Woman pleads not guilty in trooper shooting investigation

PRINCETON, Ky. (AP) – A woman has pleaded not guilty after police say she was uncooperative during their investigation into the shooting death of a Kentucky state trooper.

The Paducah Sun reports (http://bit.ly/1Lm2GAU ) 18-year-old Ambrea Shanks of Florissant, Missouri pleaded not guilty Thursday in Caldwell District Court in Princeton. Shanks is charged with first-degree hindering prosecution or apprehension.

Thirty-one-year-old Trooper Joseph Cameron Ponder was shot to death late Sunday in western Kentucky after a high-speed chase that reportedly started with the trooper pulling over Joseph Johnson-Shanks for speeding.

Police say Shanks was in the car with Johnson-Shanks, also of Florissant, Missouri, during the police pursuit. She was arrested on Monday.

Authorities say 25-year-old Johnson-Shanks was shot to death by other Kentucky troopers after he refused to surrender.

Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.