Today is
Saturday June 13, 2026
TYLER — Tyler police are continuing to search for a car thief. Officers said just before 3:30 Saturday afternoon, an 85-year-old woman was eating dinner at Yami Buffet, on Troup Highway, when her purse was stolen. A witness notified the woman. She checked the parking lot for her vehicle and realized it had bed stolen. The vehicle is described as a 2016 dark blue Kia Forte, “Surviving Spouse” License plate 8HC. The suspect was described as a Hispanic male, 5’4″, medium build, dressed in a blue t-shirt with white letters on the front. The male also wore tan cargo shorts and a gray base ball cap, backwards. The victim was not harmed. The incident is under investigation.
UPSHUR COUNTY — A Gladewater man has been indicted on a charge of capital murder in the fatal shootings of his ex-girlfriend and one of her sons in Upshur County. According to our news partner KETK, Joseph Lee Adkins, 53, was arrested March 6 in the death of Lisa Moore, 49, and her son, Dylan Moore, 19, at her home in the 1000 block of PR 1999 in the Gladewater-Union Grove area. Authorities say Adkins also wounded another of Moore’s sons. Investigators at the time said they suspected the homicides were connected to an ongoing domestic dispute between Adkins and the victims. Adkins remains in the Upshur County Jail under $2 million bond.
TYLER — A Tyler man has been arrested after police say he fired a gun at his girlfriend. Kendarius Gray, 21, was arrested around 2:00 this morning and charged with aggravated assault. Officers responded to a home off Hwy 69 on a report of shots fired. The victim said she was arguing with her boyfriend, Gray, at a location off 26th Street when he started shooting at her. She was not injured and fled the scene in her vehicle. Her back window was shot out. Officers located Gray a short time later at his mother’s home in Tyler. He was booked into the Smith County Jail.
ARP – An East Texas elementary school counselor has been indicted on two counts of improper relationship between a student and educator and two counts of sexual assault of a child. According to our news partner KETK, Barbara Orpineda, 32, of Arp, was indicted May 17 in the 241st Judicial District Court of Smith County. Orpineda was arrested in October by the Arp Police Department. At the time, she was a counselor at Arp Elementary School. Arp ISD officials confirmed to KETK in October that a staff member had been placed on administrative leave following allegations of an improper relationship with a student.
ANGELINA COUNTY — Angelina County authorities have identified a body found in a wooded area last weekend. According to our news partner KETK, the body has been identified as Joseph Todd Basham, 45, of Angelina County. He was found off Willie Nerren Road Saturday. Basham had been previously reported as a missing person. A news release from Angelina County Sheriff Greg Sanches said preliminary autopsy results indicate no foul play but further forensic testing is being done. Investigators say further test results may shed light on the exact cause of death.
SMITH COUNTY — At least three people are dead following a four-vehicle accident that caused hours of traffic tie-ups on Interstate 20 in Smith County between Highway 155 and FM 2015. According to DPS, preliminary crash reports indicate that the driver of a car was traveling westbound in the eastbound lanes of traffic around 1:00 Wednesday morning. The Oldsmobile struck a pickup towing a flatbed trailer in the eastbound inside lane. At the same time, the driver of a truck tractor towing a semi-trailer, also traveling eastbound, took evasive action to the right and then left to avoid the collision. That action caused the truck and towed semi-trailer to cross the center median and overturn in the westbound lanes, where it was struck by a westbound truck tractor towing a tanker trailer. Read the rest of this entry »
WHITEHOUSE — Two people have been taken to the hospital after a crash involving a Whitehouse Independent School District bus and a vehicle. The crash happened at the intersection of FM 346 and Rhones Quarter Road around 6:45 Tuesday morning. According to our news partner KETK, a vehicle struck the bus on its side. No children were on bus No. FB8 at the time of the wreck. The driver of the vehicle and the passenger, said to be a WHS student, were taken to a local hospital with unknown injuries.
ANGELINA COUNTY — A Lufkin woman was shot during an argument. According to our news partner KETK, the shooting, identified as Ashleigh Elijah,24, had been on life support at a Lufkin Hospital since the shooting. She’s since been declared “medically dead.” Police said Andre Woods, 21, shot Elijah twice during an Friday evening. Woods remains in the Angelina County Jail on a $1 million bond. He’s charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
GREGG COUNTY — A Longview man pleads guilty to aggravated robbery and engaging in organized criminal activity. Devonte Smith, 20, was sentenced to 20 years for each charge. According to our news partner KETK, Smith was arrested last May after he and several others committed armed robberies at the Tree House Apartments and the Summer Brooks Apartments in Longview. Smith is the second of five men to be convicted on charges arising from the incidents. Kaleb Bush was sentenced last month.
SMITH COUNTY — The late Smith County Fire Marshal Jim Seaton was posthumously inducted into the Texas Division of Emergency Management Hall of Fame May 15. The award was accepted by his widow, Nancy Seaton; his daughter, Melissa Seaton; and Smith County Fire Marshal/Emergency Management Coordinator Connie McCoy-Wasson, during the Texas Division of Emergency Management Conference in San Antonio. “Jim was all about emergency management,†Mrs. Seaton said. “He took protecting the citizens of Smith County very seriously. Receiving this award, he would have been so honored, and I am very proud to have received it for him.†Seaton served as Smith County Fire Marshal/Emergency Management Coordinator from 1999 to 2014. Read the rest of this entry »
SMITH COUNTY — A Tyler man was arrested after a shot was fired Monday night on South Bonner Avenue. According to our news partner KETK, Finist Lee Brooks, 41, has been charged with aggravated assault. Police said Brooks was arguing with his girlfriend when he fired a shot in the air. He then threatened the victim by pointing the gun at her. No one was injured during the incident. Brooks was released from the Smith County Jail Wednesday on $5,000 bond.
ANGELINA COUNTY — A 3rd party is called in to investigate the death of an Angelina County inmate. Janet Hartman, 44, died Sunday night after becoming ill at the jail. According to our news partner KETK, Hartman was taken to a Lufkin hospital where she later died. Her cause of death is unknown. Hartman’s body was sent for autopsy.
TYLER — One person has been injured in a shooting Sunday night in Tyler. Officers responded to an aggravated assault call just before 11:00 on Houston Street. The victim, Wilber Medina, 35, was shot in the leg with a hand gun. He told officers he was arguing with a man staying at his home over a cellphone. The unidentified suspect shot Medina and left the scene before officers arrived.
MCLENNAN COUNTY — A Bullard woman is dead after the vehicle she was in rolled over on Interstate 35 near West. Texas DPS says the crash happened around 1:40 p.m. Saturday. DPS determined the Toyota 4Runner was traveling northbound when a tire blew out, causing the driver to lose control. The vehicle flipped multiple times, ejecting three passengers. Anna Wegener, 19, was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver and three passengers were transported to a local hospital. Family members say Blake Rodgers is in a coma, while Mackenzie Davis is recovering from a broken pelvis. The driver of the car is said to have received minor injuries. Read the rest of this entry »
LONGVIEW — An arrest warrant affidavit has revealed a Longview ISD employee charged with sexually assaulting a child was also the victim’s pastor. According to our news partner KETK, court documents show Richard Leland Williams, 25, of Longview, is a pastor of the child’s family. A search of social media shows the suspect is the pastor of Hebron Missionary Baptist Church in Longview. Williams began a sexual relationship with the victim in August or September 2017 when she was only 16, according to the arrest affidavit. Read the rest of this entry »