Man sentenced to 15 years for 2023 Columbia gas station shooting

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man who pleaded guilty in September for his role in a 2023 shooting outside an East Columbia gas station was sentenced Friday.

Kentrail Taylor, 29, of Columbia, pleaded guilty on September 17 to first-degree assault and shooting from a vehicle. He was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison, according to an email from Boone County Prosecutor Roger Johnson.

Taylor was accused of shooting Royelle Hunt after a confrontation at the Hy-Vee gas station on Conley Road. Hunt was also charged in the case, but was found guilty dead at a separate shooting scene on March 20, 2024.

According to court documents in previous reporting, Hunt showed up at the gas station in 2023 as Taylor walked out of the gas station. Hunt was reportedly wearing a bulletproof vest and holding a gun as he approached Taylor, police wrote.

A woman in a vehicle allegedly tried to get Hunt to stop confronting Taylor. Hunt and another person were reportedly seen on security footage ducking behind an SUV. A woman gave Taylor a ride from the area and he began shooting from the car, the affidavit said. Ultimately he was arrested.

Court documents from previous reporting were claimed there They were people with gunshot wounds.