Body of Shooting Victim Found in Farm Pond

TRENTON, MO — One Trenton man is dead while another is in custody following a shooting over the holiday weekend. Jameson Read, 24, is being held in the Grundy County Detention Center, charged with second degree murder and armed criminal action in connection with the July 3 death of 54-year-old John Vencill. Trenton Police Department began investigating a missing person’s report on the evening of Friday, July 5, and was able to determine that Read, identified as a business associate of Vencill, had shot the victim several times while the two were at Read’s home. According to an arrest warrant, Vencill had been shot in the head and chest with an AK-47. Read then placed Vencill’s body in the victim’s vehicle and drove to a remote portion of Sullivan County, where he dumped the vehicle into a farm pond. On July 6, a partially submerged vehicle was found in the pond, with Vencill’s body still in it. A second person who was arrested July 6 has been released and is not suspected to have participated in the homicide. Read was held without bond and was to appear in the associate division of Grundy County Court.