MSHP sends findings in Pettis County shooting investigation to prosecutor

The investigation into a Pettis County deputy’s shooting of a Sedalia woman during a traffic stop in June is complete and has been sent to a prosecutor, the Missouri State Highway Patrol announced Thursday.

The Pettis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office will now review the investigation conducted by the Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control.

Restaurant surveillance footage reviewed by investigators showed the traffic stop and shooting that led to Hannah Fizer’s death on June 13.

In search warrants, the Highway Patrol investigator described restaurant surveillance footage of the traffic stop and shooting, when she was pulled over for speeding and careless driving. The video shows the deputy make contact with Fizer, who moves in her 2015 Hyundai Elantra before the deputy shoots his weapon.

The Star has not obtained or seen the video. Such evidence is normally closed to public view during an active investigation.

The Highway Patrol, which investigated the incident, has said Fizer refused to identify herself to the deputy when she stopped between two restaurants near the 3500 block of West Broadway Boulevard in Sedalia around 10 p.m. that day. Fizer told the deputy she had a gun and said she was recording the traffic stop, according to the Highway Patrol.

Fizer was declared dead at the scene at 10:34 p.m., after she was removed from her car and additional officers arrived to administer aid.

Investigators found her body, which appeared to have multiple gunshot wounds, on the ground near the driver side door of the car. Troopers gathered five spent shell casings near the driver’s door. No gun was found in Fizer’s car.

Fizer’s cell phone was found on the floor of the passenger side of her car and sent to the state’s digital forensic center in Jefferson City for analysis and data extraction. In one warrant, an investigator said he believed the phone could contain video or photographic evidence of the shooting.

The issue of whether or not the incident was recorded has become a concern for community members because Pettis County deputies are not equipped with body or vehicle cameras.

Fizer’s relatives have said she never carried a firearm. They said they don’t believe the official narrative that Fizer threatened to shoot the deputy, who has not been publicly identified.