GEARY COUNTY –A Kansas woman entered a “no contest” plea in a first-degree murder case on Friday in Geary County District Court.

Gabrielle “Gabby” Williams, 20, was convicted of conspiracy to commit premeditated first degree murder in the death of 24-year-old David Phillips of Manhattan.

Phillips was found dead from gunshot wounds to the head at 827 West 12th Street, Apartment C in Junction City in January of 2016.

She used electronic communication to lure Phillips to an apartment, according to prosecutors.

In exchange for the plea, prosecutors recommended 180 months in prison.
Sentencing is set for July 27th.

Her co-defendant Joseph Craig is charged with Conspiracy to Commit Murder, Conspiracy to Commit Aggravated Robbery, Aggravated Robbery, Criminal Possession of a Firearm by a Previously Convicted Felon, and in the alternative Premeditated 1st Degree Murder or Felony Murder.

BY MEG WINGERTER

Additional funding for some mental health facilities in Kansas may depend, at least in part, on the number of lottery tickets sold from new machines.

The Kansas House and Senate have approved versions of House Bill 2313, which would direct proceeds from newly legalized lottery ticket vending machines to crisis stabilization centers and mental health clubhouses.

The bill must go to a conference committee, which will work out differences between the House and Senate versions, before it can proceed to Gov. Sam Brownback.

HB 2313 would allow a maximum of $4 million to go to mental health facilities in the fiscal year beginning in July and a maximum of $8 million in the following years. The actual funds could be lower, however, if businesses are slow to install lottery ticket machines or players don’t use them.

Community mental health centers had sought a bill that would have pulled more money from lottery proceeds and restored their funding to 2007 levels, but that plan failed to gain traction among legislators.

Crisis centers would receive 75 percent of the lottery ticket machine proceeds, though the bill doesn’t specify how to divide the money among the three centers, which are in Kansas City, Wichita and Topeka. They treat patients in mental health or substance abuse crisis for up to three days, with the goal of diverting them from the state hospitals.

Marilyn Cook, executive director of COMCARE, which runs the crisis center in Wichita, said the center needs about $1 million to sustain itself financially because of the high number of uninsured patients it treats. She said she hopes the lottery money and additional funding from the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services will fill that gap.

“It’s an effort to find some sustainable funding,” she said.

The COMCARE crisis center was able to reduce the number of patients Sedgwick County sends to Osawatomie State Hospital roughly by half, Cook said. Many patients stabilize in less than a day because staff can assist them in a calm environment, she said.

“EMS (emergency medical services) benefits, law enforcement benefits, the state hospital benefits and of course the patients benefit,” she said.

Treating More Patients

Bill Persinger, CEO of Valeo Behavioral Health Care in Topeka, said he wasn’t sure how much its crisis center, known as The Residence, might gain from the lottery funds. The crisis center typically provides patients with a safe place and treatment for about 72 hours, he said.

Any extra money could go toward hiring more mental health and security staff so the center could treat patients with more serious mental health issues, Persinger said. All patients at the center are there voluntarily, he said, but some may need extensive supervision so they don’t harm themselves or someone else.

“Maybe we could keep that person safely in Topeka in our voluntary facility,” he said. “If we didn’t have access to that level of staffing, that person’s needs might require hospitalization.”

Extra funding also could go toward having a physician on call to prescribe medications and offsetting the cost of caring for uninsured patients, Persinger said.

Sharon Sawyer, executive director of RSI, a Kansas City crisis center, said she wasn’t counting on any additional funding. RSI receives $3.5 million from the state annually, which came from savings when Rainbow Mental Health Facility closed. The funding was supposed to end this year but has been extended to 2018, she said.

“We would just like to receive continued support from the state,” she said.

More Funding For Clubhouses

The lottery bill would direct 25 percent of proceeds from the new machines to rehabilitation programs known as “clubhouses” that help people with mental illnesses improve their job and life skills.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A Lawrence man has pleaded no contest in the stabbing death of his grandmother.

Jaered Long entered the plea Thursday to second-degree murder and two counts of battery of a law enforcement officer.

Long was arrested in December 2015 after his 67-year-old grandmother, Deborah Bretthauer, was found dead in her Lawrence apartment.

He was 16 at the time but was to be tried as an adult for first-degree murder before he entered the plea.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports the two battery charges were filed after Long attacked two corrections officers while he was held at a juvenile facility.

A Lawrence detective testified at a hearing in September that Bretthauer was stabbed dozens of times with a bread knife.

Long will be sentenced June 5.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A surprisingly competitive special congressional election in Kansas has Democrats hopeful about cracking Republicans’ lock on the state’s delegation next year.

And an open contest for governor also looms.

Republican Ron Estes’ 7-percentage-point victory over Democrat James Thompson in the 4th Congressional District in south-central Kansas drew national attention.

GOP candidates there won by an average of 27 percentage points over the past 20 years. The seat was vacant after former U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo’s appointment as CIA director.

Democrats are bullish about the 4th District but also about 2nd District of eastern Kansas and the 3rd in the Kansas City area.

Republican Gov. Sam Brownback is term-limited and there’s speculation that he may leave early for a job with President Trump’s administration. Both parties expect a crowded field.

KANSAS CITY (AP) — Federal investigators say they have determined that the fatal explosion at an ammunition plant in near Kansas City is non-criminal in nature while their probe continues to pinpoint the exact cause of the blast.

The National Response Team of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says in a news release Friday that they have now concluded the on-scene phase of the investigation at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant in Independence.

Investigators have spent the past three days examining the scene and interviewing first responders and plant personnel.

Tuesday’s blast killed Lawrence Bass, of Blue Springs, Missouri, and injured four other workers.

The explosion occurred in a building where chemicals are mixed.

Contractor Orbital ATK operates the plant where it makes and tests small-caliber ammunition for the military.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The Douglas County district attorney has charged a woman with first-degree murder after a 9-month-old child died last year at a day care in Eudora.

District Attorney Charles Branson says 42-year-old Carrody Buchhorn was charged Friday. She is scheduled to make her first court appearance Monday.

The license for Sunshine Kids Group Daycare Home in Eudora was placed under emergency suspension after the toddler died in September. The state later ordered the day care closed.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports a criminal complaint filed with the charges does not detail how the child died. Buchhorn’s position at the day care also was not released.

Buchhorn is jailed in lieu of a $250,000 bond.

MCPHERSON COUNTY -Law enforcement authorities including the Kansas Bureau are investigating a possible murder in McPherson County.

On Friday, police responded to report of a man on the floor of his home in the city of McPherson, according to a media release.

When first responders arrived, the man was dead. Police believe the victim was targeted and knew the suspects. They do not believe the crime is a random act.

No additional details were released late Saturday morning.
Anyone with information on the crime is asked to contact McPherson County Crimestoppers.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Prosecutors say a man convicted of causing a traffic death will be going to prison for more than 13 years.

District Attorney Marc Bennett says in a news release that 53-year-old Richard L. Johnson of Wichita was sentenced Friday to 162 months. Johnson pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter for driving under the influence of alcohol.

Johnson admitted that on Aug. 15 last year his 1991 Buick Regal crossed the center line and struck a smaller car head-on. Thirty-five-year-old Nicholas Woodall of Wichita was killed in the crash.

Prosecutors say that before that fatal crash, Johnson had rear-ended a car stopped at a red light. He left the scene of that non-injury crash and drove to a liquor store where he purchased beer. Moments later caused the fatal crash.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has signed legislation that lets states withhold federal family planning funds from Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers.

Trump’s action erases a rule that was finalized shortly before President Barack Obama left office in January. It’s the latest Obama-era regulation that Trump’s overturned.

Trump signed the measure Thursday behind closed doors in the Oval Office.

The measure narrowly cleared the Senate last month. It took votes by an ailing Republican senator who was recovering from back surgery, and a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Mike Pence — serving as president of the Senate.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Four second-graders on a field trip suffered minor injuries while riding a horse-drawn wagon at the Old Cowtown Museum in Wichita.

KWCH-TV reports the students and parents were in the wagon when the horse got spooked and took off around the ride area. People inside the wagon were jostled around but no one was seriously hurt.

The students are from Roberts Martin Elementary in Andover.

Principal Crystal Hummel sent home a letter informing parents that the students would be returning early from their field trip.