Nation briefs 1/28/16

Mississippi may use firing squad

JACKSON, Miss. -- Mississippi's attorney general is asking lawmakers to approve the firing squad, electrocution or nitrogen gas as alternate methods of execution in case the state is prevented from doing lethal injections. Democrat Jim Hood also said he wants to block public access to names of people who sell lethal injection drugs to the state and those who help carry out executions. States are struggling to obtain execution drugs since European pharmaceutical companies began blocking the use of their products for lethal injections.Executions are on hold in Mississippi because the state's supply of lethal injection drugs expired.

Game-warden killer executed by Texas

HUNTSVILLE, Texas -- A Texas man was executed Wednesday evening for fatally shooting a game warden nine years ago during a shootout after a 90-minute chase that began when he was suspected of poaching. James Freeman, 35, was asked by the warden whether he had a final statement. "No, I do not," he said. He was pronounced dead at 6:30 p.m., 16 minutes after prison officials began a lethal dose of pentobarbital. As the pentobarbital began taking effect, he snored about five times and coughed slightly once. Freeman was suspected of illegally hunting at night in southeast Texas when a game warden spotted him. Freeman sped away, leading authorities on a chase that reached 130 mph. It ended near a cemetery near his home in Lissie with Freeman stepping out of his pickup truck and shooting at officers.

Dead woman had sat in chair for 6 months

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Two relatives of an 82-year-old woman who authorities say died after she sat in the same chair for six months have been charged with neglect, according to warrants obtained Wednesday. Documents show David Scott Howell, 43, and Carole Beam Howell, 74, were arrested Jan. 21 and charged with abuse or neglect resulting in the death of a vulnerable adult. Barbara Beam died Jan. 2, 2015, at her home. Paramedics took Beam from the chair and put the 200-pound woman on the floor. Her legs still were bent in a sitting position, and she was not wearing pants, according to the report. Officers noted indentions on the back of Beam's legs and body fluids staining the chair, saying the home's smell was so bad, firefighters set up a fan at the door as they worked.The Greenville County coroner ruled Beam's death a homicide by neglect, saying she died from a blood clot in her lung.

Fire closes historic New Orleans street

NEW ORLEANS -- A fire that blanketed part of the city in smoke and forced the closure of historic Canal Street is not believed to be the result of arson, the city's fire chief said Wednesday. The blaze broke out in a largely empty four-story building and spread to an adjacent building. Flames no longer were visible, and smoke had greatly diminished by daybreak, but firefighters kept streams of water pouring onto the structures. Some lanes of Canal Street, which is between the city's central business district and the French Quarter, re-opened Wednesday evening, and McConnell said streetcar traffic was resuming.

-- From wire reports