Riley Gerber, a 15-year-old male, was a student at Conway High School in Missouri known for his love of the outdoors, including hunting, fishing, and playing baseball. He lived in a home on Atlanta Road near Grovespring, a rural community in Laclede County, Missouri. On the night of July 8, 2014, the teenager was at home with his father, 35-year-old Chad Gerber, and his stepmother, Jennifer Gerber.
During the early morning hours of July 8, 2014, an intruder broke into the Gerber residence. According to investigators, the assailant shot Chad Gerber three times, killing him at the scene. Riley Gerber, reportedly awakened by the noise, emerged from his bedroom to check on the disturbance. The gunman then fired at the teenager, striking him beneath the left eye and in the ear. Despite suffering critical gunshot wounds, Riley managed to retreat to his room and locate his cellphone. Authorities arrived to find Chad Gerber deceased and Riley critically injured. Riley Gerber was transported to a hospital in Springfield, Missouri, where he fought for his life for four days before succumbing to his injuries on Saturday, July 12, 2014.
Law enforcement identified the suspect as 65-year-old Matthew Mitchell Rumbaugh of Mountain Grove, Missouri. Rumbaugh, a former Lebanon businessman and owner of Matt's Garage, was known to the family. Investigations revealed an alleged love triangle involving Rumbaugh and Chad Gerber’s wife, Jennifer. Rumbaugh reportedly admitted to investigators that he had gone to the home on a stormy night, believing the weather would mask his arrival, because he was 'tired of waiting for Jennifer Gerber to leave her husband.' Prosecutors charged Rumbaugh with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of armed criminal action.
Legal proceedings against Rumbaugh were lengthy, involving a successful appeal by the state in 2017 regarding the suppression of certain statements he made to police. The trial was eventually moved from Laclede County to Camden County on a change of venue. In April 2019, the case went before a jury in Camdenton. During the trial, jurors heard conflicting testimonies. While Jennifer Gerber testified that Rumbaugh broke in and shot her husband and stepson, Rumbaugh took the stand in his own defense, claiming he had been invited to the home by Jennifer and that she was the one who pulled the trigger. The defense and prosecution rested their cases on April 12, 2019, and the jury began deliberations the following week.
Jennifer Gerber was also named as a defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Riley's biological mother, Jessica Frank. The suit alleged that Jennifer left the scene with Rumbaugh immediately after the shooting and did not return to call 911 for nearly 50 minutes, leaving Riley wounded and without medical assistance during that critical time. Although Jennifer Gerber invoked her Fifth Amendment rights during preliminary hearings and was not initially charged with a crime in 2015, the civil litigation sought damages for her alleged negligence and failure to protect the teenager.
