In the pre-dawn hours of February 19, 2025, 18-year-old Kaidynce Payne was found inside a Super 8 hotel room on Clark Lane in Columbia, Missouri, with a fatal gunshot wound. Columbia Police responded to calls of gunfire shortly after 1 a.m.; Kaidynce was pronounced dead at the scene. She was Black / African American and known to family and friends as Bopie or BB. Her family described her as outgoing and active — involved in soccer and softball, theater and poetry — who loved cooking, varied music, and hoped to travel.

Investigators arrested 19-year-old Terell Anthony Fields and charged him with second-degree murder, armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon, and tampering with physical evidence. Court documents allege Fields was in the hotel room with Kaidynce and two minors and pointed a handgun at her before a shot was fired; Fields says he was in the bathroom when the shooting occurred. A black Canik TP9 handgun with a laser sight, reported stolen in 2023, was recovered buried in snow near the hotel. Surveillance footage reportedly shows Fields fleeing the scene and later returning; he was taken into custody and held without bond. A grand jury returned a new indictment that added two counts of stealing and allowed jurors to consider second-degree murder or involuntary manslaughter; pretrial proceedings were set for January 2026.

Does anyone have information about Kaidynce’s movements that night or about the events at the hotel that could help investigators?