State briefs 5/17/2016

Tornado fund may halt contributions

JOPLIN, Mo. -- A fund established after the deadly Joplin tornado is distributing the last of its money. Donations poured into the Joplin Recovery Fund from around the world after the 2011 storm. This month, the fund will have distributed slightly more than $6 million from about 700 contributions to benefit residents and the community. Recent disbursements include $30,000 to the Lafayette House, which works with abuse victims. Lafayette House executive director Alison Malinowski Sunday said the donation will go toward building a transitional living house for clients of the center. She said Habitat for Humanity will assist the agency with the construction. Money from the fund has gone toward a new medical school and for home rebuilding and repair.

Murder-suicide attempt probed

IRONTON, Mo. -- A woman is dead and her husband injured in what authorities said may have been a murder-suicide attempt. The body of Tammy Jones was found Saturday at an apartment in Ironton. She had been shot in the head and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said Corey Jones, 31, suffered a gunshot injury. He was taken to a St. Louis hospital, and authorities said he is expected to recover. Police said they think Jones shot his wife before turning the gun on himself.

Ex-deputy admits role in fraud scheme

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A former Missouri sheriff's deputy admitted in federal court his role in a wire-fraud scheme involving a former jail inmate. Former St. Clair County deputy Michael Mullaney of Lowry City pleaded guilty Monday in Springfield to charges he stole public funds. William E. Parker of Fort Ritchie, Florida, pleaded guilty in February to a charge of wire fraud. Authorities said after Mullaney arrested Parker for burglary in 2010, the two schemed to claim more than $5,000 in unjustified unemployment benefits for Parker through West Virginia. Prosecutors said Mullaney completed an online form with Parker's personal information to fraudulently certify Parker's eligibility for unemployment benefits.

Man pleads guilty to sex trafficking

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A Columbia, Missouri, man faces at least a decade in federal prison after acknowledging his role in a sex-trafficking case. Kenyata D. Miles, 35, pleaded guilty Monday in Jefferson City to a felony count of attempted sex trafficking. Miles admitted he booked two rooms for two nights at the Quail's Nest Inn in Osage Beach in April 2013. Law-enforcement officers found a missing 16-year-old girl in one of the rooms, and Miles and two women were in an adjacent room. Authorities said advertisements had been posted on Backpage.com advertising the availability of the teenager and one of the women for sexual services.

Guard shoots shoplifting suspect

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis police are investigating after a 21-year-old shoplifting suspect was shot in the shoulder during an altercation with a grocery-store security guard. Police said the suspect was putting steaks and toilet paper down his pants at Save-A-Lot in north St. Louis. The guard confronted him. The suspect was shot during the altercation. The suspect is hospitalized in stable condition.

-- From wire reports