State briefs 5/11/2015

Pedestrian dies on U.S. 60 in Dexter

DEXTER, Mo. -- A 36-year-old man died in an accident while walking across the eastbound lanes of U.S. 60 near the Highway AD overpass Saturday night. According to Dexter Police, Terry Edmond Belcher Jr. was struck by an eastbound pickup truck just before 9 p.m. as he tried to make his way across the highway. Belcher was pronounced dead at the scene. The Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Stoddard County coroner's offices assisted in the investigation of the accident. Dexter Police detective Cory Mills reported early Sunday morning foul play is not suspected, and the driver of the truck, who was unnamed, was released from the scene of the accident. Traffic was diverted to Business 60 until the accident could be investigated.

Man charged in deadly hit-and-run

ST. LOUIS -- A 24-year-old man has been charged in a deadly hit-and-run crash in unincorporated north St. Louis County. The St. Louis County Police Department said in a news release Saturday prosecutors had charged Aaron Futrell of Florissant, Missouri, with one count of leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident. Futrell is being held on $50,000 cash-only bond. Police said 16-year-old Deandre Wallace Jr. was struck Thursday night as he was trying to cross four lanes of traffic. Witnesses told police a four-door sedan was speeding before the collision and then fled the scene.

Airman dies in shooting near base

WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- Officials at Whiteman Air Force Base say a senior airman who was shot over the weekend while off base died of his injuries. A statement from the base Sunday said John J. Bottom, who was assigned to the 509th Security Forces Squadron, was shot at a residence in Warrensburg. The statement said Bottom was taken to a Kansas City hospital, where he died from his injuries. The circumstances of the shooting were not clear. The Johnson County Sheriff's Department was investigating, the statement said. Earlier Sunday, sheriff's office said it had arrested a suspect in a shooting, but neither the sheriff's office nor the base would say whether the arrest was linked to the airman's shooting.

Crews make progress fighting forest fire

BLACK, Mo. -- Weekend rainfall helped firefighters make progress battling a blaze in the Mark Twain National Forest. The fire was estimated at 70 percent contained, said Bill Paxton, with the Mark Twain National Forest, on Saturday. He said no one had been injured, and the fire had not spread beyond the 1,300 acres that were burning Friday. Paxton didn't return a phone call Sunday. The cause of the fire is being investigated. It is centered about two miles southwest of Black on public and private land, most of it on National Forest land. Paxton said fighting the wildfire is difficult because of "the 2009 Derecho wind event," an enormous storm cell with hurricane-force winds that moved from Kansas to southwestern Virginia and knocked down many acres of trees. All of that downed timber makes it hard to fight wildfires by traditional methods.

-- From staff and wire reports