SIKESTON -- A Sikeston man is awaiting arraignment for the Thursday shooting death of his wife.
Stevie Cordale Lott, 41, was formally charged Friday by the Scott County Prosecuting Attorney's office with second degree murder, armed criminal action, unlawful possession of a firearm, endangering the welfare of a child, tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution and a prior offender leaving the scene of a shooting.
According to the probable cause statement provided by the Scott County Circuit Court Clerk's office, Det. Flint Dees with Sikeston DPS said officers responded to a 911 call around 3 a.m. Thursday from a subject who identified himself at Steve Lott. Lott told the operator he and his wife, 26-year-old Nyketia Lott, were arguing at their home on the 400 block of John R. Boulevard and a gun went off and shot her. Lott said his wife had been shot in the head and was not breathing.
When officers arrived at the home, the front storm door and front door were open. Officers got no response from inside the residence or at the phone from which the 911 call was made. They entered the front door and did not find Lott; he had fled from the house.
Officers located Mrs. Lott's 2-year-old son asleep in the southeast bedroom, unharmed. They then located Mrs. Lott, who was lying on the floor of the southwest bedroom and lodged between the bed and the wall. She had an injury to the back of her head and had lost a large amount of blood, which was located on the bed, floor, wall and various parts of her body, according to the probable cause statement.
An autopsy conducted Thursday at Mineral Area Regional Medical Center in Farmington determined Mrs. Lott's official cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the back of her head, according to Scott County coroner Scott Amick.
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