Jurors convicted Aaron Malone after prosecutors traced the killing through physical evidence and video.
EXETER, Mo. — Blood in a roadway, jewelry on gravel and surveillance video helped investigators turn Aaron Malone’s report of a possible abduction into a murder case in the death of Aspen Lewis.
The evidence from an Exeter-area residence became the backbone of a prosecution that ended with Malone’s conviction in Jasper County. Jurors found him guilty of first-degree murder, armed criminal action, abandonment of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence. The case began with a missing-person report, but prosecutors said the facts soon showed Malone had killed Lewis, concealed her body in woods and tried to explain her absence as a possible abduction.
Deputies first encountered the case through Malone’s own call for help. He reported that Lewis, his 24-year-old girlfriend, was missing and may have been abducted. At that point, investigators had to treat the report as a possible disappearance. But the first scene check raised problems for Malone. A large blood stain was visible in the roadway behind his truck, and blood was also found on the truck itself. The gravel driveway appeared disturbed, and jewelry pieces were on the ground. Those details pushed investigators to test the scene rather than accept the missing-person account as complete.
The blood evidence was paired with video. Investigators said nearby surveillance showed Malone’s truck arriving at the residence at about 11:35 p.m. on Nov. 24, 2024. Soon afterward, screaming could be heard on the recording. The truck later left the residence at about 1:35 a.m. and returned at about 4:10 a.m. Malone made a 911 call before coming back, according to records described in the probable cause statement. The timing mattered because it placed the truck at the property before the screams, away from the property for several hours and back after the call that framed Lewis as missing.
Authorities did not find Lewis at the residence. Sheriff Danny Boyd and Maj. Angela Cole later met with Malone and said they wanted to locate her. Investigators said Malone then agreed to take them to her. As officers arrived at the rural area he identified, they saw what was described as the remains of a burned pink wool article of clothing in the road. Lewis was found off the roadway in a wooded area near Shell Knob. She was dead, covered with leaves and sticks and had extensive head trauma. “Malone admitted to an altercation taking place and disposing of the body,” Boyd said in a statement after the investigation began.
The physical details carried into the courtroom. Barry County Prosecutor Amy Boxx said trial evidence showed Malone struck Lewis in the head multiple times, strangled her and shot her in the head. The Missouri Attorney General’s Office said the evidence showed Malone repeatedly assaulted Lewis in the face, strangled her and shot her before leaving her body in the woods in Barry County. Jurors heard that version after the case was moved to Jasper County on a change of venue. The trial lasted from April 14 to April 16, 2026. Deliberations took about an hour.
The verdict covered four separate crimes. First-degree murder addressed the killing itself. Armed criminal action reflected the state’s claim that a weapon was used in connection with the crime. Abandonment of a corpse addressed the disposal of Lewis’ body after her death. Tampering with physical evidence covered acts prosecutors said were meant to hide or alter proof, including what happened after the killing. Together, the charges told jurors that the state saw not only a homicide, but a sequence that included a false report, movement of the body and attempts to obscure what had happened.
The law enforcement response also involved several agencies. The Barry County Sheriff’s Office led the investigation, and the Missouri State Highway Patrol Criminal Investigations Unit assisted. Boxx’s office prosecuted with help from Assistant Attorneys General Melissa Pierce and Michael Schafer. Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said after the verdict that the case showed cooperation between her office and local prosecutors. “I am proud of our collaboration with Barry County Prosecutor Amy Boxx to deliver justice for the victim’s family,” Hanaway said. The attorney general’s office said victim advocate Kara Lindhorst, investigators David Southard and James Tharp, and paralegal Jay Turner also supported the prosecution.
After the verdict, the defense began attacking parts of the process that led to it. Attorney Glenn Huggins filed a motion for a new trial on April 17. The motion says the court limited defense arguments, blocked questioning about witness statements, mishandled preliminary hearing issues and should have granted more time for an expert review tied to the medical examiner’s opinion about the gunshot. It also says the evidence did not prove premeditation beyond a reasonable doubt and that the state made an improper closing argument. Those claims are allegations in a defense filing and have not undone the jury’s decision.
Malone’s custody status also changed after the verdict. He was ordered held without bond and remanded to the Barry County Sheriff’s Office. Local reports said he faces a separate third-degree assault charge from an alleged jail altercation in which another person fell and hit his head on a metal stool. That charge is separate from Lewis’ death and did not form the basis of the murder verdict. The murder case remains focused on the Nov. 24, 2024, events, the discovery of Lewis’ body and the evidence jurors accepted after three days of testimony.
Sentencing is scheduled for June 9 at 11 a.m. before Judge David Allen Cole in Jasper County Circuit Court. A sentencing assessment is due before June 1, and the defense motion for a new trial remains part of the post-verdict record.
Author note: Last updated May 9, 2026.