Prosecutors will seek death penalty in triple slaying\nINDIANAPOLIS -- Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against a man accused of slaying his ex-girlfriend and two others in an Indianapolis apartment.\nMarion County Prosecutor Scott Newman said Monday that the death penalty would be "just punishment" for Ronald Covington Jr., 27. He described the crime as "nothing short of a massacre of three innocent people."\nAuthorities say Covington gunned down Maranda Catrice Wilson and her friends, Frederic W. Harris Sr. and Kevin F. Simmons Jr., all 22.\nCovington, according to police, sneaked into Wilson's gated apartment complex on the city's northwest side the evening of June 1, kicked in the front door and then shot the victims, who had gathered to eat dinner and watch boxing on television.\nCovington fathered two children with Wilson and was arrested about a year ago for a domestic violation involving her, police said.\nA fourth victim, Jasmine West, 21, survived five gunshot wounds by pretending to die. She called 911 after Covington left.
Jar of fingertips brings award to Monroe County officials\nBLOOMINGTON -- When it arrived in May, Monroe County officials could not have known a jar of preserved fingertips would bring them a national award.\nBut earlier this month, the fingertips took the "Pickled Skunk Brains" award from the North American Hazardous Materials Management Association. The award is given each year for the most unusual item handled by a hazardous-materials agency.\nMonroe County received the jar of fingertips after the conclusion of a lawsuit filed by an unidentified woman who sued a lumber producer when her fingers had to be amputated after handling arsenic-treated lumber without gloves.\nHazardous-materials agencies more commonly dispose of paint, household chemicals and used motor oil.\n"I've been here eight years, and it's the most bizarre thing I've ever come across," said Scott Morgan, director of the hazardous-materials division of the county's solid waste district.\nThe jar was later sent to a company that specializes in hazardous biological materials in Indianapolis, where it was incinerated.
Lilly receives initial FDA approval for antidepressant\nINDIANAPOLIS -- Eli Lilly and Co. Monday said it has received an "approvable" letter from the Food and Drug Administration for its antidepressant, Cymbalta.\nThe Indianapolis pharmaceutical company said it expects to receive final approval when it resolves labeling and manufacturing issues.\nLilly submitted a new drug application for Cymbalta in November 2001 with data from five placebo-controlled depression studies and a one-year open label safety study. More than 3,000 patients have taken Cymbalta in clinical trials.\nCymbalta affects two neurotransmitters involved in depression -- serotonin and norepinephrine. Researchers said an imbalance of the two transmitters may explain the physical and emotional symptoms that depressed patients often endure, the company said.
