Tommy Witherspoon
KWTX Managing Editor
Waco, Texas
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Tommy Witherspoon is a longtime newspaper journalist who began his career at the Corsicana Daily Sun in 1980.
He worked 39 years at the Waco Tribune-Herald before joining the staff at KWTX as managing editor in March 2022.
Tommy is a native of Weatherford, Texas, and graduated from the University of North Texas with a journalism degree.
He has three sons.
Updated: Sep. 26, 2022 at 5:55 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
The court ran short of potential jurors to complete the 12-member panel.
Updated: Sep. 26, 2022 at 4:48 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
A Waco man initially charged with murder pleaded guilty Monday to a reduced charge after a prosecutor learned last week that the pistol the defendant used in the incident was not the gun that killed the victim.
Updated: Sep. 23, 2022 at 5:06 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
A judge has declared a mistrial in the case of Quest Jones, charged with murder in the shooting death of the mother of his three children.
Updated: Sep. 22, 2022 at 6:18 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
Lacreshia Jackson testified she had a relationship with Quest Jones for about nine years and he is the father of her daughters.
Updated: Sep. 21, 2022 at 6:39 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
Quest Jones is charged with murder in Waco’s 19th State District Court in the shooting death of Sherell Carter.
Updated: Sep. 20, 2022 at 7:01 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
A 77-year-old Waco man who pleaded guilty in May to three counts of possession with intent to promote child pornography was placed on deferred probation for 10 years Tuesday.
Updated: Sep. 20, 2022 at 6:15 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
Quest Jones, who has been in jail 1,310 days, is charged with shooting the victim five times while their children were in another room.
Updated: Sep. 16, 2022 at 4:50 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
A Waco man who police say shot and killed the mother of his three children in 2019 is set to stand trial on Monday.
Updated: Sep. 16, 2022 at 4:17 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
A man under indictment on allegations he broke a 2-month-old boy’s leg and ribs is back in jail after he admitted kicking a 10-month-old girl in the head!
Updated: Sep. 15, 2022 at 6:07 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
A former day care owner and her employee will have to wait longer to learn their fate.
Updated: Sep. 15, 2022 at 1:27 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
A McLennan County grand jury indicted suspects on murder charges in the April 3 shooting death of Joseph Craig Thomas Jr.
Updated: Sep. 14, 2022 at 4:56 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
The judge recused himself because of a potential conflict.
Updated: Sep. 13, 2022 at 6:29 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
The case left the judge wondering why the boys’ mother escaped prosecution for failing to protect her children.
Updated: Sep. 13, 2022 at 3:09 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
Ken Starr, who earned nationwide notoriety as the independent counsel who headed the investigation that led to the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton, died Tuesday.
Updated: Sep. 12, 2022 at 6:09 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
The defendant allegedly told a child welfare investigator during a jail interview that he is “where he belongs."
Updated: Sep. 2, 2022 at 4:05 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
A McLennan County man has filed a lawsuit against the owners of a deer and wildlife breeding facility after he was attacked by a wart hog at their Robinson ranch in September 2020.
Updated: Sep. 1, 2022 at 5:12 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
- A 65-year-old Waco man police say was linked by DNA to a 31-year-old murder case was indicted Thursday.
Updated: Sep. 1, 2022 at 4:16 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
A Waco man was sentenced to 30 years in prison in the shooting death of a woman police said was killed by a stray bullet while sitting in her apartment.
Updated: Aug. 31, 2022 at 6:22 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
The trial of a former Waco man who sexually abused a young family member in 2008 ended abruptly Wednesday when he accepted a plea agreement with prosecutors.
Updated: Aug. 31, 2022 at 6:02 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
The Colberts have said they want a jury to decide the case because they don’t think they did anything wrong by reopening the shop at the height of the pandemic.
Updated: Aug. 31, 2022 at 5:35 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
The trial hit a snag after court officials learned a mental health treatment facility failed to turn over hundreds of pages of records pertaining to the victim.
Updated: Aug. 30, 2022 at 7:26 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
The McLennan County Sheriff’s Office failed to submit updated offense reports to the DA’s office, which, in turn, should have been turned over to the defense.
Updated: Aug. 29, 2022 at 6:06 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
Testimony is set to begin Tuesday in the trial of a man with a history of mental illness who is charged with sexually assaulting a family member 14 years ago.
Updated: Aug. 26, 2022 at 5:28 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
An 18-year-old Waco man was arrested on a variety of charges Thursday in what police said are violent, gang-related incidents in May.
Updated: Aug. 26, 2022 at 5:07 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
A 20-year-old Waco man was placed on felony deferred probation Friday for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl two years ago.
Updated: Aug. 25, 2022 at 5:54 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
Student who filed lawsuit alleges breach of contract and unjust enrichment by Baylor.
Updated: Aug. 25, 2022 at 5:28 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
A Waco man shot by a bystander after he repeatedly stabbed his wife at a convenience store in front of four of her grandchildren was sentenced.
Updated: Aug. 25, 2022 at 12:14 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
Jurors in Waco’s 54th State District Court deliberated about 45 minutes Thursday before recommending that Judge Susan Kelly sentence James Edward Lagway, 57, to the maximum terms.
Updated: Aug. 24, 2022 at 4:05 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
Jurors in Waco’s 54th State District Court found James Edward Lagway, 57, guilty on two counts of aggravated sexual assault.
Girl testifies Waco felon sexually abused her multiple times while younger brother watched in horror
Updated: Aug. 23, 2022 at 5:44 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
The trial of James Edward Lagway is underway in Waco’s 54th State District Court.
Updated: Aug. 22, 2022 at 5:01 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
Former student remains free on bail and is working for a roofing company.
Updated: Aug. 19, 2022 at 4:09 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
A former church secretary who stole more than $170,000 from the First Baptist Church of Elm Mott was placed on probation Friday by a scornful judge who said she “robbed it from God.”
Updated: Aug. 18, 2022 at 5:00 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
A Groesbeck woman helped lure a McLennan Community College student into a robbery that resulted in his shooting death.
Updated: Aug. 18, 2022 at 4:14 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
A McLennan County grand jury indicted a Waco man Thursday on charges he shot two people outside a taco truck in April, leaving one paralyzed and seriously injuring the other.
Updated: Aug. 18, 2022 at 1:46 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
The victim survived his head wound, inhaled the bullet into his airway, coughed it up and then swallowed the projectile.
Updated: Aug. 17, 2022 at 4:08 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
Castro, 39, a four-time convicted felon, was on parole when he shot the victim in the face.
Updated: Aug. 16, 2022 at 7:29 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
A Bellmead man who was shot in the head last year testified that Ramon Joseph Castro II shot him without provocation.
Updated: Aug. 16, 2022 at 5:54 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
A judge denied requests from attorneys for Cecily Ann Aguilar to require prosecutors to provide more specific information about allegations she conspired with her boyfriend to dispose of the remains of a slain Fort Hood soldier.
Updated: Aug. 15, 2022 at 7:00 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
Ramon Joseph Castro II is on trial in Waco’s 19th State District Court.
Updated: Aug. 15, 2022 at 6:03 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
Suspect allegedly lied to police and claimed the girl had been sexually assaulted in the restroom of a Bellmead convenience store.
Updated: Aug. 12, 2022 at 4:13 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
Zachery Lamone McKee was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 2019 in the killing of an AT&T worker.
Updated: Aug. 11, 2022 at 5:06 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
The state waived a habitual offender designation as part of the plea deal.
Updated: Aug. 11, 2022 at 12:35 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
A six-time convicted felon who served time for multiple assaults was sentenced to life in prison Thursday in the beating death of his cousin in Waco.
Updated: Aug. 11, 2022 at 10:41 AM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
Six-time convicted felon had been visiting his cousin in Waco for about a month when the murder happened.
Updated: Aug. 9, 2022 at 5:07 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
Jurors in Waco’s 19th State District Court got crash courses in crime scene investigations and graphic autopsy results Tuesday during the second day of David Earl Johnson’s murder trial.
Updated: Aug. 8, 2022 at 6:41 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
Testimony got under way Monday in the trial of a six-time convicted felon who police say bludgeoned his cousin to death with a 3-pound sledgehammer in February 2020.
Updated: Aug. 5, 2022 at 6:30 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
A Waco man jailed in May after Texas Rangers linked him through a DNA database to the 30-year-old murders of prostitutes in East Texas and California was charged in a sealed indictment this week in McLennan County.
Updated: Aug. 4, 2022 at 6:22 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
The woman is seeking unspecified monetary damages against Scaman, who pleaded no contest in March to misdemeanor official oppression and was placed on deferred probation.
Updated: Aug. 4, 2022 at 5:10 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
A Waco man whose murder charge was dismissed last month was sentenced to eight years in prison Thursday after a judge revoked his felony probation.
Updated: Aug. 4, 2022 at 4:21 PM CDT
|By Tommy Witherspoon
A McLennan County grand jury indicted former death row inmate US Carnell Petetan Jr. Wednesday on charges he slashed another McLennan County Jail inmate’s neck with a razor blade.
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