Theodosia man gets five-year sentence for June stabbing

Theodosia resident Justin Ledbetter and his girlfriend, Krista Cofer, were in the courtroom Dec. 4 when Circuit Judge Craig Carter sentenced Krista’s brother, Cameron Cofer, to five years in the Missouri Department of Corrections. The sentencing was handed down in connection with the June 22 stabbing of Ledbetter at a residence on Highway 160 in Gainesville.
Cameron Cofer, represented by defense attorney Ricky Farrow, pleaded guilty to a class B felony of assault in the first-degree pursuant to a plea agreement with the state. As part of the agreement, a felony charge of armed criminal action was dismissed. Because the charge is considered a dangerous felony, Cofer will be required to serve at least 85 percent of the sentence, or four years and three months, before he is eligible for parole. The five-year prison sentence is the lowest prison sentence available for the class B felony, which has a punishment range of five to 15 years in prison.
Although Ozark County Prosecuting Attorney John Garrabrant did not name Ledbetter as the victim in the case, he did tell the judge the victim had been consulted when he was preparing the plea offer and was in agreement with it. Carter asked if the victim would like to address the court, and Garrabrant said he did not.
“You’re not that guy, are you?” Carter asked Cofer after he sentenced him. “You’re standing before me, and you don’t seem like a guy that would just stab someone. And this is family… you’re not that guy, right?”
“No, sir,” Cofer answered.
“I didn’t think so. But obviously something’s going on, so I hope you go up there and get right,” Carter said. “Good luck to you, sir.”
Cofer was arrested in the early morning hours of June 22 after a witness called the Ozark County Sheriff’s Department to report that Cofer had used a kitchen knife to stab Ledbetter in the abdomen.
Ledbetter was transported to Baxter Regional Medical Center in Mountain Home, Arkansas, with a 1.5-inch wide puncture wound to his lower back that penetrated his abdominal cavity.
Court documents indicate that Ozark County Deputy Dustin Smith spoke with a witness who said Cofer became agitated after he had a negative encounter with a woman. He then went outside and locked himself in his truck, the witness said. Ledbetter and Krista Cofer, who had been inside the home when Cofer became agitated, went out to the truck to stop him from driving because he was reportedly intoxicated.
A verbal dispute broke out between Cameron Cofer and Ledbetter, and Cofer got out of the vehicle, went inside, grabbed a knife from the kitchen’s butcher block and went back outside, where Ledbetter was standing.
Cofer then reportedly yelled that he was going to “gut” Ledbetter. Krista told officers her brother ran to Ledbetter and struck him with something.
A witness inside the house dialed 911 to report the altercation, and moments later a woman ran inside the house and yelled for someone to call an ambulance because Ledbetter had been stabbed.
Cofer was arrested and transported to the Ozark County Jail, where he was interviewed. He told deputies he had become angry with Ledbetter because of a prior incident involving Krista, Ledbetter’s fiancee. Cofer admitted to entering the house, grabbing the knife and going back outside to stab Ledbetter.