LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have arrested seven people in connection with what is believed to be a drug-related homicide after police found a Lincoln man’s body in a car trunk.

Police identified the victim Friday as 41-year-old Jamie Watson.

Authorities have charged 32-year-old Jamez Henderson with second-degree murder. They also arrested 25-year-old Sidney Jackson, 31-year-old Juanita Lara and 27-year-old Stacey Bigelow on suspicion of aiding and abetting murder.

In addition, 22-year-old Brandi Bond, 19-year-old Ronald Auzenne and 19-year-old Ivon Butler were charged with accessory to a felony. Auzenne and Butler are from Arizona.

Police say they found Watson’s body in the trunk of a 1999 Buick Park Avenue with its engine running.

Online court records did not list attorneys for those arrested.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln woman has died from injuries sustained when her sports utility vehicle crashed into a tree.

Authorities say 28-year-old Tasha Clinkenbeard died Thursday after the crash around 2:30 p.m. Authorities say her red Ford Explorer struck a tree in the median while traveling eastbound.

Lincoln Fire and Rescue workers freed her from the SUV and took her to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead from her injuries.

Authorities say they’re still investigating the crash, and an autopsy has been ordered. Authorities say Clinkenbeard was not wearing a seat belt.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln police say they have arrested a suspect in the death of a man whose body was found in the trunk of a running car parked at an apartment complex.

The suspect was arrested after a manhunt near Interstate 80 in Lincoln. Police found him about 2:40 p.m. Thursday in a field near a creek.

The incident began when police were called to the apartment complex early Thursday for a disturbance.

When officers arrived, two men fled in different directions. One drove an SUV across the grass and was later arrested in Omaha and returned to Lincoln. The second man fled on foot before getting into a car and driving north before fleeing on foot again.

Officers then found a running, unoccupied car with a man’s body in the trunk.v

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A new automated assistant is helping dispatchers in Lincoln get firefighters and paramedics out to emergencies more quickly.

The system named Samantha began broadcasting announcements over the city’s 911 radio system Nov. 28.

Officials say the $610,000 program is shaving seconds off the department’s response time. The system was bought using a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant with a 10 percent local match.

Dispatcher Carson Coles says with the help of Samantha, he can now dispatch multiple units at one time instead of having to decide which call is a priority.

FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — Police say a 7-year-old girl who died in Fremont had been face down in a beanbag chair in her elementary school classroom for about five minutes before she was found.

Kira Hales was found unresponsive Dec. 8, in her special education classroom at Milliken Park Elementary. She was taken to an Omaha hospital and pronounced dead on Dec. 10.

Fremont police detective Brandon Lorenson says an autopsy has been conducted, but more tests need to be done to determine Kira’s cause of death.

Kira’s father, Jerrad Hales, says his daughter, who had a genetic disorder, used a wheelchair but frequently spent time in a beanbag chair at school.

Freemont Public Schools superintendent Mark Shepard and principal Susan Farkas referred questions about Kira’s death to police, citing the ongoing investigation.

BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) — A 21-year-old Bellevue man has been arrested on suspicion of causing the death of his 5-month-old daughter.

Police say Cameron Ludi was arrested Tuesday night on suspicion of child abuse resulting in death.

Bellevue police say an autopsy and investigation into the July 3 death of his infant daughter, Cassidy Kennedy, showed the baby girl died from blunt force trauma to the head.

Ludi told police at the time of the baby’s death that she had fallen off a bed where he had placed her before going outside to smoke. He told police that when he returned, he found the baby face down on the floor.

Ludi remained jailed Wednesday and could not be reached for comment. Online court records do not indicate whether Ludi had an attorney Wednesday.

SNYDER, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska company that specializes in making fire trucks is being sold to a publicly traded Michigan company for $36.3 million.

It’s not immediately clear how the deal announced Tuesday will affect Smeal Fire Apparatus’ 400 employees in Nebraska, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Spartan Motors of Charlotte, Michigan, says the deal is set to close in January.

Smeal currently buys about $30 million worth of structural framework from Spartan.

Spartan marketing director Samara Hamilton says the Michigan company would determine what would happen to Smeal’s manufacturing locations and employees.

About 230 people work at the Smeal’s headquarters in Snyder. Smeal also has operations in Neligh.

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. (AP) — Officials with Offutt Air Force Base south of Omaha say an airman has been charged with premeditated murder in the August death of a fellow airman.

Offutt officials say Airman 1st Class Timothy Wilsey, of Valdosta, Georgia, has been charged in military court in the death of Airman 1st Class Rhianda Dillard. The body of Dillard, of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, was found Aug. 1 in her base dormitory.

Base officials say Wilsey disappeared from Offutt a few days before Dillard’s body was found. He was picked up Aug. 11 in Virginia and has been held at Offutt since. A news release Tuesday from the Air Force’s 55th Wing says Wilsey has also been charged with desertion. He will next face a preliminary hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.

SOUTH SIOUX CITY, Neb. (AP) — South Sioux City residents forced to leave their homes by a horrible odor say they’re concerned a resident was recently sent back to his home before hydrogen sulfide gas levels were deemed safe by Nebraska standards.

Chris Cornell was displaced from his home Oct. 28 due to the odor from the nearby Big Ox Energy plant. City administrator Lance Hedquist told Cornell he could return to his home last week. Cornell says he was shocked.

Gas levels should be lower than 7.17 parts per billion before residents can safely return to their homes. The first batch of test results hadn’t been processed at the time of Hedquist’s call. Hedquist says he thought the home was safe based on discussion with other people working on the home.

The city has resumed paying for Cornell’s hotel accommodations.