Lawrence mother’s son killed serving in Iraq

A Lawrence mother is grieving over the death of her son, who was killed Wednesday while serving with the Army in Iraq.

Lisa LaBlanc-Willis said she learned Thursday that her son, Spc. Ken Leisten, of Cornelius, Ore., was killed by a roadside bomb. Leisten was driving a Humvee in a three-vehicle patrol convoy in Taji, Iraq, when the bomb went off.

“It’s difficult to take,” said LaBlanc-Willis, who moved to Lawrence only a few years ago. “I kind of go from being in shock to numbness.”

LaBlanc-Willis, a federal court employee in Kansas City, Kan., said she last heard from her son during a phone conversation two weeks ago.

“He sounded great when I talked to him,” she said.

Leisten, 20, who had been in Iraq since April, was born in Santa Rosa, Calif. He never lived in Lawrence. His father lives in Cornelius, Ore.

A military funeral is planned in Oregon, but the date is pending.

Community

Library enrolling readers for book discussion club

Literature lovers can join the Lawrence Public Library’s fall 2004 book discussion group.

The theme for the group is “Community: The Way We Live,” and participants will read and discuss four books that explore the ways in which Americans live together and define community:

• “Snow Falling on Cedars” by David Guterson.
• “Cannery Row” by John Steinbeck.
• “The Milagro Beanfield War” by John Nichols.
• “Bailey’s Cafe” by Gloria Naylor.

The group is free, but registration is required, and group size is limited to 30.

To register, call the Library Reference Desk at 843-1178. The group is sponsored by the Kansas Humanities Council, which will provide the books.

Crime

Suspect guilty of murder in Westport stabbing

Kansas City, Mo. — A Kansas City, Kan., woman has been found guilty of murder in a stabbing last summer outside a bar in this city’s popular Westport neighborhood.

Jasmine Jackson, 22, was convicted Friday of second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the June 28, 2003, killing of Roderick Chambers, 24, of Kansas City. Jurors deliberated six hours.

A sentencing date has not been set; Visiting Circuit Judge Brad Funk could give Jackson up to life in prison.

The trial produced no disagreement that Chambers and three cousins got into a dispute with Jackson and another woman. The argument arose after the women refused to let the men take their picture.

Courts

U.S. seeks death penalty for triple murder suspect

Kansas City, Kan. — U.S. Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft has agreed to allow federal prosecutors here to seek the death penalty in the case against a man accused of killing three people, including a federal witness.

Demetrius Hargrove, of Kansas City, Kan., is already serving a 35-year sentence in Leavenworth on prior charges of kidnapping and use of a firearm. He was charged in December with three counts of premeditated murder.

Prosecutors claim Hargrove killed Leavenworth residents Elmer Berg, 23, and Misty Castor, 22, on Feb. 10, 1998, during a drug trafficking crime, then murdered Tyrone Richards, 27, of Leavenworth, four months later to prevent him from testifying at a federal trial.