Joplin man to stand trial in gun-pointing case

Jun. 23—A 25-year-old Joplin man waived a preliminary hearing Thursday on the second felony gun-pointing charge he has incurred in the past two years.

Jonathan D. Inniss was ordered to stand trial in Jasper County Circuit Court on counts of unlawful use of a weapon and driving with a revoked license. His initial appearance in a trial division is set on July 24.

Associate Judge Joseph Hensley denied defense attorney Craig Lowe's request for his client to be released on his own recognizance, but did agree to drop a $2,500 cash-only portion of his $10,000 bond. Inniss had been denied entry into a pretrial release program earlier this month out of the court's concern with this being his second arrest in a gun-pointing incident.

Inniss is accused of pointing a 9mm handgun with an extended magazine out the window of a car at another vehicle occupied by a couple and their baby and 4-year-old child on May 16 near Fir Road and County Road 170.

The defendant had been charged in June 2021 with pointing a gun at four people sitting outside a residence in the 900 block of South Moffet Avenue in Joplin who he apparently believed had directed a racial slur at him. Those charges were dismissed when the state's witnesses did not show up to testify at a preliminary hearing.

Jeff Lehr is a reporter for The Joplin Globe.