New judge appointed for suspect in SEMO student shooting

A Mounds, Ill., man was granted a change of judge Monday by Circuit Court Judge Benjamin Lewis.

David L. McElrath, 20, will next appear in court Jan. 16 for a case review hearing before Circuit Judge William L. Syler.

McElrath is charged with first-degree assault, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon accused of shooting a Southeast Missouri State University student in November in a convenience store parking lot.

The incident reportedly began with words between McElrath and his friends and a student in the House Party, a bar in a strip mall just north of Rhodes 101 at 1126 N. Sprigg St.

The victim said McElrath pulled out a gun and fired, hitting him in the lower right side of his abdomen above his hip.