Two men charged in Sikeston shooting; more arrests expected

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Scott County prosecutor Paul Boyd has filed charges against two men in connection with Monday's shooting in Sikeston.

Eric Johnson, 18, and Mark Williamson, 19, both of Sikeston, were arrested for a drive-by shooting that sent Josh Jones, 22, to the Missouri Delta Medical Center.

Jones, also of Sikeston, was shot in the shoulder Monday night while sitting on the porch of a home on Dorothy Street, according to Mika Parker, who has lived on the street for three years.

"He's doing fine," Parker said. "I live next door to where the shooting happened. I was the one that helped him."

Parker and police said the incident seemed to stem from a dispute that happened earlier in the evening during a Sikeston High School volleyball game.

When officers arrived on the scene, they found Jones at 231 Dorothy St. He was taken to Missouri Delta Medical Center for treatment of a bullet wound to his right shoulder. A nursing supervisor, who identified herself only as Anita, said Tuesday she was unable to give out any information on Jones' condition other than that it was "stable."

Parker said Jones told her he expected to be out of the hospital in "two or three days."

The sound of gunfire is not unusual in her neighborhood, said Parker, the mother of 21-year-old twin daughters and two younger children.

"Sikeston is a small town, but it happens," she said. She was inside her home at 10 p.m. Monday and called the police when her daughter Kayla rushed inside to say someone had been shot next door.

Parker said she saw Jones lying on the grass outside her home. She used first-aid training from her job at the Visiting Nurses Association to care for Jones until police and an ambulance arrived, she said.

The combined charges against Johnson and Williamson include three counts of first-degree assault, three counts of armed criminal action; one count of unlawful use of a weapon; and one count of first-degree property damage.

Both men were being held in Sikeston's public safety facility under $100,000 cash-only bond apiece, awaiting transfer to the Scott County Jail.

In a statement issued by Sikeston Department of Public Safety, acting director Dan Armour praised officers' work in recovering weapons believed to be involved in the shooting. He also credited relatives of one of the suspects, who helped police identify witnesses.

"When people stand up and can be counted on to do the right thing, even when it involved people close to you, this is the type of action that helps stop these crimes from occurring in our community," Armour said. "Right is right and wrong is wrong. I don't think it comes any clearer than that," he said.

Police said more arrests are expected later this week. Anyone with information should call the Sikeston department of public safety at 573-471-4711 or Crime Stoppers at 573-471-1500.

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127