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Police have released a person of interest in the case of a woman found dead in south St. Louis Sunday morning.

Police found 47-year-old Aretha Robinson in the alley behind the 2200 block of South Jefferson. The coroner determined Robinson was strangled. Officers picked up a person of interest, but have released the person without filing charges.

 

Earlier this month, Oundre Akins was convicted for robbing a Steak 'n Shake restaurant and killing two employees in 2008. Today, a judge ensured that he will never set foot outside of prison.

The judge sentences Akins to consecutive life sentences for the murders. The death penalty was taken off the table after Akins agreed to waive a jury trial. Akins' brother Anthony goes to trial in July for allegedly helping his brother in the robbery and murders.

Prosecutors cited autopsy results in charging a William Gunter with the murder of his wife Suzanne.

Police were called to the couple's Town & Country home on Monday. When they arrived, they found Suzanne injured and rushed her to the hospital. Autopsy results showed she had died from a blow to the head and this contradicted the statement that William had given to officers. Court documents allege that Gunter is the person who hit his wife in the head and killed her.

William will face 1st degree murder charges and funeral services for Suzanne are set for Friday.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — The 18-year-old triggerman in a 2011 shooting death in St. Joseph has been sentenced to 75 years in prison.

Elijah Pickett was sentenced Friday for killing 28-year-old Brian Ulmer during a robbery attempt at Ulmer's home. He was convicted in January of second-degree murder and several other charges.

Prosecutors say Pickett shot Ulmer three times at point-blank range.

The St. Joseph News-Press reports Pickett said he planned to appeal because he was unhappy with the effort of his attorney.

Two other defendants, Kasey Hall and Xavier Johnson, were each sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder. A fourth defendant was found not guilty. A fifth defendant is in federal prison and no date has been set for his trial.

JACKSON, Mo. (AP) — A southeast Missouri man has pleaded not guilty to charges that he killed two people in Cape Girardeau last month.

The Southeast Missourian reports that 22-year-old Kenneth Bell of Cape Girardeau entered the plea at a hearing Monday.

Bell is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Shannon James and Misty Cole. Both were shot to death Feb. 7 inside their apartment.

The next court appearance for Bell is April 18.

Witnesses told police that a confrontation began when James bumped into Bell on a sidewalk. Moments later, James and Cole were shot several times.

Investigators say someone else is responsible for the death of Blackburn College student who overdosed on opium in January.

Police in Carlinville say that Joshua Ramza died of opium intoxication, but the person who supplied him the drug is liable for his death.

Police say the case is now a homicide and they ask anyone with information to contact them at carlinvillepolice.com.

PHILADELPHIA - AP - Family members say retired boxer Tony Martin was fatally shot in an altercation with a visitor at one of his rental properties in Philadelphia.

Police say the 52-year-old Martin, a former welterweight, was shot during an argument at the home in the city’s Hunting Park section on Friday. Martin’s niece, Robyn Peete, says that her uncle was a good landlord and longtime postal worker and that the altercation apparently involved a person visiting his tenant.

Martin’s family is pleading for the gunman to come forward.

Martin was 34-6-1 in his boxing career, with 12 knockouts. He is a native of St. Louis who moved to Philadelphia to train in 1985. He lost his last fight, a decision to Julio Cesar Chavez in Las Vegas, in 1997.

Two people are being held without bail in connection to the death of a 60 year old man whose body was found Saturday morning in Ferguson.

A Ferguson police officer on a routine patrol of January-Wabash Park found the victim's body in the back of a pickup truck. Early reports indicate that the man had been shot in the head.

Police haven't released the victim's name, but say one of the suspects, 56 year old Deborah Ann Lewis, had been living at the victim's home. The other suspect, 52 year old James Carl Miller, is reported to be an associate of Lewis'. Both are charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action.

The St. Louis Major Case Squad had been called in to investigate.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- Greene County prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a southwest Missouri teenager charged with killing another teenager.

Gabriel Roche, 18, of Republic, is charged with first degree murder and armed criminal action in the 2011 stabbing death of 17-year-old Weston North, also of Republic. A probable cause statement says North was stabbed and then begged for his life before Roche slit his throat.

The Springfield News-Leader reports (http://sgfnow.co/15pPxQ8 ) that prosecutors have filed their intention to seek the penalty against Roche. Prosecutors say Roche killed North because North was a witness in a felony offense.

Prosecutor Dan Patterson on Friday declined to say what that offense was but earlier court documents say Roche believed North was a "snitch."

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A man is in custody in St. Louis, accused of beating his girlfriend to death with a baseball bat.

Police say the crime happened Thursday evening. The 71-year-old suspect's name has not been released.

Police say the man was arguing with his girlfriend, 54-year-old Carolyn Richardson, then struck her in the head several times with the bat. Richardson was pronounced dead at a hospital.