Illinois Supreme Court upholds state’s ban on semiautomatic weapons

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Illinois Supreme Court has upheld the state’s ban on the sale or possession of the type of semiautomatic weapons used in hundreds of mass killings nationally. In a 4-3 decision Friday, the high court found that the Protect Our Communities Act does not violate the federal Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection of the law nor the state constitution’s bar on special legislation. The court also decreed that state Rep. Dan Caulkins, a Decatur Republican, a Decatur pawn broker and like-minded Macon County gun-owners who brought the lawsuit had earlier waived their claims that the law infringes on the Second Amendment to own firearms and could not raise it before the Supreme Court.

Dog finds woman in cornfield, 2 days after she disappeared in Michigan crash

BRIGHTON, Mich. (AP) — A woman who was missing after being seriously injured in a car crash was finally discovered two days later by a police dog in a dense cornfield in southeastern Michigan, authorities said. “We knew she didn’t have much longer in order to live,” said state Trooper Jeff Schrieber, who found the woman with Woodson, his specially trained dog. The 45-year-old woman, whose name wasn’t released, was involved in a crash Sunday in Livingston County’s Deerfield Township, 45 miles northwest of Detroit.

Child murderer run out of towns in 1990s faces new charges in 2 Texas killings

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas man who was convicted of killing an 8-year-old girl in the 1980s and then run out of several towns following his early release from prison has been indicted on two new murder charges, including one that could carry the death penalty, prosecutors announced Friday. Raul Meza Jr., 62, was arrested on murder charges earlier this year in the deaths of his roommate in May and a woman in 2019. Austin police said at the time they were also looking at as many as 10 cold cases going back to 1996 that could be connected to Meza, though they have not announced any findings. The indictments handed up by a Travis County grand jury on Thursday include one count of capital murder in the death of Gloria Lofton, 65, who was found in her home. The grand jury also indicted Meza on one count of murder in the death of Jesse Fraga, 80.

Prosecutors: Judge charged with murder texted court staff that he shot his wife

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California judge accused of killing his wife texted his court clerk and bailiff afterward to say he had shot her, prosecutors said Friday as they charged him with murder and sought new bail conditions. A court filing from prosecutors says Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson texted: “I just lost it. I just shot my wife. I won’t be in tomorrow. I will be in custody. I’m so sorry.” Prosecutors also say that 47 weapons and more than 26,000 rounds of ammunition were recovered during a search of his home, including the pistol used in the shooting.