Argument Between West Virginia Pastors’ Wives Ends With Gunfire In Church Parking Lot
A pastor’s wife in West Virginia has been charged with reckless endangerment after allegedly firing a gun in a church parking lot.
Melinda Frye Toney, 44, is accused of pulling out a pistol that accidentally discharged during an argument with another pastor’s wife at New Life Apostolic Church in Oak Hill on May 11.
Toney is the wife of New Life pastor Earl Toney while the other woman, Lori Haywood, is married to New Life’s youth pastor, David Haywood,
Fayette Sheriff’s Detective Kevin Willis told the Beckley Register-Herald the animosity between the two women had been simmering for some time. Their husbands had thought the women should publicly bury the hatchet to avoid additional strife.
“The pastor and the youth pastor had thought, ‘Maybe we could get them together, we can hash this out and fix this before it escalates,’ ” Willis said Wednesday. “Of course, it just made it worse, I think.”
According to Willis, “the straw that broke the camel’s back” was an argument over a t-shirt Haywood had was wearing.
Haywood would only say, “We had a disagreement, and when we sat down to talk, I called her out, and she lost it.”
According to authorities, Melinda walked out of the church during the disagreement and went to her car in the parking lot, where she got her handgun.
Realizing what she intended, Earl and followed her outside.
Willis reports Pastor Toney intercepted his wife before she was able to come back inside the church and attempted to wrestle the gun out of her hand. The weapon fired a single shot during the struggle, but nobody was hurt.
Haywood, who was leaving the church when the gun discharged, called the police and told them that she was Toney’s intended target. The department reviewed parking-lot surveillance video but could not determine whether the pistol was aimed at Haywood before it was fired.
Mrs. Toney owned the handgun legally with a concealed carry permit.
“We were just trying to leave, peaceful,” Haywood told the Register-Herald. “The reason for the shooting was stupid, and very unnecessary.”
Melinda declined to speak to police after her arrest and requested an attorney instead, according to Willis, who added that a mental evaluation of her may be part of the investigation.
Photo Credit: start.att.net
Florida Man Parks Smart Car in Kitchen so Hurricane Dorian Won’t Blow It Away
It started as a light-hearted challenge between a Florida couple, can a Smart car fit into their kitchen? The answer: Yes it can.
Patrick Eldridge parked his smart car in his kitchen to protect it from Hurricane Dorian because he didn’t want it to “blow away” and to prove that he can park his car there.
Jessica Eldridge said her car was already parked in the garage. To avoid cleaning their garage out, her husband proposed to park it in the house.
“I said there was no way he could. He said he could,” Jessica said. “So he opened the double doors and had it in. I was amazed that it could fit. He had it in with no problems.”
Dorian was skirting Florida’s coast Wednesday, narrowly missing Jacksonville as it heads northward along the Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina coastlines.
The Category 2 storm has devastated the Bahamas, where rescue crews have only begun taking the full measure of the damage.
With the car in the middle of the kitchen, Jessica Eldridge had to move around it to cook and serve dinner.
“I’m hoping he will pull it out pretty soon once the wind dies down,” she said. “There is room and it’s not in the way but my dogs are confused by it.”
Photo Credit: facebook/ktla.com
New Jersey man scammed $2.1 million in online dating scheme
MILLVILLE, N.J. — A New Jersey man has been accused of duping people into sending money to people posing as U.S. military personnel in a $2.1 million online dating scheme.
NJ.com reports that 35-year-old Rubbin Sarpong of Millville is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in an alleged scheme running since January 2016.
Federal prosecutors allege that Sarpong and co-conspirators, several of whom live in Ghana, set up phony profiles on online dating sites posing as U.S. military personnel. Prosecutors allege that they pretended to forge romantic relationships with the 30 identified victims, then sought money from them, often purportedly to ship gold bars to the United States.
Prosecutors said Sarpong was being represented by Assistant Federal Public Defender Lori Koch; a message was left for her Wednesday evening seeking comment.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/09/04/new-jersey-man-scammed-2-1-million-in-online-dating-scheme/
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Woman returns from funeral to find squatters living in her apartment, pawning her things
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A woman left Memphis for a funeral in Africa, and while she was gone, she says a pair of squatters moved into her apartment and stole thousands of dollars worth of valuables, including family heirlooms.
One of those unwelcome visitors is behind bars and told police a bizarre story of how she came to live in someone else’s home, according to WREG.
Police said Shauna Arnold took up residence in the apartment in July with a man she called Travis.
The woman who actually rents the unit in the Harmony Woods apartment complex was out of the country for a funeral when Arnold and Travis allegedly moved in, stealing and pawning valuables like jewelry and electronics and vandalizing the apartment.
According to police, Arnold was seen leaving the apartment and questioned by a neighbor who knew the real resident was out of the country.
Some residents even said they had seen her in the area before.
“She be walking up and down this street, down National Street,” Linda Sherrod said. “I’ve seen her before.”
Authorities got involved after the victim’s sister came to check on the apartment and found a squatter inside.
Arnold reportedly told police that Travis said it was his apartment, and she could live there if she paid him $10 a day because the renter was in jail. She said she witnessed Travis stealing valuables from the apartment and selling them.
According to police, Arnold also had some of the victim’s property when she was arrested.
Police are still looking for the man called Travis.
For Sherrod, this burglary is nothing short of bizarre.
“It shouldn’t have happened, period,” she said. “People need to leave people’s stuff alone and work for themselves if they want it.”
When the victim returned to Memphis, she told police she didn’t know Shauna Arnold or anyone named Travis, and they didn’t have permission to be in her apartment.
Arnold remains in jail.
Photo Credit: pix11.com
Man who rapped about killing his girlfriend charged with murder
A California man who police say rapped about killing a woman and burying her body has been charged with murder, prosecutors said.
Robert Anthony Camou, 27, was charged in the murder of Amanda Custer, his girlfriend who went missing in late July, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office said in a release Wednesday.
A video surfaced online around the time Custer disappeared, which Lt. Scott Hoglund of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said showed Camou rapping about killing a woman and burying her body. After obtaining that video, police found Camou in Los Angeles and took him into custody after a five-hour standoff.
Camou faces one count of murder with a special circumstance allegation of killing a witness and an allegation that he was out on bail when he committed the crime, according to the DA’s office.
CNN reached out to Camou’s public defender for comment, but hasn’t yet received a reply.
Custer, 31, was last seen when police responded to a possible domestic dispute at Camou’s home in Monrovia on July 29, Hoglund said at a news conference last month.
At the time, Camou already faced domestic violence charges, the DA’s office said. He was accused April 22 of battering his girlfriend, strangling her and threatening her with a Taser, the release said, citing the prosecutor.
The victim tried to get help at a house nearby, and Camou allegedly chased her into the house and then battered an elderly man who was trying to intervene, the release said.
Witnesses told police they saw Camou putting Custer’s “lifeless body” in the back of a gray Toyota Prius and then driving away. Officials found “evidence of an assault” in Camou’s bedroom and recovered blood from the scene, Hoglund said.
Police also found blood and a digging tool in the cargo area of the car, Hoglund said.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/09/04/man-who-rapped-about-killing-his-girlfriend-charged-with-murder/
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14-year-old Alabama teen confesses to gunning down his family
A 14-year-old boy has confessed to killing his family of five by shooting them with a 9mm handgun in their Alabama home, cops said early Tuesday.
The teen called 911 late Monday to say he heard shooting upstairs in the house in Elkmont, according to WAFF.
Officers found five people shot, including an adult and two children who were dead at the scene.
Another adult and juvenile were airlifted to a hospital in critical condition but later died, officials confirmed.
“The 14-year old caller was interviewed and confessed to shooting all five members of his family in the residence,” the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office said in a tweet.
“He is currently assisting investigators in locating the weapon, a 9mm handgun that he said he tossed nearby.”
The dead were the teen’s father, stepmother and siblings, the sheriff told WAFF.
A motive has not yet been released.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/09/03/14-year-old-alabama-teen-confesses-to-gunning-down-his-family-cops/
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Thousands to attend BBQ outside home of vegan who sued neighbors over smelly meats
Thousands of people are roasting an Australian vegan who took her neighbors to court over the smell of meat and fish from their barbecue — by planning a massive cookout outside her home.
Cilla Carden made headlines this week for her legal beef, in which she claimed the odors from her neighbors’ barbecues had destroyed her quality of life, 9News reported.
Now more than 3,000 people are planning to attend a cookout outside her Perth home, organized on a Facebook page called “Community BBQ for Cilla Carden.”
“Don’t let Cilla destroy a good old Aussie tradition, join us for a community BBQ, and help Cilla Carden GET SOME PORK ON HER FORK,” the event description reads.
The barbecue is scheduled for Oct. 19 — and vegans are not welcome, the page says.
Carden’s legal battle with her neighbors began last year. Her complaint was tossed out of court earlier this year, and she filed an appeal. The appeal was also rejected in July, but she has vowed to keep fighting.
Photo Credit: nypost.com
US woman busted trying to smuggle newborn in carry-on luggage
An American woman was busted trying to smuggle a newborn baby out of the Philippines by hiding the child in her carry-on luggage, officials said.
Jennifer Erin Talbot, 43, attempted on Wednesday to board a Delta flight to Detroit with the child from Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, NBC News reported.
During the security check, the 6-day-old baby was discovered inside her carry-on bag, the outlet reported.
“[The] infant was hidden in the oversized belt bag and [she] did not declare nor present to the immigration inspector during departure formalities,” Bureau of Immigration officials told CNN Philippines.
Talbot told officials she was the child’s aunt but had no documents to prove the relationship.
The National Bureau of Investigation said they will likely file child trafficking charges against her, NBC News reported.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/09/04/us-woman-busted-trying-to-smuggle-newborn-in-carry-on-luggage/
Photo Credit: Bureau of Immigration
3-year-old girl dies after being left in car parked at home for hours
GILBERT, AZ (KNXV) — Authorities say a young girl has died after being left in a car for hours Tuesday afternoon.
The Gilbert Police Department says officers and firefighters responded to a home near Higley and Elliot roads around noon.
Police say a 3-year-old girl was left in the vehicle for two to three hours.
Despite CPR and other lifesaving measures, police say the child later died at the hospital.
Judy Rott lives nearby and is trying to wrap her head around the tragedy that unfolded just outside her home.
“Things were out of sync today, they were planning to leave on vacation tomorrow and kept the little one home from pre-K,” said Rott.
Rott says the girl’s father had dropped off his two older daughters at school before heading home with the 3-year-old.
“I don’t know what alerted him that he left her in the car, but our neighbor was sitting on the back porch and heard him scream and she ran over and tried to give CPR cause he had pulled her out of the car.”
Another neighbor, a nurse, also attempted to save the little girl’s life, but there was nothing they could do.
Rott and other neighbors describe the couple as incredibly loving and caring parents. “They are super nice, sweet young couple, just making a living, trying to raise a family. I just don’t know how they’ll cope with this,” said Rott.
Neighbors say the girl’s mother works as a correctional officer for the Florence State Prison. She apparently got a call at work and raced to the hospital.
Police say the incident is under investigation and no further details were immediately available.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/09/04/3-year-old-girl-dies-after-being-left-in-car-parked-at-home-for-hours/
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Woman Bleeds To Death After Rooster Pecked At Her Leg While She Collected Eggs
A woman bled to death after a rooster pecked at her leg while she was collecting eggs on her property in Australia.
In what experts described as a “fatal rooster attack,” the unnamed 76-year-old woman was picking up eggs at her home in rural Australia when the bird began pecking at her lower left leg, according to a case study published in the journal Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology.
By nipping at the woman, the bird triggered a significant hemorrhage, causing the woman to collapse and die. The victim had a history of high blood pressure; hyperlipidemia where the blood contains too much fat; diabetes; and varicose veins.
An autopsy focused on her lower left, which was covered in dried blood. Examiners discovered two small, deep cuts on her leg. One was above a large varicose vein.
The woman’s death was put down to exsanguination, or her blood being drained from her body from her varicose vein following the attack.
Researchers wrote in the paper: “This case demonstrates that even relatively small domestic animals may be able to inflict lethal injuries in individuals if there are specific vascular vulnerabilities present.”
Roger Byard, co-author of the case study and Professor of Pathology at the University of Adelaide told Australia’s ABC that attacks by roosters are rare. However, he said the incident “made us realize how vulnerable the elderly are, [varicose veins] are very easy to damage.”
Byard told the broadcaster: “I’ve had a number of cases where people have just been wandering around in their home and just run into furniture which has caused a small injury.”
He argued: “Older people are also not as good at defending themselves against animal attacks, their balance might not be as good.”
He told Australian news site 10 Daily: “It is possible if the woman had put her thumb over the hole and called for help she could have survived.”
According to the U.S. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, weakness or damage to vein walls and valves can cause varicose veins. This includes when blood pressure increases in the veins. They often occur in the legs, but can also affect the rectum; testicles; esophagus; stomach or liver. Pregnancy, obesity and constipation are linked to varicose veins. Older people, those who sit or stand for long periods or are sedentary, and individuals with a family history, are are also at risk.
Lifestyle changes such as reaching a healthy weight, sitting correctly, and being physically active can treat varicose veins, as well as wearing compression stockings, or taking medication. Some people may need to undergo surgery.
Photo Credit: newsweek.com