Joplin man who shot girlfriend with stolen gun denied bond on meth trafficking charge

A federal judge today ordered a Joplin man held without bond while awaiting trial on a meth trafficking charge.

A grand jury incited Travis K. Brown, 51 in November 2021, for crimes that allegedly took place June 29 of that year and in August 2020, but Brown only recently was released from prison where he was sent after violating his probation.

In a detention motion filed Wednesday in U. S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, the government outlined the case for holding Brown without bond.

Brown is a convicted felon who was found in possession of a firearm on one occasion and approximately 221 grams of actual methamphetamine on a separate occasion. A five-year-old child was inside Brown’s residence when the methamphetamine was seized. 

Brown’s first arrest occurred on August 2, 2020, when Joplin, Missouri, Police Department officers were called to Brown’s residence because a woman had been shot. 

When officers arrived at the scene, they found Brown’s girlfriend L.S. sitting at the kitchen table with a gunshot wound to her abdomen. The firearm used to shoot Brown’s girlfriend was sitting on the kitchen table. 

Brown’s girlfriend told police that Brown had just finished cleaning his gun when he accidentally shot her. 

The officer checked the handgun through computer systems and learned that it was reported stolen from Webb City, Missouri. 

Brown was sitting on the front porch when officers arrived. Brown gave officers consent to recover the firearm from the residence. Brown made spontaneous utterances to the officers that the gun was sitting on the kitchen table, that the gun was silver and a Smith and Wesson, and that the shooting was accidental. 

Brown was interviewed the next day. Brown told officers that he had retrieved his gun “to mess with it.” Brown said the gun discharged and struck his girlfriend who was sitting on the other side of the kitchen table from him. 

Brown said he did not know how the gun discharged. Brown refused to say how he obtained the stolen firearm. 

Brown has prior felony convictions for possession of methamphetamine, manufacturing methamphetamine, second degree arson, and receiving stolen property. Brown was on probation when officers arrested him on August 2, 2020. 

While at the scene, officers called Brown’s probation officer. Brown’s probation officer told the officers that Brown is aware that he was prohibited from possession firearms due to him being a convicted felon. 

Brown’s second arrest occurred on June 29, 2021, when Joplin, Missouri, Police Department officers executed a state search warrant at Brown’s residence. Inside the residence were three individuals: (1) Brown, (2) Brown’s girlfriend L.S., and (3) his girlfriend’s 5-year-old child. 

Inside a safe, officers located bags of methamphetamine, a digital scale, Alprazolam and Hydrocodone pills, and two cell phones. 

The Drug Enforcement Administration Crime Lab analyzed the bags of methamphetamine found in the safe and determined that one contained 195 grams of 100% pure methamphetamine and the other contained 27.11 grams of 99% pure methamphetamine. 

In total, 221 grams of actual methamphetamine were recovered from the safe. 

The next day, officers interviewed Brown after reading him his Miranda rights. Brown immediately said, “It’s mine.” 

Brown stated that he had been selling for three or four months and had sold approximately one-half pound of methamphetamine during that time. 

The facts underlying Brown’s federal indictment show that he poses a danger to the community. Brown has unlawfully possessed a firearm, which resulted in him seriously wounding his girlfriend. Brown has also possessed substantial quantities of methamphetamine and admitted to trafficking methamphetamine. 

In short, Brown’s efforts to possess firearms and distribute methamphetamine make for a dangerous combination. Furthermore, Brown was recently granted parole from the Missouri Department of Corrections. 

As described above, he has multiple felony convictions for the offenses of possession of methamphetamine, manufacturing methamphetamine, arson 2nd degree, and receiving stolen property. 

Brown has been granted probation on several occasions, but each time has failed to abide by the conditions of his probation and had his probation revoked. 

On one occasion Brown absconded from supervision. Even if this Court tried to fashion conditions of release that would keep the community safe and ensure Brown’s appearance at court hearings, Brown’s criminal history shows that he is unlikely to abide by those conditions.