Port Arthur board votes to suspend teacher charged with injury to a child
PORT ARTHUR - By Megan Dillard - It was standing room only tonight at the Port Arthur School Board meeting.
It was a full house a room divided.
One of tonight's agenda items involved suspending a teacher accused of hitting a student.
There were people at tonight's meeting on both sides of the issue.
Board members passed a motion in a four-two vote to suspend Ruby Gunner.
The Robert E. Lee Elementary school teacher is charged with injury to a child.
The boy's mother said her son wasn't doing work in class when Gunner threatened him.
The mother says her son tried to go to the office and that's when Gunner punched him in the face.
People in support of the student held pictures showing injuries to his face. Dozens of people also held signs in support of the teacher.
When the board voted to suspend Gunner without pay, half the people in the room left the meeting.
The board also voted to appoint Dr. Mark Porterie as interim superintendent.
He'll begin work in that role no until the board hires a new superintendent, or if the board decides to appoint someone else in the meantime.
Dr. Johnny Brown's last day is at the end of June.

Baptist Hospital collecting donations for Oklahoma tornado victims

BEAUMONT - Baptist Hospital in Beaumont is collecting supplies for the Oklahoma tornado victims. Organizers say the victims especially need items that people don’t normally think to donate, including tarps, gloves, surgical masks and bleach.

You can drop off donations at Baptist Hospital, 3080 College St., Beaumont.

The hospital’s phone number is (409) 212-5000.

Suspect in custody following shooting death of girlfriend

JEFFERSON COUNTY - KFDM News has learned the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office has taken a suspect into custody on charges of murdering his girlfriend and investigators say the couple's young twin children were at his home in Hamshire at the time of the shooting.

FDM reporter Justin Hinton is covering the story. Stay with KFDM News and kfdm.com for updates.

Deputy Rod Carroll and Justice of the Peace Ray Chesson told KFDM News the victim is Tina Aubey, 42. James Martin Chaney, 44, a man they describe as her boyfriend and the father of her twin 2-year-old son and daughter, is in jail.

Judge Chesson told KFDM News Aubey was shot several times with a small caliber handgun. He said she was shot in one room and died on the kitchen floor.

According to investigators, Chaney is accused of shooting and killing Aubey at about 10:45 a.m. Thursday at his home on Heckaman Loop, off Hamshire Road near Highway 124.

A neighbor told KFDM reporter Justin Hinton the suspect walked to his home following the shooting and said, "I murdered my wife. Take my children." The neighbor said the children had blood on them but weren't hurt.

The neighbor called 911 and a deputy constable from Precinct 4 responded. The deputy constable spotted Chaney leaving the scene and followed him to a truck stop off Interstate 10 at Hamshire Road, according to investigators.  Deputies from the Precinct 4 Constable's office and Sheriff's deputies assisted and took Chaney into custody. The twins were in the car and unhurt.

The City of West says it needs help from the state to rebuild after the deadly fertilizer plant explosion
KFDM News - The City of West has just begun the process of rebuilding and says it can't do it alone.

As the recovery in West continues, city leaders are hoping the state will pick up the bill for some of the rebuilding process.

City leaders were expected to ask the governor for $17.7 million dollars in state aid.

They say the money is needed to rebuild the city's water and sewer system, which was destroyed by the fertilizer plant explosion last month.

City engineer Jed Walker says it is crucial to get the water and sewer system back up, so residents can rebuild.

Police release name of man who died in Nederland accident that injured wife

NEDERLAND - Nederland Police have released the name of a man who died in an accident that also injured his wife when their Jeep overturned.

Jerry Eden Marshall, 39, of Port Neches, was killed at about 2:30 a.m. Thursday in the accident in the 2200 block of Canal Avenue, according to Nederland Police Chief Darrell Bush.

The 2001 Jeep had overturned on the road. Marshall's wife, Brenda Michele Marshall, 46, was hurt and is undergoing treatment at a local hospital.

The preliminary investigation indicates Jerry Marshall was traveling west on Canal when  his Jeep left the roadway and it ran into a ditch before it overturned.

Justice of the Peace Tom Gillam is conducting an inquest and has ordered an autopsy.

New details about man's death in Orange

ORANGE  - Investigators with the Orange Police Department tell KFDM News preliminary autopsy results indicate a man died from injuries he received from broken glass and officers say the injuries may be linked to an earlier burglary.

Watch KFDM and stay with kfdm.com for updates.

Police were called to the area of 6th Street and Cherry Avenue at about 11 p.m. Wednesday. They found 18-year-old Devon Walker lying on the roadway. Walker was taken to a hospital and later died from his injuries.

Officers say they discovered evidence of a nearby burglary while responding to the report of a person lying on the road.

Police in Orange tell KFDM News they believe Walker was hurt while leaving a home following a burglary. They say he crawled out of a window and cut himself on the glass. He received a severe cut to his thigh.