METRO DIGEST || Vigil today for Al Adi

Vigil today for Al Adi

YOUNGSTOWN

A community vigil for Amer “Al” Adi is set for 5:30 p.m. today at 1st Unitarian Universalist Church, 1105 Elm St.

Guilty of injuring 5

WARREN

Christopher J. Edwards, 28, of Tuttle Lane in Girard, pleaded guilty Monday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to attempted felonious assault and drunken driving. Edwards will be sentenced in about four weeks, after the Trumbull County Adult Probation Department conducts a background investigation. He could get about three years in prison. Liberty police said Edwards was driving a vehicle that hit another vehicle July 9 at state Route 304 and Shady Road, injuring five people. Edwards had a blood-alcohol reading of 0.263, which is more than three times the legal Ohio intoxication limit of 0.08, police said.

Lange running in 6th

SALEM

Werner Lange of Newton Falls has announced he’s running in the Democratic primary for the 6th Congressional District seat. Lange, a Bernie Sanders delegate to the Democratic National Convention who’s run for Congress at least four other times, is the second Democrat to seek the seat. Political newcomer Shawna Roberts of Belmont is also running. The primary winner will face Republican incumbent Bill Johnson of Marietta, seeking his fifth two-year term. The 18-county district, which includes all of Columbiana County and southern Mahoning County, is considered a safe Republican district. Lange doesn’t live in the district, but can run because he’s an Ohio resident.

Sentenced to probation

WARREN

Melissa Putnam of Warren, 34, who narrowly escaped death at the hands of killer David Martin in 2012, was sentenced to five years’ probation Tuesday on a drug charge and attempted tampering with evidence resulting from a traffic stop in the city in February. Putnam was sentenced Tuesday by Judge Andrew Logan of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court, the same judge who presided over Martin’s aggravated-murder case. Martin was convicted of killing Jeremy Cole, 21, and trying to kill Putnam in a house on Oak Street Southwest. Martin was later sentenced to the death penalty. Putnam said Martin shot her in the back of the head, but she put her hand there as he fired, deflecting the bullet.

Police probe burglary

POLAND

Township police are investigating a burglary between 11 a.m. and 2:55 p.m. Monday. A sliding-glass door was damaged and several items were stolen from a Chesterton Drive residence, including jewelry and gift cards, according to a report.

Plea agreement fails

YOUNGSTOWN

A plea agreement seemed possible Tuesday with a Youngstown man accused of a 2014 homicide, but it failed to materialize. Ricki Williams, 22, of Lansdowne Boulevard, faces the death penalty in a trial set to begin Thursday. Williams admitted the 2014 stabbing death of Gina Burger, 16, who went missing before authorities found her body in a landfill. Williams told investigators he stabbed Burger, put her body in a playpen and threw it into a trash receptacle at an Austintown apartment complex, according to a criminal complaint. Barring a last-minute plea agreement, jury orientation trial will begin Thursday morning.

Free lectures

YOUNGSTOWN

Robert D. Morgan, Texas Tech University psychological sciences department chairman, and John G. Skelton Jr., Regents endowed professor, will give two free lectures this week at Youngstown State University’s Kilcawley Center: “Psychiatric Symptoms and Criminogenic Risk among Persons with Mental Illness Who Are and Are Not Criminal Justice Involved,” is at 5 p.m. Thursday; and “Treating Justice Involved Persons with Mental Illness in Forensic, Correctional and Community Settings,” is at 3 p.m. Friday. Morgan’s lectures are part of the Mahoning Valley Mental Health Speaker Series.

Hooters video

YOUNGSTOWN

A Youngstown man was charged Jan. 15 with taking an invasive visual recording of a woman whom he is accused of following into the women’s restroom at a Hooters Restaurant on S. Jack Kultgen Freeway in Waco, Texas, shortly before 9 a.m. that day. Charged was Laurance Button, 36, who was released Jan. 16 after posting a $5,000 cash bond, according to a spokeswoman at the McLennan County jail. The jail spokeswoman said no court appearance has been scheduled for Button.