From the Associated Press (11:20 a.m.)
APPLETON, Wis. (AP) – A man convicted in a fatal shooting at a suburban Appleton mall is facing sentencing in Outagamie County Circuit Court. The sentencing Tuesday comes a year after 18-year-old Dezman Ellis shot and killed Jovanni Frausto during a dispute about a girlfriend at the Fox River Mall’s food court. A bystander, Colt Lemmers, was injured. Ellis fled the mall in a car with friends and was arrested days later in Iowa. In an agreement with prosecutors, Ellis earlier entered no contest pleas to second-degree intentional homicide and first-degree reckless endangering safety. He was initially charged with first-degree intentional homicide in Frausto’s death, a charge that carries a life sentence.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – A judge in Cedar Rapids has sentenced an eastern Iowa man to 30 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to hitting a couple with his sport utility vehicle. Judge Ian Thornhill sentenced 32-year-old Bret D. Klima, of Urbana, after he pleaded guilty to one count each of homicide by vehicle-operating under the influence and serious injury by a vehicle. The Cedar Rapids Gazette reports the judge gave Klima 25 years for the vehicular homicide and five years for the serious injury charge. The sentences will be consecutive for up to 30 years. He also was ordered to pay $150,000 in restitution. Klima was arrested after the death of 50-year-old Kimberley Anne Swore, of Center Point, and injury of her boyfriend, 46-year-old Jack Greenhaw, of Vinton.
WASHINGTON (AP) – Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in letters to seven governors, is reaffirming the need for members of their states’ Army and Air National Guards to get the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine or lose their Guard status. In nearly identical letters signed late last week, Austin tells the governors that the virus “takes our Service members out of the fight, temporarily or permanently, and jeopardizes our ability to meet mission requirements.” The Associated Press obtained copies of the letters. Nearly 600 Marines, airmen and sailors have been thrown out of the military or dismissed from entry-level training at boot camps as of last week.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Two suspects have been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with a fatal shooting that happened in Des Moines last August. Des Moines Police said siblings Jasmin Bautista, 20, and Jonathan Bautista, 18, were arrested on outstanding warrants during a traffic stop Saturday evening by the West Des Moines Police Department. The brother and sister are charged in the killing of 43-year-old Des Moines resident Javier Wilson-Moncada. Police found Wilson-Moncada on the ground and unresponsive with a gunshot wound near the south bank of the Des Moines River on Aug. 30, 2021. Police said they are still looking for another man who may have critical information about the shooting.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – Two 18-year-olds have been sentenced to prison in connection with the fatal shooting of a University of Iowa student in Cedar Rapids. A judge on Friday sentenced Christian Emedi to 20 years in prison. He had pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and willful injury in the June 2020 death of 20-year-old Malik Sheets. Marshawn Jeffries was sentenced to five years in prison. He pleaded guilty to intimidation with a dangerous weapon and a misdemeanor obstruction charge. Emedi and Jeffries were minors at the time of the killing, but both were tried as adults. Both were originally charged with first-degree murder before reaching plea agreements.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Northern Iowa is the route of choice for this year’s popular RAGBRAI biking event in Iowa. The Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa on Friday announced the route for the 49th annual ride, which is July 23-30. The ride begins in Sergeant Bluff and ends in Lansing. Overnight stop locations will be Ida Grove, Pocahontas, Emmetsburg, Mason City, Charles City and West Union. A highlight of the west-to-east trip will be a 100-mile ride on the fourth day, from Emmetsburg to Mason City.
