RALSTON, Neb. (AP) — Police have issued a murder warrant for an Iowa inmate in connection with the 2013 killing of a woman whose body was found in her apartment in an Omaha suburb.

Police in Ralston said Monday they had issued the first-degree murder warrant for Ricardo Paul Escobedo Jr., who was serving time in the Iowa State Penitentiary for a drug charge.

He’s charged in the Oct. 28, 2013, killing of Aimee Kearns, who was shot-to-death in her apartment, apparently because she owed money for illegal drugs.

Police say the arrest came after authorities matched DNA from blood found at the Ralston apartments to Escobedo’s DNA.

The 27-year-old Escobedo is expected to be transferred to the Douglas County jail.

Authorities say one or two others could be involved in the killing.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities are investigating a fatal shooting in Omaha.

Police were called to Creighton University Medical Center-University Campus a little before 10 p.m. Sunday after the wounded person arrived at the hospital. Police say he died after he was transferred to Creighton University Medical Center-Bergan Mercy.

He was identified as 28-year-old Robert Williams Jr.

No arrests have been reported.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Florida-based company that is looking into building a wind farm in Nebraska is beginning to research the viability of solar projects in the state too, according to a company spokesman.

NextEra Energy Resources spokesman Bryan Garner told The Lincoln Journal Star that the company is looking into a potential 423-megawatt solar farm in northeast Nebraska. The potential project would be the largest solar project in Nebraska and the Midwest.

The amount of available land in Nebraska makes the state attractive for projects, Garner said.

NextEra has already taken steps to move forward with the project, Garner said. The company has signed a lease for 2,500 acres in Pierce County and is also seeking an interconnection agreement with the Southwest Power Pool, which operates a regional electric grid and wholesale market.

Construction on the solar project could begin in 2022 if it’s found to be feasible, Garner said.

NextEra is already operating multiple wind farms in Nebraska, including the 75-megawatt Steele Flats wind farm near Diller and the 90-megawatt Cottonwood wind farm in Webster County. The company is also constructing a 160-megawatt Sholes wind farm in Wayne County, and is exploring expanding its wind generation efforts to southern Lancaster and northern Gage counties.

The Pierce County project would be the company’s first solar installation in Nebraska. NextEra has more than 30 solar projects in the U.S. and Canada.

YORK, Neb. (AP) — A May trial is scheduled for a York County woman accused of using a cigarette to burn an 8-year-old child.

District court records say 28-year-old Ashley Eckard pleaded not guilty last week to felony intentional child abuse. Her trial is set to begin May 14.

The records say Eckard, of McCool Junction, used the cigarette Sept. 15 to burn her daughter three times on a hand. The records also say her mother told the girl to say the wounds occurred while playing in a bouncy house.

FREMONT, Neb. (AP) – Authorities have released the names of a woman and her three sons who were killed in a collision just west of Fremont in eastern Nebraska.

They were identified as 32-year-old Maria Menjivar and her 10-year-old son Julian, 8-year-old Adrian and 7-year-old Angel. The four lived in Schuyler.

The three-vehicle crash happened Saturday evening in heavy fog just west of Fremont on U.S. Highway 30. Authorities say a pickup truck struck from behind a car that was stopped and waiting turn. The pickup then veered into oncoming traffic and stuck a sedan that Menjivar was driving.

The drivers and occupants of the other two vehicles are expected to survive their injuries.

The collision is being investigated.

FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — Authorities are investigating a weekend crash in foggy conditions near Fremont that killed a pregnant mom and her three sons.

The Omaha World-Herald reports the three-vehicle crash happened Saturday evening just west of Fremont on U.S. Highway 30.

At the entrance to Westlake Mobile Home on Highway 30, a Dodge pickup struck a Ford Mustang that was stopped and waiting turn. After that impact, the truck veered into oncoming traffic and stuck the Ford Taurus the mother was driving.

Authorities say the 32-year-old mom and sons aged 7, 8, and 10 all died. The family is from Schyler, Neb.

The drivers and occupants of the other two vehicles were also injured, but they are expected to survive.

Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) have arrested two people and seized 189 pounds of marijuana during a traffic stop on Interstate 80 in Sarpy County.

At approximately 8:20 a.m. on Thursday, January 31, a trooper observed a 2012 Dodge Durango following too closely to the vehicle ahead of it near Gretna at mile marker 437 on I-80. During the traffic stop, the trooper detected the odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle.

A search of the vehicle revealed 189 pounds of marijuana contained in heat-sealed packages. The packages were hidden under a blanket in the cargo area of the vehicle. The marijuana carried an estimated street value of $750,000.

The driver, Herbert Vazquez, 65, of Oroville, California, and passenger, Mayira, Jurado-Lopez, 40, of Hanover Park, Illinois, were arrested for possession of marijuana with intent to deliver and no drug tax stamp. Both people were lodged in Sarpy County Jail.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha man has been sentenced to six years in federal prison for distributing child pornography.

Federal prosecutors for Nebraska say 40-year-old Aaron Marxsen was sentenced Friday in Omaha’s federal court. After his release from prison, Marxsen must serve a five-year term of supervised release and register as a sex offender.

FBI agents say a search warrant served on Marxen’s home in December 2017 turned up two devices holding more than 50 videos and 150 images of child pornography. Agents say a computer seized from the home showed a targeted search for child pornography.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A 25-year-old man has been given 25 to 40 years for the brutal beating of a university student in Lincoln.

Lancaster County District Court records say James Price was sentenced Wednesday. He’d been found guilty in June of aiding and abetting robbery and assault.

Prosecutors say he and Stelson Curry attacked Patrick Pantoja and a friend as the two were walking back to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus on Oct. 3, 2015. Curry also was sentenced to 25 to 40 years.

Pantoja spent a month in a coma and several more months in a hospital.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A judge has sentenced a 15-year-old boy to 22 to 48 years in prison in the fatal shooting of an Omaha teenager during a dispute that prosecutors say involved drugs.

Tyon Wells was sentenced Wednesday after pleading no contest in November to second-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Zachary Parker. Prosecutors say, Wells, who was 14 at the time, shot Parker in February in a dispute over marijuana.

Wells’ defense attorney sought to have his client tried in juvenile court. Douglas County District Court Judge Shelly Stratman refused, noting Wells’ connections to gang life, drug use and violence at school.

Stratman says Wells should take this second chance as an opportunity to challenge and educate himself.

State law says Wells could be eligible for parole in 11 years.