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MOUNT PLEASANT — A young girl who is thought to have wandered out the front door of a Mount Pleasant laundry has been struck by a vehicle and killed. The accident happened around 1:00 Friday afternoon at the Express Clean Laundromat, 403 West Ferguson Street. The two year old was rushed to Titus Regional Medical Center where she was later pronounced dead. The accident remains under investigation.

PITTSBURG — A former Winnsboro High School band director has pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a child and child indecency charges. Paul Bramlett entered his plea Friday in state district court in Pittsburg. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and two 10 year probated sentences. Bramlett will also have to surrender his teaching certificate and register as a sex offender.

TYLER — A Smith County home has been destroyed by fire, and a family of ten is homeless. The fire was reported around 2:00 Friday morning off U.S. Highway 271 on Country Hills Boulevard. It was said to have started when a Thursday burn pile reignited. The fire spread to a storage shed, which in turn spread to the house. No injuries were reported.

LINDALE — Lindale Primary School Principal Dr. Belinda Neal has been elected to the Texas Elementary Principals and Supervisors Association�s (TEPSA) state office. Dr. Neal will serve as the TEPSA secretary during the 2011-2012 school year. Her term is a six year commitment that will progress into her role as president of TEPSA during the 2015-2016 school year. Neal is only the fifth educator from Region 7 to be elected to a TEPSA state office in the organization�s 94 year history. The Texas Education Agency�s Region VII covers most of East Texas. Dr. Neal is the first Region 7 representative in the TEPSA state office since 1970.

Neal has been a member of TEPSA since 1999 and served on the board of directors, marketing and public relations committee, special committee on elections and ad hoc communications committee. �I have a strong passion for helping others,� Dr. Neal said. �I have been motivated and inspired by TEPSA leaders. Serving as a state officer will allow me to give back to our great profession.�

Dr. Neal has been with Lindale ISD since 2005. She served as principal of the Early Childhood Center until May 2010 and became principal of Lindale Primary School in June 2010.

HOUSTON (AP) – An East Texas man condemned for fatally shooting a disabled man at a convenience store has lost an appeal at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The ruling posted Friday clears the way for prosecutors to seek an execution date for 28-year-old Beunka Adams. Adams was one of two men sentenced to die for the 2002 attack that left 37-year-old Kenneth Vandever dead. Two female employees at the store in Rusk were abducted and shot and wounded. One of them was raped. Adams’ co-defendant, Richard Cobb, also is on death row. The women testified Adams was in charge during the holdup and abduction. He also was identified as the man who raped one of the women and initiated their abduction.

TYLER — 26-year-old Christopher Summerville faces a huge bond amount after Tyler police investigators secured evidence that led to obtaining an arrest warrant on Summerville for aggravated assault on a peace officer, a first degree felony. The incident occurred on March 24, when he allegedly shot a Smith County deputy who was attempting to serve an arrest warrant on Summerville at the Arbors Apartments. Deputy Josh Caulkins was wearing a vest and sustained only minor injuries. Summerville has also been charged with manufacture or delivery of controlled substance, engaging in organized criminal activity, unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, and possession of a prohibited weapon. Total bond amount for all charges is $7,125,000, set by Judge Jack Skeen.

Summerville, 26, had earlier been released from East Texas Medical Center. Police say Summerville was hospitalized for an overdose of methamphetamine that he reportedly had injected into his body just prior to the arrest warrant being served. Two other suspects at the scene of the shooting, 29-year-old Kara Hanley and 31-year-old Jeffery Andrysiak, have also been charged with engaging in organized criminal activity. They’d earlier been charged with manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance.

JACKSONVILLE — A Jacksonville police officer breaks his leg while attempting to apprehend a mentally ill man who was reportedly “off his meds.” KETK reports Officer Lex Moses was trying to stop the man, who grabbed a club and was threatening officers. Moses tripped while backing up. He’s now recovering from surgery.

TYLER — The Greater Tyler Association of Realtors (GTAR) held an open house Thursday for its new Southeast Loop facility. Past GTAR President and project building chairman Bill Pillsbury says the building makes an architectural statement and puts real estate “front and center” — largely by offering event space to the public. Pillsbury hopes the facility will help draw attention to the local real estate industry, which he expects to start rebounding by mid-year — with things getting noticeably better by the end of 2011. The association’s called the location home for about a month.

ANGELINA COUNTY — An Angelina County Jail inmate late Thursday stabbed a jailer using a 10-inch metal shank, according to Sheriff Kent Henson. William Colquitt, 38, stabbed jailer Gary Amo, 23, in Colquitt’s cell around 11:30 p.m. Thursday, Henson said. Amo is recovering in Memorial Medical Center-Lufkin after sustaining a cut about one inch deep, Henson said.

Last week a state district judge ruled that Colquitt was incompetent to stand trial in the July 2010 robbery of a Lufkin rental store, and ordered him to a maximum security state hospital in Vernon. Colquitt is alleged to have used a gun to force two Rent First employees to remove their clothing, and then stole their wallets and a car, the employees told police.

Colquitt started acting erratic in his cell Thursday night, Henson said. Amo and another jailer went to check on him, and Colquitt tried to hit the other jailer, Henson said. Colquitt then stabbed Amo in his side with the metal shank, but it bent, so it did not go any deeper than an inch, Henson said.

The sheriff said his staff had just shaken down Colquitt’s cell, so he did not know where the inmate got the metal shank. He said Colquitt was placed in a restraining chair and taken to a padded cell, and that he would be kept in isolation until he is transfered to the state hospital. Colquitt had a 9mm handgun on him when he was first booked into the jail, Henson said. He said Colquitt laid it on the counter as he was being booked into the jail.

Henson said he talked with Amo, who has worked at the jail since December 2009, this morning and that he was doing well. He said Amo felt lucky that the shank had bent. Amo was expected to be held overnight for observation, Henson said. The department is investigating how Colquitt was able to obtain the shank.

TYLER — Tyler Police search for three robbery suspects. Authorities say around 1:30 Friday morning at 4400 Paluxy, the victim says a black female knocked on his apartment door and when he opened the door, a black man armed with a baseball bat and another with a gun entered his home. Officials say the four occupants of the apartment were ordered to the ground while the suspects took the victim’s cell phones, wallets, and a set of keys. The three suspects fled the scene on foot in an unknown direction.

TYLER — Police have found a Tyler man accused of trying to run over two patrol officers on their bicycles. Authorities say a tip led police to the suspect, Charles Jose Baker, 32, in the 300 block of Hill around 8:30 Friday morning. Patrol officers found Baker sleeping in the back seat of his car, and he was taken into custody without incident. He was taken to Tyler Police Department for further questioning. Baker is under arrest for the probation warrant with no bond, aggravated assault on a peace officer warrant with a bond amount of $500,000, and a warrant for evading in a vehicle with a bond of $250,000.

The incident occurred shortly after 8:45 last night in the 1200 block of West Bow Street. Baker was reportedly sitting in his vehicle playing loud music when officers approached him. Officers observed alcohol in the vehicle and detected that Baker had been drinking. When officers asked Baker to turn the vehicle off, he put it in reverse running over a police bike and then ran into a parked vehicle. Baker then drove forward heading for a second officer on his bike causing him to jump from it to keep from being struck. The officer, Sgt. Eddie Sheffield, fired one shot at the suspect as he drove towards him, running over his patrol bike. Sgt. Sheffield has been employed by the department for 16 years and has been supervisor over the Bike Team for the past two years.

TYLER � A long-time member of the Smith County Sheriff�s Department has formally announced he is running for sheriff next year. Smith County Chief Deputy Bobby Garmon announced Thursday night he would be running for sheriff on the Republican ticket.

Garmon says his experience gives him the advantage in the race. According to Garmon, he�s the best man for the job because he has done all of them. He started with the sheriff�s department as a patrolman 31 years ago.

Sheriff J.B. Smith, who will be retiring, says he is supporting Garmon. “I’m supporting Bobby ’cause anyone involved in public office needs to be involved in the community. There’s not an individual in this community more involved with the Red Cross, Azleway Boys Ranch, Tyler Jaycees, and his list goes on and on. He’s just a great guy.”

Others who have said they would be running for the post are Retired ATF Senior Special Agent Larry Smith and Smith County Constable Precinct Three Captain Donn Rust.

SULPHUR SPRINGS � The trial of a Sulphur Springs doctor will be moved out of Hopkins County. State District Judge Robert Newsom Thursday approved a change of venue for Dr. Don O�Neal. It will be decided at a later date where the trial will be held. O�Neal was indicted on 61 counts of financial crimes as well as delivery of a controlled substance and prescription fraud.

TYLER (Staff/AP) � A funeral service is set for the Smith County deputy hit and killed by a cow last week. Officials say the funeral for Robert Britton will be held tomorrow at Rose Heights Church on Old Omen Road in Tyler. The service will begin at 2:00pm. Britton died Monday of head injuries suffered when he was attacked by an injured cow while he directed traffic around the half-ton animal early on March 24 near Bullard.

Sheriff J.B. Smith said the 54-year-old deputy had responded to a report of a stray cow struck by a vehicle and was directing traffic on Farm Road 344 when the cow charged him. Smith said Britton was knocked into the air and landed head-first on the pavement before the animal continued the attack until other deputies rescued Britton. Smith says the cow was euthanized. Britton had served as a deputy for the Smith County Sheriff�s Department since 1992.

LONGVIEW � A Wednesday afternoon blaze at a house in the 1700 block of Oden Street in Longview has been ruled arson. Officials ruled the fire �suspicious� after witnesses saw people leaving the scene as the fire ignited. Longview firefighters were dispatched to the blaze at 1:15pm for a reported structure fire that destroyed the home. The house was unoccupied when the fire started. According to Gregg County online records, the residence is owned by Derrick King, 33, who is serving a nine-month sentence in the Gregg County Jail for possession of a controlled substance.

Nearby neighbors said they didn�t know anything about the fire, but called 911 after they heard loud popping and saw flames shooting out of the windows. Longview Fire Chief J.P. Steelman said witnesses at the scene told investigators they saw �unknown subjects� leaving the scene around the time the fire started. Steelman said investigators ruled out all natural causes that could have started the blaze, including an electrical incident and natural gas. Twenty one firefighters, including three fire engines, two fire trucks and one ambulance were called to the scene.

Investigators said the residence suffered heavy smoke damage and said there was significant damage to the bedroom where the fire started. Steelman said there was an estimated $15,000 worth of damage, which is more than the home is worth, according to 2010 tax records. Investigators are conducting interviews to determine how the fire started. The investigation is ongoing.

Anyone with information about the fire is asked to contact the Longview Fire Department at 903-237-1119 or submit an anonymous tip to Gregg County Crime Stoppers at 903-237- STOP.