Briefly 8/16/18

Couple charged in baby's overdose death

ST. LOUIS -- A St. Louis couple has been charged in the drug overdose death of their 8-month-old daughter.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported 52-year-old Robert Hasenfratz and his girlfriend, 27-year-old Samantha Poppleton, were charged Tuesday with child endangerment resulting in a child's death.

Hasenfratz also is charged with illegal gun possession.

Bond is set at $150,000 each, cash-only.

A police investigation and toxicology report revealed the baby had fentanyl and morphine in her system when she died May 14 at the couple's home. The girl was identified Wednesday as Aurora Poppelton-Hasenfratz.

Charges say Hasenfratz told police he had used heroin in the girl's room the previous day and had stored drugs and drug paraphernalia near her toys and where she slept.

Prison guards win $113.7 million in suit

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.-- A jury has awarded Missouri prison guards compensation for work they performed before and after their shifts.

A Cole County jury on Tuesday awarded $113.7 million to 13,000 current corrections officers or those who worked at the Department of Corrections since 2007.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported legal filings in the case say the guards weren't paid for entrance and exit procedures they must perform every day, even though they are in uniform and expected to respond at any time.

Mary Compton, spokeswoman for the Missouri Attorney General's office, says the lawsuit involves procedures used by the Department of Corrections over several years and administrations. She says the office, which has been defending the state in the case for several years, disagrees with the verdict and is assessing the next step.

Ex-state trooper sues to regain license

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A former Missouri state trooper who was driving a boat when a handcuffed Iowa man fell out and drowned is suing to get his peace officers' license back.

Anthony Piercy filed a lawsuit this week against the Missouri Department of Public Safety and the agency's director. The Kansas City Star reported he's asking for a reversal of the decision that revoked his license.

Piercy was sentenced in September for misdemeanor negligent operation of a vehicle after the drowning of 20-year-old Brandon Ellingson, of Clive, Iowa. Clive died in 2014 at the Lake of the Ozarks.

Piercy lost his patrol job. But earlier this summer, a Cole County judge ruled the patrol's leader didn't have the authority to fire Piercy.

Piercy cannot return to the patrol without his peace officer license.

Sisters found dead in St. Lluis home

ST. LOUIS -- Authorities said one of two sisters found dead inside a St. Louis home where a hazardous chemical was detected had sustained an apparent gunshot wound.

St. Louis police identified the sisters in a news release Wednesday as 55-year-old Ruth Portegee and 49-year-old Loretta Portegee. The release stated Ruth Portegee had an apparent wound when she was found dead Tuesday morning. No information was released about how Loretta Portegee died.

St. Louis Fire Capt. Leon Whitener said preliminary tests of air levels in the home indicated the presence of hydrogen cyanide, a chemical that can develop from burning plastic or mixing household chemicals together. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported firefighters who first responded grew dizzy.

Neighbor Niah Mays said the younger sister had a mental disability and medical problems.

Driver, five students injured in bus accident

O'FALLON, Mo. -- Five middle school students and a school bus driver were injured after the bus slid off a road in the suburban St. Louis town of O'Fallon, struck a tree and ended up in a ditch.

St. Charles County police say the accident happened around 7 a.m. Wednesday. The bus was carrying about 30 students to Fort Zumwalt North Middle School when it slid on rain-slickened blacktop.

The driver and two students were taken to a hospital with what police described as non-life-threatening injuries. Three other students were treated at the scene.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation.

KC men sentenced in carjacking murder

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Two Kansas City men were sentenced to multiple life prison terms for the murder of another man.

Twenty-seven-year-old Raynal King and 23-year-old Howard Ross III were sentenced Wednesday for the September 2016 carjacking, kidnapping and death of Jaime Patton.

Federal prosecutors said Patton was returning home from visiting a hospital when King and Ross kidnapped him and stole his 2014 Jeep Patriot. They drove him to ATM machines and tried to force him to provide his PIN number for his debit card.

When Patton wasn't able to provide the PIN number, he was shot in the leg. Eventually, Patton jumped out of the Jeep and was shot several times and was left to die.

Prosecutors say King planned to sell the Jeep to get money to make payments on a vehicle he recently purchased.

-- From wire reports