MO Man Faces Execution After 26 Years on Death Row:  A convicted murderer scheduled to be executed Tuesday evening in Missouri for the 1989 kidnapping, rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl is having his final appeals considered by the U.S. Supreme Court.  The AP reports that over two decades ago, Roderick Nunley, now 50, and accomplice Michael Taylor, who was executed last year, kidnapped Ann Harrison from the driveway of her Kansas City home as she waited for the school bus and took her to Nunley's mother's home, where she was raped and sodomized, then stabbed several times in the stomach and neck.  Her body was discovered three days later in the trunk of a car the two men stole on the day of her murder.  If the remaining appeals are rejected, Nunley will be the sixth death row inmate to be executed this year in the state.

Man who Killed Houston Officer had History of Mental Illness:  The man charged in Friday's ambush murder of a Houston sheriff's deputy at a gas station had a history of mental illness and was at one time declared mentally incompetent.  The AP reports that 30-year-old Shannon Miles has a criminal history dating back to 2005, including a 2012 arrest for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon that led to him being committed to a state mental hospital for several months.  He faced seven years in prison for the assault charge and was declared mentally incompetent, but the charge was later dropped when authorities could not locate the victim.  Last Friday, Miles opened fire from behind on 47-year-old Sheriff's Deputy Darren Goforth, firing a total of 15 shots, killing him.

Protests Planned Around Freddie Gray Hearings:  Hearings are to begin Wednesday in the case against six Baltimore police officers charged in the April arrest and death of Freddie Gray, and police prepare for possible unrest as at least 350 activists plan to protest at the courthouse and elsewhere in the city.  Kevin Rector of the Baltimore Sun reports that at the hearings, prosecutors and defense attorneys are to argue before the judge a number of issues, including whether the case should be dismissed, if Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby should be recused, if the six officers should be tried together or separately and whether there should be a charge of venue for the trial, which is scheduled to begin October 13.  The Baltimore Police Department as well as the Baltimore Sheriff's Office "canceled leave to maximize availability of city officers" in anticipation of possible conflict.  In April, 25-year-old Gray died after suffering a spinal cord injury while in police custody, sparking protests against police brutality that erupted in citywide rioting, looting and arson.

TX Gang Threat Heightened by Drug Cartels:  According to the latest assessment by the Texas Department of Public Safety, gangs in Texas are especially threatening due to their "propensity for violence and close associations with ruthless Mexican cartels."  The Statesman reports that the state's Tier 1 gangs - Tango Blast and Tango cliques, the Texas Syndicate, the Texas Mexican Mafia, MS-13 and the Latin Kings - pose a significant threat to public safety because of their connections with the Mexicans cartels, cross-border crime, overall statewide presence and extremely high levels of violence.  Together, these gangs have a statewide membership totaling over 100,000.