Marqukis Lamont Hayes was 25 when he was killed in Columbia, Missouri, on December 14, 2020. A Jefferson City resident, he was remembered by family as a quiet man who enjoyed electronics and chess and hoped to make a documentary about his life. His death left his children and parents grieving during the holiday season.

Columbia Police detectives identified a suspect and on December 17, 2020, arrested 29-year-old Angelica Nicole Benitez, linked to Jefferson City and Moberly. Benitez was charged with second-degree murder, abandonment of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence; authorities alleged she took steps to conceal the crime and hide Hayes’s body and other incriminating materials.

In August 2022 Benitez pleaded guilty and a judge imposed a total sentence of 28 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections: 20 years for second-degree murder plus consecutive four-year terms for abandonment of a corpse and tampering with evidence. Did anyone who knew Marqukis or was in Columbia that week see or hear anything that could shed light on what happened?