'Person of interest' in trooper's death arrested

MALDEN, Mo. -- A Van Buren, Mo., man arrested Wednesday on a charge of leaving the scene of a fatal November accident is considered a "person of interest" in Sunday's shooting death of Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Carl Dewayne Graham, the patrol said. The patrol said Graham initially investigated the Nov. 26 crash for which the 28-year-old was arrested. The patrol said information gathered in the investigation of Graham's death led to the Lance Shockley's arrest for leaving the scene of the fatal Carter County crash. Graham, 37, a divorced father of a 4-year-old son, was found shot to death in front of his rural home about 5:15 p.m. Sunday.

A passer-by saw the body and called the patrol. Graham had finished his shift and was still in uniform. Though he was at home at the time of the shooting, the patrol characterized his death as in the line of duty, making him the 24th state trooper to die on the job.

The funeral for Graham was scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday at the First Baptist Church in Dexter. Burial was to be at the Stanfield Cemetery south of Clarkton.