WRITER: Kim Callahan

Attorney for drug dealer accused in woman's overdose death says she's 'very happy' with her plea deal

A drug dealer's attorney told a judge Friday that his client was "very happy" with the plea deal she had made with the Douglas County District Attorney's Office — a deal that reduced one count of distribution of heroin causing death to two much lower-level offenses of unlawful distribution of less than one gram of heroin. "It started as a level one and is now two level 4s," the attorney, Hatem Chahine, told ...

Judge sentences violent sex offender to nearly a quarter of a century in prison for abuse of Lawrence girl

A judge had little to say to a violent sex offender Friday after she sentenced him to nearly a quarter of a century in prison for abusing a Lawrence girl. "I acknowledge that you have taken responsibility via a plea (deal)," Judge Amy Hanley told Kyle Elder, 36, of New York. "That is the only thing I can say here, looking at you.” Hanley had just heard the victim's mother talk about how traumatic the ...

Unarmed man who was fatally shot at City Hall asked for a ride to Lawrence; authorities say there was no reason to arrest or commit him

Updated at 1:38 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 8 An unarmed Minnesota man who was fatally shot Monday by an employee at City Hall was brought to Lawrence the previous evening at his own request and had done nothing to warrant arrest or involuntary commitment by state troopers, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol. A spokeswoman for KHP, April McCollum, told the Journal-World that 28-year-old Omar Dominguez Gavilan ...

Court dismisses appeal in case of former Lawrence officer charged with battery; he hires a new attorney

The Kansas Court of Appeals has thrown out an appeal filed by the attorney for a former Lawrence police officer accused of misdemeanor battery in Shawnee County, noting that the appeal was prematurely filed and hence invalid. The attorney, Shaye Downing, filed the appeal after Magistrate Judge Christopher Turner ruled in August that Myrone Grady, then a lieutenant with the Lawrence Police Department, was not ...

Teens testify that Lawrence man molested them at sleepovers years ago

Two teenagers on Monday told a Douglas County judge that a Lawrence man sexually abused them several years ago during sleepovers at his home. The teens testified at a preliminary hearing about separate incidents that they said occurred at the home of Jordey McTaggart, 35, as they spent the night with his children when they were in elementary school. One girl, now 15, testified that when she was 7 or 8 she was ...

Daughter's arson case, like activist mother's gun case, dismissed after DA's witnesses fail to appear

A felony arson charge against a young woman was dismissed Monday in Douglas County District Court after witnesses for the state failed to appear for the woman's preliminary hearing. Felony gun charges against the woman's mother, Natasha Neal — related to the same incident on March 19, 2025 — were similarly dismissed last month when state witnesses declined to testify. The daughter, Jayda Renae Kelly Neal, ...