4 teens charged in fatal shooting connected to Facebook Marketplace robbery scheme

COLUMBIA, Mo. (TCN) -- Four teens have been charged in connection with a fatal shooting linked to the purchase of an iPhone on Facebook Marketplace.

On Jan. 19, Alexis Gabrielle Baumann, Kobe D. Aust, and Joseph Granville Crane, all 18, were arrested and charged with second-degree murder, first-degree robbery, and two counts of armed criminal action, the Columbia Police Department announced in a statement.

A juvenile was charged with second-degree murder, armed criminal action, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, and unlawful use of a weapon. 

Someone called the Columbia Police Department on Jan. 16 to report a robbery, KRCG reports. She had posted her iPhone for sale on Facebook Marketplace and said two people grabbed it from her before running away. 

On Jan. 17, someone else called police to report a similar story, also involving the sale of an iPhone on the platform. In this instance, one person grabbed the phone while another pointed a gun at them and threatened to shoot, according to KRCG. Officers were able to track it to a kiosk for buying and selling phones and found the iPhone had been sold minutes after it was stolen.

The next day, Jan. 18, Ryan Burke, 42, called police and told them he had been shot. He described a similar situation involving setting up the sale of an iPhone on Facebook Marketplace. Burke subsequently died from his injuries.

Police located the car the teens allegedly used via license plate cameras and the four suspects were arrested on Jan. 19. Clothes belonging to some of the suspects were recovered at the scene of Burke’s shooting,  KMIZ reports, and police used those items to link the suspects to previous thefts.

KRCG reports Burke was a veteran of the U.S. Marines and that he performed missionary work in Uganda. In an interview with a friend and former fraternity brother, KRCG reports Burke texted family members when he was dying to tell them he loved them.