Dad charged in the accidental shooting death of his 3-year-old son
The father of a 3-year-old boy who was killed in an accidental shooting in Chicago Sunday has been charge in connection to the child’s death.
The toddler’s family told police they heard a gunshot in another room and found the boy with a weapon, CNN affiliate WLS reported.
Ronald Davis, 29, was arrested following the shooting and has been charged with one felony count of endangering the life and health of a child, one felony count of unlawful use of a weapon and one felony count of possession or use of a weapon by a convicted felon, Chicago police said in a news release Monday.
Davis “knowingly left a loaded gun in a place where the child was able to access the weapon,” police said.
The child was wounded in the face and taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead, WLS reported.
Chicago police have contacted the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to assist in the case, according to WLS.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/07/30/dad-charged-in-the-accidental-shooting-death-of-his-3-year-old-son/
Photo Credit: pix11.com
Florida toddler found dead in day care van
A 2-year-old boy was found dead Monday inside a day care van in Oakland Park, Florida, authorities said.
The boy had been transported in the van to Ceressa’s Enrichment and Empowerment Academy at some point Monday, Broward County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Keyla Concepcion said.
The Sheriff’s Office does not know what time the boy arrived at the day care, or what happened between then and the time he was found deceased inside the van.
The sheriff’s office and Oakland Park Fire Rescue crews were called at around 3:20 p.m., CNN affiliate WSVN reported. With temperatures in the low 90s, authorities said heat may have been the cause of death, according to the affiliate.
The sheriff’s office is interviewing employees and investigating the incident, Concepcion said, adding it’s too soon to say if any charges will be made.
If heat is confirmed as the cause of death, it will be the 24th time a child has died in a hot vehicle in the United States this year, according to NoHeatStroke.org and the safety organization Kids and Cars, and the seventh time this month.
Twin 1-year-old babies died in New York Friday after they were left in a car of eight hours. The children’s father has been charged with two counts of manslaughter and two counts of criminal negligent homicide.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/07/30/florida-toddler-found-dead-in-daycare-van/
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Woman accused of urinating on Walmart potatoes turns herself in
WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. – A woman accused of urinating on potatoes at a Pennsylvania Walmart turned herself in to police.
West Mifflin police said in a news release that a worker at the store noticed urine on the floor and notified a loss prevention officer. That officer called police after surveillance video showed a woman appearing to pee on the potatoes around 10 p.m. on July 24.
After police shared images of the suspect, they said in a news release that a woman identified as Grace Brown went to the station with her lawyer to confess. WPXI reports that a Walmart employee saw the 20-year-old in the act, according to a store representative. Police would not confirm the report.
Walmart sent the station this statement on the alleged incident:
“This type of obscene conduct is outrageous and we immediately disposed of the affected products and sanitized the area to ensure its cleanliness and safety for our customers. We’re working with the West Mifflin Police Department to find the responsible party and have them prosecuted.”
The Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office has recommended she be charged with criminal mischief, open lewdness, disorderly conduct and public drunkenness.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/07/30/woman-accused-of-urinating-on-walmart-potatoes-turns-herself-in/
Photo Credit: pix11.com
LI woman indicted for allegedly trying to hire hitmen to kill ex-husband’s mother and daughter
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. — A Huntington Station woman is charged with two counts of attempted murder for allegedly trying to hire hitmen to kill two members of her ex-husband’s family, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney.
Timothy D. Sini and the Suffolk County Police charged 25-year-old Elsy Rodriguez-Garcia with two counts of attempted murder in the first degree and two counts of conspiracy.
“These were clearly not empty threats; this was a cold, calculated decision to have two people murdered, one of whom is a five-year-old child,” District Attorney Sini said. “Thankfully this plot came to the attention of law enforcement before it was successfully carried out, and the detectives on this case took immediate steps to ensure the safety of the targets and to prevent these two murders from taking place.”
The indictment accuses Rodriguez-Garcia of contacting someone via WhatsApp earlier in July to orchestrate the murder of her ex’s 57-year-old mother and 5-year-old daughter from a prior relationship. She’s accused of aking him to hire hitmen to execute the murders in Ecuador, where she believe the mother and daughter were on vacation, providing photographs of them and a description of the residence where she believed they were staying.
“What’s even more disturbing is that the photo she sent was the child’s kindergarten graduation photo,” District Attorney Sini said. “That was the image she chose to identify her victim, the little girl who she wanted to have murdered for her own selfish reasons.”
The accused allegedly agreed to pay $6,000 to carry out the hit. Rodriguez-Garcia’s ex-husband became aware of the alleged plot and reported the threat to police, who carried out the investigation with the DA’s office.
“Thanks to the efficient work of the Suffolk County Police Department and the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Rodriguez-Garcia was indicted on attempted murder and conspiracy charges,” Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said. “Even though her plan was revealed before it was carried out, individuals like Rodriguez-Garcia don’t usually stop until they get what they want. I would like to commend the investigators on this case who ensured Rodriguez-Garcia was brought to justice before anyone was hurt.”
Rodriguez-Garcia was arraigned on the indictment today by Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice William J. Condon. Bail was set at $750,000 cash or $1.5 million bond. She is due back in court on Sept. 4.
If convicted of the top count, Rodriguez-Garcia faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
Photo Credit: pix11.com
Cops claim they were fired for being older, female and white
Two of the NYPD’s former top chiefs have slapped the city with federal lawsuits, claiming they were ousted because they’re older, female — and white.
The plaintiffs — Joanne Jaffe, the department’s first female three-star Housing Bureau chief, and Diana Pizzuti, its first female chief of personnel — say they were unceremoniously booted in January 2018.
They say they were then replaced with a less experienced Hispanic woman and a white Irish man, respectively, allowing a trickle-down effect to create even more room for minorities and men.
“We don’t have a spot for you,’’ First Deputy Chief Benjamin Tucker snipped to Pizzuti when she tried to object to being forced out, her suit says.
Pizzuti, a 61-year-old of “Italian and Polish descent,’’ had 36 years with the department at the time, including previously as patrol borough commander of Queens North for nearly a decade, her suit says.
Meanwhile, Jaffe, a 60-year-old “Jewish-American,’’ had 38 years under her belt with the NYPD, including serving as commander of three precincts, the documents say.
John Moscow, a lawyer representing the women, told The Post that his clients were tossed aside as part of a push by Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner James O’Neill to make the NYPD “younger and more diverse.”
According to the women’s filings in Manhattan federal court Monday, “If the mayor, or the police commissioner who reports to him, wants to promote younger people who are not white and who are women or are other than heterosexual males they can achieve these goals by creating vacancies in the ranks of chief, and promoting or transferring their favorite candidates.
“In this case when the police commissioner wanted to make promotions based on age, sex, ethnic background and race, he fired four chiefs who were all older and white.”
This past January, the women filed discrimination complaints against the departmentafter their forced retirements, but they got specific on their race claim in their suits.
Neither the NYPD nor city immediately commented. The city, O’Neill and Tucker are named in the suits.
The women are seeking a jury trial, as well as punitive and other damages.
They both said they wanted to work till age 63 and missed out on salary and benefits by being forced out.
Jaffe suggested in the papers that she got the heave-ho because she challenged the department’s sexism while still on the force.
She griped to superiors that female investigators were relegated to “menial tasks’’ during high-profile cases such as the Manhattan bike-path bombing in October 2017 and the Port Authority Bus Terminal attack that December, according to court papers.
It didn’t help that, during a meeting with O’Neill and other higher-ups, she also suggested the department “adopt gender neutral language’’ and do away with terms such as “ ‘he, as in ‘he the Sergeant,’ ” in huddles and training, the papers say.
Both women also lamented that instead of getting a traditional touching “walk-out’’ — in which cops clap and salute outgoing officers — they were “thrown out.’’
via: https://nypost.com/2019/07/29/ex-top-cops-claim-they-were-fired-for-being-older-female-and-white/
Photo Credit: Richard Harbus
Prison Officials Intercept Football Filled With Drugs, Cell Phones Tossed Over Arkansas Detention Facility Fence
A football filled with contraband was intercepted by officers at the Grimes Unit in Newport, Arkansas, KTLA sister station KFSM in Fort Smith, Arkansas, reported.
According to the Arkansas Department of Correction, somebody tossed the football over the fence at the detention center. Inside the football, officers found cell phones and two kinds of drugs.
In a Facebook post, the Arkansas Department of Corrections says fighting contraband is a non-stop battle, and it’s a problem that goes on every day at every facility.
“Contraband is dangerous and can get people hurt or worse,” the Facebook post states.
The Grimes Unit is a maximum-security institution in Jackson County that houses up to 1,000 inmates.
Photo Credit: Arkansas Department of Correction
Woman arrested after a sleeping 11-year-old was scalded in ‘Hot Water Challenge’ allegedly didn’t help child get medical attention when he was burned
CLAY COUNTY, Ky. — A woman turned herself in to the sheriff’s office Friday and her child is accused of severely burning an 11-year-old boy by pouring boiling water on him Tuesday, WYMTreports.
Billy Oliver is suffering from second and third-degree burns at the Cincinnati Burn Center because of the “Hot Water Challenge.”
“So you had to take some boiling hot water 212 degrees and pour it on someone or you had to drink it,” Oliver said.
Angela Guth, faces second-degree criminal abuse and first-degree wanton endangerment charges, Clay County Attorney Joe White said.
She allegedly didn’t help Oliver get medical attention when he was burned.
“It was a ten. On a one, well on a zero to ten scale how bad it hurt, it was a ten,” Oliver said.
Oliver says he was playing Fortnite with a friend, he went to bed and at about 2:30 a.m. his friend woke him up by throwing boiling water on him.
“Education is the only thing we can do right now. The parents need to speak. You need to talk with your child. My child had stayed many a night with this boy and I never would have put him in danger, but it’s a challenge you know,” said Patricia Oliver, Billy’s mother.
The friend’s name will not be released as the friend is a minor.
The sheriff’s department is investigating.
Doctors don’t believe Oliver will need skin grafts for his injuries at this time.
Photo Credit: pix11.com
Woman who drank liters of whiskey while on ‘bender’ charged with manslaughter in newborn’s death
Minneapolis, MN (WCCO) — A Rogers woman has been charged in the 2018 death of her newborn baby, according to charges filed in Hennepin County Court.
Twenty-nine-year-old Rianna Marie Cameron was charged Wednesday with two counts of second-degree manslaughter.
According to the criminal complaint, officers with the Rogers Police Department were called to a townhome in Rogers at about 8:39 p.m. on Dec. 30, on a report of a non-responsive infant. The child’s father called police after he found Cameron disoriented in an upstairs bedroom, along with the newborn baby girl who was lying at the foot of the bed with her umbilical cord still attached to her mother.
When officers entered the home, they found two small children, a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old, in the first-floor family room left unattended. After hearing a male voice coming from upstairs, officers entered the master bedroom on the second floor where they found Cameron and the newborn who was purple in color and appeared to not be breathing, the complaint said.
Officers began life-saving measures on the child until paramedics arrived to transport her to a hospital. The baby was pronounced dead at 9:39 p.m. An autopsy later revealed that the baby died due to “complications of acute ethanol intoxication and unsupported delivery,” the complaint said.
According to the complaint, Cameron told police that she had been on a “bender” and had been drinking since 5 p.m. that night. She told investigators that she had drank about a liter of whiskey. Cameron was 34-weeks pregnant.
The 29-year-old has “a lengthy chemical dependency and child protection history,” the complaint said. Cameron has been civilly committed for alcohol addiction three times since 2012.
If convicted, Cameron could serve up to 10 years behind bars.
Photo Credit: pix11.com
Officer ‘forgot’ he took bite of sandwich he accused McDonald’s workers of eating
INDIANAPOLIS – An Indiana sheriff’s office employee who accused McDonald’s workers of munching down on his sandwich before wrapping it up has recanted after remembering that the alleged hamburglar was him all along.
The unidentified Marion County Jail worker bought the chicken sandwich and a small fries last week from a restaurant in Indianapolis. He said when he went to warm up his meal later, he noticed “several small bites,” according to WTHR.
He said he went back to the restaurant and confronted the manager, who offered him free food, which he declined.
“I just wanted to find out who the person was and if they could deal with that person in an appropriate way,” he told WTHR.
His accusation prompted the Marion County Sheriff’s Office to investigate, and the story began to unravel. The sheriff’s office says the officer has since apologized to the McDonald’s, explaining in a statement how the mix-up apparently happened:
“The employee took a bite out of the sandwich upon starting his shift at the Marion County Jail, then placed it in the refrigerator in a break room. He returned nearly seven hours later having forgotten that he had previously bitten the sandwich. He wrongly concluded that a McDonald’s restaurant employee had tampered with his food because he is a law enforcement officer.”
Marion County Sheriff’s Office officials praised the restaurant staff for their cooperation and and called McDonald’s “a valued civic partner.”
Photo Credit: Getty Images
21-year-old college student who survived a gang-related shooting because her bra stopped the bullet hasn’t been able to sleep since
“I’ve had like three, severe panic attacks,” Daniesa Murdaugh told PIX11 News on Monday’s edition of the “Mary Murphy Files.”
“I haven’t slept since it happened. And I don’t leave further than off our block.”
Murdaugh was one of 12 people hit by bullets Saturday night during the annual Old Timer’s event in Brownsville.
A 38-year-old man was killed by a shot to the head and most of the other victims went to the hospital.
Now you’ve got to think, ‘Should I put on a bullet-proof vest today when I go out?’” Murdaugh wondered.
Murdaugh is studying liberal arts at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, and she’s thinking of switching her studies to culinary arts.
It was the first time she attended the Old Timer’s event, which her mother has enjoyed many times during the daytime part of the gathering.
“Little beefs escalate into violence in two seconds,” Murdaugh said. “Why should I have to walk the streets in fear because I could get hit by a stray bullet, because of two people who don’t know how to be men?”
Even though the NYPD has worked hard to confront gang-related shootings in Brooklyn, it’s been a tough road. The Police Commissioner said recently he’s been asking the District Attorney in Brooklyn to rethink his prison diversion programs when it comes to gun possession.
Daniesa’s mother, Odessa Watson, said it’s stressful living in multiple spots in Brooklyn.
“We heard shootings every night,” Watson said. “Every night. You can’t go to sleep some nights without hearing gunfire.”
The Police Department said shooting events are still not as common as they were in 1990.
“At its peak, there were 5,000 shootings. That’s 13 a day. Today, it’s about two a day,” Commissioner James O’Neill said.
Photo Credit: pix11.com