In brief: Stronger murder charge filed in stabbing

Prosecutors have filed a stronger charge against a man accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend last year and then recruiting a family friend to help bury her body in an unmarked rural grave.

Investigators say Jason Flett, 27, killed Ramona Childress sometime in September 2012, then headed north to dispose of the body. The man who allegedly helped bury Childress in the woods near Elk, said Flett told him he had killed his ex-girlfriend to keep her from telling police about something that would send him back to jail.

Court documents filed this week indicate prosecutors will now seek a first-degree aggravated murder charge against Flett.

Flett, who served a seven-year sentence for a stabbing in 2005, may have been involved in a series of break-ins at known drug houses, according to police.

Detectives asked for the charging enhancement because they say evidence suggests Flett committed the slaying to conceal other crimes.

Kaitlin Gillespie

Pedestrian bridge may be less costly

Developers of the University District pedestrian bridge say initial cost estimates of $14 million to $16 million could be too high.

The price tag for the 120-foot-tall bridge, which would connect the Washington State University Spokane campus to the East Central neighborhood, could come out as low as $10 million, said Brandon Rapez-Betty, program manager for the Downtown Spokane Partnership.

The city of Spokane and the University District are working to decrease the overall cost by about 30 percent, Rapez-Betty said.

Planning and budgeting are still ongoing for the pedestrian bridge project, but that phase of the project is expected to be completed in 2014.

Kaitlin Gillespie

Police arrest shooting suspect

Spokane police arrested a man accused of firing a shotgun at two people Monday night behind the Red Lion Tavern in downtown Spokane.

Christopher Morgan, 29, faces first-degree assault charges. Investigators suspect he fired at a white 2004 Jaguar occupied by Ronald Davis, 30, and Cameron Franklin, 24, according to a news release.

Officers pulled over the Jaguar following witness descriptions of the shooting.

According to court documents, traces of methamphetamine were found in the car.

Davis told officers the drugs belonged to him, but the shooting was not a result of a drug deal. Neither of the men was struck by what Davis described as four shotgun blasts.

Kip Hill