Michigan man charged with nursing home attack that outraged Trump
Michigan man charged with nursing home attack that outraged Trump
A young Detroit nursing home patient has been charged in the brutal, caught-on-video beatdown of his 75-year-old roommate that left President Trump outraged.
Jaden Hayden, 20, is facing assault charges for allegedly filming himself repeatedly punching Norman Bledsoe and stealing his credit cards. The alleged attack left the elderly man hospitalized with head injuries.
Hayden allegedly told staff at Westwood Rehabilitation Nursing Center that his roommate had fallen out of bed. But he was busted after posting video of his attack online — grabbing the attention of the president.
“Is this even possible to believe?” Trump tweeted last Thursday.
The video also reached Detroit police, who arrested Hayden the same day Trump tweeted.
He was charged Sunday with two counts of assault, larceny and two counts of stealing a financial transaction device, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office said. He was arraigned later that day with his bond set at $300,000, the Detroit Free Press said.
“The alleged actions of this defendant are truly and uniquely disturbing. We must be able to trust our loved ones in specialty care facilities. I truly hope that the facts of this case are one of a kind,” prosecutor Kym Worthy said, according to the paper.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/05/25/michigan-man-charged-with-brutal-nursing-home-attack/
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Wendy’s shooting massacre haunts survivor, families 20 years later
FLUSHING, Queens — Twenty years after a brutal shooting at a Wendy’s in Queens, Benjamin Nazario can’t shake the horror of what happened to his brother, Ramon, and six co-workers in the basement freezer of the fast food franchise.
“I was sleeping, and my sister called me yelling that something happened at Wendy’s,” Nazario recently told PIX11.
Now, he avoids the site of the former Wendy’s at 40-12 Main St. in Flushing.
“When I go there, I go to the other side of the street,” he said.
The night that changed everything
Jaquione Johnson was only 18 when he showed up for his evening shift at Wendy’s on May 24, 2000.
He was working with five other men that Wednesday night.
Anita Smith, a 22-year-old Jamaica resident, was the only woman on duty, and she was posted at the cash register. She was planning to start college in the fall, so she could teach children with autism.
“She was supposed to have left at 11 p.m., which was closing time,” Johnson, now 38, recalled. “But she stayed a little later.”
That decision would prove fatal for Smith, who smiled at one of two men who strolled into Wendy’s five minutes before it closed.
That man was John Taylor, 36, a former assistant manager at the fast food restaurant. He had hired Smith about a year-and-a-half earlier.
The manager on duty that night was Jean Auguste, who’d had some issues with Taylor when they worked together. Yet the two men chatted rather amiably that night.
“He ordered his food, I said ‘That’s his boy, I’m gonna hook him up, boom, boom, boom,’” Johnson said, remembering how he made a nice meal for Taylor with extra fixings.
The man who walked in with Taylor was Craig Godineaux, 30, who worked as a security guard with Taylor at a Jamaica clothing store.
Godineaux was an imposing 6 feet, 5 inches tall with a slim build.
Taylor stood about 5 feet, 5 inches tall and was husky.
Both had been arrested for robbery before.
The men sat at separate tables to eat. Then, they made another move.
“They both went in the bathrooms. There was a women’s bathroom and a men’s bathroom,” Johnson said. “John, he came out and started talking to Jean. They went downstairs … I thought they were friends.”
But this wasn’t a friendly visit.
Godineaux came out of the bathroom, Johnson remembered, “and he heard me freestyling. He asked me if I knew any rappers.”
Godineaux and the fast food worker then did some name-dropping of rap stars they liked.
Then, Johnson heard his manager’s voice.
“I get a call on the intercom, which was Jean telling us to come downstairs, we’re having a meeting,” Johnson remembered.
The employees were dutiful and started going downstairs to the basement.
Ramon Nazario, 44, the oldest employee on duty, was locking up Wendy’s front door, according to his brother, who worked at a hotel around the corner. Benjamin Nazario often stopped at Wendy’s on his way home.
“My brother opened the door and I asked him, ‘You going home?’ He said, ‘Not yet. They’re having some kind of meeting. I will catch up,’” Nazario recalled. “He would have survived, because he had the keys to the door … And he closed it. And I watched him go down. So I walked away. I asked him if he had change for the bus, he said ‘Yes.’”
Once all the employees got downstairs, it quickly became apparent there was no meeting.
“John was like, ‘Everybody back up and get down on the floor!” Johnson said. “John had the gun on everybody and Craig duct-taped everybody up.”
“The manager popped the tape off his hand and pulled it off his face, and started breathing funny, yo ‘my asthma, my asthma!’” Johnson said. “Then they beat him up, put more duct tape on him, picked everybody up and walked us in the freezer.”
“That’s when they came in with plastic bags,” Johnson remembered.
Godineaux put bags over all seven employees’ heads, but the bag on Johnson failed to cover his right eye.
“’Everybody get down on your knees.’ That’s what he said, ‘Everybody get down on your knees.’ Basically, it was an execution,” Johnson said.
“So, that’s when they shot Jean,” Johnson recalled. “Then Anita started screaming. They shot her. I’m right next to Jeremy. He [Taylor] passed the gun to Craig. ‘Craig, take the gun.’ I figured he was going to shoot me. Instead of shooting me, he goes to the corner, he shoots Ramon, Patrick, Ali and then me. I was the last one to get shot.”
Johnson said when he got shot in the head, it “felt like I was hit with a sledgehammer.”
When he came to, he recalled co-worker Patrick Castro asking him if he was OK.
The body of one co-worker, Ali Ibadat, had fallen on Castro’s knees.
Castro only had his cheek grazed.
When Castro thought the killers were still inside Wendy’s, he lay back down and played dead, placing his co-worker’s body back over his knees.
As it turned out, the shooters were gone, and Castro was able to call 911 using a fax machine.
“I was blacking out, going in and out,” Johnson told PIX11. “I think he put me in a chair for a second. And then he was like, ‘Yo, you think you can make it up the stairs?’ I was like, ‘I don’t know.’ I blacked out, I woke back up, and that’s when the cops and everyone were coming in.”
Castro had carried his critically wounded co-worker, Johnson, up the staircase.
“If it wasn’t for God saving Patrick, Patrick wouldn’t have saved me,” Johnson said.
In the freezer, five of Johnson’s co-workers were dead: Auguste, who at age 27 was engaged to be married; Nazario, a father of two; Ibadat, a 42-year-old native of Pakistan; Jeremy Mele, an 18-year-old from the Jersey Shore who wanted to join the military; and Smith, the oldest of four children.
The aftermath of a massacre
“She was so kind … She didn’t say ‘no’ to anything,” Smith’s mother, Joan, told PIX11. “You know, every time I see young people walking, and I see someone who looks just like my daughter, I hug them.”
“A lot of times, I cry through my heart, when I’m by myself,” Smith’s father, Michael, said.
He recalled Smith as a newborn and all the love he had for his first child.
“I’m the one who took her out of the hospital! I’m the one who brought her little clothes in. And every day, I put a bottle in my pocket and put her on my chest,” he remembered. “And I raise her and I cook her a little porridge, and she always stick to me … I teach her to walk. Every little thing that a father would do.”
After the shooting, Johnson had to learn to walk all over again.
The bullet entered his head between the two lobes of his brain and travelled down his nasal cavity, before exiting in his mouth.
“I was like half-paralyzed on my right side,” Johnson said. “Couldn’t walk, couldn’t talk, couldn’t eat.”
But Johnson made a rather miraculous recovery.
“I got shot May 24, 2000. By July 16, I was out of the hospital, walking and talking,” he said.
Yet the last 20 years have been tough for him.
He suffered from seizures, and emotionally he’s been stuck, his mother said.
When asked about his biggest struggles, Johnson said, “Smoking weed, drinking.”
“It keeps me relaxed,” he added.
Within 48 hours of the shooting, the NYPD had the two suspects in custody thanks to a fingerprint of Taylor’s found on a box holding the plastic bags.
When Taylor was arrested, he was still carrying the .380 semi-automatic used in the shooting, along with the surveillance tape he took from the video machine at Wendy’s — and most of the $2,400 he made away with.
The former Wendy’s is now a mini-shopping mall, currently shuttered to shoppers because of the coronavirus outbreak.
“It’s 20 years now, and I actually can talk about it,” said Smith’s sister, Michelle.
Michelle said she spent most of the last two decades denying her pain.
“When you’re born nine months apart, it’s like a twin,” Michelle Smith told PIX11. “We grew up together. I was called little Anita. We were hand in hand. We were best friends.”
“It’s taken time and it does affect me in a lot of ways,” Michelle Smith said. “But I try not to let it overpower me.”
Ramon Nazario’s son — who was a 2-year-old waiting at the window for his dad the night of the shooting — is now a United States Marine stationed in California.
The pandemic prevented Ramon Nazario III from coming to New York City this May to visit his family.
Johnson is grateful for his survival, but the trauma of what happened never leaves him.
“I still think of my friends all the time,” Johnson said. “I got to live with that the rest of my life.”
Photo Credit: pix11.com
Second Missouri hairstylist tests positive for COVID-19, total of 140 clients possibly exposed
(CNN) — Two Missouri hairstylists potentially exposed 140 clients to coronavirus when they worked for up to eight days this month while symptomatic, health officials said.
The Springfield-Greene Health Department announced Saturday that a second hairstylist tested positive for coronavirus, and may have exposed 56 clients at the same Great Clips salon.
A day earlier, it had said another hairstylist with coronavirus at the same salon potentially exposed 84 customers and seven coworkers.
Both stylists had symptoms while at work, officials said. They did not provide details on their conditions or when they tested positive.
The incident highlights the dangers of community spread in the United States as businesses reopen after weeks of restrictions to stop the spread of coronavirus.
The stylists and clients wore face coverings
Both stylists worked from the second week of May to Wednesday. The clients and the stylists all wore face coverings, the Health Department said. At the time, businesses like barbershops and hair salons were allowed to operate in the state.
“It is the hope of the department that because face coverings were worn throughout this exposure timeline, no additional cases will result,” it added.
The salon kept impeccable records that made contact tracing possible, said Clay Goddard, director of the Springfield-Greene County Health Department.
But he cautioned about the risks of overwhelming resources.
“I’m going to be honest with you: We can’t have many more of these,” he said at a news conference. “We can’t make this a regular habit or our capabilities as a community will be strained.”
Goddard said he was pleased with the deep cleaning measures taken by Great Clips, adding that he now considers the business safe.
“The well-being of Great Clips customers and stylists in the salon is our top priority and proper sanitization has always been an important cosmetology industry practice for Great Clips salons. We’ve closed the salon where the employee works and it’s currently undergoing additional sanitizing and deep cleaning,” the owners of the business said in a statement to CNN affiliate KYTV.
More than 97,000 people have died from coronavirus in the United States, where the number of confirmed cases is more than 1.6 million, according to Johns Hopkins. Missouri has nearly 12,000 cases of infections and more than 650 deaths.
Photo Credit: nbcnews.com
Basketball legend Patrick Ewing tests positive for coronavirus
(CNN) — Basketball Hall of Famer and Georgetown men’s basketball coach Patrick Ewing said Friday he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19.
Ewing, 57, tweeted, “This virus is serious and should not be taken lightly. I want to encourage everyone to stay safe and take care of yourselves and your loved ones.”
Ewing, who won an NCAA championship in 1984 as a Georgetown player, said he wanted to thank health care workers and everyone on the front lines of the pandemic.
“I’ll be fine and we will all get through this,” Ewing said.
The university said Ewing is isolated at a hospital. He is the only person in the program to have tested positive for the virus, Georgetown said.
Ewing played most of his NBA career with the New York Knicks but also had stints with the Seattle SuperSonics and the Orlando Magic. He scored almost 25,000 points and had more than 11,000 rebounds in his 17-year career.
He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.
He has been the coach at Georgetown since 2017.
Photo Credit: kmov.com
Skateboarder rides on top of memorial honoring veterans
(CNN) — A skateboarder in California caused controversy after a video surfaced of him riding across the sacred walls of a memorial honoring military members.
Over 5,000 Americans are etched into the black granite walls of the Mt. Soledad National Veterans Memorial in San Diego. It is considered one of the most unique veterans memorials in America, according to the memorial group. People from all over the nation visit to honor the brave men and woman that are listed on the plaques that cover the walls.
In the video, recorded and uploaded by San Diego resident Bill Bender, an unidentified man is seen riding his skateboard across the to tops of the curved granite walls. He then jumps with the board and attempts to land on another side wall. While he attempts the trick, a group nearby watches and films him.
“I’m appalled at such disregard and carelessness,” Neil O’Connell, President and CEO of Mt. Soledad National Veterans Memorial, said in a statement posted on Facebook.
“Our granite walls require constant care by volunteers due to the atmosphere. It’s a lot of work. But come on, how disrespectful is it to ride skateboards over the tops and edges of this fine surface.”
O’Connell said that there was no damage to the plaques in this incident.
The video is no longer available to view on Facebook. But when it was public, many people slammed the behavior.
Don Hotz was among the video viewers. He told CNN affiliate KGTV that he recognized the memorial as the location where his father and uncle have plaques.
“I know what it’s like to be a kid and a skater but this where frankly I draw the line,” Hotz said. “If you’re listening guys, I would appreciate it if you would not do that kind of thing. That’s disrespectful to men that spend their lives protecting what we have today.”
San Diego Police Department officials told CNN they are aware of the incident and saw the video on social media. They are currently investigating this as a vandalism case.
The memorial dates back to 1952 and honors veterans, living or deceased, from the Revolutionary War to the current war on terrorism, according to its website.
“We would ask that everybody remember to honor the sanctity of the MT Soledad National Veterans Memorial and respect the sacrifices of our veterans who are honored here,” O’Connell said. “Especially to be considerate of their families and loved ones who hold the memorial plaques so close in their hearts.”
Photo Credit: kmov.com/cnn
Missouri hairstylist with coronavirus worked while symptomatic, exposing up to 91 people
A hairstylist with coronavirus worked for eight days this month while symptomatic, exposing as many as 91 customers and coworkers in Missouri, health officials said.
The case highlights the threats of community spread in the United States as businesses reopen after weeks of restrictions to combat the spread of coronavirus.
In this instance, the 84 customers exposed got services from the hairstylist at Great Clips, said Clay Goddard, director of the Springfield-Greene County Health Department. In addition to the customers, seven coworkers were also notified of exposure.
“I’m very frustrated to be up here,” Goddard said during a press conference. “And maybe more so, I’m disappointed.”
It’s unclear when the stylist tested positive but the infection is believed to have happened while traveling in Missouri. The stylist worked May 12 through Wednesday at Great Clips at 1864 S. Glenstone Ave, health officials said Friday. At the time, businesses such as barbershops and hair salons were allowed to operate in the state.
“The individual and their clients were wearing face coverings. The 84 clients potentially directly exposed will be notified by the Health Department and be offered testing, as will seven coworkers,” the Springfield-Greene County Health Department said in a statement. “It is the hope of the department that because face coverings were worn throughout this exposure timeline, no additional cases will result.”
Goddard did not provide details on the identity or the condition of the stylist. He said health officials have reached out to the people who were exposed, adding that the hairstylist had kept impeccable records that made contact tracing possible.
But he cautioned about the risks of overwhelming resources.
“I’m gong to be honest with you: We can’t have many more of these,” he said at a news conference. “We can’t make this a regular habit or our capabilities as a community will be strained.”
Health officials provided a detailed timeline of all the places the stylist visited, including a local Dairy Queen, a Walmart and a CVS pharmacy.
They urged those who may have gone to those places to be on the lookout for coronavirus symptoms.
Goddard said he was pleased with the deep cleaning measures taken by Great Clips, adding that he now considers the business safe.
“The wellbeing of Great Clips customers and stylists in the salon is our top priority and proper sanitization has always been an important cosmetology industry practice for Great Clips salons. We’ve closed the salon where the employee works and it’s currently undergoing additional sanitizing and deep cleaning,” the owners of the business said in a statement to CNN affiliate KYTV.
More than 96,000 people have died from coronavirus in the United States, where the number of confirmed cases is over 1.6 million, according to Johns Hopkins. Missouri has nearly 12,000 cases of infections and more than 600 deaths.
Photo Credit: kmov.com
Khloé Kardashian stuns fans with new look: ‘I barely recognize her’
Khloé Kardashian has debuted a new look to the surprise of many of her loyal fans, as several didn’t even recognize the reality star.
Kardashian, 35, shared photos of her new dye job on social media, debuting her bronde tresses for the masses. She also rocked a bronze tan and looks slimmer than ever in the glam shots.
“Location: under bitches skiiiinnnnn ?,” she captioned the pics.
The mom immediately received feedback that the photos looked very little like the Khloe we all know and recognize, with one fan tweeting, “Who is khloe kardashian trying to fool?” Another added, “Idk if Khloe Kardashian used a surgeon or an app for this new face but either way I want in.”
“Khloe Kardashian is coming out of lock down a whole different person. Wow!,” wrote another follower who was taken aback by the E! star’s new look. “I just saw a pic of Khloe Kardashian and barely recognized her. Her hair was poppin tho,” wrote another.
“Okay who is this? WILL THE REAL @khloekardashian PLEASE STAND UP,” added another fan.
Yet another posted a compilation of Kardashian’s photos over the years, captioning the image, “Khloe Kardashian be looking like a different person every year.
Photo Credit: instagram
Florida mom accused of killing 9-year-old son with autism
A Miami-Dade woman who claimed two carjackers kidnapped her young son with autism is now facing a murder charge after she apparently admitted killing the boy, telling cops, “he’s going to be in a better place,” according to reports.
Patricia Ripley, 47, was arrested about 3 a.m. Saturday in the death of 9-year-old Alejandro Ripley, who was nonverbal, according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Alejandro’s body was found in a canal near a golf course close to where he was last seen late Thursday.
Ripley initially told authorities two men in a light blue sedan cut her off while she was driving, blocked her van and demanded drugs. When she insisted she didn’t have any, one man took her cellphone and grabbed her son before they drove off, she had claimed.
The tall tale prompted Florida cops to issue a statewide Amber Alert for Alejandro, who was nonverbal.
But after hours of questioning and confronted with surveillance footage of the married mother of two pushing the child into the canal, Ripley came clean, according to the Miami Herald.
via: https://nypost.com/2020/05/23/florida-mom-accused-of-killing-9-year-old-son-with-autism/
Photo Credit: Miami-Dade Department of Correct
NY Son Stabs Dad to Death During Zoom Call With 20 People
A Long Island man was stabbed and killed by his son while he was participating in a live video chat from his home, police said.
Dwight Powers was at his Amityville home on Dixon Avenue around noon on Thursday and taking part in a Zoom call with around 20 people when the attack happened, Suffolk County police said.
“By the defendant’s own admissions, he brutally stabbed his own father repeatedly until he was certain he was dead,” Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy D. Sini said in a statement Friday.
Sini’s office announced second degree murder charges were issued against 32-year-old Thomas Scully-Powers. He was arraigned Friday and remanded without bail; he faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, the district attorney said.
Others on the call saw the 72-year-old father collapse and fall off the screen, according to police, and quickly notified authorities as they grew concerned.
“I saw the victim was breathing heavily, all of a sudden he wasn’t in the camera’s view and a bald naked man ripped sheets off his bed and placed it on the floor like he was covering something up,” said one man who was on the call, but didn’t wish to be identified.
With some help from the others in the meetings, police were able to track down where Powers lived. When police arrived, a person answered the door and slammed it closed on them, said Kevin Beyrer of the Suffolk County Police Department. By the time officers secured the back of the home, the man had jumped out a window.
Scully-Powers fled the home and led cops on a chase for more than a mile, even running onto the grounds of a nearby hospital before he was caught less than an hour later and taken into custody, police said.
The prosecutor’s office says officers recovered several knives allegedly used in the attack as well as a mop and bucket presumably used to try and clean up the scene.
The 32-year-old was transported to an area hospital after his leap from the window, according to Suffolk County police.
A motive for the alleged stabbing was not immediately clear. An investigation is ongoing.
Photo Credit: dailymail.co.uk
Florida teacher who sexually abused students begs judge for castration
A former Florida teacher who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing students begged a judge to castrate him as punishment — but was instead sentenced to 12 years behind bars, according to a report.
Mark Lua, 32, made the unusual request to have his testicles removed in order to dodge prison time in Pensacola court Wednesday, the Pensacola News Journal reported.
“My actions were despicable,” Lua told First Circuit Judge Thomas Dannheisser. “I do believe that punishment is necessary, and I am requesting chemical castration not only as a punishment but as an act of solidarity to show how sorry I am for everything.”
He added, “If your honor is so inclined, I am even willing to undergo physical castration if that way I can stay home and raise my daughter.”
But the judge ignored his request before handing down the sentence, along with 15 years of probation.
Lua, a former English teacher at Booker T. Washington High School in Pensacola, had sex with an underage girl and sexually assaulted an 18-year-old former student, according to prosecutors. He is accused of coercing a third student to send him a sexually explicit video.
He pleaded guilty last year to unlawful sexual activity with a minor and promoting a sexual performance by a child.
On Wednesday, prosecutor Erin Ambrose told the judge he preyed on vulnerable girls.
“He seemed to seek out girls that came from unstable or troubled homes,” she said. “He manipulated them, and he betrayed them because he was a teacher.”
During the sentencing hearing, Lua also claimed to suffer from the genetic disorder neurofibromatosis, which causes tumors. He said he often had panic attacks during the time of the sexual abuse.
“If I’m with my family or when I might sit down and read a book, I think about the tumors, and I think ‘Oh my God, this might be my last day on Earth,’ ” Lua said.
But Ambrose brushed off his plea for sympathy.
“This condition did not seem to debilitate him while he was trolling the halls, looking for students to have sex with,” she said.
Photo Credit: Escambia County Jail via AP