Girl, 7, critical after being hit by van

PITTSBURGH — Police were trying to determine whether a school van driver was speeding or using her cell phone when she struck a 7-year-old Pittsburgh Public Schools student.

The second-grader, whose name isn’t being released, has a broken pelvis, a broken leg and head injuries. Police say she’s expected to survive, despite being in critical condition.

Police haven’t named the driver who works for Bri Mar Transit in Wilkinsburg.

Police say some witnesses reported the driver may have been talking or texting before she hit the girl while driving five special needs students in the van on a 25 mph street.

3 of 4 suspects plead guilty in killing

WASHINGTON — Three of the four men charged in connection with the fatal shooting of a 10-year-old girl during a home invasion last year pleaded guilty Friday.

Anthian Goehring, 29, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder and robbery. Malik Thomas, 21, and Richard White, 19, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder and robbery. The men are scheduled to be sentenced on July 10.

The men planned to rob Robert Lester, who lived with Taniyah Thomas’ mother, during the early morning hours of March 31, 2014, according to police.

While White and Thomas stayed in a nearby car, Goehring and the fourth suspect, Douglas Cochran Jr., grabbed two guns, broke into the building and fired shots through their apartment door, killing the fourth-grader.

By The Associated Press