Guilty pleas accepted during law days

Several guilty pleas were accepted and cases continued during the June 18 and July 9 Ozark County Circuit Court.

On July 9, William Huelsenbeck entered a plea of guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful use of a weapon by possessing a weapon and a felony controlled substance. Pursuant to a plea agreement, two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon by possessing a weapon and a felony controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia with a prior drug offense were dismissed. He was sentenced 5 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections on each count. The sentences will run concurrent with all other sentences. Because of these guilty pleas and a probation violation earlier this year, Huelsenbeck will be transported to the Missouri Department of Corrections where he will serve 85% of a previous sentence for a December 2024 conviction of statutory rape. (See story above.)

Brittany Davis 

Brittany Nicole Davis entered a plea of guilty on July 9 to possession of controlled substance - cocaine. Pursuant to a plea agreement, two counts of possession of a controlled substance and one count of unlawful use of a weapon by possess weapon and a felony controlled substance were dismissed. She was sentenced to SIS and 5 years probation. SIS, or suspended imposition of sentence, means the defendant is placed on probation for a period of time. If the defendant follows the terms of their probation, at the end of the probation period the court will close the case and they will not have a criminal conviction on their records. However, if the defendant violates the probation, a full sentence may be invoked.

Charges against Davis stemmed from a Jan. 29, 2025, execution of a search warrant at her Udall residence that she shared with a second suspect. 

 According to the probable cause statement prepared at that time by Ozark County Sheriff’s Deputy Matt Rhoades, officers with the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department executed a warrant at the home and a search of the property revealed several controlled substances and a pistol.

“After clearing the residence and the rest of the property, I began searching the residence. Next to the bed there was a small cabinet with female clothing inside. There was also a used hypodermic needle,” Rhoades wrote. “Right inside the door of the residence was a kitchen counter. On the counter was a white powdery substance, which I recognized...as cocaine. 

“There was also a dollar rolled up and had the same suspected-cocaine on the end. Next to those items was a bill fold with [the second person’s] state-issued ID. There was also a 22 LifeCard single shot pistol laying next to the cocaine and in a duffle bag located in the garage there were two prescription pill bottles with multiple Alprazolam pills inside. The prescriptions were made out to two deceased individuals in Caulfield and possibly stolen.”

Brandon Twyman

On July 9, Brandon Wayne Twyman entered a plea of guilty to first degree harassment. Pursuant to a plea agreement, he was sentenced to 3 years in the DOC to run concurrent with all other sentences. According to his plea, Twyman admitted to “knowingly causing a confidential victim emotional distress by sending her 150 messages.”

According to the probable cause statement prepared at the time by Ozark County Deputy Josh Sherman, on July 27, 2024, a dispatcher notified the officer that a woman had reported that her ex-boyfriend, Twyman, was on his way to her workplace in Gainesville, and she was concerned for her safety. Sherman met the woman at work in his patrol vehicle around 8:43 p.m. that night and met with other staff members there. 

“Some of the staff relayed they were in the process of changing some of the keypad codes as the ex-boyfriend may have known the codes and didn’t want him to have entry into the [workplace].” Sherman wrote in the report. “[The victim] reported her now ex-boyfriend, Brandon Twyman, has been sending her messages since he left the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department Jail the Tuesday prior (7/23/24) and has not stopped with the messages…”

The woman said that in the four days it had been since he began messaging her, she had received more than 150 messages through Facebook messenger, and several were aggressive in nature and included physical threats to kill himself, kill her and various messages about their children. The woman told the officer that she believed if he found a ride, he would show up at her house or her work and create a confrontation.

Michael Cory Collins

On June 18, Michael Cory Collins entered a plea of guilty to resisting arrest or stop by fleeing and creating a substantial risk of serious injury or death to any person and to possession of a controlled substance. Pursuant to a plea agreement, the charge of operating a motor vehicle in a careless and imprudent manner was dismissed. Collins was sentenced to 4 years in the DOC on the resisting arrest charge and 6 years on the possession charge. Both sentences will run concurrently.

Collins was charged in connection with the Aug. 2, 2024, incident where he was arrested after leading Ozark County officers on a high-speed chase in Theodosia. According to the probable cause statement, prepared at the time by Ozark County Sheriff’s Lt. Matt Rhoades, he and Deputy Hunter Ryan were conducting patrol on Highway 160 in Theodosia when they attempted to stop Collins on a motorcycle that had no license plates. 

Shanna Dawn Cunningham

Shanna Dawn Cunningham appeared for arraignment on June 18 and entered a plea of guilty to possession of a controlled substance and two counts of first degree endangering the welfare of a child by creating a substantial risk. She was sentenced to 5 years in the DOC, SES and 5 years probation on all cases. The sentences will run concurrent. SES, or suspended exposition of sentence, means a defendant will be sentenced to a prison term but will be placed on probation and will not go to prison unless they violate terms of that probation.

According to the probable cause statement, prepared by Ozark County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Sherman, on Dec. 9, 2024, the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department received a phone call from a man who said a woman was at his house in her car and was mumbling things and appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. 

The man said that the woman had parked at the end of his driveway. Not knowing who she was, he walked out to her vehicle, he said she appeared to be distressed. He said she was mumbling, and it was hard to understand her, but he did hear her say that “my kids aren’t here.” He said that he returned to his house but after a short time passed, he noticed that she had driven to the front porch area of the home and parked. Because of the bizarre behavior, he called the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department. 

When Sherman arrived at the home, he found the woman inside her gray GMC Terrain, which was still parked in the driveway the driver’s side door open. 

The woman made little to no acknowledgement of Sherman’s presence or introduction. He asked what brought her there today, and she had an incomprehensible response and a blank stare on her face. 

Concerned with the report that she’d told the homeowner that her kids weren’t with her, Sherman attempted to ask her about what she meant by that. “She stared forward out of the windshield twitching briefly through her arms and head as she was looking forward,” he wrote. He asked permission to search the vehicle, and she provided verbal consent. 

He reportedly found a black purse in the driver’s area of the car that included identification and a zip-top baggie with white crystal-like substance. She was arrested and transported to the Ozark County Jail. 

Around 12:30 p.m. that day, a caller from Highway 5 south called 911 and said that a woman had shown up with kids earlier in the day and was having a hard time. She thought that the woman was possibly having a mental breakdown. She said that the woman took off and left her kids at her house, and she was not sure what to do.

She said that the woman wasn’t making sense, but that she was able to get her to tell her that her name was Shanna. 

Cases continued

Four cases were continued to 1:30 p.m. July 23. Ten cases were continued to 9 a.m. Aug. 6. Eighteen cases were continued to 1:30 p.m. Aug. 25. Three cases were continued to 9 a.m. Sept. 3.