Texas man ‘entirely consumed’ by his own dogs
JOHNSON COUNTY, Texas — Deputies determined a missing Texas man was reportedly eaten by more than one of his dogs, KTVT reported.
Deputies were called to a trailer home to perform a welfare check on 57-year-old Freddie Mack May 6; relatives said they had not heard from Mack since April 19.
According to KTVT, relatives couldn’t get close enough to check on Mack because 18 aggressive dogs were keeping them away. With the help of deputies, family was able to search a small area of the property, but they could not locate Mack.
Deputies said they tried again May 9, but because of the aggressive dogs, they were unable to thoroughly search the area. A drone was flown over the property, and Mack was listed as a missing person.
Family and neighbors said it was odd for Mack to leave his dogs unattended, according to KTVT.
On May 15, deputies said one of them discovered a piece of bone on the property; two days later, a search warrant was executed and several pieces of bone were sent to a medical examiner.
According to KTVT, 16 dogs were seized May 19 so the search could continue. This search turned up strips of cloth, dog feces containing bone fragments and suspected human hair.
Law enforcement began to suspect Mack had been eaten when relatives described clothing worn by Mack that resembled the fabric found in the feces.
Sheriff Adam King said Mack suffered from a medical condition, so it is unclear if the dogs killed Mack or if they just consumed him after he died.
According to KTVT, because of the dogs’ aggressive nature, they were put down.
On July 9, two pieces of bone fragment were positively identified as Freddie Mack.
via: http:// https://pix11.com/2019/07/10/deputies-texas-man-entirely-consumed-by-his-own-dogs/
Photo Credit: Getty Images
DA declines to prosecute city correction officer accused of raping teen in Bronx
THE BRONX — The Bronx District Attorney declined to prosecute a case against a New York City Department of Correction officer accused of raping a teenage girl, officials said Wednesday.
The 27-year-old man had been charged by police with rape and criminal sex act following his arrest early Tuesday. His name has been removed because the DA is not prosecuting the case.
“We declined prosecution because we do not have sufficient evidence to prove the defendant committed the crime charged beyond a reasonable doubt,” a spokeswoman for the office said.
The 19-year-old woman who accused the officer knew him, police said.
A DOC spokeswoman said the officer was being suspended following the accusation. His suspension will be lifted now that the DA has declined to prosecute.
The correction officer was appointed just over two years ago and worked out of the Anna M. Kross Center.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/07/09/city-correction-officer-allegedly-rapes-teen-in-the-bronx/
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Angry over car-repair bill, teen accused of killing St. Louis mechanic with mom’s help
ST. LOUIS • The BMW was fixed and ready to go, but the teenager and his mom who owned the car argued with the mechanic when they came to pick it up on June 9.
They tried to leave with the car, but mechanic Kerry Charley wouldn’t let them take it without paying the bill.
The fight, outside the mechanic’s home on Prairie Avenue, turned deadly.
Court documents filed Tuesday in St. Louis Circuit Court describe the moments that led up to the attack one month ago. They say 17-year-old Isaiah Gholson pulled a gun and shot Charley several times in the torso, killing him. Charley was 52.
Gholson’s mother, meanwhile, was pushing and hitting Charley’s girlfriend. As the girlfriend ran off, the teenager shot the 32-year-old girlfriend twice in the back, police say.
The woman survived, but was critically injured. Police say she looked at a photo lineup in the hospital and identified Gholson as the shooter and Gholson’s mother, Ranada Anthony, as the woman who hit her.
Neither the teen nor his mother reported the crime to police. In fact, police say, Gholson and Anthony deny being at Charley’s home, in the 3600 block of Prairie Avenue. But police say Charley kept records of the cars he repaired at his home, and the BMW was registered to Anthony.
Gholson is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree assault, two counts of armed criminal action and failure to report a shooting.
Anthony, 39, is charged with third-degree assault, failure to report a shooting and hindering prosecution.
The home on Prairie is near Beaumont High School. A park ranger at Fairground Park called police to the scene after he heard gunshots near Prairie and Palm avenues, just before 4 p.m. June 9. Police went to Prairie and found both victims.PauseCurrent Time0:00/Duration Time0:00Stream TypeLIVELoaded: 0%Progress: 0%0:00Fullscreen00:00Mute
Gholson lives in the 3800 block of Enright Avenue. He is being held without bail. Anthony, 39, lives in the 2600 block of Chippewa Avenue. Her bail is set at $25,000, cash only.
Victim’s sister speaks
One of Charley’s six sisters, who identified herself only as Cindy, said Charley was one of nine children who grew up in Brighton in the Metro East.
“He was a very, very generous person,” she said. “He was always willing to help someone in need when it came to their vehicles. He loved working on cars, it was like a passion for him.”
Charley would repair cars at a fraction of what a typical repair shop would charge, his sister said. He would allow customers to make installments so they could have a reliable vehicle.
Charley would work on cars in the street, in the yard, and “he was getting a good name for himself. His goal was to open his own three-car garage repair shop this year.”
Charley was the father of three adult children. He was shot five times in the chest, his sister said. As Charley lay dying in the street, a neighbor held his hand.
“We as a family were comforted to know he didn’t die alone,” Charley’s sister said.
She said her brother was “tough on the outside but very gentle on the inside.”
Hours after his death, Cindy said some members of the family went to the house to retrieve some of Charley’s belongings. They searched for the $3,000 to $4,000 in tools he had purchased with inheritance money after his mother died in December. The tools were already gone, Cindy said. She believes they were swiped by people who showed up after the crime-scene tape was removed and started stealing.
She said she knew her brother lived and worked in a tough neighborhood, but he never complained to her about crime. He lived in the Jeff-Vander-Lou neighborhood.
“He was just building a good reputation to help people out,” she said. “People who couldn’t afford a legit repair shop. That was his goal.”
Photo Credit: stltoday.com
Storm Reid Joins Idris Elba in James Gunn’s ‘The Suicide Squad’
Reid will play the daughter of Elba’s character.
Storm Reid, the actress who starred in A Wrinkle in Time and now appears on HBO’s Euphoria, is joining the heavy-hitting cast of Warner Bros.’ The Suicide Squad.
James Gunn is directing the follow-up to the 2016 feature based on the DC Comics anti-heroes. Gunn’s installment sees Idris Elba, John Cena and David Dastmalchian star alongside returnees Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Jai Courtney and Viola Davis.
Plot details are being kept under wraps, but it is known that Reid will play the daughter of Elba’s character.
The project is gearing up for a September start, with an Atlanta shooting location being eyed. Charles Roven is among those producing the action-adventure pic.
Reid broke through when she nabbed the lead in Disney’s high-flying adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time, directed by Ava DuVernay and with Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon also in the cast. The actress also had a role in DuVernay’s acclaimed Netflix docudrama When They See Us, centering on the Central Park 5, and currently appears alongside Zendaya on HBO’s envelope-pushing teen drama Euphoria.
Reid, who is repped by CAA, Management 360 and Felker Toczek, will shoot a role in Universal and Blumhouse’s The Invisible Man before segueing to Suicide Squad.
Article via HollywoodReporter
American Airlines apologizes after ‘Dance Moms’ star Abby Lee Miller falls from wheelchair at airport
“Dance Moms” star Abby Lee Miller had quite the day at the Pittsburgh International Airport.
Earlier this week, the TV personality took to Instagram to inform followers that she fell out of her wheelchair upon arrival on Sunday — an incident she seemingly feels was exacerbated by an American Airlines staffer at the gate.
“Let’s just say my transfer from the [aisle wheelchair] to my own chair didn’t go so well! The move should’ve happened on the bridge like usual and not in front of a hundred ppl waiting to board,” Miller wrote.
“I shouldn’t have had to ask for someone to call the paramedics and maybe the @americanair Gate Mgr should’ve at the very least asked if I was ok?” she added.
However, by Miller’s own account, the incident wasn’t all bad, as she went on to describe the airport employees as “very kind.” She had even kinder words for the firemen who responded to help.
“Thank you to all the Pgh international Airport Escorts that were so very kind & the hot firemen who swiftly got me on my feet, into my chair & on my way!!!” she wrote.
American Airlines has since shared its “concern” over Miller’s incident and confirmed it is currently conducting a review.
“We are proud to serve customers of all abilities and are committed to providing a positive, safe travel experience for everyone who flies with us,” the carrier said in a statement obtained by to Fox News.
“We are concerned by the issues raised by Ms. Miller regarding her recent experience at Pittsburgh International Airport and are working with our team at PIT and our contracted special assistance vendor to review the incident.
“We have been in touch with Ms. Miller to apologize and are providing her a full refund as a result of her experience.”
As noted by People, Miller flew again on Tuesday, and subsequently claimed that United Airlines accidentally damaged her wheelchair. Miller, however, praised the employee who was handling that particular situation.
Miller, 53, has required the use of a wheelchair after undergoing emergency spinal surgeries in April and June 2018. She was subsequently diagnosed with Burkitt lymphoma, enduring several rounds of chemotherapy before revealing to People she was cancer-free as of May 2019.
Article via Fox
Music festival removes race-based ticket prices
A music festival in Detroit has moved away from ticket prices based on race after local rapper Tiny Jag pulled out of the show over the price discrepancy.
New alleged victim of Jeffrey Epstein says he raped her when she was 15
“I was terrified and I was telling him to stop, please stop.”Jennifer Araoz says that’s what she told Jeffrey Epstein as he raped her when she was 15 years old.
Araoz told NBC’s “Today” show in an interview aired Wednesday that she started going to Epstein’s Manhattan home when she was 14 years old, and gave him massages dressed only in her underwear.
“I was 14 years old, what the hell do you know when you’re that young?” Araoz asked.
The encounters began after a woman Araoz called a “recruiter” talked to her outside her school in meetings that spanned over a year.
She said “that he (Epstein) was just a great guy,” and that he could probably help Araoz with her career.
When she first began visiting Epstein’s home, Araoz said he was very nice and told her he’d heard a lot about her. She was served wine, she said, even though he knew her age. “I don’t think he cared,” she said.
She went to his home once or twice a week, Araoz said. After each visit, she said, she was given $300, and the visits eventually began to include massages.
There were several sexually suggestive items in Epstein’s home, Araoz said, including “prosthetic breasts he could play with while he was taking a bath, it was very odd.”
Next to the massage table was a painting of a nude woman who Epstein said resembled Araoz. She says she wasn’t completely comfortable with the massage sessions, but she was “afraid he would get angry” with her if she didn’t do as asked.
After the massages ended, she told NBC, he would turn over, “finish himself off and that would be the end of it.”
After about a year, Epstein asked Araoz to take off her underwear and get on top of him, she said.
“I said I didn’t want to … he kind of very forcefully brought me to the table and I did what he wanted,” she said.”I was terrified and I was telling him to stop, please stop,” but he didn’t, she said. She didn’t recognize what happened as rape at the time, Araoz said.”I thought it was my fault, I thought I was obligated. I didn’t know better.”Araoz said she never went back after that, even though Epstein’s staff continued to reach out to her. She even stopped attending her school, which was in the same neighborhood as Epstein’s home.”I didn’t want that to happen again.”
“I was terrified and I was telling him to stop, please stop,” but he didn’t, she said. She didn’t recognize what happened as rape at the time, Araoz said.
“I thought it was my fault, I thought I was obligated. I didn’t know better.” Araoz said she never went back after that, even though Epstein’s staff continued to reach out to her. She even stopped attending her school, which was in the same neighborhood as Epstein’s home. “I didn’t want that to happen again.”
Article via CNN
‘What are you going to do for me?’; Local woman says utility worker tried to sexually coerce her, threatened her over late bill
OVERLAND, Mo. (KMOV.com) — A young St. Louis-area mother found herself in a nightmare that could happen to anyone.
She says a utility worker told her he was going to shut off her power unless she had sex with him. Then, it got worse from there.
Kourtney Brown was all alone at her Overland home in May when something unimaginable happened.
“I was off of work and I got a knock at my door around 10 a.m. It was an Ameren worker,” Kourtney said.
The man told Kourtney she was behind on her electric bill.
“He let me know that he was there to cut off my services. I asked him if he was sure, because I wasn’t sure my bill was due yet,” she said.
Kourtney was confused, so she called Ameren and a representative confirmed she owed about $160.
“I asked her if I could just run down to Schnucks to pay it and she said it was up to him,” Kourtney said.
“I asked him if he could hold off on turning it off and that’s when he asked me, ‘Well, what are you going to do for me?’ And I am just like, ‘What do you mean?’ Because I am not thinking what he’s about to say, I am not thinking that at all,” Kourtney said.
Essentially, she says the man gave her a choice between two sex acts, insinuating he would not shut off her power if she did it.
Stunned and scared, Kourtney tried to defuse the situation.
“He proceeded to ask me different questions like, if I am single, and then went to say, ‘Well, I know you’re single, because if you had a man, you wouldn’t be in this situation,” she said.
She managed get out of the house and went to the nearest store to wire the money and pay her bill. She then called Ameren and the police to report what happened.
“I just wanted to make them aware of what happened, of what was going on,” Kourtney said.
But, it didn’t end there. The man, identified by police as Christopher Lamont Jiles, called and texted her.
The texts said, “You got me in trouble, they are sending me back to your house.”
In a report obtained by News 4, Overland police said they even talked to Jiles. But recently, Kourtney says he called again from a blocked number.
“He said, ‘Beware, you made me lose my job, and I am going to kill you,’” Kourtney said.
Kourtney is now terrified for her and her children.
“When you are threatening to cut off someone’s power and they have two young children, that’s about as vulnerable as you can be,” said Edwin C. Ernst, IV of Ernst Law Firm.
Ernst, Kourtney’s attorney, says he’s got loads of questions about how this could ever happen and whether it’s happened before.
It’s especially important that there are policies and procedures to make sure the people given this responsibility are vetted and they follow the procedures in place to protect everybody.
Kourtney first thought Jiles worked for Ameren. When he showed up at her doorstep, Jiles was wearing a work vest that had a prominent Ameren label on it. In actuality, he was an employee for an Ameren subcontractor called USIC.
According to their website, they do contract work with a lot of utility companies, including Ameren and Spire in the St. Louis area.
News 4 reached out to Ameren for comment. Ameren would not answer any of our questions, but referred us only to USIC.
USIC also would not answer specific questions or conduct an on-camera interview.
They sent News 4 a statement:
“The safety of USIC employees and the community it serves is always the highest priority. When USIC learned of inappropriate comments being made by one of its employees, it immediately conducted an investigation and terminated the employee’s position in May. USIC remains committed to assist the authorities in any way it can if new information is learned.”
News 4 obtained records showing Jiles has been charged with harassment, regarding the threat to kill Kourtney, but he’s not been arrested since it’s only a municipal infraction.
It’s not his first time in trouble. Court records show in the 1990’s, Jiles was convicted of felony unlawful possession of a weapon. He also has a felony conviction for failing to pay child support.
Again, USIC declined to answer specific questions, when we wanted to know about them hiring a convicted felon.
News 4 went to Jiles’ listed address for his comment for the story, but he later called us.
“I have no comment, this lady is lying and if you are calling for that, that’s on y’all, that lady is lying,” he said.
Jiles denied it all.
“I did not call this lady, the lady is lying. She is completely lying. She is completely lying,” he said.
Though he had no reason for why she would make up the story.
“I don’t know, you’ve got to ask her, she is lying, she is lying,” Jiles said.
Kourtney says she’s afraid to be at home and she wishes the companies would take this very seriously.
“No one has reached out to even see if I am alive, they haven’t even seen if I am okay and I am not okay,” she said.
She wants an apology.
Spire, who also contracts with USIC, told us for the past year, they’ve required USIC to conduct background checks.
News 4 asked the Overland police chief why Jiles was charged only with a municipal infraction. He says it’s their standard practice for the type of offense.
Photo Credit: kmov.com
New Jersey judge who told rape victim to ‘close her legs’ apologizes
A New Jersey judge is sorry for the off-handed comments he made to a rape victim during a 2016 hearing, where he suggested the woman could “close her legs” to avoid forceful sex, according to a report.
The apology came during a Tuesday state Supreme Court disciplinary hearing for Superior Court Judge John Russo Jr., who’s facing a yet-to-be determined suspension for the comments, according to NJ.com.
“He did not intend to imply that a victim of sexual assault should close her legs to avoid” rape, his attorney, Amelia Carolla, told the seven-member Supreme Court.
“He now understands that his intentions do not matter. He understands that what matters only is the impact his words had on others. He is remorseful about the hurt that this may have caused the plaintiff,” Carolla added.
The offensive exchange began when Russo asked the woman, “Do you know how to stop somebody from having intercourse with you?” according to a transcript of the hearing obtained by NJ.com.
The victim offered logical responses, including to flee or physically defend herself.
But Russo Jr. countered, “Block your body parts? Close your legs? Call the police? Do you do any of those things?”
A year after the incident in May 2017, the judge was placed on administrative leave, but returned to work this year, according to the report.
He could now face up to a six-month suspension.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/07/10/new-jersey-judge-who-told-rape-victim-to-close-her-legs-apologizes/
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Mom allegedly put 4-year-old in hot car as punishment, admitted to using drugs
DRAPER, Utah – A woman was booked into jail and faces felony charges after police said she put her 4-year-old boy in a hot car as punishment.
Police also said the child was sitting within reach of a needle the woman had used to inject heroin, according to KSTU.
A statement of probable cause indicates police were called to do a welfare check at Draper City Park on July 2nd around 9 p.m. after someone reported a young boy was being held in “time out” inside of a vehicle.
The officers noted it was 82 degrees outside at the time and said the child’s mother, 28-year-old Jessica Lee Brown, told officers she had put the boy inside with the windows up and the car turned off because he was “acting out.”
One officer felt the boy’s head, which was hot to the touch, and noted he was sweating and had puffy eyes.
Brown told officers she had used methamphetamine and heroin, the document states. Police located a used syringe needle inside of a purse that was inside the car with the boy. Officers located various paraphernalia associated with heroin use during that same search.
The woman was booked into jail and faces charges of child abuse and child endangerment.
The child was given into the care of relatives.
Photo Credit: fox2now.com