More than one month after Lacey Nix was fatally shot at her home in west Springfield, Brandon Lewis Huddleston, 25, has been charged with her murder.
An amended felony complaint was filed by the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office on Dec. 18 charging Huddleston with second-degree murder, a Class A felony, alleging he shot and killed Nix, 32, as a result of the perpetration of felony stealing by receiving stolen property.
Huddleston is also charged with second-degree burglary, third-degree domestic assault and delivery of a controlled substance for selling methamphetamine. He has been in Greene County Jail without bond since his arrest on Nov. 22. A motion hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Dec. 21. Huddleston is being represented by Assistant Public Defender Carol Palmer.
Huddleston told officers he shot Nix, but she had pointed handgun at him
Nix died Nov. 13. At a vigil for Nix on Nov. 20, her mother, Cheryl Watts, told the Hauxeda that Huddleston, Nix’s boyfriend, was the person who shot Nix. At that time, Watts expressed frustration that Huddleston had been questioned by police but not arrested.
According to previous Hauxeda reporting, Huddleston is accused of unlawfully entering Spin City, an internet cafe and gaming parlor at 2005 E. Kearney St., for the purpose of stealing. The domestic assault charge stems from an incident that happened on Nov. 11.
According to the probable cause statement against Huddleston, Springfield Police officers were dispatched to Nix’s home at 4231 W. La Siesta around 8:16 p.m. Nov. 13, for a report of a shooting. They found Nix outside the house with a gunshot wound. Medics attempted to save Nix’s life, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to that statement, Huddleston told officers he shot Nix, but that she had pointed a handgun at him. Officers located two guns at the house.
Police believe couple was involved in robbery plot
They also located two cell phones that belonged to Huddleston and he gave consent for police to search the phones. On those phones, investigators found a video in which Huddleston and Nix were allegedly recorded discussing robbing Nix’s former employer, Spin City.
According to the probable cause statement, a police officer reviewed Nix’s phone and accessed a Blink video camera from inside Nix’s home. Blink manufactures doorbell cameras and other home security equipment, and has software that corresponds to a user’s devices.
“One video that was saved to (Nix’s) phone was a video of (Nix) yelling at Huddleston, calling him a ‘Punk.’ After this, Huddleston stood up and aggressively stood over (Nix) while (Nix) was on the couch,” the officer wrote in the probable cause statement. “Huddleston yelled at (Nix) and then punched (Nix) in the left eye with a closed fist. (Nix) then held her face and rolled onto the floor.”
The dispute between Nix and Huddleston happened around 2 a.m. on Nov. 11, according to data from the Blink camera, and is what led to Huddleston’s third-degree assault charge.
According to the probable cause statement, Huddleston told police officers that he took approximately $5,000 from Spin City with help from Nix. Huddleston told officers the two were planning to split the money. An officer questioned Huddleston about arguments between Nix and Huddleston about the money that were captured by the Blink video camera.
Hauxeda reporter Jackie Rehwald contributed to this report.
