CLINTON, Mo. – The Latest on a woman being charged in the shooting death of a Missouri police officer (all times local):
2 p.m.
A woman charged with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of a western Missouri police officer says she didn't have any reason to believe the officers were in danger when she let them enter her home.
Tammy Widger was charged Wednesday in the March 6 death of Clinton police officer Ryan Morton, who was gunned down by a man inside Widger's home. The suspect, James Waters, also wounded two other officers before he died of gunshot wounds.
Widger told The Kansas City Star on Wednesday from the Henry County jail that she thought Waters had left the house to avoid the police. She says she didn't know Waters had a gun and was inside the home with the officers when the shooting started.
Officers told her to go outside and when she did, she was handcuffed and arrested.
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6:35 a.m.
A woman is now charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of a western Missouri police officer killed last week.
The Kansas City Star reports that Tammy Dee Widger was charged Wednesday.
Her rental home was the site of the fatal shooting of Clinton officer Ryan Morton on March 6. She had previously been charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.
Prosecutors say the murder charge was added because Morton was killed "as a result of" Widger's drug crime.
Morton was wounded after being sent to the wrong house while responding to a 911 call made from another town. The suspect, James Waters, then barricaded himself inside the home. By the time officers got to Morton hours later, he was dead, along with Waters.
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Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com
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