LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A woman hospitalized after a Lincoln apartment fire has died.

Authorities say 30-year-old Brianna Johnson died Sunday.

The fire was reported around 6:20 p.m. Wednesday in a building several blocks southeast of downtown. A fire investigator says the blaze started when spaghetti and meatballs on an electric stove were left unattended. The flames spread to some cabinets and a can of grease, which helped fuel it.

Firefighters found Johnson unresponsive in the smoke-filled apartment.

PILGER, Neb. (AP) — The brother of a girl killed in a northeast Nebraska tornado says his mother is in a medically induced coma in Omaha.

Cody Murphree released a statement Tuesday saying his mother, 42-year-old Kandi Murphree, was being treated after the tornado destroyed their home in Pilger. His sister, 5-year-old Calista Dixon, was one of two people killed in the storm.

The statement says the tornado did not seriously harm Cody Murphree or his 4-year-old sister, who was not identified. The statement was released through his employer, Heritage Homes of Nebraska in Wayne.

No funeral arrangements have been made for Calista Dixon. The statement says donations are needed for girl’s clothing and men’s clothing, non-perishable food items and possible help with housing for the two surviving siblings.

DENVER (AP) — A federal judge has taken the unusual step of asking prosecutors to investigate whether Denver police tried to intimidate a witness in a jail-abuse suit against the city.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office hasn’t said whether it will pursue Judge John Kane’s request.

The latest allegations against the police and sheriff’s departments came as part of a civil rights lawsuit filed in Denver by former inmate Jamal Hunter, who says a sheriff’s deputy not only failed to protect him during a July 2011 beating by fellow inmates but encouraged the attack.

Experts say such inquiries rarely yield criminal charges.

Nancy Leong, an associate professor at the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law, says the cases are a challenge for prosecutors, who have to prove not just that an officer violated someone’s civil rights but that they intended to.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s state climatologist says the tornadoes that roared through the Pilger area appear to be rare in their size and intensity.

State Climatologist Al Dutcher said Tuesday that major storms with more than one tornado are fairly common. But in most cases, one twister grows stronger and larger while the other weakens and shrinks.

Dutcher says the strength of both tornadoes likely increased because they had no nearby storms competing for wind and moisture, and the atmosphere was highly unstable.

National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Bryant in Hastings says the number confirmed so far this year is roughly in line the yearly average of about 54.

Van DeWald of the National Weather Service in Valley says the season started quietly but has picked up with tornadoes in mid-May and June.

PILGER, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have named the 5-year-old girl who was killed in the tornado that destroyed more than half the town of Pilger.

Stanton County Sheriff Mike Unger identified her Tuesday as Calista Dixon.

Officials say the girl died after suffering injuries inside of a mobile home on Main Street in Pilger. Her death was one of two confirmed in the storm.

The other person killed was 74-year-old David A. Herout, of Clarkson. Authorities say Herout died after his vehicle left a county road east of Pilger, and he was ejected.

The National Weather Service says four tornadoes appear to have hit the region on Monday night.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The National Weather Service says the storm that struck northeast Nebraska appears to have produced four tornadoes, one of which ravaged the town of Pilger.

Van DeWald, lead meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Valley, says the first tornado is believed to have touched down in rural Stanton County, southwest of the town of Stanton.

DeWald says the second and third tornadoes landed to the southwest of Pilger and traveled together, about a mile apart. The northern tornado struck Pilger, destroying more than half of the town, and the two twisters then merged.

DeWald says a fourth tornado appears to have developed northeast of Pilger. Two crews from the National Weather Service were out reviewing the area to try to measure each tornado’s strength.

PILGER, Neb. (AP) — The death of a second person has been blamed on tornadoes that authorities say destroyed or damaged more than half the town of Pilger in northeast Nebraska.

Stanton County Sheriff Mike Unger said Tuesday that a motorist died Monday after a single-vehicle accident that occurred on a county road four to five miles east of Pilger. Unger says the accident is considered storm-related because it occurred about the same time the storm pounded the community of about 350, which sits about 80 northwest of Omaha.

The sheriff didn’t release the victim’s name and said he didn’t have accident details.

Unger says a 5-year-old also died from injuries suffered Monday. Unger says the victim was pronounced dead on arrival at a Norfolk hospital. Her name hasn’t been released.

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) — Actor and comedian Tracy Morgan has been upgraded to fair condition following the New Jersey highway crash that badly injured him and killed one of his friends.

Spokesman Lewis Kay said Monday that Morgan’s personality is also coming back.

The 45-year-old former “Saturday Night Live” star suffered broken ribs and a broken leg in the June 7 crash on the New Jersey Turnpike. The crash killed fellow comedian James McNair and seriously injured two other people.

Prosecutors say Wal-Mart driver Kevin Roper’s truck hit Morgan’s limo. The Georgia resident has pleaded not guilty to death by auto and assault by auto charges.

Kay says Morgan’s assistant Jeffrey Millea has also been upgraded to fair condition. Hospital officials say comedian Ardie Fuqua remains in critical condition.

PILGER, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 5-year-old was killed in the northeast Nebraska tornado that destroyed more than half of the town of Pilger.

The Stanton County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the death in a statement late Monday. Authorities say the child was among several people near the town’s Main Street who suffered critical injuries when the tornado struck.

The tornado was one of two that touched down in Stanton County. Authorities say the first landed southwest of Stanton around 3:45 p.m. and leveled a farm house. Officials say the second tornado touched down shortly afterward southwest of Pilger before hitting the town. Several major buildings were destroyed, including the Fire Department.

The statement did not identify the child who was killed or specify a gender.