Today is
Thursday June 11, 2026
SMITH COUNTY — A Tyler man originally charged with murder has plead guilty to a lesser charge. Randall Lamont Britton, 32, of Tyler, was in Judge Kerry Russell’s court Monday. According to our news partner KETK, Britton pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for November 30. Back in 2014, Smith County Sheriff Deputies were called to a house in the northeastern part of the county shortly before 2 a.m. August 18. The body of RL Britton, 56, of Tyler, was found inside the home. The victim was said to be the suspect’s adoptive father.
RUSK COUNTY — Rusk County officials are searching for a man accused of sexual assault of a child and other crimes. According to our news partner KETK, the Rusk County Sheriff’s Office is searching for James Paul Calvert, 47. He is wanted on two counts of child sexual assault, burglary of a habitation and escape. Anyone with any information on Calvert is urged to call the Rusk County Sheriff’s Department at 903-657-3581 or Rusk County Crime Stoppers at 903-655-tips (8477).
LONGVIEW — One of the two men charged with manslaughter in a fatal September 22, 2017, wreck on North Eastman Road is back in the Gregg County Jail. According to the Longview News Journal and our news partner KETK, Chad Palmer Malone, 20, of Longview, was jailed again Saturday. He and co-defendant Daven Davis, 20, of Hallsville, were arrested in February on charges related to the wreck that killed two people, Malone’s sister Rylee Malone and his fiancee, Meshebia Johnson, who were passengers in his car. The driver of the second vehicle in the wreck, Christa Wilson, of Harleton, was hospitalized after the crash with life-threatening injuries. Malone was released from the Gregg County Jail on May 15 on bond. Malone was scheduled for trial October 15, but instead an affidavit to surrender the defendant was issued Wednesday. Malone is being held on $600,000 bond.
TYLER — Tyler police are searching for two suspects wanted in an aggravated robbery. It happened around 4:00 Saturday afternoon at the T-Mobile store, 3320 Troup Highway. Police said two black males, early 20s, entered the store and demanded money and merchandise. One suspect displayed a handgun during the robbery. An undisclosed amount of money and items were stolen from the store before the suspects left the scene in a white Nissan Maxima. No injuries were reported. Anyone with information is urged to contact Tyler Police or CrimeStoppers.
SMITH COUNTY — A multi-agency sting operation ends with nine people behind bars for online solicitation of a minor. According to Smith County Sheriff Larry Smith, the suspects were arrested when they arrived at an undisclosed location after soliciting sex online with investigators posing as minors. Tyler Police, Longview Police, FBI, ICE agents, DPS and Highway Patrol Division arrested the suspects Wednesday and Thursday. Read the rest of this entry »
EAST TEXAS — A Kilgore woman convicted for the 2003 shooting death of her boyfriend in Beckville is released on bond pending a new trial date. According to our news partner KETK, Deborah Smiley McFadden, was convicted of killing her ex-boyfriend, Edward Eugene George Jr. She was sentenced to 40 years in prison. McFadden was released on a $5,000. McFadden, who was Deborah Gaye Smiley at the time of the shooting, was living with George Jr. while divorcing her husband, Terry Smiley, whom she had previously shot in the leg. Following an argument with George Jr. McFadden retrieved a gun from her car and shot the victim in the face. McFadden claimed self-defense. She had also been found guilty of shooting Terry Smiley.
SMITH COUNTY — One person is dead in a Smith County crash. The DPS says troopers responded around 7:16 Wednesday morning to FM 756 just north of FM 346, 3 miles west of Whitehouse in Smith County. Preliminary crash reports indicate that the driver of a 2006 Jeep, Keaton Pierce Conder, 18, of Tyler was traveling south on FM 756, crossed over the center line into northbound lane, and struck a 2002 Chevrolet 1500 pickup. The driver of the Chevrolet, John J. Talton, 62, of Whitehouse was pronounced at the scene. Conder was transported to a Tyler hospital in stable condition. The crash remains under investigation.
TYLER — A Tyler man has been booked into the Smith County Jail after police say he barricaded himself inside a vehicle. Rocky Lasiter, 57, has been charged with criminal trespass. Tyler police said around 7:45 Tuesday night, officers were patrolling the Fair Plaza Parking Garage at Elm and Broadway when they came across a man said to be loitering. As the officers approached the man, he barricade himself in a van, that was not his, and covered the windows in an attempt to hide. The standoff lasted more than an hour before police broke out a window and arrested him. Lasiter was not armed and no injuries were reported. He originally gave officers a false name and has also been charged with failure to identify.
SMITH COUNTY — A two vehicle wreck on I-20 West has left three women dead. It happened around 4:20 Monday morning near the 557 mile marker, east of Lindale. According to the DPS report, a tractor trailer rig was parked on the shoulder when it was struck by a Jeep SUV, driven by Elizabeth Brewer, 36, of Grand Prairie. Brewer was transported to UT Health-Tyler were she was later pronounced dead. Two 16-year-old female passengers in the Jeep were pronounced at the scene. The operator of the truck, who was asleep in the sleeper cab, Joseph Allen Bettis, 31, of Milton, Florida was not injured. The wreck remains under investigation.
SMITH COUNTY — Two people are dead following an early morning crash on Interstate 20. According to our news partner KETK, DPS Troopers were called to the scene near U.S. Highway 69 and Jim Hogg Road around 4:30 a.m. Troopers say a car ran into the back of a 18-wheeler, causing it to slide under. Two people in the car were pronounced dead at the scene. Troopers, Lindale Fire Department, Smith County Sheriff’s Office and EMS responded. One lane of westbound traffic on Interstate 20 was still shut down at last report.
FLINT — The Texas Department of Agriculture has found gas pump skimming devices for one of the first times in a largely rural area, and sees the find as a possible change in tactics or distribution by organized crime. According to our news partner, KETK, an agriculture department inspector found three skimmers on three pumps last Thursday at a Stop N Shop Food Mart in Flint. Law enforcement officers removed the devices for use as evidence of the crime of skimming, where culprits can steal account information from credit and debit cards. Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller issued the report a week after Kilgore police reported finding several skimming devices inside pump machines at a convenience store on South Henderson Boulevard. Read the rest of this entry »
NACOGDOCHES (AP) — An East Texas sheriff’s deputy has died after he was struck by two vehicles while attempting to remove debris from a roadway. The Nacogdoches County sheriff’s office says in a statement that deputy Raymond “Brad” Jimmerson was killed early Friday when he was struck north of the city of Nacogdoches. It wasn’t clear what the 49-year-old Jimmerson was removing from the road, but authorities say he was struck by a passenger car and the impact then pushed him into the path of an SUV. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The Texas Department of Public Safety is investigating. Jimmerson had been with the sheriff’s department for 19 years and in 2006 was named, along with another deputy, as the East Texas Peace Officer Association’s officer of the year. Read the rest of this entry »
TYLER — A Tyler man has been arrested for a shooting Thursday night that sent one victim to the hospital. Corey Lee McDaniel, 35, was arrested around 2:30 Friday morning. He was booked into the Smith County Jail on a charge of Aggravated Assault. His bond was set at $300,000. Dustin Massey, 39, remains in the hospital in stable condition. Tyler police said the two men had gotten into an argument that ended in gunfire at a gas station on East Erwin and Loop 323. Investigators determined that both subjects had fired weapons with approximately 15 rounds exchanged between the two. McDaniel was determined to be the aggressor in the shooting and Massey was in self-defense.
TYLER — Three people with impressive community service resumes were the big honorees at Tuesday’s annual meeting of the Tyler Area Chamber of Commerce. The husband and wife team of Drs. Sasha Vukelja and Larry Anderson received the T.B. Butler Award as Tyler’s most outstanding citizens. In an emotion-filled acceptance speech, Vukelja found time for a bit of humor about her old New York friends. Vukelja told the crowd, “They told me I lost my mind when I moved to Texas — but every time they come to Texas, we can’t get ’em out of the house; they keep coming back!” Anderson said as he looked at the list of past honorees, “It’s just a who’s who of Tyler, and we’re humbled to join it.” Read the rest of this entry »
MARSHALL — A woman who was arrested in August for reportedly orchestrating a murder-for-hire scheme has been indicted by a Harrison County grand jury for solicitation to commit capital murder. According to our news partner KETK, the indictment for Trisha Groot George, 33, shows she attempted to request, command and induce a man to cause the death of her husband, William George. The Marshall Police Department Criminal Investigations Division received a tip indicating Trisha George was reportedly attempting to hire someone to murder her husband. She was booked into the Harrison County Jail with bond set at $1 million.