Investigators say videos recovered from Nicholas Ayres’ cellphone helped establish a timeline before Destiny Dunn was found dead.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — A Missouri man accused of killing 37-year-old Destiny Dunn at a Columbia motel has been indicted by a Boone County grand jury, advancing a homicide case in which investigators say recordings recovered from the defendant’s own cellphone became central evidence.

Nicholas Anthony Ayres, 35, of Crane, was indicted in September after initially being charged in August with second-degree murder and first-degree domestic assault. Local reporting on the grand jury action continued to identify those charges following the indictment. Ayres has remained in the Boone County Jail without bond. The charges are allegations, and the accusations described by police and prosecutors have not been proven at trial.

The indictment followed an investigation that began shortly after 3:22 p.m. Aug. 12, when Columbia officers were sent to the 1300 block of Range Line Street for what was reported as a cardiac arrest. Police found Dunn, of Kansas City, dead inside a room at the By The Way Motel. Officers considered the circumstances suspicious soon after arriving, and the department later announced that investigators had classified the death as a homicide. Ayres, who was at the motel when officers arrived, was taken into custody.

Police said their investigation quickly moved beyond Ayres’ initial description of what had happened. According to a probable cause statement cited by news organizations that reviewed the filing, Ayres told a 911 dispatcher that he and Dunn had been involved in an altercation while in the shower. He allegedly claimed Dunn fell after he said he intended to leave. During the call, he also described extensive bruising but denied causing it. Officers who entered the room reported seeing bruising on Dunn’s body, according to the court filing.

Investigators then obtained a search warrant for the motel room and recovered Ayres’ cellphone. The phone, according to the probable cause statement, contained recordings spanning the days before Dunn’s death. One video from Aug. 10 showed Dunn before the injuries later described by investigators. A later recording from the same night allegedly showed Ayres repeatedly assaulting her. Police said the footage captured sounds consistent with hitting and showed physical violence. Those descriptions come from investigators and remain allegations in the pending criminal case.

The cellphone also contained material from the afternoon Dunn died, according to the filing. Investigators said a photograph and a short video made around 12:06 p.m. showed Dunn lying in a bathtub and barely moving. Another recording, made minutes later, allegedly showed Ayres moving between the motel room and bathroom while a woman could be heard groaning. During that recording, investigators said, Ayres announced that he was going to call 911 and said, “I’m not going down for manslaughter.” The statement has become one of the most widely reported details of the case, but its legal significance will ultimately be determined through the court process.

The records describe two 911 contacts separated by about three hours. Police said Ayres placed a call at 12:21 p.m., shortly after the later cellphone recording, but told the dispatcher the call was accidental. According to the probable cause statement, he confirmed his name, telephone number and location before ending the call. The emergency call that brought officers to the motel came at about 3:22 p.m. During that call, Ayres reportedly told dispatchers Dunn had fallen and described her condition as serious. Officers arrived shortly afterward.

Guests staying in a neighboring motel room also became part of the investigation. According to the probable cause statement, they told police they had heard sounds they believed were consistent with a physical altercation at about 11 a.m. that day, several hours before officers were called to the motel. Investigators also documented injuries on Ayres that the court filing characterized as defensive wounds. During an interview after his arrest, police said Ayres acknowledged physical altercations with Dunn but described them as accidental and denied being someone who beat women.

Those differing accounts became important to the initial charging decision. Prosecutors filed the original case on Aug. 13, a day after Dunn’s death. The second-degree murder count was filed under a felony-murder theory, according to local court reporting, with first-degree domestic assault serving as the alleged underlying felony. Under that accusation, prosecutors did not have to present the death simply as an isolated event; the charging theory connected Dunn’s death to the alleged domestic assault described in the police investigation. Whether prosecutors can prove each element beyond a reasonable doubt remains a question for the court.

Ayres made an initial court appearance after his arrest, and a judge ordered him detained without bond. Court reporting said the judge found grounds to conclude that release conditions would not adequately protect the community. The case later moved to a grand jury, which returned an indictment in September. An indictment is a formal accusation authorizing a criminal case to proceed; it is not a finding of guilt. At the time of the Sept. 14 report on the indictment, Ayres remained jailed and no later court date had been posted in the online court information reviewed by the local station.

The investigation has also left Dunn’s family dealing with a loss that court records can describe only in procedural terms. Relatives have identified her as a mother and remembered her as a caring person whose death left children and other family members grieving. Public descriptions from her family focused on her life and relationships rather than on the allegations contained in the charging documents. Dunn was from Kansas City, while the homicide investigation unfolded about 120 miles away in Columbia.

Police have said the investigation remains open. The department has continued to identify Dunn’s death as a homicide and Ayres as the person arrested in connection with it. The grand jury indictment means the prosecution has moved beyond the initial charging stage, but substantial questions — including how prosecutors will present the recordings, how the defense will challenge the state’s account and what evidence will ultimately be admitted — remain for future court proceedings. Ayres is entitled to the presumption of innocence unless he is convicted.

Author note: Last updated September 28, 2026.