HUNTSVILLE — Randolph County Judge Robert Koffman heard the first testimony Thursday in the bench trial for a Moberly man accused of fatally shooting a woman in 2025, as prosecutors began presenting evidence in the case.
David Kip Heyde is charged with second-degree murder in the death of 23-year-old Bailey Scott. Heyde has claimed he shot Scott in self-defense. The two-day bench trial began Thursday morning at the Randolph County Courthouse. A bench trial means a judge, not a jury, will determine whether Heyde is guilty.
According to court documents, Heyde called the Moberly Police Department after the shooting took place on July 6, 2025. Police said Heyde admitted on the call that he shot Scott.
Bailey Scott was shot and killed Sunday night in Moberly. She was 23.
The court heard testimony from Randolph County Coroner Charlie Peele, who said he arrived at the scene and saw multiple law enforcement officers already there. Peele said he observed Scott's body, found a wound to her rib cage and pronounced her dead at the scene.
The court also heard testimony from Sgt. Derrick Powell, a criminal investigator with the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Division of Drug and Crime Control, who said Heyde was a former Moberly police officer.
Powell testified that Heyde told investigators the night of the shooting that he feared for his life when he shot Scott. Powell also said Heyde told him he "didn't want to deal with her anymore."
David Kip Heyde sits in a Randolph County courtroom on June 25 at the Randolph County Courthouse in Huntsville on the first day of his murder trial. He is charged in the death of Bailey Scott in July 2025.
During Powell's testimony, Randolph County Prosecuting Attorney Stephanie Luntsford introduced multiple photographs into evidence, including images of Scott's body, the outside of Heyde's home and the couch where Powell testified Scott's body was located after the shooting. Luntsford also introduced the firearm investigators say was used in the shooting.
Alexandria Hardy, who was one of Scott's neighbors, testified she heard Scott and Heyde arguing before the incident. According to Hardy, Scott was telling Heyde to stop putting bird feed in the road, and Heyde was yelling at Scott to get out of her yard.
Hardy testified she later heard what sounded like a firecracker but did not think much of it because it was around the Fourth of July holiday.
After the court reconvened from a two-hour lunch break, the defense attorney reviewed the evidence and testimony presented earlier in the day. He then asked Koffman to adjourn for the day and continue the trial on Friday.
Luntsford objected to the request, but Koffman overruled the objection and recessed the trial.