ST. LOUIS (AP) — The fatal shooting of a 13-year-old boy who authorities say was caught rummaging through a car in St. Louis for pocket change could test Missouri’s castle doctrine.

In a prepared statement, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce said the case was a tragedy and that Missouri’s self-defense law is complicated. It allows for the use of deadly force when people encounter intruders in homes and vehicles.

Prosecutors said Monday that they are reviewing the case. According to police, Martinez Smith-Payne and two other boys were stealing from an unlocked vehicle Sunday when a 60-year-old man confronted them and shot Martinez. The 13-year-old was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The man was arrested, but released after prosecutors did not charge him.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A proposed rule change for Missouri police would require officers to have annual training in recognizing bias and dealing with people with mental health issues.

The new training requirements were endorsed Tuesday by the state Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission.

Gov. Jay Nixon had directed the commission in August to revamp the standards. He said the fatal police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson sparked a national debate on police training and gave Missouri a chance to lead in making improvements.

Police currently need 48 hours of training every three years. The proposal would change that to 24 hours annually while adding several specific subjects to the training.

The rule changes must pass through a review and public comment period before they can take effect.

BROOKLYN, Ohio (AP) -€” Police near Cleveland say a 15-year-old girl who’s been missing nearly a month has been found at a house in eastern Missouri.

Authorities say that the girl is in good condition.

Police in the Cleveland suburb of Brooklyn say Alexis Boroviak was found Tuesday night in Warren County, Missouri. That’s just west of St. Louis. Investigators didn’t immediately say how the girl ended up in the St. Louis suburb.

She was last seen on Nov. 8, when she went outside to tie up her family’s dog.

About 300 people gathered at rally for the girl last month, including Cleveland kidnap victim Michelle Knight and the family of fellow captive Gina DeJesus.

Knight, along with DeJesus and Amanda Berry, were held in a Cleveland home for a decade until being freed by police in May 2013.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita man who suggested attacking the Sedgwick County Courthouse as a murder trial was ending was placed on probation.

Samuel McCrory was also ordered Tuesday to complete anger management classes and to surrender his firearms.

McCrory pleaded guilty in October to one count of criminal threat and three counts of criminal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon,

Authorities say he posted comments on Facebook asking if it was “out of line to storm the courthouse” and saying the “only way to defend yourself from a cop is to kill the cop.”

McCrory also drew attention when he was seen carrying an assault rifle and other weapons at protests and other events in downtown Wichita in the year before his arrest.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas lawmaker who helped pass a law that allows people to carry concealed weapons without a permit has taken a lobby job with the National Rifle Association.

Republican state Rep. Travis Couture-Lovelady announced this week that he would give up his House seat before the 2016 session take a job with the NRA. He said he would begin serving as the organization’s state liaison this week.  Couture-Lovelady successfully carried a bill on the House floor that made Kansas one of six states to allow people to carry concealed weapons without a permit.

House Speaker Ray Merrick says Couture-Lovelady has been a strong advocate for pro-Second Amendment legislation, and he wishes him all the best.

Couture-Lovelady’s replacement will be chosen by a Republican precinct committee to represent House District 110 in western Kansas through 2016.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Mexican man was sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison for laundering more than $4.7 million in drug funds in Kansas, Missouri and seven other states.

U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom says Franz Wiebe Rempel, of Cuauhtemoc, Chihuahua, Mexico, was sentenced Tuesday to five years and 10 months for money laundering.

He admitted that from 2009 through July 2013, he laundered drug funds through the Bank of America in Wichita, and accounts at Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan Chase.

Rempel gave bank account numbers to another person, who gave them to third parties. They deposited cash into Rempel’s bank accounts and he would cross the Mexico border almost weekly to move the money through the U.S. financial system.

A co-conspirator ultimately ended up with most of the money.

 

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Parents from the Shawnee Mission School District are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to consider their case challenging a state cap on the amount of local property tax money that the district can spend on education.

The parents filed a lawsuit in 2010 arguing that the state could not limit local school district funding because it creates a new inequality that punishes school districts.

The Legislature put the cap in place to help equalize economic disparities among Kansas’ 286 school districts.

In June, the U.S. Appeals Court in Denver ruled that the federal court couldn’t override the state’s funding plan. The parents are now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case. The court’s decision could come early this month.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A coroner says human remains found at a Kansas barn are those of a juvenile, but tests to determine whether they belong to a missing 7-year-old boy will take weeks.

Police found the remains after investigating a domestic disturbance at the home of the boy’s father.  Michael A. Jones has been charged with child abuse, aggravated battery and aggravated assault with a firearm.

Wyandotte County Coroner Alan Hancock said Tuesday the remains are of a juvenile and they’ve been sent to a forensic anthropologist who will determine the child’s age. Hancock will do additional DNA testing aimed at identifying the child.

It’s unclear if Jones has a lawyer. His father, Jerome Jones of Baltimore, says his son would never hurt a child.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A former top executive of a large St. Louis-based construction firm has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for a scheme to use company money for personal expenses.

A federal judge on Monday sentenced 59-year-old Brian Paluch of Kirkwood, the former chief financial officer and executive vice president of Paric Corp. He must also repay $393,659 to the company, and pay a $15,000 fine.

He was convicted of three counts of mail fraud in August.  Federal prosecutors say Paluch used his company credit card to pay for personal travel, dining, spa charges, electronics and other things from 2010 through February 2014.  They further charged he sometimes forged the name of the company’s president on financial summaries to falsely indicate that the payment was approved.