A teenage suspect in the 2023 shooting death of Chaviz Nguyen has been identified and charged as an adult.
Timothy S. Hester, 17, of Springfield is charged with the class A felony of first-degree murder, four counts of the unclassified felony of armed criminal action, the class A felony of first-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon.
The Nov. 14 shooting left Nguyen dead and a pregnant woman hospitalized.
Hester has a bond hearing set for April 22.
Elysha Bedell, 19, is also charged for his suspected role in the shooting. Bedell is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action.
Hester, Bedell and another juvenile are suspected of shooting Nguyen from one car to another on the night of Nov. 14 at the intersection of College Avenue and Grant Avenue.
Hester, along with the other juvenile, had previously been referred to the Greene County Juvenile Office, and their cases were to be handled in juvenile court.
According to online court records, a warrant for Hester’s arrest was filed on April 11 and Hester appeared in Judge Josephine Stockard's courtroom Monday morning after being arrested.
What investigators believe happened
According to a probable cause statement from the Springfield Police Department, Nguyen was a passenger in a vehicle and was riding to go to dinner with the woman.
The woman reportedly told police she noticed another vehicle, a dark gray sedan, matching pace with her vehicle and then following her from a location on Kansas Expressway, east on Chestnut Expressway and then east on College Avenue. As she tried to turn onto Grant Avenue, she told police she heard “multiple rapid gunshots” and felt herself being shot at the intersection of College and Grant.
According to the probable cause statement in Bedell’s case, the woman who was shot was 29 weeks pregnant at the time.
Bedell is scheduled for a case management hearing on May 9.
The other juvenile is in the Greene County Juvenile Detention Center.
As of Monday morning, Hester’s mugshot was not available on the Greene County Jail’s website so it is not clear where he is being held.
