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Nikko Jenkins Found Competent to Stand Trial

Nikko Jenkins
Nikko Jenkins

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A psychiatrist working for prosecutors says a former prison inmate charged with killing four people in Omaha is competent to stand trial.

That new evaluation of 27-year-old Nikko Jenkins contradicts an earlier report from a defense psychiatrist. A judge will make the final decision.

Jenkins has been charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Juan Uribe-Pena, Jorge Cajiga-Ruiz, Curtis Bradford and Andrea Kruger. The four were killed within weeks of Jenkins’ release from prison on July 30.

Jenkins first pleaded not guilty but he has recently tried to change it to guilty. A judge said he wouldn’t accept the plea until Jenkins had been checked by state psychiatric experts.

Police say Jenkins is also being investigated for a separate shooting. Details of that case have not been released.

Nebraska Teenager Dies After Rollover Crash

fatal-accidentOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A hospital says an 18-year-old girl who was critically injured after a car crash in eastern Nebraska has died.

Alegent Creighton Health says Hope Walker died Tuesday at Alegent Creighton University Medical Center. Officials say she had been placed in a medically induced coma after her truck rolled over in a crash near West Point on Dec. 23.

Hope was ejected through the windshield. She was taken to the medical center and underwent brain surgery.

Hope’s family says the girl was an organ donor. A fund has been set up at Wells Fargo Bank to help the girl’s family, whose home was destroyed by a fire on Christmas Eve. Hope’s father also lost his job days before the crash.

NSP Nabs 95 Pounds of Pot in SE Neb. Traffic Stop

state-patrol-logoA traffic stop on a motorhome on Interstate 80 in southeast Nebraska led to the seizure of nearly 95 pounds of marijuana.

Just before noon on Monday, Dec. 30, a trooper made a traffic stop on an eastbound motorhome on I-80 just west of the Seward exit.  A Nebraska State Patrol canine alerted to the odor of drugs coming from the recreational vehicle and a subsequent search led to the seizure of 94.7 pounds of marijuana.

The marijuana, contained in 43 bundles, was located in an empty water tank beneath the bathroom floor of the motorhome.

The driver of the motorhome, Melvin Tabor, 26, of Hayward, Calif., and two passengers, Briseida Mendez-Velazquez, 32, of Puyallup, Wash., and Julio Morales-Mayorga, 27, of Union City, Calif., were lodged in the Seward County Jail, each on a charge of Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Deliver.

Former Neb. AG Office Worker Gets Probation in Pot Case

Kimberly Meidell
Kimberly Meidell

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A former worker in the Nebraska attorney general’s office has been given probation in a marijuana case.

Thirty-nine-year-old Kimberly Meidell was a litigation assistant in the office. She was arrested in May after officers found marijuana plants and marijuana at the Lincoln home she shared with 34-year-old Eric Trost.

Online court records say both pleaded no contest to reduced charges after making deals with prosecutors. Meidell was given 30 months of probation earlier this month; Trost got 36 months. Both were given six-month jail sentences that can be waived if they follow the terms of their probation orders.

Man Accused of 4 Omaha Slayings Has Jail Trouble

Dr. Anthony Garcia
Dr. Anthony Garcia

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Indiana man accused of killing four people with ties to an Omaha medical school has been charged with assaulting jail guards as he awaits his Nebraska trial.

A Douglas County Sheriff’s Office report says 40-year-old Anthony Garcia kicked one guard and punched another in an incident Friday. Garcia had been told to return to his cell. He objected, saying he needed more time to place a phone call to his attorneys.

Garcia, of Terre Haute, Ind., has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the 2008 slayings of the 11-year-old son of Creighton University pathologist William Hunter and the family’s housekeeper, as well as the May deaths of Creighton pathologist Roger Brumback and his wife.

Brumback and Hunter had fired Garcia.

Columbus Couple Claims $1M in Mega Millions

mega-millionsCOLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — Two Columbus residents have come forward to claim their $1 million prize from the Dec. 17 Mega Millions drawing.

Nebraska Lottery officials say JoAnn Cooke bought the ticket at the Corner Stop convenience store on 23rd Street in Columbus. The ticket numbers matched all five white ball numbers but missed the Mega Ball number of 7 that would have meant a share of the Mega Millions jackpot.

Joann and her husband, Allen Cooke, say they have no immediate plans for their prize.

Two tickets sold in California and Georgia matched all six numbers to split the $636 million jackpot, the second-largest lottery prize in U.S. history.

Co-Pilot Lands Jet in Omaha After Pilot Becomes Ill

United-AirlinesOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A United flight made an unscheduled landing in Omaha after the pilot became ill.

United spokeswoman Karen May said Tuesday that Flight 1637 was on its way from Des Moines to Denver on Monday night when the decision was made to set down in Omaha. The co-pilot landed the Boeing 737 without incident just after 9 p.m., and May says the pilot was taken to a local hospital.

May says United put up the passengers overnight in Omaha, and they’re scheduled to complete their travel later Tuesday. May says there were 154 passengers and six crew members aboard the original flight.

May said Tuesday that the captain “is OK.” She wouldn’t provide other information about him or her.

Lincoln Police: Nothing Suspicious in Baby’s Death

lincoln-policeLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say investigators have found nothing that suggests a crime was involved in the death of a 4-month-old girl.

Officers were sent to the Lincoln home after a frantic 911 call a little before 8:45 a.m. Monday. The caller said the baby had been found unresponsive. The child was declared dead at the scene.

Police Capt. Danny Reitan said investigators don’t consider the death suspicious.

Man Rescues Elderly Bellevue Neighbor from Fire

fire-graphicBELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) — A neighbor has rescued a 92-year-old Bellevue woman from a fire at her mobile home.

Authorities say the fire was reported about 11:30 a.m. Monday.

Curtis Carrington says he saw smoke and fire underneath the home’s front porch, so he kicked down a door into the home and grabbed Alvera Sonner, who was in the kitchen. Two other people in the home also escaped.

Bellevue Battalion Chief Kurt Strachota says the fire cause is still under investigation.

4 Arrested During Drug Bust Near Lincoln School

DRUG-BUSTLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln police say they have arrested four people during a drug bust at a home less 500 feet from an elementary school.

Authorities found a cache of meth, marijuana, cocaine, heroin and prescription drugs when they searched the home on Friday.

Police say they arrested 51-year-old Luis A. Velez and 58-year-old Daniel Kuta, who live in the apartment about 450 feet from Prescott Elementary School. Both were charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver within 1,000 feet of a school. Velez also faces a firearm charge.

Also arrested were 33-year-old Amanda Beardt and 24-year-old Tara Allgood. Police say they possessed methamphetamine. Prosecutors haven’t yet filed charges.

Attorneys for those arrested weren’t yet listed in online court records.

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