NEWS

Suspects Sought in Deadly Longview Shooting

LONGVIEW -– Longview police seek suspects after a Tuesday night shooting left one dead and two injured. Just before 10:00 Tuesday night, officers were dispatched to a shooting just occurred in the 2900 block of Signal Hill Drive. When officers arrived they found Deaundray Lamanze Rossum, 23, of Kilgore, deceased from an apparent gunshot wound, inside a vehicle. Police located another male inside an apartment at the location. That victim had also been shot several times and was transported to Good Shepherd Medical Center. During the investigation another victim were brought by private vehicle to Good Shepherd. Both victims sustained gunshot wounds but these injuries were non life-threatening.

Police believe that the suspects in this shooting were black males and may have been wearing hoodies. The case remains under investigation at this time. Anyone with information related to this investigation is encouraged to call Detective Kevin Freeman at 903-237-1199 or remain anonymous by contacting Gregg County Crimestoppers at http://www.greggcountycrimestoppers.org or 903-236-STOP (7867).

Defense Gets Its Turn in Murder Trial

TYLER — The state has presented its evidence against a Whitehouse woman accused of killing her babysitter, and now the defense is presenting its case. Kimberly Cargill has been charged with capital murder in the June 2010 death of Cherry Walker. Walker was killed one day after she was subpoenaed to testify in a custody hearing over Cargill’s 4-year-old son. Cargill testified yesterday that walker died of a seizure. Cargill said she tried CPR on her, but was unsuccessful. She then testified that she burned the body.
If convicted, Cargill faces the death penalty.

Vacant Home Destroyed By Fire

SMITH COUNTY — Several fire departments were called out to a fire that destroyed a structure in Chapel Hill. According to KETK, the fire was reported just after 9:30 Wednesday morning in the 13,000 block of County Road 2241 off of Old Omen Road. No one lives in the home that burned, according to authorities at the scene. The fire was put out, but crews remained on the scene to keep an eye on hot spots. No word on the cause of that fire.

State to Offer Permits for Gun Silencers

LONGVIEW (AP) – The state will begin offering permits for game hunters to use silencers on their guns, effective September 1. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission adopted rules in March that permit the use of silencers for the hunting of alligators, game animals or game birds. Such devices already were legal for the hunting of exotic animals, including feral hogs. However, hunters will still have to apply for state permits to have and use silencers. Longview gun dealer Bob Godell tells the Longview News-Journal the change is “long overdue.” Longview hunter Earl Ates, a lifelong National Rifle Association member, says he doubts the benefits of silent hunting, though, and worries about its use for poaching and other illegal activities. He says silencers “can also go against making a humane kill.”

Three Nabbed in Sex Offender Sweep

TYLER — Smith County Sheriff’s Deputies check up on convicted sex offenders. Currently 264 registered sex offenders live in the county. That’s a number deputies say is growing, and they attribute the climbing stats to law enforcement’s job of catching and convicting them. Deputies tell KETK three offenders were arrested in the sweep, two for non-payment of child support and one for possession of a firearm.

Dewhurst: Conservative PACs Spreading ‘Untruths’

AUSTIN (AP) — Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst says the Club for Growth and other out of state organizations pouring money into the U.S. Senate race in Texas are spreading lies about him. Dewhurst cast his early voting ballot with Governor Rick Perry yesterday, ahead of the May 29th primary.

Texas Coastal Insurer OKs 5% Rate Increase

AUSTIN (AP) — The board of directors for the state’s insurer of last resort for property owners in coastal areas of Texas has approved a 5% increase. The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association’s board yesterday delayed until August a decision on an additional increase. The 5 percent increase is to take effect January 1st.

Toddler Run Over in Home’s Driveway Dies

SAN ANGELO (AP) — A West Texas toddler has died after being run over by an SUV driven by his dad. San Angelo police say the boy’s father, Jacob Wallace, didn’t see his 18-month-old son while pulling into the driveway. The San Angelo Standard Times reports that that the boy, Liam Wallace, was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital.
Police spokesman Lieutenant David Howard said Wednesday the boy’s death was ruled an accident and no charges will be filed.

Report Questioning Execution Doesn’t Sway Lawyers

HOUSTON (AP) — The defense lawyer for a Texas inmate executed two decades ago says he isn’t convinced the state wrongly killed a man despite a new report that again questions the case. Carlos DeLuna was convicted in the 1983 fatal stabbing of a Corpus Christi convenience store clerk. A team headed by a Columbia University law professor recently published a 400-page report contending DeLuna wasn’t the killer. It cites prosecutors’ reliance on a single eyewitness to the attack and claims attorneys on both sides didn’t fully investigate another suspect. DeLuna’s attorney, James Lawrence, said Wednesday his legal team “pounced” on evidence problems, including shaky eyewitness accounts and the fact that no blood found on DeLuna. But he and the former prosecutor noted DeLuna never identified the man he claimed was the killer.

Ex-Houston Cop Acquitted

HOUSTON (AP) — A former Houston police officer found not guilty of official oppression in the videotaped beating of a 15-year-old burglary suspect says he has no regrets. But Andrew Blomberg says he’ll take a “deep breath” before deciding whether to go back into law enforcement. Houston Mayor Annise Parker says that Blomberg and four other fired officers will never work in Houston as police regardless of their criminal trial verdicts.

Texas DPS Top 10 Fugitive Caught

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A suspected gang member on the Texas Department of Public Safety 10 Most Wanted list has been caught in San Antonio. DPS has announced the arrest of Felix Velasquez Junior, 30. Velasquez, who’s accused of being part of the prison-based Texas Mafia, was sought over a March 17th stabbing on South Padre Island.

FBI Links White-Powder Envelopes to Texas

DALLAS (AP) — The FBI says it suspects the recent mailings of hundreds envelopes containing white powder to are the work of one North Texan. An FBI statement says a $150,000 reward is being offered for the arrest and conviction of a person suspected of mailing more than 20 envelopes containing threatening letters and a white powder. That powder was later determined to be non-hazardous, but the mailings that have had people on edge in Texas and across the nation.

Dallas Police Discipline 2 Supervisors

DALLAS (AP) — Two supervisors have been disciplined and two detectives are being reassigned, at least temporarily, as an investigation continues into thousands of improperly stored family violence case files. A Dallas police statement Wednesday does not specify the discipline Police Chief David Brown imposed on the two supervisors. According to the statement, however, further investigation turned up several more boxes of cases in an unused room. Those cases had been originally assigned to two detectives, who have been reassigned during the investigation. Previously, police Detective Mickey East retired from the family violence unit in February after the first boxes of improperly stored files were found. He had been with the department for nearly 40 years.

Medicare Fraud Gets Nurse 8 Years in Prison

HOUSTON (AP) — A judge has sentenced a Houston-area nurse to eight years and a month in prison after a jury convicted her of a $5.2 million Medicare fraud scheme. Former Family Healthcare Group nursing director Ezinne Ubani also must pay $2.5 million in restitution. U.S. District Judge Nancy Atlas sentenced her in Houston on Wednesday after a jury convicted her last May of conspiracy count and making false statements.

Training Missile Drops in Killeen, Nobody Hurt

KILLEEN (AP) — About 100 homes in a Central Texas neighborhood had to be evacuated when a 6-foot inactive training missile accidentally fell from a military helicopter. A Killeen police spokeswoman says that nobody was hurt yesterday when the missile fell harmlessly into a field. She says Fort Hood Army personnel have taken over the investigation of the incident.

Cancer Research Center Directors Downplay Criticism

DALLAS (AP) — Leaders of a $3 billion cancer research initiative in Texas are downplaying criticism over not ordering a scientific review before awarding the largest commercial grant in the agency’s history. The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas on Wednesday defended the state’s decision to approve a $20 million grant without requiring the usual scientific vetting. The funds were given to Rice University and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston for a so-called incubator project. Robert Ulrich, who heads the agency’s commercialization review council, told reporters during a conference call that a science review was unnecessary because the project is largely a commercial venture.

Armstrong Wants Doping Questions to End

AUSTIN (AP) — Lance Armstrong’s cycling career is behind him. But one of Austin’s most famous residents says the doping questions should go away as well. In recent interviews with Men’s Journal and the “Gavin Newsom Show” on Current TV, Armstrong said he’s “done” with the performance-enhancing drug question, after passing hundreds of drug tests in his career.

Engineer in Cowboys Accident Paying $12,000 fine

DALLAS (AP) — The engineer who signed off on plans for the Dallas Cowboys practice facility that collapsed and seriously injured two team employees three years ago is paying a $12,000 fine to settle faulty design charges from the Texas Board of Professional Engineers. Enrique Tabak and the board agreed on the penalty last August, and the Canadian engineer has been making quarterly payments that are due to end in June, records show. Cowboys special teams coach Joe DeCamillis suffered a broken vertebrae and scout Rich Behm was paralyzed from the waist down when the tent-like structure fell during a wind storm in May 2009.