Duckett gets 30 years for murder of Republic’s Brooks

Christina Duckett, of Springfield, was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Friday, Jan. 10, for the murder of Joshua Brooks, of Republic. The jury found Duckett guilty of sencond-degree in a jury trial on Nov. 1. They also found Duckett guilty on one count of armed criminal action, for which she weas sentenced to 10 years in prison. The sentences will run concurrently. According to the probable cause statement in the case, Brooks, 40 was found dead in his pickup truck on Sept. 10, 2018. An examination of Brook's cell phone found a message sent to him from Duckett, which read, "Hey, I think I left by black change purse in your car; there's like $200 in it. Can (you) get it and put it up for me, please?" The police officer investigating the case contacted Duckett, 34, who agreed to speak about the case. Post Miranda warning, Duckett stated she knew Brooks; she said he'd helped her move from Ozark to Springfield on Sept. 9, 2018 and they'd gone to see a movie  together later that evening.
Duckett clamed in the interview that Brooks wanted her to go back to his house with him, but she declined because she belieed he wanted to be sexually involved with her, and she wasn't interested. She said Brooks then dropped her off in the downtown area of Springfield, and she contacted a friend idtified as "Mikey" to pick her up. Brooks said Mikely didn't want to pick her up, so she walked home.
Duckett also confirmed she sent Brooks the message about the coin purse and expressed concern about getting it back because it had $200 in it. She also said she'd sold Brooks a handgun for $150; she said she didin't know where he kept it, or if he'd had it when she was with him. Duckett had her cell phone with her during the interview, and she agreed to show the investigator messages between “Panda,” who she said was also Mikey, and herself. The investigator saw no messages where she asked “Panda” to pick her up; Duckett said she’d deleted a number of messages to make the phone run faster. The investigator requested permission to search the phone for the deleted messages; Duckett agreed, turned her phone over and signed a consent to search form.
The search turned up about a total of 10 texts and phone calls between Duckett and “Panda.” Among the texts was one sent by Panda which said, “Dude, I need a add.” Duckett received two texts from Panda; one of which said, “im on wsy” and the other, “I’m home im going to sleep ill tect you when I wake up.”
Using police resources, the investigator located “Panda;” a male identified in the probable cause statement as “AE,” on Tuesday, Sept. 11.
AEsaidhehada phone conversation with a woman he identified as “Misty” on Sept. 9 at around 11 p.m. He said she asked him to pick her up; he said he drove to the intersection of Glenstone and Cherry where he picked her up, and the drove her to the area of Rogers and Division and dropped her off at her home.
AE described “Misty” as a white woman with black hair; based on his description, the investigator concluded Misty and Duckett must be the same person. She took AE’s phone as evidence, and after being granted a warrant to search the phone, turned it over for processing.
It was determined that AE deleted an application on his phone that contained the messages from “Misty,” but a search of the phones GPS map indicated AE traveled to the 2900 block of East Cherry between 12:25 and 12:51 a.m.
A Google Maps search was located on the phone; it indicated AE made a search for the intersection of Belcrest and Cherry. A Google search of news articles concerning a suspicious death was also located on the phone, and a link on the article showed it refer- enced the investigation involving Brooks.
The investigator conducted a second interview of AE at his home on Sept. 12 and confronted him with the information about the search of the article on his phone. AE admitted to looking up the article on the death before the investigator spoke to him, and then said Duckett told him she shot Brooks.
As of press time, Duckett remained in the Greene County Jail. It was reported she plans to appeal her conviction.