A man from Lincoln, Nebraska, faces a federal charge of traveling for sex crimes following his Sept. 18 arrest in Manhattan. Vitaliy Smal, 29, is charged with travel with the intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct in the United States District Court, District of Kansas. Law enforcement officers arrested him at Dara’s corner market on Kimball Avenue as part of a joint sex crimes sting in Riley and Geary counties by Riley County police, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and 12 other law enforcement agencies. Smal’s case was filed on Monday, with an affidavit supporting the charge compiled by…
Author: Rose Gruenbacher
A Riley County District Court jury on Wednesday convicted a Manhattan man of attempted voluntary manslaughter connected to an October 2025 shooting on Marlatt Ave. The jury found Jacques LaShawn Toliver, 38, guilty of attempted voluntary manslaughter caused by a sudden quarrel, aggravated battery and criminal discharge of a firearm at a dwelling. The victim involved in the crimes was a 36-year-old man. Toliver is scheduled to be sentenced for the convictions on Nov. 9.
The case of a Manhattan man charged with attempted first-degree murder is now in the hands of a jury in Riley County District Court. Jacques LaShawn Toliver Sr., 38, is charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery, criminal discharge with a firearm, aggravated assault, disorderly conduct and assault against a 36-year-old man in March, May and October 2025. The prosecution and defense made closing arguments Wednesday morning in Toliver’s trial, and the case went to the jury to decide verdicts for each count. The trial is scheduled to end Thursday.
The victim of a shooting in October 2025 took the stand Tuesday in Riley County District Court during a trial for the incident against Jacques LaShawn Toliver Sr. The victim, a 36-year-old man, told the jury he and his significant other on Oct. 11, 2025, dropped their children off at a birthday party at an apartment complex where they used to live on Marlatt Avenue. As the pair walked back to their car, they encountered Toliver, 38, who had been involved with several previous incidents with the man. The man said they got into a verbal altercation, and at some…
A Junction City man responsible for the death of his 1-year-old daughter will serve 14 years and one month in prison for the crime and two others. Riley County District Court Judge Grant Bannister sentenced Matthew Paul Wesley Miller, 26, to serve 10 years and eight months in the Kansas Department of Corrections for involuntary manslaughter, two years and 10 months for distribution of a controlled substance causing great bodily harm and seven months for aggravated endangering a child. Miller was convicted for the April 22, 2023 death of his 1-year-old daughter, Ziya, after entering a plea agreement with state…
The Kansas Court of Appeals on Tuesday are hearing arguments at the K-State Alumni Association regarding a Manhattan man charged with drug-related crimes in Geary County. Tuesday’s arguments, starting at 9:30 a.m., concern the case of Joseph Frank Fabre, 61, who in 2023 received Geary County charges for possession of fentanyl and cocaine with intent to distribute it, two counts of no drug tax stamp and driving with an obstructed license plate. To view the full article visit theMercury.com.
A Topeka grand jury on Wednesday indicted a former Junction City police officer for one count of bribing a confidential informant to perform sex acts. Troy Dwayne Watson, 55, of High Point, North Carolina, served as an officer with the Junction City Police Department. Watson is accused of soliciting sexual favors from a confidential informant between Oct. 2021 and April 2022, in return for influencing criminal matters the informant was involved in. The alleged crime took place while Watson was employed with the department. JCPD named Watson “Law Enforcement Detective of the year” in 2022. His employment with the department…
The son of a long-time Manhattan public servant made his first appearance Monday in Riley County District Court. Randall Reitz, 58, of Manhattan is charged with mistreatment of a dependent adult or elder person, aggravated assault and criminal threat. Reitz told the judge his relationship with one victim has been difficult. He said the other victim will attend his next hearing, with a signed letter stating the allegations of aggravated assault are untrue. The case was assigned to Judge John Bosch but is next set for a status hearing Oct. 6 with Judge John McNish. As the charges are all…
A Manhattan man facing multiple charges across two cases in Riley County District Court — including attempted murder — now looks to a jury trial for the cases after he pleaded not guilty on Monday. Tyrell Demond Harper, 19, entered not guilty pleas to charges including attempted murder, two counts of aggravated battery, aggravated assault with a handgun, aggravated kidnapping, two counts of aggravated witness or victim intimidation, aggravated domestic battery, domestic battery, aggravated child endangerment, criminal restraint and criminal damage to property. The charges come from cases filed in June 2022 and February 2026. A person born in 2001…
A Manhattan man charged with a February stabbing death pleaded not guilty Monday in Riley County District Court. Billy Dee Michael Arnez, 39, pleaded not guilty to one count of murder in the second degree. Police arrested Arnez Feb. 2 after detaining him the day before at the scene of a stabbing incident in the 1900 block of Anderson Avenue. Teray Robinson, 24, was found with a stab wound on Feb. 1 and died at Via Christi Hospital as a result of his injury. Arnez’s attorney, Christopher Biggs, requested the case be heard in a jury trial. The case is…