Cape Girardeau Police Department, said the case remains under investigation.

"We're back investigating it, and obviously detectives are working on it, and we'll see how it goes from there," Hickey said.

According to a probable-cause statement filed Dec. 17, an eyewitness identified Harris as the shooter.

In the statement, Det. Sgt. Don Perry of the Cape Girardeau Police Department said in the hours after the shooting, officers responded to two calls about Harris "behaving in an aggressive and out-of-control manner" and took him into protective custody because of his behavior and apparent level of intoxication.

In the statement Perry said Harris' face and left hand were injured, and when police treated his hands with a substance called FerroTrace -- which turns purple when exposed to iron -- they found iron residue on his right palm near his thumb and across his fingertips, consistent with someone who recently had handled a gun.

Harris' parents have maintained their son is innocent.

"If I had to put my life on the line on whether Malcolm did this, I would," Willie Harris, his father, told the Southeast Missourian in December. "He did not shoot that man."

Neither Malcolm nor Willie Harris could be reached for comment Wednesday.

The prosecutor's office is asking anyone with information about the case to call the Cape Girardeau Police Department at 335-6621.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

433 S. Sprigg St., Cape Girardeau, MO