Aaron Malone is set for sentencing June 9 after jurors found him guilty on four felony counts.

JOPLIN, Mo. — A Jasper County jury convicted Aaron Malone of first-degree murder after prosecutors said he killed his girlfriend, Aspen Lewis, then reported her missing before her body was found in rural Barry County woods.

The verdict ended a three-day trial that focused on the gap between Malone’s first account to deputies and the physical evidence found near an Exeter residence. Jurors found Malone, 24, guilty of first-degree murder, armed criminal action, abandonment of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence. Sentencing is scheduled for June 9 at 11 a.m. in Jasper County Circuit Court.

Investigators said the case began as a possible abduction report. Deputies went to a residence in the Exeter area after Malone said Lewis, also 24, was missing and may have been taken. Sheriff Danny Boyd said Malone gave deputies both verbal and written statements about a possible abduction. But investigators soon said the scene did not match that account. They found what court records described as a large blood stain in the roadway behind Malone’s truck, blood on the truck and a disturbed gravel driveway where jewelry pieces were found on the ground. “A criminal investigation began into the disappearance of Aspen Lewis,” Boyd said in a statement released after the killing. “Inconsistencies were located in Aaron’s statement.”

Video from near the residence became a central part of the prosecution’s timeline. Records cited by investigators said Malone’s truck arrived at about 11:35 p.m. on Nov. 24, 2024. Soon after, screaming could be heard on nearby surveillance video. Investigators said the truck left at about 1:35 a.m. the next day and returned at about 4:10 a.m., after Malone had made a 911 call. The sequence gave deputies a narrow window to examine, and prosecutors later used it to argue that Lewis was not the victim of an outside abduction. Authorities also took swabs from the blood stain and identified it as human blood, according to reports tied to the probable cause statement.

When investigators confronted Malone about the evidence, they said the missing-person account changed. Boyd and Maj. Angela Cole met with Malone and told him they wanted to find Lewis. Malone then led authorities toward a rural location in Barry County, records said. As officers approached, they saw the remains of a burned pink wool article of clothing in the roadway. Lewis was found off the road in a wooded area near Shell Knob. Her body was covered with leaves and sticks, and investigators said she had extensive head trauma. Boyd said Malone admitted after being advised of his rights that there had been an altercation and that he had disposed of the body.

At trial, prosecutors gave jurors a more direct account of the killing. Barry County Prosecutor Amy Boxx said the evidence showed Malone struck Lewis in the head multiple times, strangled her and shot her in the head. The Missouri Attorney General’s Office said the evidence showed Malone repeatedly assaulted Lewis in the face, strangled her and shot her before leaving her body in the woods. The medical and physical evidence, prosecutors said, supported a first-degree murder charge rather than a lesser count. The defense has challenged parts of that proof since the verdict, including expert testimony and arguments about the sequence of injuries.

The case moved through Barry County before it was heard in Jasper County after a change of venue. Assistant Attorneys General Melissa Pierce and Michael Schafer helped Boxx prosecute the case. The Barry County Sheriff’s Office investigated with help from the Missouri State Highway Patrol Criminal Investigations Unit. Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said the conviction reflected work by local and state officials. “I am proud of our collaboration with Barry County Prosecutor Amy Boxx to deliver justice for the victim’s family,” Hanaway said after the verdict. The jury deliberated for about an hour before finding Malone guilty on all four counts.

Malone’s attorney, Glenn Huggins, filed a motion for a new trial one day after the verdict. The motion raised seven claims, including that the court wrongly limited defense arguments about Lewis, blocked questioning tied to alleged witness statements, refused to remand parts of the case for a preliminary hearing and denied a continuance tied to expert testimony. The motion also challenged the sufficiency of the evidence on premeditation and accused the state of improper closing argument. The filing did not erase the verdict, but it placed trial rulings before Judge David Allen Cole ahead of sentencing.

The new-trial motion also pointed to a dispute over medical testimony. Huggins wrote that the defense learned shortly before trial that the medical examiner had changed an opinion about whether the gunshot wound occurred before or after death. The defense said it needed more time to hire an independent expert to review that conclusion. Prosecutors, however, had already persuaded jurors that the assault, strangulation, gunshot and effort to hide the body proved the charged crimes. The court had not granted a new trial as of the latest published reports, and the sentencing assessment was due before June 1.

Malone remained in custody without bond after the guilty verdict. Local reports said he also faces a separate third-degree assault charge tied to an alleged altercation in the Barry County jail, where another person was injured after being shoved and falling against a metal stool. That case is separate from the murder conviction. The murder case now stands between a completed jury trial and a formal sentencing hearing, with the defense motion still part of the record.

Malone’s next scheduled court milestone is the June 9 sentencing in Jasper County Circuit Court. The four convictions remain in place unless the court grants post-trial relief.

Author note: Last updated May 9, 2026.