CAMDEN — Man, woman die
in Camden crash
Authorities said two people were killed after a Stephens man lost control of his sport utility vehicle and crashed into several trees in Camden.
Arkansas State Police said the deadly crash happened Thursday on U.S. 79.
According to a preliminary report, 29-year-old James Bevins was driving south on the highway when he lost control of his vehicle and drove off the road.
The report said Bevins crashed into several trees.
State police said Bevins was killed in the crash, along with his passenger, 24-yearold Shawna Bevins.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Agency to probe woman’s shooting
LAWTON, Okla. - The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said it’s looking into the death of a Lawton woman who died in a policeinvolved shooting.
Authorities said police were called Thursday afternoon to check on the welfare of a woman who was reportedly suicidal.
The bureau said the woman pulled out a gun and at least one officer fired at her.
The woman was fatally shot, but investigators said they don’t yet know whether she was struck by police gunfire or if she shot herself.
The bureau said the medical examiner’s office will make that determination.
Authorities said investigators will interview officers at the scene and any witnesses then forward those findings to the district attorney to determine whether any charges should be filed.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Woman sentenced
in counterfeiting
MUSKOGEE, Okla.
- The United States attorney’s office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma said a Muskogee woman has been sentenced to 47 months in prison after she pleaded guilty to counterfeiting charges.
The office said Thursday that 27-year-old Taisha Chantil O’Brien was also ordered to pay about $5,000 in restitution.
Prosecutors said O’Brien created and cashed counterfeit checks from banks in the district and elsewhere.
She was indicted last June after an investigation by the U.S. Secret Service. She pleaded guilty in July.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESSEx-school official
gets prison, fine
TULSA - The former Skiatook Public Schools superintendent has been sentenced to one year and one day in prison for his role in falsifying income-tax reports and accepting bribes.
Online court documents show that federal judge Claire Eagan sentenced Gary Johnson on Thursday and ordered him to pay more than $207,000 in restitution.
Federal prosecutors said Johnson conspired with an Oklahoma City businessman to defraud the government by hiding from the IRSthe income he received from bribes for supplies, equipment and services paid for by the school district.
Johnson is to surrender in late March to begin serving his sentence.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESSPolice find stolen
library sculpture
MIAMI, Okla. - Police have located a bronze statue of a little boy reading that was reported stolen from a northeast Oklahoma library.
The sculpture was reported stolen last month from the Miami Public Library. Tulsa television station KOTV reports that the sculpture turned up at a scrap metal business in Joplin, Mo.
A worker at the scrap metal business bought the sculpture from a man who said he found it in a field. The manager then called police, who are now storing the sculpture in the department’s evidence room.
Miami police said no one has been arrested, but they believe they’ve identified a suspect.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESSJury selection set
in soldier’s trial
OKLAHOMA CITY - Jury selection is set to begin for a soldier charged with first-degree murder in the starvation death of a 10-year-old boy at an Oklahoma Army base.
Pvt. Connell Williams was indicted by a federal grand jury for the May 5, 2011, death of Marcus Holloway, the son of Williams’ girlfriend, at Fort Sill.
Jury selection for Williams’ trial is to begin Monday at the U.S.
Courthouse in Lawton.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Williams and the boy’s mother, Candice Holloway, allegedly deprived the boy of food during a period of months until he starved to death. Holloway has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder as part of a plea agreement in which she will serve 30 years in federal prison and testify against Williams.
Williams has pleaded not guilty.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Aunt of suspect says he’s not well
TULSA - The aunt of an Illinois man suspected of plotting to firebomb dozens of Oklahoma churches said her nephew is unstable and has battled mental disorders throughout his life.
Gregory Arthur Weiler II of Elk Grove Village, Ill., is charged with planning to destroy 48 churches with Molotov cocktails.
Weiler’s aunt, Joanne Meyers, told The Associated Press this week she was “shocked” when federal agents took Weiler from the Ottawa County jail where he was awaiting trial on state charges in the alleged plot.
A federal prosecutor said Friday that the government took over the case because of the nature of the attempted crime and Weiler’s planned use of homemade explosives.
Weiler was arraigned Wednesday in Tulsa federal court. He’s pleaded innocent and has a March 19 jury trial.
- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 10 on 02/09/2013