Niece of suspect in Kentucky trooper death given probation

Kentucky State Trooper Joseph Cameron Ponder was fatally shot by Joseph Thomas Johnson-Shanks (right) late Sunday night, according to Kentucky authorities. (Photo courtesy Missourinet) — Kentucky State Trooper Joseph Cameron Ponder was fatally shot by Joseph Thomas Johnson-Shanks (right), according to Kentucky authorities. (Photo courtesy Missourinet)

EDDYVILLE, Ky. (AP) — An 18-year-old woman who admitted to being uncooperative during the investigation into the shooting death of a Kentucky state trooper will not have to serve prison time.

News outlets report that Ambrea Shanks of Florissant, Missouri, was sentenced Monday to five years of probation after pleading guilty in a Lyon County courtroom to first-degree hindering prosecution or apprehension.

Thirty-one-year-old Trooper Joseph Cameron Ponder was shot to death in September in western Kentucky after a high-speed chase that reportedly started with the trooper pulling over Shanks’ 25-year-old uncle, Joseph Johnson-Shanks, for speeding.

Police say that during a phone call with her uncle, Shanks told him he was on speaker phone and not to say anything.

Troopers shot Johnson-Shanks to death after they say he refused to surrender.