On November 19, 2018, deputies were called to a residence north of Greenview in Camdenton, Missouri, after reports of gunfire just after midnight. Responding officers found a white man with fatal gunshot injuries. He was identified as 34-year-old Derek Ray Harrelson, a Camdenton resident who had previously lived in Eldon.

Harrelson’s family remembered him as a loving father who worked various jobs, including as a farmhand and more recently as a restaurant waiter, and who enjoyed horses, drawing, and Christian music. Investigators say an argument occurred that night after 47-year-old Christine Jolene Zahn returned to the home from a bar; that dispute allegedly became physical and Zahn discharged a firearm, striking Harrelson. Zahn was taken into custody and initially charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action, with bond set at $500,000 cash-only. Prosecutors later filed an upgraded charge of first-degree murder, and a hearing was scheduled in Laclede County in late 2019.

Anyone who knew Derek, witnessed the events that night, or has information about the incident is asked to come forward.