Investigators reconstructed the hours surrounding Aspen Lewis’ death through video, physical evidence and Aaron Malone’s statements.
EXETER, Mo. — Surveillance video marked the beginning of the decisive timeline at 11:35 p.m., when Aaron Malone’s truck arrived at an Exeter residence hours before Aspen Lewis was reported missing and later found dead beside a rural Barry County road.
The recording, combined with blood, scattered jewelry and Malone’s knowledge of the recovery site, helped prosecutors reconstruct the night of Nov. 24 and the early morning of Nov. 25, 2024. Nearly 17 months later, a Jasper County jury convicted Malone of first-degree murder and three related felonies. He was sentenced June 9, 2026, to life in prison without parole.
At about 11:35 p.m. Nov. 24, Malone’s truck arrived at the residence, according to the probable cause statement filed by Detective Abby Parsons. Public reports do not state where Malone and Lewis had been earlier that evening or describe the purpose of the trip. Shortly after the arrival, however, nearby surveillance equipment captured screaming. The recording did not provide a complete view of the violence later described by prosecutors, but it established that a disturbance occurred after the truck reached the home.
Prosecutors said the attack involved several distinct acts. Barry County Prosecutor Amy Boxx said 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 that Malone repeatedly assaulted Lewis in the face before strangling and shooting her. The available summaries do not assign exact times to those actions. They place the killing during the period between the truck’s arrival and its departure from the property.
At about 1:35 a.m. Nov. 25, the truck left the residence. It remained away for approximately two hours and 35 minutes. Public court accounts do not provide a turn-by-turn route or state whether investigators obtained location data from a phone or vehicle. The destination became clear later, when Malone led authorities toward a wooded area near Shell Knob where Lewis’ body had been left off a rural road.
Evidence remained behind at the Exeter property while the truck was gone. Investigators found a large bloodstain in the roadway behind the location where the truck had been parked. They saw additional blood on the vehicle. The gravel driveway appeared disturbed, and jewelry pieces were scattered on the ground. A sample was confirmed to be human blood. Those details helped establish that the violence began at or near the residence rather than at the distant place where Lewis was eventually found.
Before the truck returned, Malone placed a 911 call and reported Lewis missing. He told deputies that she might have been abducted and later gave them verbal and written statements. The released record does not identify the precise minute of the call or reproduce the complete exchange with the dispatcher. Its timing mattered because the truck had not yet returned to the residence when Malone sought police assistance. Investigators later compared that call with the video showing the vehicle’s movements.
At about 4:10 a.m., surveillance footage showed the truck returning. The full significance of the trip was not immediately public, but investigators were already faced with an account that did not fit the scene. A possible-abduction report ordinarily points officers toward an outside suspect. Here, deputies found blood on the reporting person’s truck, evidence of a struggle near his driveway and recorded screams from the hours before the call.
As Nov. 25 continued, Sheriff Danny Boyd and Maj. Angela Cole told Malone they wanted to locate Lewis. Malone said he would take them to her. He directed officers away from Exeter and toward rural Barry County. Near the recovery area, authorities found the remains of a burned pink wool garment in the roadway. The item appeared to be a shirt. The record does not state who burned it, when it was burned or whether laboratory testing connected it to Lewis.
Lewis’ body was found off the roadway, covered with leaves and sticks. Investigators reported extensive head trauma. The recovery established the endpoint of the truck’s unexplained absence and changed the matter from a missing-person investigation into a homicide case. It also supplied evidence for a future abandonment-of-a-corpse charge because prosecutors said Malone transported Lewis away from the residence and left her body in the woods.
After officers advised Malone of his rights, he admitted that an altercation had occurred and that he had disposed of the body. The public probable cause account does not include his entire statement or explain how he described the confrontation. His admission nevertheless connected him to the trip, the body and the concealment. It also placed his earlier abduction suggestion in direct conflict with his later acknowledgment that he knew where Lewis was.
Malone was initially jailed without bond and charged with second-degree murder, abandonment of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence. His first reported court appearance was scheduled for early December 2024. As the case developed, prosecutors pursued the more serious charge of first-degree murder and added armed criminal action. The upgraded murder count required proof that Malone knowingly caused Lewis’ death after deliberation.
The pretrial process extended through 2025. The case was transferred from Barry County to Jasper County through a change of venue. Public reports do not explain the detailed arguments for moving the trial, but such transfers are generally intended to protect the selection of an impartial jury when a case has received attention in the county where it arose. Judge David Allen Cole presided after the transfer.
The jury trial began April 14, 2026. Boxx prosecuted the case with Assistant Attorneys General Melissa Pierce and Michael Schafer. The state presented evidence about the injuries to Lewis, the surveillance timestamps, the blood and jewelry at the residence, the rural recovery site and Malone’s changing account. The published summaries do not identify each defense witness or state whether Malone took the stand.
On April 16, after three days of testimony and arguments, jurors began deliberations. They returned verdicts in about an hour, finding Malone guilty of first-degree murder, armed criminal action, abandonment of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence. The court ordered him held without bond and returned him to Barry County custody while a sentencing assessment was prepared.
The verdict also marked the end of the factual dispute before the jury. By convicting Malone of first-degree murder, jurors accepted the state’s argument that Lewis’ death was deliberate. By convicting him of the remaining counts, they also found that the firearm offense, the disposal of the body and the handling of evidence were separate criminal acts supported beyond a reasonable doubt.
Malone sought a new trial before sentencing. Cole overruled the motion, finding no legal reason to stop the judgment from being pronounced. At the June 9 hearing, the judge imposed life without parole for murder and three years for each of the other convictions. All three shorter terms run concurrently with the life sentence. Malone was transferred to the Missouri Department of Corrections on June 12.
The timeline now extends beyond the sentence only through possible appellate or post-conviction proceedings. Public reports had not identified a completed appeal as of the latest update. The controlling judgment remains life without parole, imposed after jurors relied on a night reconstructed through fixed camera times, physical evidence and Malone’s own directions to the place where Lewis was found.
Author note: Last updated July 12, 2026.