Arizona police officer adopts child abuse survivor he met on duty
An Arizona police officer and his wife adopted a 4-year-old survivor of child abuse that he comforted while he was on duty.
Kingman Police Department Lt. Brian Zach met little Kaila when he and his partner got a call to go check on her home back in March 2018, he told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Wednesday.
As he and the girl waited for officers from the Department of Child Services to show up, “We colored, we snacked,” Zach recalled.
“She held my hand and she was just this cute little thing.”
Kaila eventually had to be taken to a hospital to be treated for multiple injuries as a result of physical abuse, the report said.
Zach, who is a father to two other children, went home that night and told his wife Cierra about the encounter.
“He shows up, he’s like, ‘I got to hang out with the cutest little girl. She was so awesome,’” Cierra recalled to Arizona outlet KTVK.
Criminal charges were filed against Kaila’s caretakers and, when child protective services couldn’t find any family members willing to take her in, the couple decided to step in.
“She came with a sippy cup, a bag of clothes that didn’t fit her and that was it,” Zach told “GMA.”
The little angel immediately became part of the family and was enrolled in a local charter school, the couple said.
They first went through the foster process with Kaila, and during that time “We lived each week not knowing if she was going to go back to her biological parents, or how long we were going to keep her.
“Our goal was to love and care for this little girl for as long as it happened,” Zach said.
On Aug. 18, more than two years after she came into their lives, the Zachs officially completed the adoption process for Kaila.
The girl is a “character” and loves preschool, animals, dancing and playing.
“She is so comical, she is so witty,” Zach said.
When Kaila first came to live with the family, “she didn’t know how to talk,” the cop recalled.
“And now, she loves to talk,” he said. “She’s happy and she’s flourished.”
The officer told families considering adoption not to be daunted by the process.
“It’s well worth it,” he said.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/12/04/arizona-police-officer-adopts-child-abuse-survivor/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Gaming-obsessed Australian dad shook his newborn son to death after the innocent baby’s cries disrupted his game
Joseph McDonald, 23, pleaded guilty to child homicide in the heinous 2019 killing of 7-week-old Lucas McDonald in Victoria’s Supreme Court on Friday.
The father confessed to shaking the infant, placing him back in his rocker, then returning to play his PlayStation before falling asleep, 9News Sydney reported.
He faces up to 20 years in jail.
“The noise of Lucas crying because he was in the same lounge room, was interrupting [McDonald’s] game … he couldn’t concentrate on his game,” said Lucas’ grandmother Sharon Mills, according to 9News.
“He couldn’t play his game, so he broke.”
Prosecutors charge that on Oct. 24, 2019, McDonald shook Lucas and used “blunt force trauma” on his son.
“Whether that be by striking Lucas directly to the head or causing Lucas to hit his head on another object … it is difficult to say,” said prosecutor Mark Gibson, according to Australia Broadcasting Corporation.
He then lied to his former partner and the mother of the child, as well as doctors, about what had happened, 9News reported.
When medical scans showed Lucas sustained blunt force trauma and that his injuries could not have been caused by accident, McDonald fled the hospital, the report said.
He ultimately turned himself in to police.
Lucas’ grieving mother said Friday that McDonald does not have a right to call himself a parent.
“He doesn’t have the right to the title of being a dad, as far as I’m concerned, so I think that will be his life sentence,” said Sam Duckmanton, according to 9News.
In court, Duckmanton called her son “perfect” and said she wished she could protect him.
“I was right next door, like if I had just let him do the dishes and I looked after Bubby [Lucas], he’d be alive today. That’s what’s going to eat me and I couldn’t protect him because I trusted Joseph,” the heartbroken mother said, Australia Broadcasting Corporation reported.
“Lucas was innocent and he couldn’t defend himself,” she said.
Duckmanton added, “It’s a coward’s act and you’re his dad, you’re supposed to protect him. To this day I don’t think I’m really ever going to know what was inside of his head at that point.”
The court also heard that in the weeks before he killed his son, McDonald had used his phone to search “anger management Benalla [an Australian city].”
McDonald’s attorney said his client was “deeply remorseful for what he has done,” the local media outlets reported.
“He feels like he should be punished appropriately for what he’s done, whatever that might be,” lawyer Colin Mandy said.
“He has not sought to lay blame at the feet of others, and by his plea, has spared family members the traumatic experience of reliving these events in the witness box,” said Mandy.
Court documents revealed that McDonald had anger issues, often used drugs and was obsessed with gaming.
“His compulsive involvement in gaming was a further trigger for irritability, both when he was confronted about his behavior as well as when he became frustrated with losing a game,” the attorney said.
In court documents, Mandy said the killing was “a spontaneous act of rage,” the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
McDonald is slated to be sentenced at a later date.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/12/04/gaming-obsessed-dad-pleads-guilty-to-fatally-shaking-infant-son/
Photo Credit: Crime Watch Victoria
California dad arrested after his kids were found decapitated
Two children were found decapitated in their home early Friday, and their father has been arrested on suspicion of their grisly murders, authorities said.
Los Angeles County firefighters responded to a home in Lancaster before 8 a.m. on a report of a possible gas leak and found the headless bodies of a 12-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Police arrested the father, Maurice Taylor Sr., on suspicion of killing his children. He’s being held on a $2 million bond.
Taylor was described as a “mellow” personal trainer who virtually taught his clients from home because of the pandemic.
One of Taylor’s clients told the Times she knew something was wrong when he failed to send a Zoom link for a scheduled session.
“I knew they weren’t out of town,” the client said. “They didn’t have money to travel.”
Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris believes the economy, school closures and being stuck at home may have created a stressful environment for the family.
“The social fabric of the country and the world has been shredded, and we are starting to see the aftermath,” Parris told the Times.
“What I’m seeing is more and more people feeling desperate, and that can only have one result.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/12/05/california-dad-arrested-after-his-kids-were-found-decapitated/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
15-year-old charged with beating Chicago man to death with bat, setting body on fire
A 15-year-old boy is facing a first-degree murder charge for beating an elderly Chicago man with a baseball bat and setting his body on fire, police said.
The teen, who was not identified due to his age, was arrested Wednesday on counts of first-degree murder and concealment of a homicidal death in the gruesome attack that claimed the life of Earl Miller, whose beaten and charred body was found in late September next to a home in the city’s Fernwood section, police said Thursday.
“No one deserves to die like that at all,” Miller’s niece, Braxton Usher, told the Chicago Sun-Times. “I wonder how he was feeling or I wonder what he was thinking. Stuff like that, it eats at you.”
Usher, who wears some of her uncle’s ashes around her neck, said she’s still looking for answers in the slaying, particularly since the 15-year-old and another young male suspect are believed to have killed her uncle.
“Knowing that it was kids, it just doesn’t make sense to me,” Usher told the newspaper.
Miller, previously of Indiana, was living with Usher’s father in the city’s Morgan Park section when he was killed. He was an “old school” man who liked to keep to himself and enjoyed long walks downtown, his niece said.
An autopsy determined Miller — who had severe burns and massive head trauma — died from multiple injuries sustained during the onslaught. Police said a bat with blood on it and lighter fluid were found near his body, which was discovered face-down, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The teen, who appeared for an initial hearing in juvenile court Thursday, was ordered to remain in custody. He’s due back in court on Dec. 21, the Sun-Times reported.
The Cook County Public Defender’s Office did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday, according to the newspaper.
A second suspect, meanwhile, was still being sought Friday, police said.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/12/04/teen-charged-with-beating-man-with-bat-setting-body-on-fire/
Photo Credit: Chicago Police Department
House votes to decriminalize marijuana at federal level
The Democratic-controlled House on Friday approved a bill to decriminalize and tax marijuana at the federal level, reversing what supporters call a failed policy of criminalizing pot use and taking steps to address racial disparities in enforcement of federal drug laws.
Opponents, mostly Republicans, called the bill a hollow political gesture and mocked Democrats for bringing it up at a time when thousands of Americans are dying from the coronavirus pandemic.
“With all the challenges America has right now, (Republicans) think COVID relief should be on the floor, but instead, the Democrats put cats and cannabis” on the House floor, said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. “They’re picking weed over the workers. They’re picking marijuana over (providing) the much-needed money we need to go forward″ to address the pandemic.
McCarthy’s comment about cats referred to a separate bill approved by the House to ban private ownership of big cats such as lions and tigers, a measure boosted by the Netflix series “Tiger King.″ That bill, approved by the House on Thursday, would allow most private zoos to keep their tigers and other species but would prohibit most public contact with the animals.
Democrats said they can work on COVID-19 relief and marijuana reform at the same time and noted that the House passed a major pandemic relief bill in May that has languished in the Senate.
Supporters say the pot bill would help end the decades-long “war on drugs” by removing marijuana, or cannabis, from the list of federally controlled substances while allowing states to set their own rules on pot. The bill also would use money from a new excise tax on marijuana to address the needs of groups and communities harmed by the so-called drug war and provide for the expungement of federal marijuana convictions and arrests.
“For far too long, we have treated marijuana as a criminal justice problem instead of as a matter of personal choice and public health,″ said Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and a key sponsor of the bill. “Whatever one’s views are on the use of marijuana for recreational or medicinal use, the policy of arrests, prosecution and incarceration at the federal level has proven unwise and unjust.″
Drug reform advocates called the House vote historic, noting it is the first time comprehensive legislation to decriminalize marijuana has passed the full House or Senate.
“The criminalization of marijuana is a cornerstone of the racist war on drugs. Even after a decade of reform victories, one person was arrested nearly every minute last year for simply possessing marijuana,” said Maritza Perez, director of national affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance, an advocacy group. “Today the House took the most powerful step forward to address that shameful legacy.”
The vote comes at a time when most Americans live in states where marijuana is legal in some form, and lawmakers from both parties agreed that national cannabis policy has lagged woefully behind changes at the state level. That divide has created a host of problems — loans and other banking services, for example, are hard to get for many marijuana companies because pot remains illegal at the federal level.
Four states, including New Jersey and Arizona, passed referenda allowing recreational cannabis this year. Voters made Oregon the first state in the nation to decriminalize possession of small amounts of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.
Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., called the House bill an important racial justice measure. The bill “is a major step, mind you, a major step toward ending the unjust war on drugs and racial inequities that are central to these laws,″ said Lee, who is African American.
The bill, which passed 228-164, now goes to the Republican-controlled Senate, where it is unlikely to advance. A related bill that would give pot businesses access to traditional banking services has languished in the Senate after being approved by the House last year.
Five Republicans supported the bill: Reps. Matt Gaetz and Brian Mast of Florida; Tom McClintock of California, Denver Riggleman of Virginia and Don Young of Alaska.
Six Democrats opposed it: Reps. Cheri Bustos and Daniel Lipinski of Illinois; Collin Peterson of Minnesota; Chris Pappas of New Hampshire; Conor Lamb of Pennsylvania; and Henry Cuellar of Texas.
Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican, said GOP lawmakers have been pushing for weeks to bring up a bill that allows small businesses to receive another round of Paycheck Protection Program loans. Many small businesses are struggling or have closed as a result of the pandemic.
Instead of allowing a vote on the GOP bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is “actually focused more on legalizing pot,” Scalise said. ”It’s just unbelievable how tone deaf (Democrats) are to these small businesses and the jobs, the families that are tied to them.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also mocked the bill, saying in a floor speech that “the House of Representatives is spending this week on pressing issues like marijuana. You know, serious and important legislation befitting this national crisis.”
The Big Cat Public Safety Act also is unlikely to move forward in the Senate. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said in a tweet that Democrats were moving to “Prosecute Tiger King” rather than address issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But Carole Baskin, whose animal rescue organization is featured in the Netflix series, said the legislation would culminate a decades-long effort to end abuse of tiger cubs and other big cats, and protect the public and first responders from injuries and death.
“None of these important goals are partisan in any way, and we hope the Senate will follow suit quickly to make it into law,″ said Baskin, CEO and founder of Florida-based Big Cat Rescue.
via: https://ktla.com/news/nationworld/house-votes-to-decriminalize-marijuana-at-federal-level/
Photo Credit: ktla.com
Texas woman arrested for allegedly dangling child over balcony as punishment
A Texas woman was arrested Wednesday for allegedly holding a child over a three-story balcony and scolding him while he pleaded “please don’t drop me,” authorities said.
The incident occurred at an apartment complex in San Antonio Monday when Desirae Marie Korus, 25, dragged the child out on the balcony and held him over the ledge as she yelled, “Are you going to touch that again?” according to an arrest affidavit obtained by KSAT.
A Drug Enforcement Agency agent, who happened to be in the area for an investigation, witnessed the crying child dangling over the balcony 35 feet above ground, and heard him telling Korus he “won’t do it again,” the affidavit states.
Korus threatened to drop the child — who is either 3 or 4 years old — as punishment, but then allowed him to go back inside the apartment, police said.
The DEA agent immediately called the San Antonio police, but officers didn’t arrest Korus because she refused to let officers in the apartment.
Cops arrested her two days later and charged her with child endangerment.
Korus is being held on $20,000 bond at Bexar County jail.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/12/03/texas-woman-arrested-for-dangling-child-over-balcony-as-punishment/
Photo Credit: Bexar County Jail
YouTuber Stas Reeflay arrested after girlfriend dies in livestream
A Russian YouTuber has been arrested for allegedly livestreaming a horrifying video in which his near-naked, pregnant girlfriend died after his viewers paid to see her abused, according to a report.
Stas Reeflay, 30, forced Valentina “Valya” Grigoryeva, 28, who was wearing only underwear, into the subzero cold after a viewer paid him $1,000 to carry out the sickening act, East2West News reported, citing BAZA media.
The woman died of suspected hypothermia, according to the report.
Reeflay — whose real name is Stanislav Reshetnikov — continued recording even after he realized that his girlfriend was “half dead” on a balcony at his home in the village of Ivanovka, near Moscow, East2West reported.
“Valya, are you alive?” he was heard saying as he tried to revive her with the camera rolling. “My bunny, what’s up with you? Valya! Valya! Damn, you look like you are dead.
“Bunny, come on … tell me something. I’m worrying. Damn … I don’t feel her heartbeat,” he continued.
Reeflay then told his tens of thousands of followers: “Guys … No pulse … she’s pale. She is not breathing.”
He pleaded for Grigoryeva to wake up, telling her: “I love you!”
In a previous broadcast, the boyfriend from hell — who receives online donations for his sick stunts — showered her with pepper spray, according to the news outlet.
Feminist activist Liza Lazerson slammed YouTube for “prohibiting the spread of nipples but showing scenes of violence and cruelty against women without problems.
“The woman dies on air and the audience sends donations to the killer. This must stop,” she warned. “Such videos are calmly broadcast to the whole world, meaning something is broken. Until this is fixed, censorship is necessary.”
Reeflay faces up to two years in the slammer if forensic experts prove that the woman died of hypothermia, according to the Mirror, citing reports about law enforcement.
“Information will also be checked about possible unlawful actions against the deceased by the young man in whose house the body was found,” the Russian Investigative Committee said, the outlet reported.
A YouTube rep told the Mirror: “We’re shocked to learn of this tragic incident. This kind of graphic content is not acceptable on YouTube.
“Although the original livestream did not take place on YouTube, we quickly removed re-uploads and terminated the associated account,” she added.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/12/04/youtuber-arrested-after-pregnant-girlfriend-dies-in-livestream/
Photo Credit: YouTube
Ex-teacher, coach charged with raping teen student at his home
A former Tennessee high school teacher and athletics coach has been charged with raping a 16-year-old student after connecting with the teen on Instagram, police said.
Timothy Williams, a 30-year-old who taught social studies and coached track at Mt. Juliet High School, was arrested Thursday on two counts of aggravated statutory rape after he sexually assaulted the female student at his Nashville home.
An investigation revealed Williams picked the girl up in June at a friend’s house in Mt. Juliet, where she had planned to spend the night. Police said Williams then took her back to his home before returning the girl to her friend’s residence the following morning.
Detectives said the victim’s account was backed up by license plate readers in Mt. Juliet, a town of about 37,000 roughly 20 miles east of Nashville.
It is unclear if he taught the student but police are now concerned that Williams, who taught in the district since 2013, may have victimized others.
Williams, who was suspended by Wilson County Schools when the allegations came to light, later resigned prior to the start of the school year, district officials told WSMV.
“At that time, our schools were not in session due to summer break,” district officials said in a statement to the station. “We have worked very closely with local law enforcement throughout their investigation and will continue to do so moving forward.”
Williams also served as an assistant football coach at the school, the Tennessean reported.
The former educator is also facing misdemeanor drug charges after cops found more than 30 grams of marijuana and drug paraphernalia at his home during a search on July 8, the newspaper reported.
It’s unclear if Williams, who remained jailed Thursday on $50,000 bond, has hired an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
Anyone with information about other possible victims should call Nashville police at (615) 862-7417.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/12/04/ex-teacher-coach-charged-with-raping-teen-student/
Photo Credit: Metropolitan Nashville Police Department
Pastor dies of COVID-19 weeks after Fontana megachurch reopened for indoor services
An associate pastor for a megachurch in San Bernardino County died of COVID-19 about a month after the facility reopened indoor services.
Bob Bryant of the Water of Life Community Church in Fontana tested positive for the coronavirus in November and soon developed an aggressive pneumonia in his lungs, according to a post on the church’s Facebook site. He then suffered a heart attack. He ultimately was placed on a ventilator and died Monday. He was 58.
Bryant was a pastor in the church’s benevolence department, which provides financial assistance for people in need, said Susan DePaola, executive assistant to the senior pastor.
Bryant became sick while on vacation and did not return to the church once he showed symptoms in November. DePaola said she was not sure when Bryant was last at the church. It can generally take up to 14 days after a person is exposed to the coronavirus to begin showing signs of illness.
A state health order does not permit churches to hold indoor services in counties in the state’s most restrictive, or purple, tier in its reopening framework, which includes San Bernardino County. Only outdoor services are permitted in those counties.
San Bernardino County has been among the hardest-hit regions in the state; in the last week, it has reported one of the highest rates of coronavirus infections among California’s 58 counties. The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the county has quadrupled in the past month, from 217 on Oct. 26 to 883 on Tuesday.
Following California’s original stay-at-home order imposed in March, the state allowed houses of worship to reopen in late May with limited indoor capacity. But after a surge in cases in the late spring and early summer, state officials closed indoor operations of churches in mid-July in the hardest-hit counties. Water of Life Community Church defied that order, however, and reopened five weeks ago.
DePaola said county officials knew the church was holding services indoors. “The county is aware we are meeting inside,” she said. “We’re not trying to break rules. They know what we’re doing.”
David Wert, a spokesman for San Bernardino County, said the county received a complaint on Nov. 16 that the church was conducting indoor services in violation of the state order. The county sent the church a letter on Monday asking it to comply with the order.
Wert said the county conducts an outbreak investigation when it learns of at least three cases linked to a facility within 14 days. Officials are not aware of other coronavirus cases linked to the church.
The church’s senior pastor, Dan Carroll, in a Times article in May said he hosted a forum among leaders of hundreds of churches who were determined to reopen in defiance of California’s health order at the time.
On its website, the church says its weekend attendance is about 7,000. It was unclear how much in-person attendance has changed since the church reopened for indoor services on Oct. 31, which it announced on its Facebook page.
“This weekend, Oct. 31st/Nov. 1st, we are moving our church services back to inside the Worship Center AND returning back to our traditional service times. Social distancing will be followed and face masks are required,” the post said. “We will still have seating available outside, as long as the weather permits, for those that are not comfortable with sitting inside.”
Bryant, known as Pastor Bob, had been with the church since he met the senior pastor about 18 years ago when he was a truck driver delivering furniture, DePaola said. He was hired as a youth pastor and later became the associate pastor in the benevolence department.
Bryant was able to help “thousands of people, by helping them financially and spiritually praying over them,” DePaola said.
“And Bob was a really big presence: He had the biggest heart of anyone you would ever meet. If you were in a room full of hundreds of people, he had the ability to make you feel like you were the most special person in the room,” she said. “He was an encourager and an uplifter and just always had a smile.”
Bryant is survived by his wife, Lori; children Missy, Jacob, Jordan and Josh; and several grandchildren.
A memorial service is scheduled for Monday both inside and outdoors. It will be livestreamed and open for in-person attendance.
“Please note, if you will be joining us in person, social distancing will be practiced and face masks are required at all times while on campus,” the church’s website said.
Funerals are permitted only outdoors in San Bernardino County, according to the state health order.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
via: https://currently.att.yahoo.com/att/cm/pastor-dies-covid-19-weeks-175638135.html
Photo Credit: Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times
Wendy Williams Movie Trailer
Wendy Williams biopic premieres Saturday, January 30 at 8/7c on Lifetime