Grand jury returns no true bill on Dexter death investigation

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. — A Stoddard County grand jury returned a no true bill in a Dexter death investigation.

No true bill is a legal procedure to dismiss charges against a defendant when the grand jury does not find enough evidence to charge the defendant with violating a law.

According to Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney Russ Oliver, on Jan. 13, 2022, Presiding Circuit Judge Robert N. Mayer convened a grand jury in the Circuit Court of Stoddard County.

On that same day, Oliver, presented for the grand jury’s consideration the circumstances of the Nov. 29, 2021 death of Christopher Reed on Condor Drive in Dexter.

Lead investigator, Cory Mills, a detective of the Dexter Police Department, testified to inform the grand jury about the circumstances of the death, the statements of the decedent’s girlfriend Katie Whitley, the findings of the law enforcement investigation, and the determinations made by Dr. Russell Deidiker the pathologist who performed the autopsy.

Mills testified that the investigation revealed a violent, four-month relationship between Reed and Whitley. Reed and Whitley’s relationship began in June of 2021 and neighbors told investigators that Reed was a severe alcoholic and was physically violent against Whitley on a daily basis. Neighbors also confirmed that Whitley would frequently fight back.

At the time of his death Reed also had three felony warrants from three different counties for his arrest. 

The first of which was for a felony domestic assault perpetrated against Whitley in Wayne County, Missouri during the summer of 2021. According to the probable cause statement filed in the case, the circumstances of that assault were that Whitley had discovered Reed’s brother sexually assaulting a young child. Whitley went to leave to report the abuse to police.  However, Whitley was unable to leave because Reed assaulted her and held her against her will for several hours before she was able to run to a neighbor’s house to contact police. Whitely sought and received medical attention for the assault. Stoddard County investigators obtained her medical records via investigative subpoena to verify her injuries.

The second warrant for Reed’s arrest was for the unclassified felony of statutory sodomy of a child less than 12 years old out of Carter County, Missouri, where he choked the victim and further physically and sexually assaulted the child. 

The third felony warrant was for domestic assault perpetrated against another girlfriend in Ripley County. Reed was also charged with a separate felony of domestic assault against that woman’s 12-year-old child, wherein Reed kicked the child’s leg and caused significant injury.

According to witnesses, a few days prior to his death, Reed was involved in an altercation with a neighbor over methamphetamine that he had not paid for. This was confirmed by Deidiker at the autopsy who noted that Reed had numerous healing bruises that did not contribute to his death and could not have occurred near the time of death.

The only fresh injuries that Deidiker noted on Reed’s body was a bruise on the bridge of his nose and an internal injury of a laceration in Reed’s mesenteric, which holds the intestine and colon in place that would have been caused by blunt force trauma. According to Deidiker, Reed would have bled internally from the wound and would have died within two hours of receiving the injury. 

The official manner of death according to Deidiker was “undetermined.”

Stoddard County Coroner Brent Stidham said “the Coroner’s Office is responsible for finding cause and manner of death for any individual whose death occurs in the county. In the case of Christopher Reed, the professional opinion of Dr. Deidiker is that the victim died as a result of hemorrhage due to blunt force abdominal trauma. The circumstances surrounding how the blunt force occurred are unclear, therefore the manner of death is undetermined. If additional information arises at a later date, this manner can be amended.”

In her statement to Mills, Whitley said that on the morning of Nov. 29, Reed went across Highway 25 to Tootie’s Liquor and purchased fireball whiskey. By the time his boss came to get him for work that morning Reed was too intoxicated to go with him and Reed was fired.  Officers interviewed Reed’s boss and confirmed this account. Of note, although it was not presented to the grand jury because toxicology results had not been received at the time, Reed’s blood alcohol content was .315, nearly four times the legal presumption of intoxication of .08.

Whitley stated that after his boss fired him, Reed and Whitley began arguing. This argument culminated with Reed slapping Whitley and kicking her leg that was previously injured during the Wayne County assault that Reed had the pending arrest warrant for.

Whitley stated in response she punched Reed in the face. Reed then grabbed her by the hair and continued to hit her. At that time while Reed had her by her hair, according to Whitley, she punched Reed as hard as she could twice in the abdomen.

Whitley stated that punching Reed in the stomach resulted in the assault stopping and Reed walked away. Whitley stated approximately a couple hours later, Reed was eating spinach in the living room and began vomiting. Reed then fell to the floor and stopped breathing.

Whitley then performed CPR on Reed and ran to a neighbor’s house to call 911. Reed was later pronounced dead at Southeast Hospital in Dexter.

Evidence discovered at the scene supported Whitley’s account. In the living room floor there was vomit that appeared to contain spinach-like material as well as a bowl of spinach. Whitley had bruising consistent with her account of the assault.

Further, the timing of Whitley’s account of when she punched him in the stomach to the point where Reed was vomiting, matches Deidiker’s estimation on the time it would have taken Reed to bleed internally to cause his death. Whitley did not know about Deidiker’s findings and estimation when she gave her statement.

During the presentation to the grand jury, Oliver instructed the jury about possible charges they could file and the respective mental state required for each. Oliver also explained the law on self-defense as a justification for causing the death of another.

Oliver stated, “we spent a considerable amount of time discussing involuntary manslaughter first and second and the difference between recklessly causing the death and doing so being criminally negligent. Of great importance was the discussion of self-defense and what was a reasonable response from Whitley to the assault Mr. Reed was perpetrating once again against her. We have no evidence that Whitley used a weapon of any kind. I believe the grand jury found that Whitley retaliating with punches was a reasonable action to stop any further assault to her person by Reed. I fully support the decision of the grand jury and would like to thank them for their excellent and attentive service. All jurors were very engaged and asked numerous questions during the proceedings.”

Oliver concluded, “I would like to thank the law enforcement officers of the Major Case Squad for their excellent work in discovering the truth of what occurred that day on Condor Drive. The primary investigator of the death was Detective Cory Mills along with members of the Missouri State Highway Patrol- DDCC and members of the Stoddard County Sheriff’s Department.”