Joplin man sentenced to 20 years in 2017 Christmas Eve killing

(AP) A man who avoided prosecution in two assault cases has been sentenced to 20 years in prison in a Christmas Eve slaying in Joplin. 49-year-old Artilius Jordan was sentenced Monday for second-degree murder in the killing of 47-year-old Sean Harris and two counts of second-degree assault. Jordan originally was charged with first-degree murder. Prosecutors said Jordan opened fire in 2017 outside the apartment of his girlfriend, where Harris had been staying. Jordan then pistol-whipped his girlfriend and tried to shoot her in the back seat of a pickup truck. The shot missed his girlfriend and one of the fragments hit the driver.