ELKINS, W.Va. -- The mother of a 3-year-old girl who vanished eight months ago this week is being sentenced for welfare fraud.

Lena Lunsford is scheduled to appear this afternoon in Elkins before U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey.

Lunsford pleaded guilty in January to selling $114 worth of credit on her food-stamp card for $50 cash. She had been indicted on multiple counts in October, accused of swapping the benefits for cash five times in two months.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A federal judge has overruled a jury's verdict that found  a Wood County sheriff deputy did not use excessive force when he beat a man who was reportedly "running his mouth" while detained in a processing room.

U.S. District Judge Joseph Goodwin cited "unequivocal" video evidence of Deputy Jim R. Asbury's alleged assault on Brian Sawyer. The federal judge ruled in favor of Sawyer and ordered a new trial to determine damages.

In his order filed Friday afternoon, Goodwin recalled the Los Angeles riots in 1991, sparked after a jury acquitted Los Angeles police officers in the beating of Rodney King despite video footage of the incident.

Karissa Ramsey, 19, of St. Albans, was traveling toward Winfield at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday, a Putnam County sheriff's deputy said. Someone who witnessed the crash said the teenager was killed instantly, according to the deputy.

An investigating officer said he believed Ramsey might have survived if she had been wearing a seatbelt.

Ramsey has worked at the Sonic restaurant in St. Albans since its opening three years ago, said Angie Gardener, a Sonic employee who had worked with Ramsey for more than a year.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Former Mason County sheriff David Anthony was sentenced to 18 months in jail and ordered to pay a $500 fine on Monday.

Anthony, 42, pleaded guilty last month to misdemeanor charges of brandishing and firing a weapon near a dwelling. He also pleaded no contest to misdemeanor fraudulent schemes and embezzlement. He faced up to three years in prison on all counts.

As part of the plea agreement, Anthony withdrew his bid for a second term in the Democratic primary earlier this month, agreed not to run for future political office and surrendered his law enforcement certification.

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. -- The FBI and other law enforcement officers will honor a Monongalia County sheriff's deputy killed in the line of duty earlier this year.

Sgt. Michael Todd May of Morgantown will be remembered this afternoon at an annual memorial ceremony for fallen West Virginia officers at the Criminal Justice Information Services complex in Clarksburg.

May died Feb. 18 after his stopped patrol car was struck by a hit-and-run suspect on Interstate 79 in western Pennsylvania.

THURMOND, W.Va. -- National Park Service crews have recovered the body of a man whose boat capsized on the New River.

Media outlets report that a commercial fishing guide saw the body of 41-year-old Bradley Alexander Sr. around noon Sunday near the Thurmond Bridge.

Alexander's son also was in the boat when it capsized last Wednesday. He wasn't injured. He told authorities that his father wasn't wearing a life jacket.

GLENWOOD, W.Va. -- A Mason County woman discovered a body on the banks of the Ohio River on Sunday.

A West Virginia State Police spokeswoman said the body of a man was found by a resident in Glenwood about 7:15 p.m. The body has been sent to the State Medical Examiner's office for possible identification.

State Police troopers in Mason County are investigating.

SISSONVILLE, W.Va. -- Police said a Sissonville man was hospitalized this morning after being stabbed by his son during an argument.

Larry Shamblin, 65, got into an altercation with his son, Cable Shamblin, 20, both of Derricks Creek, around 6:30 a.m., said Lt. Sean Crosier of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department.

Cable Shamblin allegedly stabbed his father in the chest. Larry Shamblin then fired a handgun several times while his son ran away, Crosier said. No one was hit by gunfire.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Speakers from the FBI, Secret Service and U.S. attorney's office will be among the presenters at a digital evidence conference at Marshall University.

The conference being held Monday through Friday at Marshall's Forensic Science Center will provide training in digital forensics and evidence recovery, electronic discovery and information security.

U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin is set to open the conference with a presentation on the use of digital evidence in prosecutions.

Brian Andrew Webb, 19, of Arnett, and Tonya Renee Beckner, 22, of Fairdale, attempted to rob a Fairdale home belonging to Eddie Wimmer at about 6 a.m. Monday, according to a news release from the Raleigh County Sheriff's Department.

Wimmer caught Webb inside the home and shot him once in the chest, the news release said.

On Thursday, police arrested Beckner and charged her with first-degree robbery and conspiracy to commit a felony. She remained in Southern Regional Jail on Friday in lieu of $75,000 bail.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Four people face drug charges after Kanawha County authorities say they discovered two different methamphetamine labs.

One of those labs forced officials to temporarily close a Cross Lanes motel.

Lt. Bryan Robbins of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department said Deputy C.D. Lyons spotted a silver Ford F-150 pickup truck weaving on W.Va. 21 near Pocatalico on Thursday. When he pulled the truck over, Lyons smelled an odor consistent with making meth, Robbins said.

Hancock County Sheriff Mike White says the victim was using a torch on a 55-gallon drum when the accident occurred Thursday in New Cumberland.

The victim's name wasn't immediately released.

Media outlets report the cause of the explosion is under investigation.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- One lane of Interstate 77 remains closed near Paint Creek following an early morning truck wreck.

Kanawha County emergency officials said a truck carrying paper bags overturned in the northbound lanes on Interstate 77 at the Paint Creek exit at about 1:15 a.m., spilling its load all over both sides of the interstate. All northbound and southbound lanes were closed for about an hour.

Both northbound lanes reopened within a few hours, and one southbound lane reopened about 6 a.m.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The state Public Service Commission is warning state residents about national scammers promising to pay for utility bills.

According to the PSC, scammers in different parts of the country have gone door-to-door, posted fliers and used social media and text messages to claim that President Obama is providing credits or is paying for utility bills.

The scammers get victims' personal information and Social Security numbers, the commission said. The victims are given a bank routing number to pay their bills, but the number is fraudulent and payments are never applied to the customer's bills.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- South Charleston police have identified a man whose body was found in the Kanawha River on Wednesday as a Charleston resident who went missing last week.

South Charleston Police Detective Andrew Gordon identified the man as Tarone Taylor, 31, of Charleston. Taylor's family reported him missing last week

Gordon said police do not suspect foul play in Taylor's death.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Police say a Huntington husband and wife are accused of breaking into a residence while their three young children were left alone at home nine blocks away.

Dustin Ray Ogden and Amanda Grace Morris-Ogden each are charged with two counts of burglary and three counts of child neglect, all felonies.

A criminal complaint says the two were attempting to steal copper pipes Tuesday. They told officers their children ages 5, 2, and 9 months were back at their home unattended. Media outlets report the children are now in the care of a relative.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Police say a Huntington husband and wife are accused of breaking into a residence while their three young children were left alone at home nine blocks away.

Dustin Ray Ogden and Amanda Grace Morris-Ogden each are charged with two counts of burglary and three counts of child neglect, all felonies.

A criminal complaint says the two were attempting to steal copper pipes Tuesday. They told officers their children ages 5, 2, and 9 months were back at their home unattended. Media outlets report the children are now in the care of a relative.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Sissonville man was arrested late Tuesday after allegedly threatening his wife and others with a knife and a gun.

FAIRMONT, W.Va. -- More than 50 people face charges stemming from an undercover investigation of drug and gun violations in Fairmont.

Media outlets report that 29 people have been arrested as of Wednesday afternoon. A total of 53 arrest warrants have been issued.

Fairmont Police Chief Kelley Moran says all 53 suspects are from Fairmont. The investigation didn't target any particular group.

State Police troopers from the Rainelle detachment arrested Tommy R. Keeney III, 23; Dustin M. Ellison, 24; Lonnie D. Fields, 32; and Ragen B. Adkins, 32, and charged them with their parts in breaking into and setting fire to the Little General Store in Charmco on April 4, according to State Police spokesman Sgt. Michael Baylous.

Keeney, Ellison and Fields were charged with second-degree arson, grand larceny, breaking and entering and conspiracy, Baylous said. Adkins was charged with second-degree arson, grand larceny and conspiracy.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- The number of arson fires in Huntington continues to grow.

Media outlets report that the latest fires occurred early Tuesday at two houses on opposite sides of the city.

More than 45 arsons have occurred in the city since last November. The earlier fires targeted vacant and abandoned structures. Tuesday's fires occurred at houses that were occupied.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Kentucky woman came to Boone County last week to take care of her grandchildren while her daughter coped with her ailing father.

On Tuesday, both women were found dead inside the daughter's Bloomingrose home. Police arrested the Kentucky woman's son-in-law Wednesday and charged him with two counts of first-degree murder and the sexual assault of an underage female family member.

Timothy Ray Parsons, 36, of Comfort, allegedly slit the throats of his wife, Leigh Anne Kinder-Parsons, 35, and his mother-in-law, Gloria Sue Kinder, 62, of Lexington, Ky., sometime over Monday and Tuesday, according to a criminal complaint filed in Boone County Magistrate Court.

Sgt. Bobby Eggleton said Robert Dwayne Miller, of Charleston, was at the intersection of Main and Russell streets at about 10 p.m. Monday in a Ford SUV when he stopped beside a dark-colored sedan. Eggleton said one man was in the sedan, while another man with a gun came walking around the car and opened fire on Miller.

Miller tried to speed away onto Russell Street, but ended up wrecking the car, Eggleton said. He then ran away on foot until police arrived.

Police are looking for two males, but have few other details.

Media outlets report that 49-year-old Chester Stewart's death is being investigated as a homicide.

The Matheny resident was last seen alive Aug. 6, 2011 in Matheny. Police say a house attendant found his body last Friday in a pool at a vacant house between Matheny and Oceana.

Wyoming County Sheriff Randall Aliff says identification found with the body was Stewart's. The medical examiner has not yet made an official identification.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- All U.S. and West Virginia flags are flying at half-staff in honor of Peace Officers Memorial Day.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin issued a proclamation lowering the flags today across West Virginia. The gesture is intended to commemorate all federal, state and local law enforcement officers who have fallen in the line of duty.

May 15 was designed in 1962 by presidential proclamation as Peace Officers Memorial Day.

DELBARTON, W.Va. -- Two Mingo County high school students were injured Monday when they collided head-on with a coal truck along the same road where a student wrecked and died earlier this month.

At about 2 p.m. Monday, two Mingo Central Comprehensive High School students driving a pickup truck crossed the centerline along U.S. 52 and collided with a coal truck, said Delbarton volunteer firefighter Clyde Pruitt.

The male driver was trapped and his female passenger was able to get out and call for help, Pruitt said. Both drivers were alert and talking with paramedics and firefighters, he said.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- West Virginia has opted to not comply with a federal sex offender registration law because of the cost.

The law calls for states to use a three-tier classification system. Offenders in the highest tier must appear at the appropriate agency at least four times a year to verify their information. Depending on their convictions, other offenders are required to appear once or twice a year.

In West Virginia, State Police troopers visit sex offenders unannounced at least once a year to verify their information.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Cabin Creek couple was charged with child negelct over the weekend after allegedly taking drugs instead of taking care of their baby.

Jon Paul Kazee and Cassie Ferrell, both 29, were in the South Central Regional Jail this morning on charges of child neglect, according to Lt. Sean Crosier of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department. Bond was set at $10,000 each.

Crosier said a relative called deputies just before midnight May 12 because Kazee and Ferrell were allegedly drifting in and out of consciousness while taking drugs. When deputies asked the couple where their 4-month-old baby was, they told deputies the baby was in the crib.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Clendenin man was in jail Monday after allegedly attacking another man with a metal pipe.

David Eugene Elmore, 26, of Laurel Fork Road, was having an argument Sunday with neighbor Randall Woods, 51, when Elmore allegedly hit Woods in the head and upper body with a metal pipe, according to Lt. Sean Crosier of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department.

Woods was taken to CAMC General Hospital. Crosier said Elmore was arrested and charged with malicious wounding.

The alleged robbery was reported at 5:42 p.m.

The man told police the alleged robber asked him for money. The man said when he did not give him money, the alleged robber put him in a choke hold, took $20 from his wallet and gave the wallet back, Lt. C.E. Sisson of the Charleston Police Department said.

The man's story appears suspicious because he already had his wallet out when the man approached, and because the alleged robber left $30 in the wallet when he gave it back, Sisson said.

Charleston Police said Joseph Aaron McKinney, 20, walked into the Red Roof Inn in the 6000 block of MacCorkle Avenue around 2:30 a.m. Saturday wearing a white shirt around his head and brandished a can of pepper spray at a female clerk.

McKinney allegedly threatened the clerk with the pepper spray and told her that he also was armed with a firearm and a knife, according to the Charleston Police Department Criminal Investigation Division.

Police would not say what, if anything, that McKinney was able to get away with from the hotel. A police K-9 unit found McKinney allegedly hiding near a storage facility a few blocks away from the Inn.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A federal jury has convicted a Lincoln County man of using a gun to threaten two investigators looking into allegations of voter fraud.

The U.S. District Court jury found 62-year-old James Matheny guilty Friday on one count each of assault with a deadly weapon on a federal officer and a person assisting a federal officer and of brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

The charges stemmed from a Feb. 28 confrontation between Matheny and an FBI agent along with an investigator with the Secretary of State's office outside his Midkiff home. The agents had been interviewing area residents in a voter-fraud investigation that involved two county elected officials.

James A. Matheny

James A. Matheny, 61, was indicted in March on the charges.

During his trial this week, prosecutors said that on Feb. 28, an FBI special agent and an investigator from the office of Secretary of State Natalie Tennant approached Matheny at his Midkiff home.

The agents were investigating Matheny's connection to a vote fraud ring. Sheriff Jerry Bowman pleaded guilty in March to charges that he falsified more than 100 absentee ballot applications for voters who did not have any legal basis to vote absentee.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Police arrested a Kanawha County man Friday accused of kidnapping his girlfriend, who suffered severe head trauma when police said she exited a speeding car in an effort to escape him. 

Cristopher Crawford III, 21, is charged with kidnapping his girlfriend, Angel-Leigh Proctor, 19, both of Campbells Creek.

The couple left their residence Sunday morning in their vehicle, according to a news release by Kanawha County Sheriff's Lt. Sean Crosier.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Police have arrested a teen-ager who they say severely assaulted a Logan County man early Tuesday.

Just after midnight Tuesday, a 17-year-old man assaulted James Queen, 27, of Logan, at the Speedway gas station on Corridor G, said Charleston Police Sgt. Bobby Eggleton.

Queen remains in critical condition at CAMC General Hospital.

BECKLEY, W.Va. -- A Beckley man has admitted to breaking into a post office to seize packages of bath salts addressed to him.

Thirty-nine-year-old Benjamin J. Webb pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Beckley to burglary-related charges.

Federal prosecutors say Webb admitted that on Oct. 30, he and another individual smashed a glass door and entered the Beckley post office branch, which was closed at the time. Webb admitted to the theft of nine packages addressed to him containing the synthetic drugs.

Meanwhile, police are investigating after someone broke into his alleged victim's house sometime this week.

March, 60, is accused of strangling Sheila "Kathy" Goble, 62, on April 24, 2010. The two worked together for more than 10 years at Kelley's Mens Shop on the West Side.

Police said March's son called authorities on April 25 -- one day after the two-year anniversary of Goble's disappearance -- after finding what appeared to be human remains in a shallow grave at his father's home.

Last year, the Nitro City Council asked for a review of all police department special revenue funds after state auditors couldn't find a paper trail to show where about $58,000 went from the police benefit fund. The fund was set up to pay for community events and other projects.

Robb, a former South Charleston mayor, spent several months looking at the special police funds. The police department administered the funds without any oversight by the City Council.

In the report issued Wednesday, Robb said police might have stretched the rules in the way some of the money from drug seizures was spent, but that he doesn't think the department intentionally did anything wrong.

Talton Dewayne Pratt

Talton Dewayne Pratt, 30, was arrested and charged with two counts each of malicious wounding and assault on a health-care worker.

Pratt also faces a charge of escape for allegedly attempting to flee out a back door of the South Charleston Police Department. Police caught him in a parking lot and shot him with a Taser three times before he finally complied, according to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court.

On Wednesday, Pratt threw a bottle of orange juice in his mother's face as she was sitting in the waiting area of the ER, according to the complaint. When his mother stood up, Pratt grabbed her, threw her to the ground and struck her with a closed fist, the complaint states.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- State Police said they arrested a man who was wanted on breaking and entering charges Wednesday night.

The man, Andrew Palmer, was allegedly armed and driving a gold minivan and wearing a jersey with a hat on backwards, according to dispatchers.

"He made threats to shoot any law enforcement officer that comes near him because he refuses to go back to jail," a dispatcher said.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The Super 8 motel in Dunbar is shutting down temporarily while crews check for methamphetamine contamination.

Brandon Lewis, state program coordinator for the Clandestine Drug Laboratory Rehabilitation Program, said a meth lab was discovered at the motel several weeks ago and motel staff asked to have adjoining rooms tested for meth contamination.

Lewis said tests showed additional contamination, so the rest of the motel will now be tested as a precaution. "If they're lucky, maybe nothing else will be contaminated," he said.

Chris Dorst

Rolled coins spilled across the median on Interstate 77 near Sissonville Tuesday morning after an armored vehicle overturned.

A Loomis armored vehicle with two guards rolled at 9:10 a.m. in the northbound lane about one mile north of the Haines Branch exit of I-77.

Bills, rolls of coins and loose quarters scattered around the vehicle in both northbound and southbound lanes.

One of the earliest emergency responders on the scene radioed in that some passersby were trying to grab some of the money.

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A St. Albans woman is charged with first-degree arson for setting a fire that burned a house at 106 Central Ave. in South Charleston.

South Charleston Detective C.A. Cook interviewed Jessica Leah Sanson Monday, who allegedly admitted to pouring gasoline from a liquor bottle around the residence and igniting it, according to a criminal complaint. She then left the scene.

Sanson, 23, said she believed the residence was vacant, but knew the two previous occupants who lived there, according to the complaint.

Charles Eugene March, 60, of Chesapeake, waived his right to the hearing before Kanawha County Magistrate Court Judge Joe Shelton on a first-degree murder charge.

March is accused of strangling his co-worker, Sheila "Kathy" Goble, 62, to death on April 24, 2010, according to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court. March allegedly dismembered Goble's body and then buried her behind his trailer the next day.

March and Goble worked together for more than 10 years at Kelley's Mens Shop on Charleston's West Side. March had worked there for more than 30 years as a shoe salesman.

Chip Ellis

The Donel C. Kinnard Memorial State Veterans Cemetery is to be opened Memorial Day. State Police said two juveniles caused more than $9,000 in vandalism at the cemetery Saturday night. Most of the damage had been cleaned by Monday.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- State Police said two juveniles vandalized the state veteran's cemetery Saturday morning, just weeks before a Memorial Day ceremony to celebrate its opening.

State Police spokesman Sgt. Michael Baylous said two Dunbar juveniles caused approximately $9,000 in damage at the Donel C. Kinnard Memorial State Veterans Cemetery in Institute by knocking over several concrete structures and tearing up foliage.

The juveniles are facing felony destruction of property charges.

Cpl. Andrew Shane Loudin was shot in the chest and back Thursday by William David Dumire, 55, of Elkins, with a small-caliber handgun, said West Virginia State Police spokesman Sgt. Michael Baylous.

Loudin, a member of the State Police Crimes Against Children Unit, had approached Dumire to interview him about allegations of child sexual abuse. Loudin was not wearing a bulletproof vest, Baylous said.

Police later fatally shot Dumire during an exchange of gunfire in a wooded area in Elkins, he said.

WINFIELD, W.Va. -- Police have identified a Virginia woman who died after being struck by an oncoming vehicle Sunday evening in Putnam County.

Pamela Bell, 53, of Salem, Va., was driving her motorcycle along U.S. 35 at about 2:20 p.m., when an SUV driven by Sheila Ray, 40, of Winfield, crossed the center line and struck her motorcycle head on, said Lt. Robert Harrison of the Putnam County Sheriff's Department. Bell was declared dead at the scene.

Ray also struck a tractor-trailer driven by David Shur<co >, 65, of Selena, Ohio. Shur was not injured in the accident, Harrison said.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Police arrested a Cabell County man on Friday after he allegedly walked into a high-end women's clothing store and urinated on 38 pairs of jeans.

Tommy Edward Edmonds Jr., 26, of Huntington, walked into the Chico's store at Pullman Square in Huntington and began urinating on a jeans display, according to a criminal complaint filed Friday in Cabell County Magistrate Court.

Edmonds allegedly destroyed $3,040 in merchandise.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A gunman walked into a Gino's restaurant on Charleston's West Side late Saturday and walked out with an unknown amount of money.

Sgt. Eric Hodges of the Charleston Police Department said a store clerk was in the back on the store doing paperwork at about 11:30 p.m. Saturday when she heard the front door open. A man with a gun then came in, forced another employee to get on the floor and demanded cash.

Video surveillance footage from the restaurant shows a man nonchalantly walking into the restaurant, taking the money, and leaving. Police are looking for a black man who was last seen wearing black pants, a black hooded sweatshirt, a black ball cap and a mask over part of his face.

However, the roof no longer retracts, the dining room is missing its wallpaper and the fireplace has been painted an institutional off-white.

An $8 million renovation project is winding down, and the Division of Corrections is gearing up to move 140 inmates into the work-release center this summer.

The conversion of the hotel, which closed in 2007, is the latest attempt to ease West Virginia's decades-long problem of overcrowded prisons and regional jails. The state bought the property and 22 surrounding acres for $2.2 million in 2010.