TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Topeka woman has pleaded guilty to reduced charges in a baseball bat killing in a downtown Topeka apartment.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that 31-year-old Ebony Lanay Porter will be sentenced in December after pleading guilty Tuesday to conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary and interference with law enforcement. She initially was charged with second-degree murder as an aider and abettor in the killing last year of 52-year-old Mark Everett Johnson.

Co-defendant Arthur Lee Ford IV is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to intentional second-degree murder.

Authorities allege that Porter and Ford plotted to break into Johnson’s apartment. Porter and Johnson lived in the same building.

During the break in, Ford is accused of killing Johnson. Ford subsequently was spotted on an ATM security camera using Johnson’s stolen bank card.

SALINE COUNTY —  Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas man after a pair of separate alleged domestic disturbances.

A female acquaintance of Reinbold told police that she was smoking on her front porch in the 800 block of Cedar at around 4 a.m. Monday when she heard 44-year-old Eric Reinbold yelling from the backyard, according to Police Capt. Paul Forrester.

When she tried to go inside, Reinbold stuck his foot in the door before she could shut it.

The woman said she started walking into the living room when Reinbold allegedly threw a flashlight at her, striking her in the back of the head. It left a laceration on the back of the victim’s head.

The woman’s 17-year-old daughter then attempted to get Reinbold to leave the residence. Police say that is when he threatened to get a gun and “take care of you,” according to Forrester.

Reinbold left before police arrived, crashing his vehicle into a metal swing in the backyard.

Just before 4p.m. Wednesday, officers were sent to the same residence after the woman, accompanied by a male acquaintance, returned to gather some belongs and found Reinbold asleep in a bedroom.

A verbal dispute erupted and Reinbold allegedly threatened to put a bullet in the head of the 40-year-old man from Solomon. He again fled before police arrived, this time on foot.

Officers caught up to Reinbold in the 800 block of Spruce in Salina. They arrested him and booked into the Saline County Jail for domestic aggravated battery, two counts of criminal threat, battery, damage to property, driving while suspended and additional requested charges.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Kansas City police are investigating the death of a lawyer who was shot in his front yard moments after he walked his children to school.

Neighbors and Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker identified the man as 39-year-old Thomas Pickert, a personal injury lawyer.

Pickert was killed Wednesday in the upscale Brookside area of Kansas City. Police said Pickert’s wife heard a gunshot and then found her husband fatally injured outside.

Investigators interviewed a man who owns a white van seen in the neighborhood at the time of the shooting. Media reports indicate that Pickert recently won a $5.75 million judgment against that man. But police spokeswoman Kari Thompson said Thursday the man is not a suspect in Pickert’s death.

Thompson provided no other details about the investigation.

HASKELL COUNTY — Two people were injured in an accident just before 10:30a.m. Thursday in Haskell County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1998 Ford SUV driven by Suzanne R. Ortiz, 39, Ulysses, was eastbound on 50th Road four miles east of Sublette.

The vehicle entered the south ditch, struck a culvert, went airborne, and came to rest on its top facing southwest.

Ortiz was transported to Wesley Medical Center. A passenger Ortiz, Jazmine E. Ortiz, 9, Ulysses, was transported to the hospital in Garden City. Both were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

SEDGWICK COUNTY —  Law enforcement authorities are investigating a residential robbery and asking the public for help to identify suspects.  Just after 10p.m. Wednesday, officers responded to report of a robbery at a home in the 1400 Block of South Waco in Wichita, according officer Charley Davidson

A 64-year-old woman told police that when she arrived home from work, she saw two unknown suspects wearing masks and taking things. One suspect hit her several times and took her purse and a deposit bag she had from her work.  They fled the home on foot.

One suspect is described as a dark-skin Hispanic man in his mid 20s. He was 5-foot-1, weighed approximately 120-pounds and was wearing dark clothing and a red bandanna to cover his face.  The second suspect was a lighter-skin Hispanic man approximately the same size with a green hooded sweatshirt and a blue bandanna covering his face, according to Davidson.

The victim suffered facial injuries during the robbery, according to Davidson.  Anyone with information is asked to call police.

RENO COUNTY — Two corrections officers were treated for minor injuries after an altercation with an inmate just after 8:30p.m. Wednesday at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility.

Just one inmate was involved, according to Kansas Department of Corrections spokesperson Samir Arif.

The corrections officers were transported to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center and released a short time later.  They are back at work on Thursday, according to Arif.

The Kansas Department of Corrections did not release details on additional charges or the name of the inmate involved.

 

SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating an armed robbery and have made an arrest.

Just after 7 pm Wednesday, officers responded to 1313 SW 21st Street in Topeka for a report of a robbery at the Family Dollar, according to a media release.

It was reported that a tall, slim, black male entered the store wearing a sweat shirt reading “Louisville” brandishing a knife, demanding money.

The suspect did make off with cash and was last seen running south from the business.

A person of interest identified as Tarrance Marcel Noel, 21, Topeka.,was taken into custody a short time later on 27th street just east of Burlingame.

He was booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections for aggravated robbery.

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SHAWNEE COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating an armed robbery and have a person of interest in custody.

Just after 7 pm Wednesday, officers responded to 1313 SW 21st Street in Topeka for a report of a robbery at the Family Dollar, according to a media release.

It was reported that a tall, slim, black male entered the store wearing a sweat shirt reading “Louisville” brandishing a knife, demanding money.

The suspect did make off with cash and was last seen running south from the business. A person of interest was taken into custody a short time later on 27th street just east of Burlingame.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Topeka Police Department or Crime Stoppers.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) today praised the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) selection of new Essential Air Service (EAS) providers for Dodge City and Liberal.

“Commercial air service is critical to western Kansas communities,” said Roberts. “From preventing numerous hours of additional travel and unaffordable costs for residents, to providing opportunities for businesses to grow in the area, and connecting these communities with major international transportation hubs, I’m pleased to see DOT agrees with the need for commercial air service in Dodge and Liberal.”

The DOT selected Boutique Air to provide air service to Dodge City and SkyWest Airlines, branded as United Express, to serve Liberal, KS/Guymon, OK. In August, PenAir terminated service at these communities. Boutique will operate 18 weekly nonstop flights to Denver International Airport, and SkyWest will operate 12 weekly flights to Denver. The selected carriers will provide service from January 1, 2018, through January 31, 2020.

For more information, go here.

 

GRANTVILLE, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a man fatally shot his sister and another man before killing himself in northeast Kansas.

The bodies were found Wednesday at a home in rural Grantville in Jefferson County. Authorities on Thursday said 64-year-old Penny Nelson and 61-year-old James Chavez were killed at Nelson’s home. Chavez was a neighbor who was visiting at the time.

Sheriff Jeff Herrig says 66-year-old Harlan Gleason shot his sister and Chavez before shooting himself. His body was also found at the home.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Jefferson County detectives are investigating. A possible motive for the shootings has not been released.

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GRANTVILLE, Kan. (AP) — Authorities are investigating the deaths of three adults in northeast Kansas as a double murder-suicide.

The bodies were found Wednesday at a residence in rural Grantville in Jefferson County. Sheriff Jeff Herrig says authorities sent out an alert warning people in the area of possible danger after the first two bodies were found. The victims had been shot and killed.

Herrig says the alert was canceled after officers found the body of the person who is believed to be responsible for the double homicide at the same residence. The person had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The investigation is ongoing. The names of those killed weren’t immediately released.

WASHINGTON — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is another step closer to becoming the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom.

Brownback used social media Thursday to thank the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee for their support.

On October 4, Brownback was in Washington at the Dirksen Senate Office Building for the committee hearing on his nomination.

 

I appreciate the work and support of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and thank them for voting on my nomination favorably. #Kansas #ksleg

— Sam Brownback (@govsambrownback) October 26, 2017

Religious Freedom is the first freedom. The choice of what you do with your own soul. I am honored to serve such an important cause. -SDB

— Sam Brownback (@govsambrownback) July 27, 2017

President Donald Trump nominated the two-term Republican governor for the ambassadorship in late July. Brownback said he’ll step down as governor as soon as the Senate confirms him.

Watch a replay of Brownback’s confirmation hearing presided by Senator Marco Rubio  from Washington here.