The legal fall out of one of Lincoln County’s most tragic and controversial drunk driving accidents dominated the news cycle on four separation occasions in 2024.

At right at the center of the story was the driver of the Toyota Corolla that went airborne while traveling 81 miles per hour in a 35 mile per hour zone: Hailey Zenk.

While the accident that claimed the lives of Kaeden Tyler, 15, Emily McNees, 17 and William Flickinger, 18 occurred Feb. 5, 2023, Zenk entered an Alford Plea April 15 of 2024 to three felonies including first-degree involuntary manslaughter (three counts), DWI resulting in the death of two or more others and DWI resulting in serious injury.

With an Alford plea, the defendant does not admit guilt but does admit the prosecution has enough evidence for a conviction.

Zenk entered the plea in a St. Charles courtroom after a change of venue.

After the plea came the sentencing and a controversial ruling that angers victims’ families to this day.

On June 18, Judge Michael Fagras sentenced Zenk to 10 years in prison. However, he suspended that prison sentence, opting for what he called at the time “justice tempered with mercy.” Zenk was sent to the county jail for 120 days of “shock treatment” followed by five years of probation.

However, less than two months after her release from the county jail, Zenk was arrested Dec. 11 for violating terms of her probation. She’s accused of tampering with an alcohol- monitoring system she’s required to wear as part of her release.

After Judge Fagras denied a bond reduction Dec. 19, Zenk posted the $20,000 cash-only bond later in the day.

The biggest surprise though was the last one when Zenk hired a new attorney to represent her: Joel Scwartz.

Schwartz filed the necessary paperwork to represent Zenk Dec. 30 for her Feb. 7, 2025, probation revocation hearing.

(See accompanying story elsewhere in The Journal).

#2 – Six Charged With Murder after First Child Opioid Exposure Death

LINCOLN COUNTY (Dec. 20) – Six individuals were arrested in mid-December on murder charges in connection with the August death of a 7-week old baby who had been exposed to methamphetamine and fentanyl, along with suffering physical abuse.

A grand jury indicted four family members in the infant’s death — Parents Selena Rodriguez and Gabriel Clark as well as the child’s grandma, Shawna Walton and uncle Dillon Clark. Evan and Adam Hausermann, who were living in the single wide trailer with the Clarks and Walton, were also indicted and arrested Dec. 17.

All six are facing various charges, but Lincoln County Prosecutor Mike Wood said all of them were arrested for second degree murder and endangering the welfare of a child resulting in death. Both charges are Class A felonies, carrying a penalty of 10 years to life.

All six suspects are being held at the Lincoln County Jail on a $500,000 bond.

“This tragedy has deeply affected our community and my office will pursue justice for Ty’Ann to the fullest extent of the law,” Wood said. “These indictments reflect the result of months of hard work and collaboration among law enforcement, forensic experts, and child protection advocates.”

On the morning of Aug. 19, a 911 call was placed at 9:31 a.m. about an unresponsive infant in rural Lincoln County.

Lincoln County Coroner Dan Heavin said the baby had been dead three to six hours before law enforcement arrived and had multiple wounds indicating prior history of physical abuse, specifically broken ribs and brain bleeds.

Heavin said the primary cause of death was methamphetamine intoxication with fentanyl exposure and physical trauma, including asphyxiation, contributing to her death. He said it was the first infant death in the county’s history from exposure to an opioid.

While there were lethal doses of both drugs, there were higher amounts of methamphetamines according to Heavin. Exposure to the drugs alone can be deadly with contact being as simple as drug dust on the pacifier or clothing. Additionally, a drug operation at the home was quite possible due to large amounts of drugs.

“Whether it was on the baby’s bottle, whether it was on something that they had eaten, there was just generalized exposure through the skin,” Wood said. “The amount of fentanyl that was there leads us to believe that there was some type of activity regarding further distribution.”

Wood said there was fentanyl found in every room of the trailer where five of the six individuals lived.

So far, only one additional drug charge has been filed, felony possession, against Walton.

All but Rodriguez were living together in the residence.

Since the initial arrests, Clark and Rodriguez have also been charged with the Class A Felony of Abuse or Neglect of a Child Resulting in Death.

Rodriguez attorney filed a motion for dismissal Dec. 26 for “failure to state an offense,” while Clark has requested a bond reduction and change of venue. Adam Hauserman has also filed for a change of venue. .

All six are scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday, Jan. 8 at 9 p.m. in front of Circuit Judge James Beck.

#3 – County Scammed


out of $150K Plus

LINCOLN COUNTY (Nov. 29) – A scammer posing as a representative of local Internet provider Gateway Fiber scammed Lincoln County out of up to $160,000 during Sep- tember.

According to Captain Pasquale Patti of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, the county got a spoofing email that appeared legitimate from a vendor seeking payment. He notes that such scams are “very common and happens all of the time and it’s a technique very familiar to law enforcement.”

In such schemes, an attempt to defraud a person or business or in this case the county government into sharing sensitive information such as credit card numbers or passwords via email, a phone call, or text message, for what is seemingly legit, and is allegedly from a trusted source like a bank partner or vendor or online retailer is often how scammers are successful. Once the fees are transferred or payment is made to a likely overseas account, it’s a lot less likely the funds will be recovered or returned.

“Gateway Fiber and Lincoln County are aware of a recent cyber fraud incident affecting our joint efforts to improve broadband connectivity in the region. We take security very seriously and are working with cybersecurity experts to investigate, mitigate the impact, and prevent future occurrences,” said John Meyer, Gateway Fiber chief marketing officer.

When scams like this happen, one question that is always asked is what protocols were in place? Referring to the county’s checks and balances system, Commissioner Joseph Kaimann says the county has “a pretty good system for what we do right now” but remains open to potential changes pending the outcome of the current investigation.

#4 Construction Underway on Diamond Interchange TROY (Sept. 26) – Construction on a diamond interchange designed to reduce one of Troy’s biggest traffic headaches began earnestly in late September when crews began the demolition process of the Highway 47 bridge.

As part of Phase Two of the project located at Highways 47 and 61, the bridge closed for a 48-hour period Friday Sept. 27-Sunday, Sept. 29 as crews removed the north portion of the bridge.

Other the next several months, crews have rebuilt the north side while adding lanes to accommodate the diamond interchange.

The project is expected to be completed in December 2025.

During construction of the interchange, Highway 47 has been reduced to one lane in each direction and includes a 12foot width restriction, from North Lincoln Drive to East Cherry Street. All traffic will be shifted to the existing southside of bridge. U.S. 61 off-ramp traffic is restricted to right turns only at the ramp terminals onto Highway 47. Access to Highway 61 has also been restricted to right-turn only and temporary lights have been installed on the bridge and at Cap-Au-Gris and South Lincoln Drive for additional traffic control.

“We are getting rid of the middle turn lane,” Missouri Department of Transportation District Engineer Jeff Niemeyer said. “Motorists won’t be able to turn left. We will still have through traffic though.”

With the north half of the bridge demolished this fall, the south half is slated for demo in the spring.

Once completed, the bridge will be 90 feet across, compared to 45 currently.

The $15.4M contract was awarded to KCI Construction Company of St. Louis.

#5 – Woods Fort Golf Course Destroyed By Fire TROY (March 12) – A local landmark and favorite recreational destination was destroyed by fire Sunday night.

The restaurant, pro shop and clubhouse at Woods Fort Golf Course caught fire about 4:15 p.m. and despite a four-minute response time from local firefighters, spread quickly before consuming the entire building.

The fire reportedly started in the restaurant and is suspected to be of an electrical nature.

The building was evacuated and no one was hurt, and when firemen responded, they started fighting the fire inside the building. However, it quickly spread into the attic, breaking through the roof which sent the firefighters outside to battle the growing blaze.

The facility’s general manager, Sandy Hughes, said while the building was destroyed, most importantly, no one was hurt.

“We feel blessed,” she said. “The wind was pretty high and there was no rain. From what we can tell, it started as a small fire and the wind got a hold of it and off it went.”

Amazingly, despite strong winds which had prompted a red-flag/ no-burning warning in the county, firefighters were able to control the blaze and prevent it from damaging any nearby structures or even the dry grass on the surrounding golf course.

Due to the size of the fire, multiple alarms were sounded and numerous departments responded, including Lincoln County Fire Protection District #1, Winfield Foley Fire Protection District, Wentzville Fire Protection District, Hawk Point Fire Protection District, Wentzville Fire District, Old Monroe Fire District and Wright City Fire Protection District. The O’Fallon Fire District sent firefighters to man the Troy fire station. The Lincoln County Ambulance District, Troy and Moscow Mills police departments also responded.

While the building is a total loss and is being rebuilt, The Barn was undamaged and still available for use, including the March 23 Ruby Leigh concert.

Hughes said they will be building an auxiliary kitchen to serve events hosted in The Barn while also bringing in a climate controlled trailer to accommodate golfers and smaller events.

In fact, the golf course reopened Tuesday morning. And despite the loss of the building and disruption it has and will cause, Hughes emphasized the positives.

“We can not thank enough our community in addition to the first responders,” she said. “There isn’t enough gratitude I can express to them. The amount of calls and texts, we feel very, very fortunate to be in Troy. It’s just been amazing to see everyone pull together and support us.”

The public golf course was celebrating its 30th year in operation this year, Hughes said.

#6 – Grand jury rules Robinson shooting was self-defense

LINCOLN COUNTY (April 30) – The 23-year-old Lincoln County man who shot and killed a Troy teenager will not face charges after a grand jury ruled the shooting was in self-defense.

Matthew Robinson, 16, was visiting his girlfriend in rural Lincoln County Dec. 31, 2023, when he was shot by her older brother who was at the house along with her parents.

In an exclusive interview with The Lincoln County Journal, Robinson’s mother, Amy Sawyer and stepfather, Paul Divinny, said they weren’t entirely surprised by the decision as they suspected early on their son would be portrayed as a “knife-wielding maniac” instead of the victim in his death.

“Unfortunately, through the three-hour conversation (with Lincoln County Sheriff’s Detectives), we’d already prepared ourselves for this because the way they were speaking to us,” Divinny said. “We just knew all they wanted to do was get us to help them put a knife in his hand.”

According to records obtained from the Lincoln County Prosecuting Attorney’s office via a Sunshine Law request, Robinson had in fact threatened his girlfriend with a pocket knife that contained a two-inch blade.

In multiple interviews with detectives, the shooter, whose name The Journal will not publish due to no charges filed, indicated he heard his sister and Robinson arguing and when he entered her bedroom, he saw her “crying, with a “puffy” eye,” and that Robinson was holding a knife.

He then proceeded to “sprint” to his car and retrieve a handgun and after entering the home, he could hear his sister screaming. After approaching his sister’s bedroom, he pointed the gun at Robinson and told him to “get the f*** out of the house.”

He then stated Robinson turned toward him, approached him angrily, and asked “what are you going to do, shoot me?”

At that point, he took approximately two steps backward into the hallway from his sister’s bedroom and shot Robinson one time before placing the gun down on a nearby printer and retrieving a towel in an attempt to provide first aid. However, the wound proved fatal and Robinson was later pronounced dead at the scene by responding paramedics.

While sheriff’s deputies retrieved the described pocket knife, it was found inside Robinson’s jacket with the blade retracted.

The fight between Robinson and his girlfriend on Dec. 31 that led to his death may have been their last, but according to her, it wasn’t their first, nor was it the first time she claimed he became physically abusive.

Two days after the shooting, Robinson’s older sister and brother called her to ask what happened in the moments proceeding Matthew’s death.

As indicated in the reports, she said while he hadn’t hit her, he had “placed his hands on her,” which had happened before.

“There had been a couple occasions in our relationship where he had put his hands on me,” she said in the phone call provided to The Journal. “And you know, I never thought (anything) of it. I knew he didn’t mean to. I mean, he told me … I’m sorry. And I know he didn’t like doing that. You know he wasn’t that kind of person. We all know who he really was. He was sweet. He was smart. He was funny.”

In fact, according to investigative records, she thought so little of it that she hadn’t mentioned it to her parents.

Matthew’s mother and stepfather though offered a vastly different portrait of their son as Amy said “he didn’t have a violent bone in his body.”

“Everybody that knew my son, you can ask anyone, and I’m not saying it because he’s my son and oh he’s just so special,” Amy said. “But they won’t tell you one bad thing about him. He laughed a lot, he was just goofy. But he was really shy and quiet around people he didn’t know.”

Paul said Matthew did struggle with ADHD from an early age along with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder associated with a previous assault.

“He had some emotional problems, but he took it upon himself to drive himself to a counselor and talk to him,” Paul said. “He wanted to figure out why he felt the way he did, and he wanted to fix it.”

Lincoln County Prosecuting Attorney Mike Wood explained why he wanted to present the case to a grand jury for an indictment instead of charging the shooter independently.

“We felt like there would be some self-defense issues that needed to be addressed,” Wood said. “Because of that, we wanted to put the case before the grand jury so 15 people (12 active jurors and three alternates) could make an informed decision as to whether there should be charges filed.”

Wood said a grand jury only requires nine individuals to find “probable cause” a crime occurred and that in this case, charges could have included varying degrees of murder or manslaughter.

“If the grand jury felt comfortable on self-defense, that the shooting was justified, then that defense applies to all of those charges,” Wood said.

#7 – Construction Begins on County’s First Solar Farms

LINCOLN COUNTY (April 30) – Solar farms are growing in popularity nationwide, and two appeared in the area including the first one in Lincoln County and another just a mile south.

The one in Lincoln County covers 1,200 acres of land, on Highway W and Mansion Rd, which is north of Highway 47, halfway between Troy and Winfield. The other solar farm is located in Warren County, on Highway 47, just south of Hawk Point.

The Lincoln County solar farm in Lincoln County is called the Winfield Solar Farm and Cordelio Power is the developer/owner. Solar farms have become popular in part due to its cost-effectiveness and growing profitability of the photovoltaic technology behind solar panels.

“A solar farm is a large installation of photovoltaic (PV) solar panels that covert sunlight into electrical energy without consuming any fuel,” explains Aimee Leatherman, Cordelio Power senior manager, project development.

The partnership between the county and Cordelio, according to Lincoln County Economic Development Executive Director Julie Rodgers has worked out well. She says the county worked with the company to make sure the land and the residents were protected, that roads stayed in good condition during construction, and that there was a clean-up phase installed.

“We spent probably about eight months [in] negotiations. The company was very receptive to that and very willing to be good community partners with us,” Rodgers said. “I think that it is important for people to know this just didn’t happen. There were a lot of discussions about how we can make this the best outcome for everybody.”

The cost of the project, according to Leatherman, is $200 million in capital investments.

“Winfield Solar pursued a mutually beneficial and effective tax management tool with the county by establishing a payment in lieu of taxes (pilot) chapter 100 agreement. This enables tax predictability during the project life while providing value and benefit to the local taxing authority authorities,” Leatherman said.

Advocates claim there are more than financial benefits to the solar farms, primarily providing a source of renewable energy without the downside of pollution.

As for the financial incentive, Leatherman says among “the meaningful tax revenue” from Winfield Solar will benefit county and local taxing authorities, including the school, fire, and ambulance district.

“Alongside increased, long-term economic benefits to Lincoln County’s tax base, solar development will positively impact the regional economy by creating construction and operations and maintenance jobs. Winfield Solar will generate and deliver clean, renewable power,” she said.

The mechanical completion of the Winfield Solar Farm, according to Rodgers, is scheduled to be completed in December and testing and commissioning is set to be finished between December 2024-March 2025. As for what happens once the project ends, Leatherman says that Cordelio, “typically buys assets to hold forever.”

#8 – Troy Police Criticized for Excessive Use of Force

TROY (Oct. 15) – It only took 30 seconds. In that short amount of time, a routine traffic stop escalated into a situation involving police brutality accusations while sparking outrage and questions about how far is too far when it comes to the use of force.

On the evening of July 11, Andrew Mencin, his wife Aaliyah and their two daughters were returning home from dinner when they were stopped by Troy Police Sgt. Todd Plumb for speeding and failure to display a valid license’s plate.

According to body cam video released by Mencin online, Sgt. Plumb approached the Audi Andrew was driving and requested he step out of the vehicle. At the 4:20 mark in the video, Mencin was out of the vehicle with identification in one hand and paperwork in the other. The officer immediately grabs Mencin by the wrist and at the 4:24 mark, tells Mencin he needs to relax. Three seconds later, he’s yelling at Mencin to put his hands behind his back and after telling him a second time, Mencin is tased a first time at the 4:38 mark, 23 seconds after first making contact with Sgt. Plumb.

After being told to “go to the ground,” Mencin is tased a second time while taking a knee by another officer and is tased a third time three seconds later by Plumb, or 30 seconds after making initial contact.

At this point, Andrew was handcuffed and eventually placed inside Plumb’s patrol car, which he proceeded to damage by ripping out a significant portion of internal wiring.

In addition, Aaliyah was also arrested. In the video, Aaliyah goes from the passenger seat to the driver seat to record Andy’s arrest. Police say she ignored officer’s orders to stay in the passenger’s seat and purposely placed herself in the backseat between her daughters.

Officers eventually forcibly pulled her out of the vehicle, which caused her to hit her head on the pavement. She appears to lose consciousness momentarily before an officer conducts a “sternum-rub” to resuscitate her.

“I complied up until the point I jumped into the back seat for fear of my life and my babies’ life. They wanted their mom. They screamed ‘you’re not taking my mom either‘,” Aaliyah said.

#9 – Father Fatally Shoots Son, Girlfriend over Sexual Assault Claim

EOLIA (Aug. 6) – Two Silex residents were shot and killed Saturday night by one of the victim’s father following an argument in his home over a sexual assault allegation.

Matthew Todd, 52, is in custody without bond on two counts of first degree murder, three counts of armed criminal action, domestic assault and unlawful use of a weapon after shooting his son Timothy Todd, 26, and Timothy’s girlfriend, Kaitlyn Potter- Navratil, 26.

The Lincoln County Journal obtained a copy of the probable cause statement charging Todd and in it, a witness provided police some insight as to Todd’s motivation.

“The witness … stated that Mr. Todd believed that one of the victims had sexually assaulted a member of his family in the past and this was the catalyst which subsequently led to the physical altercation and shooting,” according to the statement.

The witness stated Todd was previously involved in a “physical altercation” with one of the victims before retreating to his bedroom where he acquired a .223 rifle. After firing 3-6 shots at the victims, Todd reportedly set the rifle down and sat outside awaiting the arrival of law enforcement who took him into custody without incident.

#10 – Silex Residents Go Days Without Water

SILEX (Dec. 13) – No water — no words any community wants to hear.

Yet, it was those exact words that caused inconvenience and headaches for over 100 Silex residents in early December and as reported in the Dec. 13 edition of The Journal.

Silex officials blamed out-of-date infrastructure for a water leak that primarily impacted residents and some businesses on Duncan Mansion, a road located in old Silex, which is served by a different water tower than the newer portion of town.

According to Gary Phillips, a Silex maintenance employee, a resident contacted a city staffer Sunday, Dec. 1, reporting no water pressure. Upon that notification, Phillips went and checked on it and contacted Flynn Drilling.

A short time later, a back flow issue was diagnosed.

The next day, the repair was completed and double checked to make sure there was sufficient flow in the water tower.

“We brought in water to pump up the system,” Phillips said. “When we all thought it was fixed and when I turned the booster on to boost the pressure to everybody, we blew a pipe and nobody knew that.”

Following another call about low water pressure, Phillips went looking for a leak which eventually he located at Duncan Mansion Road in the Royal Oaks area.

To add injury to insult, after the lines were repaired and Troy agreed to donate 20,000 gallons of water to start refilling the tower, the tower sprung a leak, wasting all that water. After the leak was fixed, Troy provided an additional 32,000 gallons of water and service was restored Thursday night and into Friday morning.

“We did the best we could to get service restored but nothing happens instantly,” said Mayor Lynne Luckett.

For Cayla Hardin, who lives in old town Silex next to the water tower, her family had no water beginning Sunday, Dec. 1.

A few days later, on Thursday, Dec. 5, Hardin says the water was back on while a boil order remains in place until further notice.

Hardin says she is annoyed not only with the most recent water issue Hardin says she is annoyed not only with the most recent water issue but the city’s slow response to the old piping and infrastructure that has been problematic for too long. She says she has been experiencing water problems since they moved into their home in 2020.

“It’s extremely frustrating when we go without water,” she said.

But it was not just residents that experienced water issues. A spokesperson for the Silex Community Care Center confirms their water was off and on. In addition, the spokesperson noted the water came back on at the end of last week and credits the city for acting quickly and doing a “good” job.

But for Knight Owls Cafe, they couldn’t sell fountain soda and were forced to close for a day.

“It was a definite impact,” said the cafe’s Will Southerland. “It’s frustrating but that is the situation you are in. There is not much you can do about it. It’s not really something they can predict.”

The school district also canceled classes Thursday and Friday in response to the crisis.

Since the summer of 2023, the city has been on bottled water after Silex declared a state of emergency to deal with the radionuclides in the city’s ground water source.

Luckett previously told the Lincoln County Journal that she hopes to have the water issue solved by mid-2025, but it’s not definitive.