State officials are hiring “an outside expert” to examine the Iowa Department of Human Services after a second central Iowa teenager is found dead in a home which had been flagged over child welfare concerns. Sixteen-year-old Sabrina Ray was found dead in her home in Perry last Friday. The Des Moines Register reports she was adopted and the state had investigated at least two complaints of improper punishment and inadequate food at the day care the girl’s parents ran out of the home.

Last fall, a 16-year-old adopted girl starved to death in her West Des Moines home. Neighbors and school officials had reported the girl was malnourished. The public information officer at the Department of Human Services issued a written statement Tuesday, saying the agency will be taking “a comprehensive review of our child welfare system.” The department’s Amy McCoy also sought to “assure the public” that the D-H-S is committed to protecting vulnerable children.

McCoy also expressed “deep sadness” and said the D-H-S staff had “heavy hearts” over the Perry teenager’s death. Last month the Government Oversight Committee in the Iowa House announced it planned to investigate the child welfare system, but Republicans on the same committee in the Iowa Senate were reluctant to join in.

Senator Matt McCoy, a Democrat from Des Moines, says he was nauseated when he learned another teenager had “fallen through the cracks.” Earlier this year, McCoy convened a few hearings at the statehouse to try to quiz state officials about the starvation death of Natalia Finn of West Des Moines.

(Radio Iowa)

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – A Nebraska man will stand trial next month for the death in northwestern Iowa of his estranged wife. The Sioux City Journal reports 29-year-old Rogelio Morales, of Hubbard, Nebraska, has been ordered to stand trial on June 6 in Woodbury County District Court. The case has been delayed several times as defense attorneys have repeatedly withdrawn from representing Morales.

Morales has pleaded not guilty to killing 21-year-old Margarita Morales on April 19, 2015, in his car near a Sioux City residence. Court documents say Morales told investigators a fight broke out when his wife told him she no longer wanted to be in a relationship and that she was seeing another man.

A crash Tuesday afternoon in western Iowa’s Monona County resulted in one person dying after they were transported to Burgess Hospital, in Onawa. According to the Iowa State Patrol, 92-year old Dr. John Lee Garred, Sr., of Whiting, died from injuries he suffered when the 1997 Cadillac Eldorado he was driving turned in front of an oncoming semi just west of Whiting, at around 4:35-p.m., Tuesday.

The Patrol says Garred, who was not wearing a seat belt, was traveling west on County Road E-24 when he failed to see an eastbound a 2003 Peterbilt semi driven by 60-year old Duane Robert Miller, of Onawa. The vehicles collided at the intersection of Cork Avenue, when Garred went to turn south. Miller wasn’t injured in the crash.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:45 a.m. CDT

PERRY, Iowa (AP) — Police have identified a teen found dead Friday in a central Iowa home. Perry police say 16-year-old Sabrina Ray was found in the home Friday evening. Officials have not released her cause of death, but the Iowa Department of Human Services says the death is being investigated as a child abuse case. The Des Moines Register reports the girl was homeschooled with siblings in the home, which had been monitored by the state following abuse complaints.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A reporter is facing the threat of jail after allegedly violating an order not to take video of “The Bachelor” star Chris Soules appearing in court in his hit-and-run case. Prosecutors are pursuing contempt of court proceedings against KWWL reporter Elizabeth Amanieh in what could be the first such case against an Iowa journalist in decades. They say she violated a judge’s directive by using her cellphone to record last month’s hearing, which her station later aired.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Nebraska man will stand trial next month for the death in northwestern Iowa of his estranged wife. The Sioux City Journal reports that 29-year-old Rogelio Morales, of Hubbard, Nebraska, has been ordered to stand trial on June 6 in Woodbury County District Court. Morales has pleaded not guilty to killing 21-year-old Margarita Morales on April 19, 2015, in his car near a Sioux City residence.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The FBI and law enforcement agencies around Omaha have teamed over a rash of bank robberies officials believe have street gang ties. Randall Thysse, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Omaha office, says officials are particularly concerned about the violent nature of recent bank robberies around Omaha and Council Bluffs, Iowa. Thysse says of the 42 armed bank robberies in the last 17 months, 33 were similar enough that investigators believe they are related.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office says no injuries were reported following a two-vehicle, property damage accident Tuesday afternoon on K Avenue at the intersection of 240th Street. Officials say a 1996 Ford Aerostar van owned and driven by 76-year old David B. Lewis, of rural Stanton, was southbound on K Avenue at around 3:38-p.m., and slowing for the intersection of 240th Street.

A 2005 Ford Escape owned by Danny J. Smith of rural Red Oak and driven by 16-year old Taylor Smith, of rural Red Oak, was southbound on K Avenue, behind Lewis’ vehicle.

Smith failed to see Lewis’ vehicle slowing down, or its taillights, due to the gravel dust that was kicked up. The SUV she was driving struck the van in the rear, just as it was beginning to make a right hand turn.

Damage amounted to $3,000 altogether. No citations were issued.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Three more workers at Iowa institutions for people with severe intellectual disabilities have been fired or resigned over allegations of resident abuse. State officials confirmed the actions this week to the Des Moines Register. The newspaper said in a report Tuesday that two workers were recently fired from the Glenwood Resource Center and a Woodward Resource Center worker resigned after being suspended.

The ouster comes in the wake of 13 resignations or firings at the Glenwood institution late last year for abusing or humiliating residents. State reports say in the latest cases that a Glenwood staffer was fired for smearing food on a resident’s face and another staffer fired for not immediately reporting it. In the Woodward case, a worker resigned amid an investigation into allegations of abuse.