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Shock probation denied for murder defendant

Lewis County Circuit Judge Lewis Nicholls denied shock probation last week for one of the four who pleaded guilty in the death of Marvin "Charlie" Prater in October 2000.
Nicholls denied probation Friday for Sara M. Smith, 25, who pleaded guilty a year ago to a charge of tampering with physical evidence and agreed to a five-year sentence.

Special prosecutor Thom A. Marshall of the Kentucky Attorney General's Office had said prosecutors would take no position on the matter of shock probation for Smith, Tabatha Thurman or Ricky Dale Switzer Jr. "We will leave that matter for the courts to decide," he said.

On shock probation, a defendant is released after a brief exposure to prison, generally 30 to 180 days. Friday was Smith's 42^nd day. She is being held in the Greenup County Detention Center and is awaiting placement in a state facility.

The four people who pleaded guilty in connection with Prater's death received the maximum sentences from Judge Nicholls on September 20. Each had agreed to plea agreements with prosecutors.
Family members of Prater had asked Nicholls not to allow probation for Smith because they felt she would not have understood the seriousness of the crime and had an opportunity to get help for Prater the night he was beaten and robbed, but did not contact authorities until after he was reported missing three days later.

Marshall said that Prater was still alive and was swearing at his assailants before the four left Jones Cemetery where the beating occurred. The cause of Prater's death was later determined to be from a severe blow to the head.

Concord teen dies after being struck by train

A Concord teenager died as the result of injuries he received when he was struck by a train shortly after getting off the school bus last week.
Deputy Tom Polley said Kyle Lee Johnson, 14, a freshman at Lewis County High School, had just recently moved to the area from Naples, Florida, and was living with his grandfather at Concord.

Polley said the accident happened about 3:45 p.m. Tuesday as Johnson was walking west on the edge of the railroad tracks near Ky. Rt. 57. A westbound train engine struck the youth. He was pronounced dead at the scene by Lewis County Coroner Jim Estepp.

Polley said it had been raining and Johnson may have had a hood up over his head. Polley said the train engineer said he had seen Johnson from some distance away and blew the whistle.

He continued to blow the whistle although Johnson apparently did not respond and was not over far enough to avoid begin struck by the train's engine.
Polley said a motorist witnessed the accident and also said Johnson made no effort to get out of the way of the train.

Counselors were available at Lewis County High School in the days following the accident to talk with any students feeling they needed to speak with someone about the incident.

Services for Kyle lee Johnson were held Saturday at Naples Memorial Gardens in Florida. Muller-Thompson Funeral Chapel was in charge of arrangements.

Accident investigated

The Lewis County Sheriff's Department is investigating a single vehicle accident Wednesday afternoon on Ky. Rt. 59 on Vanceburg Hill, about two miles south of Vanceburg.
A department spokesman said the accident happened about 4:00 p.m. on Oct. 30 as Donna Aldridge was traveling south in a pickup truck and apparently slid off the wet roadway.

The spokesman said the truck went off the right side of the roadway, struck an embankment and overturned, coming to rest on its top in the roadway.

Aldridge was taken to South Ohio Medical Center in Portsmouth, Ohio, by Portsmouth Ambulance. The accident remains under investigation.

Dennis Brown/Lewis County Herald

A woman escaped serious injury last week after losing control of this pickup on a wet roadway, striking an embankment and overturning. The accident happened on Ky. Rt. 59 about two miles south of Vanceburg.

Photo Catch

Vanceburg Volunteer Fire Department Photo

Vanceburg Volunteer Fire Department caught these trick-or-treaters in the act. Fire Department members Dave and Kelly Carrin and Mrs. Wilbur Calder distributed candy, while fire chief James "Bubbles" Switzer snapped photos.

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