ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis police say a 29-year-old man is dead after being shot because he spilled beer in a car.

St. Louis homicide detectives say an argument began late Wednesday when one of the men spilled beer while the men were in a car in downtown St. Louis. One of the men in the car fired several shots, and the man who spilled the beer died at the scene.

Police say the shooter then shot at another man in the vehicle, but missed. That man was able to get the gun away from the 34-year-old shooter. He and the shooter then got into a fistfight, which left the accused shooter with a head injury and cuts.

No names have been released and the investigation continues.

FORISTELL, Mo. (AP) — A St. Louis-area man on five years of probation for assaulting his son is jailed on $100,000 bond, this time accused of beating the 11-year-old boy with a baseball bat.

Police allege that the Foristell man attacked his son for unknown reasons late Friday, repeatedly striking him in the head with a wooden baseball bat.  Authorities also accuse Calloni of tackling the boy and pinning him to the ground when the child tried to flee.

Prosecutors in St. Charles County charged 46-year-old Mark Calloni on Monday with child abuse.

The boy managed to escape to a neighbor’s house, where authorities were contacted. He was treated at a hospital.

A message seeking comment was left Monday at Calloni’s home.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Indiana doctor has been arrested in the unsolved deaths of four people linked to the Nebraska medical school he attended before being fired in 2001.

Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer says 40-year-old Dr. Anthony Garcia was arrested Monday in Illinois.

Schmaderer says Garcia has been linked to the May slayings of Creighton University professor Roger Brumback and his wife, Mary.

 

Officials also say he is linked to the 2008 stabbings of 11-year-old Thomas Hunter and his family housekeeper, Shirlee Sherman.

Roger Brumback and Thomas Hunter’s father worked in Creighton’s pathology department. They fired Garcia for erratic behavior in 2001, when he was a pathology resident.

Schmaderer declined to discuss evidence against Garcia, who lives in Terre Haute, Ind.Garcia doesn’t have a listed phone number, and information about his attorney wasn’t immediately available.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita police say a 15-year-old boy is hospitalized with a head injury after four minors took a car for a joyride.

Police say two 15-year-olds, a 12-year-old and a 9-year-old took their mother’s rental car without permission Sunday morning and started driving around the neighborhood.

Sgt. Scott Brunow says the 12-year-old was driving when one of the 15-year-olds tried to climb out onto the vehicle’s back end. The 15-year-old slid off and hit his head on the street.

The 12-year-old drove the injured teenager to the hospital.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — State lawmakers have curtailed the spending authority of the Missouri State Highway Patrol because of frustration over the purchase of a new airplane frequently used by the governor.

A new law that will take effect Aug. 28 will require the patrol to get legislative approval before spending more than $100,000 from a special state fund on any vehicle.

Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon announced this past week that he will allow the measure passed by the Republican-led Legislature to take effect without his signature.

The new restrictions come after lawmakers complained that they were not told in advance about the patrol’s purchase last December of a new $5.6 million airplane. Records show that Nixon has flown on the plane frequently.

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — The families of George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin are reacting on Twitter after the former neighborhood watch volunteer was cleared of all charges in the fatal shooting of the unarmed black teen.

Zimmerman’s brother, Robert Zimmerman Jr., says his family is relieved that the jury found George Zimmerman not guilty of second-degree murder and manslaughter. He tweeted: “Today … I’m proud to be an American.”

Martin’s parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, were reserved but expressed their disappointment.

Fulton expressed her faith in God, saying “Lord during my darkest hour I lean on you.” Tracy Martin tweeted that he was broken-hearted, but that his faith is “unshattered.”

The teen’s brother, Jahvaris Fulton, said simply: “Et tu America?” — a reference to the Latin phrase “Et tu, Brute?” known as an expression of betrayal.

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SANFORD, Fla. (AP) — Jurors have found George Zimmerman not guilty of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

The six-member, all-woman jury deliberated for more than 15 hours over two days before reaching their decision Saturday night.  They had been given the chance to convict Zimmerman of manslaughter but did not do so, despite asking for a clarification of the charge earlier in the evening.

After hearing the verdict, Judge Debra Nelson told Zimmerman he was free to go.

Jurors heard two different portraits of Zimmerman and had to decide whether he was a wannabe cop who took the law into his own hands or a well-meaning neighborhood watch volunteer who shot the unarmed teenager in self-defense because he feared for his life.

The jury, which has been sequestered since June 24, deliberated 16 hours and 20 minutes over two days. When the verdict was read, Mr. Zimmerman, 29, smiled slightly.His wife, Shellie, was in tears, and his whole family hugged.

Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, who lost their son a few weeks after his 17th birthday, were not in the courtroom.

Prosecutors held a news conference after the verdict was rendered. We have the video below.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Hospital officials say country music star Randy Travis remains in critical condition and has been under heavy sedation since surgery following a stroke.

The 54-year-old singer has been hospitalized since Sunday after suffering congestive heart failure due to a viral illness. Travis suffered the stroke Wednesday night at The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano and doctors performed surgery to relieve pressure on his brain. A hospital statement says Travis is resting comfortably and that his family continues to ask for prayers and support.

The Grammy Award-winning singer has been surrounded by family and friends while in the hospital and received a visit Thursday from George Jones’ widow, Nancy, who played music for her late husband’s longtime friend.