An Ethel woman charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the January shooting death of a man at a residence in Ethel is scheduled to appear in Macon County Circuit Court at 2 p.m. Monday for a preliminary hearing before Associate Circuit Judge Kristen Dawn Burks.
Melinda D. Grigsby, 302 S. Commercial St., Ethel, faces two counts in Case No. 26MA-CR00036: murder in the first degree, a class A felony, and armed criminal action. Macon County Prosecuting Attorney Joshua Meisner filed the complaint January 30, 2026.
The complaint alleges that on or about January 23, 2026, in Macon County, Grigsby, after deliberation, knowingly caused the death of the victim by shooting him. The armed criminal action count alleges that she committed the underlying felony with the knowing use, assistance, and aid of a deadly weapon.
According to the probable cause statement filed by Sgt. Aaron Magers of the Macon County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded the evening of January 23 to a residence in Ethel for a report of a male with a single gunshot wound to the chest. Lawrence Jackson, 51, of Ethel, Mo was pronounced deceased at the scene. Magers wrote in the statement that the shooting followed a domestic dispute at the residence and that the firearm used was retrieved from the defendant’s purse.
According to the probable cause statement, a juvenile present at the time heard Jackson ask after being shot, “Why, Melinda, why?”
Monday’s hearing will be the first contested proceeding in the case. At a preliminary hearing in a felony case, the state must show probable cause to believe a felony has been committed and that the defendant committed it.
The hearing has been continued twice. It was originally set for March 19, 2026, then reset to April 6 on the state’s motion, and continued again to May 4 on a defense motion granted April 6. Grigsby remains in custody on the no-bond warrant issued at the case’s outset.
The charges in a criminal complaint are allegations; every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.