Investigators can't prove fatal shooting was not self-defense

Greene County prosecutors will file no charges for a deadly shooting on a parking lot in southwest Springfield. Dan Rich killed Corey Kesner in February during a fight at Remington's Corner on Republic Road, just east of Kansas Expressway.

Rich said the shooting was self-defense. Prosecuting Attorney Dan Patterson said he and police cannot prove otherwise, so they have to believe Rich.

"When an individual raises a self-defense claim, the State has the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the homicide is not justified. In this case, the State cannot prove that Mr. Rich did not reasonably act in lawful self-defense. I have met with Ms. Kim Kesner and her attorneys to explain my decision," Patterson wrote to a Springfield police detective.