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TYLER — 114th District Court Judge Austin Reeve Jackson sentenced 60-year-old Charles Lennon II of Bullard to a prison term of 16 years after Lennon pleaded guilty to the felony offense of tampering with a human corpse. According to a news release, Lennon had been facing a maximum sentence of twenty years confinement before entering into the plea agreement with the Smith County District Attorney’s Office. Lennon was charged with the offense because of his involvement in attempting to conceal the body of 31-year-old Rachel Lynn Jackson, a young woman his son, Charles Lennon III, violently murdered. In April 2019, the younger Lennon entered a plea of guilty to the murder and was sentenced to life in prison, also in the 114th District Court.

TYLER – Visit Tyler has hired a new president. Diann Bayes (pictured) comes to Tyler from San Angelo, where she has served as vice president of Discover San Angelo for nearly six years. She has worked nearly 30 years in the travel and tourism industry. Bayes will begin her role on January 3, 2023. Visit Tyler began the search in October for a new president after Shari Lee announced her retirement after 14 years. Visit Tyler has also hired Sheridan Smith as vice president of marketing/communications. She was formerly a marketing director for Chick-fil-A. Visit Tyler is the destination marketing organization for Tyler, according to press materials.

TYLER – According to court documents unsealed Wednesday, 21 suspects from across the country have been charged for their alleged roles in transnational money laundering networks. The announcement came in a Tyler news conference. Suspects include those who allegedly laundered millions of dollars reportedly stolen from United States fraud victims through romance scams, business email compromises, technical support schemes, and other fraud schemes. Federal officials announced Operation Crypto Runner, an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation into transnational cryptocurrency money laundering networks. They say the networks facilitate the movement of fraud proceeds from victims in the United States to foreign criminal organizations. Click here for more details.

TYLER — A 19-year-old Houston man was sentenced to eight years deferred adjudication, or probation, after pleading guilty to engaging in organized criminal activity. According to our news partner KETK, Kennedy Watkins was arrested with two other Houston men in Tyler in connection to several catalytic converter thefts. The three were all 18-years-old at the time of their July arrests, and Watkins has remained in jail since. In addition to his eight year sentence, Watkins was given 137 days credit for the time he spent in jail. According to deferred adjudication guidelines, if Watkins adheres to the condition of his release the conviction will be removed from his record.

TYLER — CHRISTUS Health and Texas-Oncology collaborated to build the Northeast Texas Cancer and Research Institute, which had its grand opening in Tyler on Tuesday. According to our news partner KETK, the new clinic is an 85,000-foot facility with about 3,000 feet designated for research space. The facility has specialized areas for radiation oncology, gynecologic oncology, hematology, and medical oncology.  Jason Proctor with CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances Hospital said patients enjoy the new facility. “A lot of it is speechless, beautiful. It is such a healing presence, again it makes it easy for them to see their doctors,” he said. Continue reading Northeast Texas Cancer and Research Institute opens in Tyler

LONGVIEW — The Longview Police Department arrested a murder suspect who was wanted out of Minneapolis, Minnesota on Monday. According to our news partner KETK, Longview police said they received a tip from Gregg County Crime Stoppers Network on the location of the suspect, 36-year-old Erica Shameka Roberts, who was wanted for second degree murder. Roberts was arrested and taken to the Gregg County Jail without incident by LPD Detectives with the Special Investigations Apprehension Unit. Back in October, the Minneapolis Police Department took to Facebook to ask for the public’s help in finding Roberts. They said she was charged with murder for fatally shooting Tanasha Austin back in March after a verbal argument.

MARSHALL — Marshall police have arrested 43-year-old Dameion Deon Redd of Marshall for a shooting that injured a woman and child on Monday. Police say Redd was booked into the Harrison County Jail on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and injury to a child. According to a news release, just after midnight Monday on East End Boulevard South, police responded to 911 calls reporting gunfire in the area. Upon arrival, officers found the woman and child had been shot in their apartment. Both victims were transported to area hospitals.

FLINT – A Winona man arrested this month is accused of creating multiple fake businesses in order to steal money from the company he was working for. According to our news partner KETK, a warrant says Andrew Boaz, 35, is accused of stealing a total of $85,979.29 from Nautical Mile Marine, a boat dealership where he had been employed for over nine years. The missing funds were discovered in October, according to the warrant, after a manager noticed an unfamiliar recurring charge to “Boat Parts Online” in the company’s credit card statements. Boaz was arrested Nov. 18 for felony theft and bailed out of jail the next day. His bail was set at the same amount of money the investigation determined to have been stolen by Boaz using the company credit card.

NACOGDOCHES – The Stephen F. Austin State University Board of Regents voted on Tuesday to accept the University of Texas system offer for affiliation. According to our news partner KETK, the decision was approved in an 8-1 vote by the board with one member opposing, saying they feared the decision would eventually lead to the name of the university being changed. Officials said SFA will now officially accept the university system’s offer so they can begin the process of affiliation. “We are honored and enthusiastic about taking the next steps together in this process with confidence that this union will make each of us stronger,” said Kevin Eltife, chairman of the UT System Board of Regents, as quoted in a news release. Continue reading SFA regents vote to join UT System

TYLER – Each year, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals at CHRISTUS Mother Frances Hospital – Tyler selects at least one child to represent CMN hospitals. This year the 2023 Miracle Child is three-year-old Hannah Harlow, who will debut as Miracle Child when she lights the city of Tyler’s Christmas Tree during the annual Christmas Parade on December 1. According to a news release, at the age of two, Hannah was diagnosed with XLH Rickets, a condition in which the body doesn’t produce or retain phosphorus. Without phosphorus, bones do not harden, so they are brittle and can easily break. Continue reading Hannah Harlow named 2023 Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals “Miracle Child”

ARP – The Arp ISD community is rallying around Coach Winston Butler and his mother Dorene Freeney. According to information from the school district, around 2:00 Thanksgiving morning, their house burned down, and they lost everything. Thanks in large part to former Arp ISD athletic director Dale Irwin and his wife, Tonya Irwin, Butler and his mom are beginning the process of getting back on their feet. Much of the Arp community has already stepped up and helped in many ways with monetary, clothing, food, and other donations. Coach Irwin, in conjunction with Arp ISD and Arp State Bank, has set up dropoff locations at the bank and at Arp High School for anyone who wishes to help. Coach Irwin is personally picking up the donations daily and delivering them to the family. Fortunately, neither Butler nor Freeney was hurt in the fire. Continue reading Community steps up after Arp coach and mother lose home to fire

TYLER — Chapel Hill ISD announced on Tuesday they are mourning the death of a Wise Elementary student who died in a wreck over Thanksgiving break. According to our news partner KETK, in a message to the district, Superintendent Lamond Dean said Daniela Nevaeh Ramirez was involved in a crash and “with tremendous sadness” informed the district of her death. “Thank you for your concern and your continued support for Wise Elementary,” Dean said. “Please keep the Ramirez family and their close friends in your thoughts and prayers as they grieve this tragic loss.” Dean said the school trauma team of counselors is meeting with Ramirez’s friends and teachers, and that counselors “are well prepared to assist both students and staff following such tragic incidents.”

LONGVIEW — A man was killed Sunday night after he allegedly pulled a pistol on an off-duty Kilgore police officer and threatened him with it. According to Kilgore Police and our news partner KETK, the officer who was working an off-duty security job for Hospitality ER in Longview, was checking the parking lot around 9 p.m. when the man confronted him. Officials said that during the encounter “for unknown reasons” he pulled a pistol and began making threats with it. The two then began to struggle for control of the weapon. “As the struggle intensified the officer pulled his weapon and fired in an attempt to stop the aggression, striking the suspect,” officials said. “Immediately following the shooting the officer summoned ER staff who attempted life-saving measures.” Continue reading Man killed at Longview ER identified

GUN BARREL CITY – More details are emerging after the Gun Barrel City Police Department and Gun Barrel City Fire Department responded to a possible carbon monoxide poisoning on Garret Lane that left one dead on Saturday. According to our news partner KETK, after arriving at the scene, officers and firefighters said they found a three-year-old girl, two boys ages four and six, and the children’s 28-year-old mother. They say they immediately began trying to save the victims’ lives and they were all then transported to UT Health Texas Cedar Creek Lake. The six-year-old was unresponsive when they arrived and later died, according to officials. Continue reading More details on apparent carbon monoxide death in Gun Barrel City

TYLER – The United Way of Smith County is hosting their third annual “Tyler Gives” online fundraiser on November 29th, which falls on International Giving Tuesday. According to a news release, the event is aimed at meeting local needs by providing United Way’s partnering local nonprofit agencies with a generous gift at the end of the year. More than 400 individuals came together last year and raised over $230,000 on TylerGives.org in a matter of hours. Thanks to Tyler Gives sponsor Express Employment Professionals and its subsidiary Specialized Recruiting Group, all fees associated with the event are covered, allowing 100% of the donations to go directly to meeting needs. United Way and the event sponsors are providing a $75,000 match for Tyler Gives this year. Continue reading United Way hosting third annual Tyler Gives event with $75,000 match