Local gun owners who want to keep their firearms secure — especially from children — can get free gun locks from the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, the office reminded residents this week on social media. The locks are provided by Project ChildSafe. Residents can obtain locks by going to the sheriff’s window inside the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center, 111 E 11th St., during regular business ...
Erik Mitchell acknowledged that he used a couple of specific words during a murder trial that, in hindsight, he wouldn’t have chosen. He agreed that the infant victim’s cause of death was not a common medical phenomenon. But as for his theory about what killed 9-month-old Oliver Ortiz, the former Douglas County coroner has not changed his mind — despite exhaustive post-trial attacks on the theory by the ...
One of two area residents charged in the fatal shooting of a Lawrence man at Perry Lake one year ago has been convicted. On Wednesday morning, a jury in Jefferson County District Court convicted Topeka resident Jonathan D. Blevins, 23, of first-degree murder in the death of Taylor D. Sawyer, 22. The quick trial began Monday morning with jury selection. Jurors deliberated just over two hours before reaching ...
A criminal case against a Free State High School student who reportedly told police he’d had thoughts of “shooting up a school” has been dismissed. After the teen successfully completed an Immediate Intervention Program — similar to getting a diversion in an adult case — with Douglas County Youth Services, the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office dismissed his charges in late February, Cheryl ...
One man was taken to a regional hospital after a fight with another man Monday night, Lawrence police said. Police responded just before 8 p.m. to the intersection of East 23rd and Harper streets, where two men were fighting, Officer Shawn Gross said in an email to media Tuesday morning. He didn’t include details about what may have sparked the fight. He said police contacted both the men and that one was ...
A Lawrence police officer has resigned from the force after being charged with a felony in an apparent off-duty road rage incident in Johnson County. Jeffrey B. Holtzman, 52, of Lawrence, is charged with aggravated assault for allegedly threatening another man with a deadly weapon on Oct. 18, 2018, according to a complaint filed the following day in Johnson County District Court. The case is still pending. The ...