Three of the four suspects charged in connection with the case that resulted in the death of Officer Daniel Ellis appeared in court Friday for a hearing.

Raleigh Sizemore, Gregory Ratliff and Carl Banks were in a Madison County courtroom to check on the progress of their cases as the July trial date approaches.

Sizemore is charged with the murder of Officer Ellis. Ellis was shot as he investigated a robbery that had happened earlier in the day. An arrest citation said the two officers knocked on the door of Gregory Ratliff’s home when they were looking for Sizemore in relation to the robbery. Court documents said Ratliff let the officers in, told them he was home alone and that there were no guns in the home. According to the arrest citation, Ratliff later admitted both of those statements were lies.

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Ratliff was charged with Complicity to Commit Murder.

Carl Banks was charged in connection to the initial robbery. An arrest citation says he was the getaway driver. Banks had another hearing scheduled for a later date.

The judge has told the state and defense attorneys that he’s concerned the parties will not be ready by the July trial date. A meeting to discuss jury selection for Ratliff’s case will be held on February 23. A motion to sever Ratliff’s case from Sizemore’s case, so that they will be tried separately, is expected.

Raleigh Sizemore’s attorneys argued that the death penalty is unconstitutional. A follow-up hearing to that argument will be heard on March 17.

The fourth suspect charged in connection to the case, Rita Creech, will have another hearing in April.

Deputies in Shelby County say a human skull was found by a dog on Samples Lane.

They say around 5:05 p.m Wednesday, deputies got the call that a homeowner’s dog brought them a skull found intact. Deputies responded to the home and confirmed it to be a skull.

The Shelby County coroner now has possession of the skull. It is unclear at this time if the skull came from a nearby graveyard or elsewhere.

The skull was found in good condition, but was described as being ‘old in nature.’ The Shelby County sheriff told LEX 18 that by looking at the skull, it appears this person has been dead for at least one year, maybe several.

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“It’s quiet around here, and this is the last thing I expected to see. And there’s only, I think, four of us on this road so not much happens back here, so yeah it took me by surprise,” said the homeowner, Don Kircher.

The sheriff said they don’t have any missing persons cases in Shelby County right now, but they are gathering information about missing people from surrounding counties.

On Friday, it was announced that they have found more remains. Deputies say this is going to be a long investigation.

Animal Control investigators are trying to find out who is responsible for dumping a bag of 6-week-old puppies in the middle of a Lexington street.

An officer with Lexington-Fayette Animal Care and Control was called to Race Street Thursday where several young puppies were abandoned in a brown paper bag.

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The tiny chihuahua-mix puppies were discovered by a good samaritan who knew to call officials immediately. The puppies were taken to the shelter for treatment.

Anyone with information is asked to contact LFACC at 859-255-9033.

For more information about adopting the puppies, click here.

Corbin Police have made an arrest in the case of a fatal hit-and-run on U.S. 25 E early Wednesday morning.

Officials with the police department confirm 46-year-old John Melton was arrested at Corbin Manor Apartments in North Corbin Thursday.

Melton is being charged with second-degree manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident with death or serious physical injury and failure to render aid.

Captian Coy Wilson tells LEX 18 the department received a tip about a truck that matched a description of the hit and run driver.

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Wilson also said the victim, 62-year-old Roscoe Jones, was walking along the roadway near the Corbin Station shopping center when he was struck.

Corbin Police have made an arrest in the case of a fatal hit-and-run on U.S. 25 E early Wednesday morning.

Officials with the police department confirm 46-year-old John Melton was arrested at Corbin Manor Apartments in North Corbin Thursday.

Melton is being charged with second-degree manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident with death or serious physical injury and failure to render aid.

Captian Coy Wilson tells LEX 18 the department received a tip about a truck that matched a description of the hit and run driver.

Wilson also said the victim, 62-year-old Roscoe Jones, was walking along the roadway near the Corbin Station shopping center when he was struck.

A death investigation is underway in Hardin County after a decomposed body was found Thursday afternoon in a field.

Hardin County Deputy Coroner Kenneth Spangenberger told WAVE 3 that the body is believed to have been in a field just north of the Elizabethtown Sam’s Club for about two months.

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Spangenberger expects the cause of death to be ruled natural causes, not murder.

The Elizabethtown Police Department has launched a death investigation.

The body was taken to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Louisville for an autopsy.

The man’s identity is not being released at this time.

A coroner says a 5-month-old Pennsylvania girl starved to death in her bassinet after her parents died of drug overdoses.

The Cambria County coroner’s office said autopsy and toxicology reports confirmed that Summer Chambers died of dehydration and starvation in the home in Kernville, about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh, a few days before Christmas.

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Coroner Jeff Lees called the case “heart-wrenching” and ruled the infant’s death homicide due to parental neglect.

Lees says toxicology tests indicate that 27-year-old Jaron Chambers and 19-year-old Chelsea Cordaro died of acute fentanyl overdoses. Lees says the woman had four times the lethal range of the drug and the man had 2½ times the lethal range.

Lees says the parents died on or about Dec. 15 and the child probably on Dec. 19 or Dec. 20. The bodies were found Dec. 22.

A traffic stop in Reedsburg on Sunday turned into a drug arrest, when police dog Xena sniffed out methamphetamine-making ingredients in the vehicle, resulting in the arrest of three Elroy residents.

The incident happened Sunday afternoon in the 2700 block of East Main Street, Reedsburg police said.

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Londyn Forsythe, 41, Cody Murdock-Forsythe, 23, and Jasmine Williams, 26, were taken into custody, tentatively charged with possession of methamphetamine precursors, or materials used in the making of methamphetamine.

Officer Joshua Hoege stopped their vehicle for a minor traffic offense, then deployed his partner Xena, trained in narcotics detection, to sniff the vehicle, with Xena indicating to Hoege that narcotics were present.

“A search of the vehicle turned up drug paraphernalia and products used to manufacture methamphetamine,” said Police Chief Timothy Becker.

The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office was informed of the arrest, with a small meth lab found in Murdock-Forsythe’s residence, police said.

Police in Lexington are investigating an assault and robbery in a parking lot on Village Drive.

The victim told police that a man and woman asked him for money. After he refused, he said they punched him and took his wallet and cell phone.

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Police are still looking for the robbers.

The victim was taken to the hospital for his injuries.

Three days after watching someone shoot and kill his father, a Jackson County man talked about what he said happened.

According to Kentucky State Police, the shooting occurred around 10 p.m. On Tuesday at D & M Road in Sand Gap. 45-year-old Michael Martin was shot after he and another man got into an argument in the driveway of a home.

On the same driveway Thursday night, Michael Martin III remembered every detail.

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“There is no describing it,” said Martin. “It’s just a terrible thing you have to see.”

Martin said that night his father noticed the neighbor parked at the bottom of their shared driveway. He’ll never forget how quickly things escalated.

“It was seconds. I followed behind him in my car and he was driving that. Before i got out of my car, he had been shot,” Martin described.

Kentucky State Police said that neighbor shot Michael David Martin Jr. in the chest. Troopers found his body lying in the driveway.

Martin’s son said his father and the neighbor always had problems, but it should have never come to this.

“He wasn’t the nicest person in the world, but he would do anything to help somebody,” He said.

Family members of the neighbor accused of shooting martin chose not to speak with us on camera Thursday. They did claim this was an act of self-defense.

Michael Martin III said they’re wrong.

“There might have been arguing going on, but that wasn’t self-defense, for him to pull out a gun and shoot him in the chest,” Martin said.

According to Kentucky State Police the investigation is ongoing. Troopers have taken the accused shooter in for questioning, but no charges have been filed.

A man who went missing while on his way to a job interview in Tooele County last week has been found dead, and police say it appears the man left his vehicle after it got stuck in the snow.

Johnathan Doerr, 19 of Tooele, was reported missing January 26 after he left for a job interview at Energy Solutions.Missing Person Body of Missing Tooele County, UT Man Found

Lt. Ron Johnson of the Tooele County Sheriff’s Office said the man called interviewers around 10 a.m. that day and said he was going to be late, but he never arrived for the interview.

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The man’s body was located Tuesday evening about a mile from Energy Solutions off of I-80, near mile marker 49. Investigators located the man’s car and say it appears his vehicle got stuck in the snow.

Police believe that after several failed attempts to free his vehicle, Doerr began walking out of the area to find help. While a medical examiner will conduct an autopsy, police say it appears the man died of exposure.

Loved ones say Doerr’s girlfriend is expecting a baby girl, and a GoFundMe page has been set up to assist with funeral expenses and to help Doerr’s daughter.