A Lawrence man was sentenced to more than 10 years on Friday in connection with multiple counts of possession of child pornography. The man, Michael William Wicks, 54, pleaded guilty in February to three felony counts of sexual exploitation of a child under the age of 18 as part of a plea agreement with the state; under the agreement he avoided a potential life sentence. As the Journal-World reported, Wicks' ...
A man pleaded guilty on Friday to voluntary manslaughter in connection with the fentanyl overdose death of an 18-year-old Lawrence resident. The defendant, Benjamin L. Mims, 36, was scheduled to go to trial in June for one felony count of distribution of a controlled substance causing death, one felony count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and one count of distribution of a controlled ...
Thursday marks the two-year anniversary of Regan N. Marek’s death, and in the same week the Douglas County Court began the process of having her husband and alleged killer involuntarily committed. The man, Chad Joseph Marek, 28, was charged in Douglas County District Court with first-degree murder in 25-year-old Regan’s death on May 16, 2022, in the 2500 block of West Sixth Street. Police said at the time ...
A Topeka man accused of killing a teenager has been ordered to stand trial in Douglas County District Court after a witness testified that the man was playing with a gun and pointing it at people before pulling the trigger. The defendant, Dawson Edward Paine, 21, faces one felony count of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Davin Kerr, 18, of Lawrence, on March 5 in the 2900 block of Crestline Drive. ...
The Douglas County District Attorney’s Office mistakenly gave a massive amount of documentation to a plaintiff who is suing for wrongful imprisonment, and on Monday a Douglas County judge ruled that the office can’t “claw it back.” The upshot is that the attorneys of Carrody Buchhorn, whose murder conviction was overturned and who is now suing, can use that information in her lawsuit against the ...
Lawrence police are investigating an exchange of gunfire alleged to have happened Tuesday night by the University of Kansas campus. Officers responded to an apartment around 9:50 p.m. in the 1100 block of Louisiana Street, where it was reported that 10 gunshots were exchanged between a 19-year-old female resident and a 30-year-old man who had arrived at the residence with others, according to a post from the ...