A 55-year-old Maryville man is facing felony charges after officers say he spat in his hand, rubbed it on another man's face, and shouted a racial slur during a confrontation on West 4th Street. Jon Scott Shell now faces both fourth-degree assault and harassment charges, each enhanced with a discrimination motivation that turns them into Class E felonies under Missouri law.
According to Northwest MO Info, officers responding to the 100 block of West 4th Street on Aug. 29 found Shell arguing with four Black men, according to the probable cause statement. Police were advised that Shell was trying to fight numerous people in the area before he was taken into custody, the probable cause statement says.
Witness and victim testimony cited in the case indicates Shell called the four men a racial slur and, at another point, spat in his hand and rubbed it on one man's face. Shell was booked on one count of fourth-degree assault motivated by discrimination and one count of harassment motivated by discrimination intended to frighten or disturb another person. His bond was set at $25,000.
Court Date Canceled After Judge Steps Aside
Shell's initial court appearance, which had been scheduled in Nodaway County, was canceled Tuesday after the assigned judge recused themselves from the case, per the outlet's report. As of Tuesday, no new hearing date had been set. Nodaway County Circuit Court sits within Missouri's 4th Judicial Circuit, which shares judges across Atchison, Gentry, Holt, Nodaway, and Worth counties, a structure that comes into play whenever a local judge steps back and an outside judge from elsewhere in the circuit must be assigned, according to the Sheridan Express.
How Missouri Elevates Assault Into a Felony
The charges against Shell rely on Missouri Revised Statutes § 557.035, a statute that allows prosecutors to elevate misdemeanor-level offenses like fourth-degree assault or harassment into Class E felonies when they are knowingly committed because of a victim's race, according to the City of Springfield, Missouri. Under a separate statute, Missouri Revised Statutes § 565.056, fourth-degree assault itself is defined broadly to include making physical contact that the offender knows the other person will regard as offensive or provocative, according to the Scrivner Law Firm — a definition that can cover an act like spitting on someone.
A Class E felony conviction in Missouri carries a potential sentence of up to four years in state prison and a fine of as much as $10,000, according to Dean Price Law. A conviction on a felony hate offense under the same statute would also automatically strip Shell of his right to possess or purchase firearms, per the Giffords Law Center, even though Missouri does not otherwise restrict gun ownership for violent misdemeanor convictions.
Proving Bias Is the Hard Part
Proving bias motivation is an important part of pursuing these discrimination enhancements, separate from proving the underlying assault or harassment itself.
The case unfolds in a county where Black residents make up a small share of the population. Maryville had roughly 10,428 residents as of 2024, with Black or African American residents accounting for about 3.5%, or roughly 361 people, according to data compiled by Data USA. Countywide, non-Hispanic white residents make up 91.7% of Nodaway County's population, compared with a national average of 57.5%, per federal figures reported by USAFacts as of April 2026.
Statewide, the U.S. Department of Justice reported 205 hate crime incidents in Missouri in 2023, with race, ethnicity, or ancestry bias cited as the motivating factor in 113 of those cases. The FBI has separately reported that Missouri law enforcement agencies logged a nearly 70% increase in hate crime incidents between 2020 and 2021 as agencies shifted to a newer national reporting system.
It remains unclear whether Shell has retained legal counsel or posted his $25,000 bond. With his initial appearance canceled and no new date set as of Tuesday, it is also unknown which judge from the 4th Judicial Circuit will ultimately be assigned to the case.
