FORSYTH, Mo. (AP) – A woman who prosecutors say planned the death of a 72-year-old Missouri man who was left beaten and bound in a vehicle faces life in prison after being convicted in the death.
Brandy Shaddox-photo Lawrence Co.
Forty-year-old Brandy Shaddox, of Branson, was found guilty Friday of first-degree murder in the November 2015 death of 72-year-old Larry Adams, of Hollister. Adams died of hypothermia after being found in an abandoned car near Walnut Shade.
Prosecutors say Shaddox beat Adams continued to live in Adams’ home, use his vehicle and make purchases with his credit cards after he was killed.
Earlier this year, 54-year-old Mark Travis Bailey, of Highlandville, was sentenced to 20 years for second-degree murder in Adams’ death. Bailey acknowledged buying zip ties that were used to tie up Adams.
NEOSHO COUNTY –The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) is investigating an officer involved shooting that occurred Saturday afternoon in Neosho County.
Trevor Jones -photo KDOC
Just after 1:20 p.m. Saturday, officers from the Chanute Police Department responded to the report of a disturbance in the Walmart parking lot at 2700 S. Santa Fe Avenue in Chanute, according to a KBI media release.
They encountered a male subject behaving erratically, and requested EMS respond to evaluate him. At approximately, 2 p.m. EMS was communicating with the man when he jumped inside the ambulance, locked the doors, and stole it.
At that time, one officer fired several times toward the subject in the departing ambulance.
Then, officers proceeded to chase the ambulance for approximately 15 minutes until they were able to stop it in the area of 7th St. and S. Allen Avenue.
Officers detained the subject. EMS treated him for injuries which included a non-life threatening gunshot wound. He was transported to a local hospital, and then to a Wichita hospital for further treatment. No law enforcement officers were injured during the incident.
The man was later identified as 38-year-old Trevor L. Jones of the Chanute area.
The Chanute Police Department requested KBI assistance to investigate the shooting. The KBI will complete a thorough and independent investigation into this incident. Once completed, the findings will be turned over to the Neosho County Attorney for review.
SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for aggravated robbery.
Just before 9:30 p.m. Friday, police were sent to the 1900 block of NW Topeka Boulevard in Topeka after report of an individual being robbed at gunpoint of an undisclosed amount of cash, according to Lt. Ron Ekis.
Rall -photo Shawnee Co.
The victim was able to give a description of the female suspect.
A woman matching the description given was located in the immediate vicinity and taken into custody. Officers identified the suspect as Samantha Rall, 34, of Topeka.
The suspect and victim were not acquainted.
Police booked Rall into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections for aggravated robbery and kidnapping.
Anyone with information regarding this crime is encouraged to contact the Topeka Police Criminal Investigation Bureau at 785-368-9400 or Crime Stoppers at 785-234-0007.
Bushman Planetarium. Photo courtesy Missouri Western State University.
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – The Bushman Planetarium at Missouri Western State University will have a public showing of “Wonders of the Universe” on Tuesday.
Peer deep into space through the eyes of the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope and travel back billions of years in time to witness the birth of the universe. Witness the formation of galaxies, explore some of the most wondrous nebulae and astronomical structures yet discovered, fly deep into our own Milky Way galaxy and return home to Earth on a spectacular tour through the solar system.
The Bushman Planetarium features a Digistar 4 projection system and a dome that is tilted slightly, rather than directly overhead, making viewing easier. A 17-channel stereo sound system enhances the viewing experience.
The showing begins at 7 p.m.Tuesday, July 31. The planetarium is located inside Agenstein Hall.
Tickets must be purchased in advance, either online at missouriwestern.edu/planetarium or in person at Agenstein Hall, room 140 during regular business hours (8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4:30 p.m.Monday through Friday).
Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for children, students, seniors and military.
The number of children in foster care in Kansas went down in May and June, the first such two-month drop in more than a year.
The Department for Children and Families reported fewer kids in foster care in the past two months, its first consecutive drop in more than a year. MADELINE FOX / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
The Department for Children and Families reported 7,588 children in its custody at the end of June. Though the number of kids in care has dipped several times in the last year, it usually bumps back up. This is the first time DCF has had a two-month drop since December 2016.
University of Kansas economist Donna Ginther said that foster care numbers are headed in the right direction, that but it’s too early to tell if that indicates real change in Kansas child welfare.
“The fact that they’re removing fewer kids two months in a row is a good thing,” she said. “I don’t think it’s a trend yet.”
Ginther, who’s been leading a study examining the effect of Kansas welfare policies on foster care numbers, said she’d look for six months or more of consistent drops to indicate a turnaround at the agency — though she said DCF’s recent leadership change and the increased scrutiny from lawmakers could be making a dent in the state’s skyrocketing child welfare caseload.
Agency officials take a more optimistic view.
“We have been working diligently to change the landscape of child welfare in Kansas,” DCF spokeswoman Taylor Forrest said in an email.
Forrest said DCF credits the drop to a renewed focus on getting kids to permanency — usually reintegration with their families, adoption by another family, or, if they’re older, a transition to independent living — and opening up some DCF positions to people who aren’t licensed as social workers.
Casting a wider net for people to fill open positions “has allowed staff to spend more time focusing on prevention, keeping youth in their homes when safely possible,” she said.
The number of kids in DCF custody hit 7,048 in March 2017, and hasn’t dropped below 7,000 since.
DCF’s two contractors, St. Francis Community Services and KVC Kansas, have also been working to push down other numbers that indicate the system is overloaded. In September 2017, lawmakers were horrified to learn children in custody were spending the night in the contractors’ offices because beds couldn’t be found.
After hitting a high of 85 children sleeping in offices in April, the two contractors have driven that number down to almost zero. KVC, which handles the eastern half of the state, hasn’t had any children stay overnight in offices since May. St. Francis, in the west, kept the number of overnight stays in the single digits in June and July.
Children end up in offices overnight when there aren’t enough homes for those who are hard to place — often kids who need psychiatric help, children with behavioral issues, or older children.
Both contractors have been actively recruiting foster parents and opening up new group homes for kids needing round-the-clock supervision as they cope with the psychological symptoms of trauma.
Additionally, 85 children in DCF custody are missing or have run away. That puts DCF right around the 2016 national average with 1 percent of the kids in its custody unaccounted for. Forrest said the number of runaways is often higher in the summer because of the warmer weather and time off school.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — A second Overland Park teenager has been charged with firing a flare gun into several occupied apartments earlier this year.
Samano -photo Johnson Co.
18-year-old Luis Fernando Samano was charged Friday with four counts of felony aggravated arson and one misdemeanor theft charge. His bond was set at $500,000.
Police say flares were fired into four apartments Overland Park in April.
All four apartments were occupied at the time, but no one was injured. One fire ignited but it was quickly put out by firefighters.
A 17-year-old was charged in June with four aggravated arson counts in the court’s juvenile division.
Samano’s first court appearance is scheduled for Monday.
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) – Missouri State University is spending $1.6 million to buy 52 top-notch pianos by the end of the year.
Photo courtesy Missouri State
The university’s Board of Governors recently signed off on the plan to purchase the pianos designed by Steinway & Sons. The 52 pianos will be delivered this fall and paid over a seven-year period.
The university’s push for the new pianos coincides with the overhaul of its music department facility. Music faculty emeritus Peter Collins says the projects will attract top students and instructors.
The university’s piano inventory upgrade will earn the university the designation of an “All-Steinway” school.
Shawn Wahl is interim dean of the College of Arts and Letters. Wahl says the “All-Steinway” label is coveted by music conservatories and universities. He says it’s a “profile-raiser.”
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A man who fled from a Kansas prison and through Missouri has been given an additional 10-plus years in prison by a Kansas court.
Hurst-photo Mo. Dept. of Corrections
Allen Hurst is already serving 20 years in Missouri for the 2013 escape, as well as a term for burglary and theft in Kansas. His new sentence of 130 months in Leavenworth County will run consecutive to his other sentences.
Hurst and two other men escaped from the Lansing prison on May 10, 2013. Hurst and one of the other escapees, Scott Gilbert, stole a pickup truck and led officers on a 100 mph chase on Interstate 29 and along rural highways. During the chase, Gilbert fired at officers with a shotgun.
No one was injured. Gilbert was sentenced to 128 years for the shooting and 10 years for escape.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas woman who’s representing herself in a double-homicide case says she’s missing thousands of pages and more than 100 CDs of evidence.
Dana Chandler -photo Shawnee County
A status conference was held Thursday to determine scheduling the retrial of Dana Chandler. Chandler faces charges of first-degree murder in the 2002 slayings of her ex-husband, Michael Sisco, and his fiancee, Karen Harkness.
Chandler says she wants the missing evidence from the prosecution before moving forward.
The Kansas Supreme Court vacated Chandler’s 2012 conviction in April on the basis of prosecutorial misconduct by former Shawnee County Deputy District Attorney Jacqie Spradling. District Attorney Mike Kagay inherited the case, and decided in May that he would retry Chandler on the charges.
A tentative trial date has been scheduled for Oct. 1.
