‘My actions were inexcusable’: Bonner to serve consecutive sentences for first-degree assault, second-degree murder for death of Dusty Wilson

ST. CHARLES, Mo. — Tiara Bonner called her actions “inexcusable” in the early morning of Oct. 9, 2022.

“I’ve been sorry from the moment I walked away from that traumatic scene, and I knew I would be sorry for the rest of my life,” she said

A six-man, six-woman jury from St. Charles County deliberated for nearly 5½ hours on Oct. 11 before finding Bonner guilty of first-degree assault and second-degree murder for her alleged involvement in a bar fight that resulted in the death of Dusty Wilson, 49, of Hannibal.

The jury sentenced Bonner to 10 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections on the second-degree murder charge and to 13 years in prison on the first-degree assault charge. Bonner was eligible to receive up to 30 years in prison or a life sentence on each charge.

Judge Christopher McDonough wrapped up the case on Thursday afternoon. After listening to about an hour of victim impact statements, McDonough announced that Bonner’s sentences would run consecutively for a total of 23 years. She is required to serve 85 percent of the sentence.

“I want to thank you all for taking the time to be here — the victim’s family and friends and Miss Bonner’s family and friends,” McDonough said. “Counsel, I know we’ve all put in a lot of work on this case. I know how difficult this case has been for the victim’s family, for the defendant’s family and for the Hannibal community. That’s not lost in any of this.”

Five members of Dusty’s family read victim impact statements — sisters Shari Whelan and Tina Miller, his mother Mary Wilson, his daughter Taylor Wilson and his wife Tracy Wilson.

“I miss being able to love him, and I will forever miss feeling the way he loved me,” Tracy Wilson said. “There is nothing that can be done that will take away the pain and sadness I have felt every second of every day since my husband was taken. The questions I have about that night play in my mind, and nothing in my life is the same since that day.”

She said she no longer visits downtown Hannibal because she can’t imagine seeing, driving or walking over the spot on Main Street outside of Rumor Has It Bar and Grill where her husband died. She said she doesn’t go to certain restaurants or stores, and she often remains in her house for weeks at a time.

“People are always telling me that my daughter and I are the strongest women they know because of how we are handling everything that has happened to us,” Tracy Wilson said. “We are strong, but in moments, we are weak, so much more than people see. We are hurting every single day. We’re lost.”

She said what Bonner did to her husband was “pure evil.” 

“You had no respect for his life, and to know that you were capable of that showed me that you were only concerned about yourself,” Tracy Wilson said. 

She said she has empathy for Bonner’s family and children.

“They are dealing with grief in ways that I will not understand due to the consequences of your choices, your actions,” she said. “They undoubtedly know a side of you that I will never be able to imagine, but that is where it ends.”

Whelan pleaded for McDonough to give Bonner the harshest sentence possible.

“Please show the same mercy they showed (Dusty), which was none,” she said.

Bonner then spoke for approximately tearful seven minutes. She apologized for laughing and smiling with her family during her trial.

“The Wilson family felt disrespected and blatantly disregarded as if they were not here

in dealing with one of the hardest things that they will endure in their life,” Bonner said. “I know that nothing that I will say will make a difference in the trauma, confusion, pain and heartache that I have brought to not just the Wilson family but my family as well.”

She said she wished she could change “the course of time” and bring back Dusty.

“Not just because of the punishment that I’m undergoing, but because of the thoughts in my mind, the images that replay in my mind, and the feelings in my heart as a mother and as a sister and a daughter,” Bonner said. “I’m terribly, terribly sorry for the lifelong pain that I’ve inflicted on your family.

“I know no same person would ask for a harsh … (brief pause) … but if it brings a sense of peace to your family, I would do anything to make you able to live a normal life.”

She apologized for any negative focus Dusty received, and she apologized for the strain put on the Hannibal community.

Assistant Attorney General Corie Geary thanked Bonner for her apology, then told McDonough she was “shocked” the jury recommended 10 and 13 years in prison for Bonner.

“(Bonner) chose to use fentanyl. She chose to use methamphetamine, marijuana and alcohol. She chose to engage in a fight with Dusty Wilson, which ultimately led to his death,” Geary said.

Geary said if McDonough chose to have Bonner serve her sentences concurrently, she could be out of prison in less than nine years.

“Even if you run these consecutively, Miss Bonner will get out and she will still have decades to spend her family, her children, and any grandchildren that she may have,” Geary said. “Justice needs to be served.”

Marion County Public Defender Austin Smith, whose motion for a new trial was denied by McDonough, said what happened to Dusty was like an “earthquake” in Hannibal. He contended, as he did during the trial, that testimony provided by the Rickey sisters — Kaelin, Shannon and Karli — was “one horrific accusation that was placed on Miss Bonner’s shoulders” that Bonner stomped on Dusty’s head three times after a fight in the middle of Main Street.

“We have never said that we were not down there and that we were not involved in this altercation,” Smith said. “Miss (Kaelin) Rickey looks to benefit from this.”

Smith noted his frustration that, despite the presence of several people reportedly at the scene, no video was recorded.

“We had nobody else, other than the Rickeys, say they saw Tiara stomp on Mr. Wilson’s head,” he said. “Nobody else saw that. … We’ve had to live with this accusation for two years, and while we wish things would have been different that night, we didn’t do that.

“We pray … I mean this sincerely, that in the community of Hannibal, Missouri — which is not a bad community, it’s a small community — that there can be some healing, and we can move past this as much as we can.”

A different St. Charles County jury found Jason Anderson of Hannibal guilty of first-degree assault and second-degree murder after a five-day trial concluded Oct. 25. Anderson waived jury sentencing and will be sentenced by McDonough on Jan. 17. He faces between 10 to 30 years or a life sentence in the Missouri Department of Corrections if found guilty on either charge.

Kaelin Rickey pled guilty to one count of second-degree assault, a Class D felony, during a Sept. 25, 2023, appearance in the Boone County Courthouse. She is awaiting sentencing. In exchange for Rickey’s plea, counts of second-degree murder and evidence tampering were dismissed.

A Boone County judge on Dec. 13, 2023, sentenced Thomas Payne of Monroe City to seven years in the Missouri Department of Corrections after a jury found him guilty of third-degree assault in connection to Wilson’s death. However, the jury also found Payne not guilty of second-degree assault.