In the early morning hours of August 11, 2020, tragedy struck the small community of Vulcan, Missouri. William Goldsmith Shy, a 30-year-old male resident, was at his home situated off Highway 49 when the incident occurred. Around 1:00 a.m., he responded to a knock at his front door. According to witnesses present at the residence, shots rang out almost immediately after the door was opened. Shy sustained fatal injuries during the encounter and was pronounced dead at the scene by the county coroner shortly thereafter.
The investigation led by the Iron County Sheriff’s Office and the Missouri State Highway Patrol quickly focused on a specific individual. Witnesses inside the home reported hearing a voice they recognized as belonging to an acquaintance of the victim just before the gunfire erupted. The individual identified was McCoy Tristain Kelley, a 21-year-old man from Annapolis, Missouri, who was reportedly a friend of the victim. Information gathered by law enforcement indicated that Kelley had visited the residence the previous evening to speak with a female acquaintance, a prior interaction that had allegedly ended in a separation and assault.
Following the shooting, a search for Kelley ensued, but he remained at large for nearly two days. On the evening of Wednesday, August 12, Kelley surrendered to authorities in Iron County. He was subsequently arrested and booked into the Iron County Jail where he was held without bond. Prosecutors charged Kelley with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in connection with the death of William Shy.
