Four appear in court in wake of Kingsway shooting

A Cape Girardeau teen pleaded guilty Monday to a felony drug charge stemming from a June 7 case in which police say a shooting led to the discovery of a methamphetamine lab at a house on Kingsway Drive.

Lacey Solis, 17; her mother, Shauna Hamilton, 32; and her stepfather, Thomas Hamilton, 46, faced multiple drug charges, while 29-year-old Andrew McLendon was charged with second-degree assault and first-degree property damage in connection with an altercation in which he suffered a gunshot wound to the chest.

The four suspects appeared separately in court Monday, but only Solis ended the day with a resolution to her case.

Solis originally faced felony charges of possession of a controlled substance, unlawful use of amphetamine or methamphetamine paraphernalia and possession of anhydrous ammonia in a nonapproved container and a misdemeanor charge of unlawful use of drug paraphernalia after police found evidence of a methamphetamine lab at a property Thomas Hamilton owns at 1467 Kingsway Drive, court records show.

Solis waived arraignment Monday and pleaded guilty to felony possession of a controlled substance as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors.

In return, prosecutors dropped the other charges, and assistant prosecuting attorney Angel Woodruff recommended Circuit Judge Benjamin Lewis suspend imposition of Solis' sentence and place her on five years of supervised probation.

Solis' attorney, Thad Michael Brady, asked that she be released from Cape Girardeau County Jail on her own recognizance while she awaits sentencing.

"I do not oppose an O/R bond as long as she lives with her grandmother and not her mother," Woodruff told Lewis.

As a condition of Solis' bond, Lewis set a curfew of 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.

"I don't want you out running around at night," he told Solis.

Lewis reminded Solis he is under no obligation to accept Woodruff's recommendation when he sentences her, and he cautioned her to stay out of trouble and away from drug users between now and her Sept. 9 sentencing hearing.

"If you hang around with people who do that sort of stuff, you might as well bring your toothbrush when you come back," Lewis told Solis.

Thomas and Shauna Hamilton appeared separately Monday on the same charges Solis originally faced.

Thomas Hamilton appeared for a counsel status hearing Monday before Associate Judge Gary Kamp via a video link to the Cape Girardeau County Jail.

Kamp told Thomas Hamilton that his attorney, Stephen Wilson, had arrived in court early, and a preliminary hearing in his case had been set for Sept. 3.

Meanwhile, in Lewis' courtroom, Shauna Hamilton's case was continued to Sept. 9, Woodruff said.

Appearing before Lewis on Monday afternoon, McLendon -- who has been in custody since June -- waived arraignment and pleaded not guilty to the assault and property damage charges against him.

McLendon is accused of beating on William Matlock's car, then coming into the house where Matlock lived at 1467 Kingsway Drive, the property owned by Thomas Hamilton, and striking Matlock with an aluminum baseball bat because he was angry about something Matlock had posted on McLendon's wife's Facebook account, according to a probable-cause statement filed in the case.

McLendon's lawyer, public defender Christopher Heeb, filed a motion for a bond reduction, citing medical issues that require treatment.

Lewis granted the motion, reducing McLendon's bond to $15,000, and continued the case to Sept. 9.

Darin Hickey, public information officer for the Cape Girardeau Police Department, has said Matlock was not charged in the shooting because the Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney's office determined he shot McLendon in self-defense.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

1467 Kingsway Drive, Cape Girardeau, Mo.