Kansas City reporter dies after being struck by bullet in her apartment
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A young public radio journalist has died after being struck by a stray bullet inside her Kansas City apartment.
Aviva Okeson-Haberman, 24, was struck by a bullet Friday afternoon while she was in her first-floor apartment, according to KCUR, where she worked.
Okeson-Haberman had been covering Missouri government and politics at the station where she had worked since 2019 after graduating from the University of Missouri. The native of Springfield, Missouri, had recently been planning to move to Lawrence, Kansas, for a new job covering criminal justice issues for the Kansas News Service.
After news of Okeson-Haberman’s death broke Sunday, many colleagues and public officials, including Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly and Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, offered memories and condolences on Twitter.
“Aviva was a creative, thorough, challenging, and insightful reporter. Always prepared, she told the full and complex story of our city in one of the most challenging years in its history,” Lucas wrote. “Her death lays bare our gravest unsolved epidemic and the preventable tragedies too many families endure.”
Her coworkers praised Okeson-Haberman.
“Aviva was brilliant,” KCUR news director Lisa Rodriguez said in the station’s story. “Even as an intern, her approach to storytelling and her ability to hold those in power accountable paralleled many a veteran reporter.”
Kansas City police said officers went to an apartment in the city’s Santa Fe neighborhood Friday and found an individual with a gunshot wound. At that time, police said the victim was taken to a hospital with serious, life-threatening injuries.
A police spokesman said Sunday that authorities could not confirm the name of that victim because they were still on life support.
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/kansas-city-reporter-dies-after-being-struck-by-bullet-in-her-apartment/article_046cacba-8afe-5a6e-ac04-1e710fb2a1d0.html
Photo Credit: KCTV
Tyrese Dragged for Video of Him Shaving New Girlfriend’s Pubic Hair on Instagram
Just a few months after Tyrese and his estranged wife, Samantha Lee Gibson, announced that they would be separating after four years of marriage, things appear to be getting serious between the 42-year-old actor and his new girlfriend, Zelie Timothy.
The 25-year-old social media influencer took to Instagram on Sunday and shared her grooming practices with the world, posting a NSFW video of Tyrese shaving her bikini line. While Timothy’s face was not in the clip, her legs were kicked up in the air and spread.
“I will never let go of my King. But does your man shave you though?” she captioned the post with an eye-roll emoji.
If that wasn’t already too much information, Tyrese then decided to explain what was about to go down. “I’m going to put the creamer on it first, and then i’ll mix it with some oil,” he tells Timothy.
Naturally, it didn’t take long for Twitter to chime in, with some praising Tyrese’s willingness to give his partner a helping hand while others felt the over-sharing was a little inappropriate.
via: https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/tyrese-dragged-video-new-girlfriend-pubic-hair-instagram/
Photo Credit: instagram
Boy, 3, fatally shot at Miami area birthday party
A 3-year-old boy was fatally shot at a birthday party in a home near Miami on Saturday night, police said.
The toddler, identified by cops as Elijah LaFrance, was among two people shot at an Airbnb rental in the Golden Glades neighborhood that was being used to host a party, CBS Miami reported.
The child was taken to the hospital after the 8 p.m. shooting, but could not be saved, the report said.
“Oh God, he is still on my mind,” LaFrance’s uncle, Adrian Annestor told the news outlet. “I was just playing with him.”
“I wish it could have been me because I’ve lived long enough. He couldn’t even say mom and dad,” he said.
The other victim, a 21-year-old woman, was hospitalized in stable condition.
Witnesses told the news outlet that dozens of shots were fired from a suspect who fled in a car.
No arrests were made as of early Monday and police are seeking the public’s help for any potential leads in the case.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/04/26/boy-3-fatally-shot-at-miami-area-birthday-party/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Arizona woman charged with murdering her newborn baby
An Arizona woman was arrested last Thursday for allegedly murdering her newborn child, a report said.
Alison Yisel Sanchez Valdez, 23, is accused of killing her baby boy after he was born in October 2019, and hiding his corpse in a bathroom vanity, Fox 10 reported, citing authorities.
Police were tipped off to the case after Sanchez Valdez, who was 21 at the time, was hospitalized after being found by family members bleeding in her bathroom at a home in Phoenix, the report said.
Sanchez Valdez told doctors she had not been pregnant, but hospital staffers reached out to the police to investigate.
Cops later found the boy’s body wrapped in a towel inside the bathroom.
During an 18-month investigation, it was determined Sanchez Valdez’s baby was born alive, then she allegedly killed him.
Sanchez Valdez is charged with murder and child abuse.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/04/26/arizona-woman-charged-with-murdering-her-newborn-baby/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
White Virginia woman fired after telling black neighbor she’s ‘not right color’
A white Virginia woman has been fired from her job after she was caught on a disturbing video yelling at her black neighbor that she is “not the right color.”
The footage shows an argument between the food bank worker and the black resident, who is standing on her front porch on Lynchburg Avenue in Colonial Heights, about 20 miles south of Richmond, the Progress-Index reported.
“You are not the right color, honey!” the white woman yells.
The other woman, who was identified by the Daily Mail as Laquetta Good, is then heard repeatedly asking her neighbor, “I’m a n—-?”
“Yes, you are!” the white woman is heard saying in response.
In a video posted on Facebook, Good writes in the caption: “Let’s talk about the Colonial Heights police officer who watched the whole video and all he said was she won’t (sic) on my property.”
In another video, she wrote: “Let’s rewind back to the beginning when she called the police to search my house for drugs because her words were I couldn’t afford my house, I never leave the house so I had to sell drugs because I’m black and had a Porsche.
“Yes the POLICE SURE DID SEARCH MY HOUSE FOR DRUGS SMH. No drugs were found I work from home!! This has been going on for MONTHS,” she added.
Good, 30, told the Mail that the blowup was part of an ongoing dispute — and that the women’s children don’t get along.
“I feel like a prisoner in my own home,” she said. “She has called me many names before but to hear her being racist, that really shocked me.
“You should be able to feel comfortable in your own home. This is not acceptable. We still have a long way to go as a society for equality.”
In a post on the Chesterfield Food Bank’s Facebook page, CEO Kim Hill said she was “broken-hearted” over the video.
“We want to thank everyone for reaching out to us in regards to the video and story that was posted this morning regarding a confrontation between an individual and one of our employees in their neighborhood,” Hill wrote.
“We, here at the CFB, are broken-hearted to view this conduct as it goes directly against our values and beliefs. We are honored to serve everyone in need with dignity & integrity,” she wrote.
“In response to this situation, we have terminated this employee. We remain committed to creating and providing a positive, uplifting, and encouraging environment for our staff, volunteers, and clients,” Hill added.
Commenters on the original Colonial Heights Issues page where the video was posted claimed the argument was the latest in a series of disputes between the two women.
Police did not immediately respond to the Progress-Index’s request for comment.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/04/26/white-virginia-woman-tells-black-neighbor-shes-not-right-color/
Photo Credit: facebook.com
Colorado cops seen laughing at elderly dementia patient they injured
A pair of Colorado cops can be heard callously joking how they manhandled a 73-year-old female dementia patient during a brutal arrest that left the ailing woman with broken bones, according to newly released body cam footage.
“Ready for the pop? Hear the pop?” one of the officers asks as they giggle over the video images of Karen Garner being taken into custody after walking out of a store with items she didn’t pay for.
In the June 2020 bust, Loveland, Colo., Officer Austin Hopp forced Karen Garner to the ground, and Officer Daria Jalali slammed her to a police vehicle, according to the video.
The septuagenarian, who is afflicted with dementia and sensory aphasia, suffered severe bruising, a broken elbow, and a dislocated arm at the hands of the cops, her lawyers said in a lawsuit filed against the department.
Garner, whom her family describes as standing five feet tall and weighing 80 pounds, had walked out of a Walmart with $13.38 worth of stuff — a candy bar, a Pepsi, and a t-shirt.
She returned the items at an employee’s request, but the officers arrested her on the road picking flowers as she told them repeatedly, “I’m going home!”
In a video of the inside of the Loveland police station made after Garner was taken into custody, the officers can be seen making cruel comments as they rewatch footage of them taking down the elderly woman.
When one officer at the desk says, “I hate this,” another responds, “I love it.”
“I can’t believe I threw a 73-year-old on the ground,” Hopp says.
“It’s just like live TV,” Jalai responds. “Body-cams are my favorite thing to watch, I could watch livestream body-cams all day.”
At one point one officer asks, “Ready for the pop? Hear the pop?” in apparent reference to Garner’s contorting limbs. “I think it was her shoulder,” he says.
Hopp has been placed on administrative leave, and the charges against Garner have been dismissed.
The video was released by attorney Sarah Schielke, who is representing Garner in a federal civil rights suit against the department.
Garner alleges that officers “hurt my shoulders” nearly two dozen times and “hurt my wrists” more than a dozen times during the six hours she was in police custody.
According to Schielke, the officers were entertaining themselves with the bodycam footage as Garner sat handcuffed to a bench.
The suit alleges the commanding officer on duty, St. Phil Metzler, knew Garner was injured and declined to administer first aid or call for medical attention. State prosecutors have initiated a criminal probe into Hopp, Jalali, and Metzler.
Though the arrest took place last year, the release of the bodycam footage earlier this month reignited interest in Garner’s case.
Police use of force has come under intense scrutiny following the murder conviction of white former police officer Derek Chauvin last week for the killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man. Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, suffocating him. Just last week, police in North Carolina shot Andrew Brown, a Black man, as he drove away from them.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/04/26/colorado-cops-seen-laughing-at-dementia-patient-they-injured/
Photo Credit: Loveland Police Department
Family indicted, accused of selling bleach as COVID cure
MIAMI — A family accused of selling a toxic industrial bleach as a coronavirus cure through their church has been indicted on federal charges.
A federal grand jury returned an indictment Thursday charging Mark Grenon and his three sons with one count each of conspiracy to commit fraud and two counts each of criminal contempt.
Grenon is the archbishop of the Genesis II Church of Health and Healing in Bradenton, Florida.
Officials say the church sells chlorine dioxide and the Grenons claim the toxic solution can cure a vast variety of illnesses.
A federal judge last year ordered the church to stop selling the substance, but officials say the order was ignored.
via: https://pix11.com/news/family-indicted-accused-of-selling-bleach-as-covid-cure/
Photo Credit: pix11.com
Man wins $2 million in lottery after ‘losing everything’ in flood
(NEXSTAR) – A Michigan man won $2 million off a scratch-off lottery ticket after “losing everything” in a flood the previous year, lottery officials said.
The 29-year-old Midland County man chose to remain anonymous. He purchased his winning Lucky 7’s ticket at Anna’s Market on 1618 Jefferson Avenue in Midland, Michigan.
“Last year, I lost everything in a flood, so to win this prize is so overwhelming to me,” the man said in a statement. “I never play $20 tickets, but when I stopped to pick up a couple things on my way to pick up my kids the Lucky 7’s ticket caught my eye. Seven is a lucky number for me, so I decided to take a chance and bought the ticket.
“I scratched it off when I got back to my car. When I saw I had a match, I thought: ‘Great, I won my money back!’ When I saw I had actually won $2 million, I couldn’t stop shaking. A few years back, I won $10,000 and I thought that was my once in a lifetime shot at winning the Lottery.”
The man chose to receive his winnings as a one-time lump sum payment of approximately $1.3 million.
He plans to pay his bills with the money and save what’s leftover.
“Knowing my kids will be taken care of is the best feeling in the world,” the player said in the statement.
According to lottery officials, people have won over $92 million playing Lucky 7’s. The $20 ticket offers prizes ranging from $20 to $2 million.
via: https://pix11.com/news/man-wins-2-million-in-lottery-after-losing-everything-in-flood/
Photo Credit: pix11.com
Spanish man charged with infecting 22 people with COVID-19
MADRID — A Spanish man with COVID-19 symptoms who coughed on work colleagues and told them “I’m going to give you all the coronavirus” has been charged with intentionally causing injury after allegedly infecting 22 people.
Spanish police said their investigation began after a COVID-19 outbreak at the company where the 40-year-old man worked on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca.
Days before the outbreak, the man showed COVID-19 symptoms but refused his colleagues’ suggestions to go home and self-isolate, police said in a statement.
After work, and showing no improvement, he went for a PCR test before visiting a gym and returning to work the next day. Though his superiors told him to go home after he allegedly had showed a temperature of 40 degrees Celsius, the man refused.
He walked around his workplace, lowering his face mask and coughing on people, saying “I’m going to infect you all with the coronavirus,” according to police.
At the end of the day, his PCR test came back positive. His colleagues were then tested, with five returning positive results. They in turn infected family members, including three infants, police said. At the gym the man visited, three people tested positive and also infected family members.
None of those infected required hospitalization, police said.
A judge charged the man, who was not identified by police, and released him on Saturday evening to await trial, Spain’s Europa Press news agency reported.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/04/25/spanish-man-charged-with-infecting-22-people-with-covid-19/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Virginia trooper fired after forcefully arresting black man during traffic stop
Virginia State Police have fired a state trooper caught on video violently arresting a black motorist and telling him, “You’re going to get your ass whooped” — more than two years after the incident, according to new reports.
Trooper Charles Hewitt was fired in February for his role in the 2019 traffic stop in Fairfax County, an attorney representing driver Derrick Thompson told the Washington Post.
Video recorded by Thompson, 29, during his arrest — which went viral last summer — showed Hewitt playing to the camera, looking it dead in the eye and saying, “Watch the show, folks,” before yanking Thompson out of the car.
“Get off my neck sir. You are harming me,” Thompson can be heard saying off-camera.
The arrest came after Thompson filmed Hewitt unlocking and opening the car door while threatening to hurt him.
“Take a look at me. I’m a f–king specimen right here, buddy. You have gotten on my last nerve,” Hewitt tells Thompson — who repeats variations of “my hands are up,” “I’m being threatened,” and “I am in no threat to these officers” throughout the arrest.
“You have gotten on my last nerve, alright?” Hewitt tells him. “You’re going to get your ass whooped in front of the lord and all creation.”
“You can bring that with you. I’ll let you film that whole thing,” he says before violently removing Thompson from the vehicle.
Thompson pleaded guilty last year to misdemeanor obstruction of justice, but all other charges stemming from the arrest were dropped.
Video of the arrest went viral last July. At the time, the state’s superintendent of police said Hewitt’s conduct was not “in agreement with the established standards of conduct required of a Virginia trooper.”
Thompson sued Hewitt and the state last year, and received $20,000 in a settlement reached this month, attorney Joshua Erlich said. Virginia State Police declined to admit wrongdoing.
“Mr. Thompson filed this case because Trooper Hewitt’s behavior was unconscionable, and Mr. Thompson is happy with the outcome,” Erlich said.
“He thought he deserved — and received — monetary compensation. And although the VSP did not admit to any wrongdoing, Mr. Thompson is heartened Trooper Hewitt is no longer on the street and thinks Virginia is safer for it.”
With Post wires
via: https://nypost.com/2021/04/25/virginia-trooper-fired-after-forcefully-arresting-black-man/
Photo Credit: twitter