Baltimore will no longer prosecute drug possession, prostitution and other low-level offenses
(CNN) — Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby says the city will no longer prosecute for prostitution, drug possession and other low-level offenses.
Mosby made the announcement on Friday following her office’s one-year experiment in not prosecuting minor offenses to decrease the spread of Covid-19 behind bars.
“Today, America’s war on drug users is over in the city of Baltimore. We leave behind the era of tough-on-crime prosecution and zero tolerance policing and no longer default to the status quo to criminalize mostly people of color for addiction, said Mosby in an official press release.
The experiment, known as The Covid Criminal Justice Policies, is an approach to crime developed with public health authorities. Instead of prosecuting people arrested for minor crimes like prostitution and public urination, the program dealt with those crimes as public health issues and work with community partners to help find solutions.
The program has led to decreases in the overall incarcerated Baltimore population by 18%, while violent and property crimes are down 20% and 36% respectively, according to the press release.
Mosby said her office will no longer prosecute the following offenses: drug and drug paraphernalia possession, prostitution, trespassing, minor traffic offense, open container violations, and urinating and defecating in public.
Mosby said she intends to refocus law enforcement on more severe offenses that plague the city and have contributed to its violent reputation.
“When the courts open next month, I want my prosecutors working with the police and focused on violent offenses, like armed robbery, carjacking cases and drug distribution organizations that are the underbelly of the violence in Baltimore, not using valuable jury trial time on those that suffer from addiction,” Mosby said.
Her decision was supported by Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and Baltimore City Police Commissioner Michael Harrison. But Republican state Sen. Robert Cassilly told CNN affiliate WBFF that while he supports prosecutorial judgment, Mosby’s decision is closer to making the law rather than enforcing it.
“Prosecutors take an oath to uphold the constitution in the state of Maryland and the constitution says the general assembly sets the policy, not the prosecutors,” Cassilly told the station. “I respect the whole prosecutorial discretion. That’s not prosecutorial discretion, that’s an exercise in legislating. That’s what the legislature is supposed to do.”
Mosby said the state’s attorney’s office is also working with the Baltimore Police Department and Baltimore Crisis Response Inc. (BCRI), a crisis center dealing with mental health and substance abuse issue, to offer services instead of arresting individuals committing these lesser offenses.
“Rather than arrest and prosecution, BCRI will connect individuals with services in areas such as mental health, housing, and substance use,” according to the press release.
Mosby’s office, along with Baltimore police and BCRI, will work to support sex workers by partnering with local organizations like SPARC, a center for women in southwest Baltimore, Baltimore Safe Haven and the Baltimore branch of the Sex Workers Outreach Project.
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/baltimore-will-no-longer-prosecute-drug-possession-prostitution-and-other-low-level-offenses/article_24645773-c411-5187-b931-33a0c49770d8.html
Photo Credit: Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun
Teen girls charged with murder, carjacking of Uber Eats driver in Washington DC
(CNN) — Two teenage girls have been charged in the carjacking death of an Uber Eats driver this week in Washington, DC, police say.
Mohammad Anwar, 66, of Springfield, Virginia, was killed Tuesday afternoon near Nationals Park, the Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement.
Anwar was working as an Uber Eats driver, says a GoFundMe page set up by his family.
The girls, 13 and 15, assaulted Anwar with a Taser while carjacking him, which led to an accident in which he was fatally injured, police said.
The girls were charged with felony murder and armed carjacking, police said.
The younger girl is from the southeast section of DC, the older from Fort Washington, Maryland, police said.
Anwar immigrated from Pakistan in 2014, his family said on the GoFundMe page.
He “was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, uncle, and friend who always provided a smile when you needed one. He leaves behind a family, near and far, who cherish, love, and miss him dearly,” the family said.
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/teen-girls-charged-with-murder-carjacking-of-uber-eats-driver-in-washington-dc/article_37bc92d8-c6e2-5cb8-bc39-1bbf6474fd29.html
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Body camera video shows officers berating 5-year-old boy
SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — A police department in Maryland has released body camera video that captured two of its officers berating a 5-year-old boy who had walked away from his elementary school, calling him a “little beast” and threatening him with a beating.
The video released Friday by the Montgomery County Police Department shows one of the officers repeatedly screaming at the crying child, with her face inches from his.
“Oh, my God, I’d beat him so bad,” the officer said in the child’s presence before telling him, “You do not embarrass me like this at school.”
The boy’s mother has filed a lawsuit over the January 2020 interaction. Lawyers for the child’s mother, Shanta Grant, said the video shows the officers treating her son “as if he were a hardened criminal.” They said Grant is seeking “justice and fair compensation for the trauma he endured.”
“She also hopes that the incident will lead to changes in policy and training, both with the school and the police,” the attorneys, Matthew Bennett and James Papirmeister, said in a statement.
The Washington Post reports that the police department and the county’s public school system declined to address the incident in detail, citing the mother’s pending lawsuit. But the school system issued a statement describing the video as “extremely difficult” to watch.
“There is no excuse for adults to ever speak to or threaten a child in this way,” the school system said. “As parents and grandparents, we know that when families send their children to school, they expect that the staff will care for them, keep them safe and use appropriate intervention processes when needed.”
A police department spokeswoman told the newspaper that the two officers in the video remain employed by the department after an internal investigation.
“A thorough investigation was conducted of the entire event,” the department said in a statement.
The officers found the boy about one block from East Silver Spring Elementary School and drove him back to the school, where they were met by a school administrator. The video shows an officer forcing the crying child onto a chair in the principal’s office.
“Shut that noise up now!” the other officer shouted near the boy’s face. “I hope your momma let me beat you.”
One of the officers pulled out his handcuffs and closed one of loops around the child’s right wrist.
“You know what these are for?” he asked the boy. “These people that don’t want to listen and don’t know how to act.”
Both of the officers involved in the incident are Black, and so is the 5-year-old boy, according to police department spokesman Rick Goodale.
Montgomery County Council member Will Jawando said the video “made me sick.”
“We all saw a little boy be mocked, degraded, put in the seat of a police car, screamed at from the top of an adult police officer’s lungs, inches from his face. This is violence,” Jawando said.
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/body-camera-video-shows-officers-berating-5-year-old-boy/article_6fe81f6d-9222-588f-852c-87faf50c780a.html?block_id=990844
Photo Credit: Montgomery County Department of Police via AP
74-year-old woman accuses Derrius Guice of sexual harassment: ‘He scarred me’
A 74-year-old grandmother burst into tears Friday as she described to lawmakers how she allegedly was sexually harassed by then LSU-star running back Derrius Guice in 2017 while working security at the Superdome — and how the school did nothing about it when informed.
“I’m not just here for myself,” Gloria Scott said, adding that she represents other women who have had similar experiences, or might in the future if she didn’t speak up. “I just had to come here today and let you all know that LSU hides a lot of things. A whole lot of things are going on on that campus. He scarred me.”
Guice was a 2018 second-round draft pick of the Washington Football Team who spent two seasons in the NFL. He was cut last August following charges of strangulation, assault, battery and destruction of property relating to three alleged domestic violence incidents. He is accused of committing sexual assault three times during his time at LSU and has denied all allegations through an attorney.
Scott’s allegation was previously known, but Friday she retold her account for the public to hear during the Louisiana Senate Select Committee on Women and Children. The alleged incident was said to have occurred when Guice and his friends were attending a high school football game, she said, according to multiple published reports.
“I like to f— women like you, you older women, because y’all know y’all like us young men to f— y’all,” Scott said Guice told her, according to USA Today. “And, you know you want this body.”
Scott said she asked Guice to stop but he only became more vulgar, including rubbing his body up and down from his chest to his genitals with a big smile on his face, when he found out she was a grandmother.
“I was so hurt, and I was so nervous and upset,” she said. “In all my life, I’d never had a man or child talk to me so disrespectful like he did.”
The incident was mentioned in a 148-page report released by a law firm hired to investigate LSU’s response to sexual misconduct cases. The report since has led to the departure of Kansas football coach Les Miles and Oregon State president F. King Alexander, both of whom were in those same roles at LSU during the bulk of the years investigated.
Scott said she informed current LSU football coach Ed Orgeron of the incident, and he offered to put Guice on the phone to apologize, asking that she “please forgive.” Orgeron denied ever speaking with Scott.
Guice was never disciplined for this alleged incident or rape allegations while at LSU, according to the law firm’s findings. Scott said she also brought her harassment incident to the police, who did not follow up.
Scott said the harassment went on for four minutes, with Guice’s unidentified friends laughing, until the group walked away. She claimed she was later moved from her normal security post at high school games with a warning from her supervisors: “Well, if they find out you’re putting a charge on Derrius, the football players might have a reaction.”
She recalled asking, “What do you mean a reaction toward me? ‘I’m the victim.’ ”
Louisiana lawmakers vouched to hold LSU accountable.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/03/27/74-year-old-woman-accuses-derrius-guice-of-sexual-harassment/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
‘Bad Girls Club’ star killed in Virginia Beach shooting
One of the stars of the reality show “Bad Girls Club” was killed in a Virginia Beach melee.
Deshayla “Shay” Harris, 29, of Norfolk, Virginia, was gunned down in a series of shootings that left eight people wounded and a suspected gunman dead.
Harris posted video of herself on Instagram hours before the shooting, which took place after 11:30 p.m. Friday in the Oceanfront section of the resort city.
“I’m only doing s**t that’s gonna make me elevate!” said her last post, alongside a clip of her in a T-shirt and shorts at what appears to be a bar. Comments wishing that she rest in peace were posted Saturday morning.
Her sister, Tashara “Shani” Harris, posted a lament on Facebook early Saturday, calling Shay the person who told her she loved her every day.
Harris’ sister texted her every morning, the sister’s wrote.
“I didn’t get a txt from you this morning, you broke my heart Deshayla Shay Harris, why you leave us like this? My heart hurt so bad.”
Harris’s killing took place amidst a night of violence in Virginia Beach, which began when a fight broke out and someone opened fire, leaving multiple people shot, Virginia Beach Police said in a statement.
While police were investigating the initial shooting scene, they heard more shots ring out several blocks away and discovered one woman was hit.
“The adult female victim in this shooting succumbed to her injuries at the scene,” police said in their statement. “It is not currently believed this shooting incident is currently related to the initial incident.”
A police spokeswoman said she had no further details and could not confirm whether Harris was a bystander.
An officer near the second location shot an armed man, who died at the scene.
Harris appeared in the 17th and final season of Oxygen’s “Bad Girls Club” in 2017. Nicknamed “The Firecracker Fashionista,” she was part of the winning “East Coast” team.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/03/27/bad-girls-club-star-killed-in-virginia-beach-shooting/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Young mom left baby alone to starve to death for six days while she partied for her birthday
A young mom who left her baby alone at home for six days while she celebrated her birthday has pled guilty to manslaughter.
19-year-old Verphy Kudi was convicted in court this morning where it was heard how she had walked out on 20-month-old Asiah in December 2019.
Our sister title The Mirror reports how the teenager left her home in Brighton, Sussex, on December 5 to celebrate her 18 th birthday and did not return until December 11.
CCTV footage captured the moments she walked out and returned to the property where her baby had starved to death.
Lewes Crown Court heard how her baby was rushed to Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital but was confirmed dead on arrival and a post-mortem examination and forensic tests found that Asiah’s death was the result of neglect.
She was starved, dehydrated and had also contracted influenza.
Kudi appeared in the dock this morning wearing a blue face mask, a plain black top and black trousers.
She had been due to stand trial later this year but formally entered a guilty plea to manslaughter.
She held her hands to her face after the charge was read to her.
Judge Christine Laing QC told her: “You have heard that before I get to sentence you the defence want to get a report on your behalf and a doctor will no doubt make arrangements to see you and interview you over the next few weeks.”
The judge ordered that all social services records relating to the case be disclosed to the defence ahead of sentencing.
The case was adjourned to a provisional sentencing date of May 28, but Kudi was warned this may be delayed.
The mum, who has been in prison since being charged in October last year, was remanded in custody.
She waved at dad Muba Kudi, 59, after staff pointed him out during the hearing.
Speaking after, he said: “My heart is so broken. My daughter was missing. She had been missing since the age of 14.”
Asiah was born on March 22, 2018.
She had been living at the flat in Brighton with her mother, which they had been housed by social services since September 30, 2019.
The baby was under a child protection plan but there was no social worker assigned when she died.
On December 11, at 6:06pm, Kudi dialled 999 telling a call handler her baby would not wake up.
Staff at the Brighton mother and baby unit for teen mums where they had been living contacted police days later after reviewing CCTV footage.
Cameras showed Kudi leaving the building on December 5 at 5:39pm. She did not return until December 11.
Data gathered by Sussex Police showed Kudi had been at parties in London, Coventry and Solihull before returning to Brighton.
A safeguarding review into the case has been launched by Brighton and Hove Safeguarding Children Partnership (BHSCP).
via: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/young-mum-left-baby-alone-23801295
Photo Credit: dailyrecord.co.uk
New Jersey gym offering free membership to customers who refuse Covid vaccine, despite guidance from state officials
BELMAWR, N.J. (WCBS, KYW) — A New Jersey gym at the center of controversy throughout the coronavirus pandemic is now offering a freebie to anyone who does not receive the COVID vaccine.
Atilis Gym, in Bellmawr, initially made headlines last year when it repeatedly defied Gov. Phil Murphy’s shutdown order.
Gym owner Ian Smith posted on Twitter that the gym will be offering free memberships to anyone who doesn’t get the vaccine after learning about Krispy Kreme’s decision to give free doughnuts to anyone who receives the shots.
“In light of Krispy Kreme giving free donuts for receiving the CVD [sic] shot, here at The Atilis Gym we are giving out free memberships to all who don’t get vaccinated,” Smith tweeted. “We believe in health – the real way – exercise, good diet, plenty of vitamin D, Zinc and an environment to destress.”
Atilis Gym opened its doors in May 2020, starting a legal battle over whether Murphy’s order for nonessential businesses to remain closed was constitutional. The gym was fined more than $130,000 last year for repeatedly defying the state’s orders.
More than half a million Americans have died from the COVID-19 virus since the pandemic began.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week that about 85 million people in the United States have received at least one dose of a vaccine and more than 46 million are fully vaccinated. The medical community and government officials are urging the public to get a vaccine as soon as possible.
However, despite the vaccination progress, there is a resurgence of infections in the Tri-state Area, with New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware recording an increase in cases.
New Jersey now has the third-highest positivity rate nationwide, and hospitalizations have topped 2,000 for the first time in a month.
Officials blame variants and virus fatigue. People aren’t being as careful with masks and distancing, and while vaccinations are increasing, they haven’t been given to enough people to stop the uptick in cases.
Murphy said he would hold off on lifting more restrictions until it’s clear case counts are moving in the right direction.
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/new-jersey-gym-offering-free-membership-to-customers-who-refuse-covid-vaccine-despite-guidance-from/article_52f008e2-4ae9-5a35-8539-db762e985cf7.html
Photo Credit: KYW
MO corrections officer helped inmates assault victim, leaving him with broken jaw
ST. LOUIS (KMOV.com) — A corrections officer at the St. Louis City Jail was charged with assault Friday after being accused of letting two inmates attack another man and then not reporting the attack.
According to court documents, jailhouse footage shows two inmates walking up to talk to corrections officer Demeria Thomas, and then one of them walks toward the victim’s cell. Thomas is reportedly on camera opening the victim’s cell door, allowing the first inmate to go in and assault him.
The assailant reportedly attacked the man for more than three minutes, punching and kicking him in the cell. Then the second inmate entered the cell and joined in the assault.
Police say other inmates began walking toward the assault, but Thomas told them to stay where they were. She also at no point called for help or tried to stop the assault, according to charging documents.
The victim reportedly suffered a concussion and a broken jaw, as well as multiple wounds on his face and neck. Police say Thomas never reported the assault, and never sought medical help for the man. It was only two days later when someone else saw his injuries that he was taken to the hospital.
Thomas, 38, is charged with third degree assault.
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/st-louis-corrections-officer-helped-inmates-assault-victim-leaving-him-with-broken-jaw-police-say/article_acfb39c6-8e81-11eb-873a-bf2f47527f0e.html?block_id=990844
Photo Credit: St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department
Family whose autistic teen fatally choked on chicken nugget settles for $2M
A Florida school district will pay $2 million to the family of an autistic student who choked to death on a chicken nugget.
The settlement was announced this week in response to a lawsuit over the Aug. 13, 2019, death of Kedar Williams, 19, who suffocated while eating the finger food at William T. Dwyer High School in Palm Beach Gardens.
“Having your son wave goodbye to you in the morning, before school, and then never seeing him alive again is a mother’s worst nightmare,” Williams’ mom, Megan Williams, said in a statement. “Our family has a gaping hole without Kedar in our lives.”
Still, a family lawyer said Williams’ parents are happy with the settlement and with a program they helped push for to help prevent incidents like this in the future.
His parents are pleased not only with the settlement, but they are most proud of the fact they fought for their son and fought for a training program designed to address the deficiencies that led to Kedar’s death,” attorney Sia Baker-Barnes said.
The 19-year-old’s autism made him largely non-verbal and he had a condition that gave him breathing issues, making him vulnerable to choking.
An aide — who was exclusively supposed to be supervising Williams — was seen on video helping another student while Williams was unable to breathe.
“While no amount of money will ever take away the pain caused by this tragedy, the School District of Palm Beach County hopes that the settlement reached with the Williams family will help to ease the burden of this tremendous loss,” said Claudia Shea, a spokesperson with the school district.
via: https://nypost.com/2021/03/26/family-whose-autistic-teen-fatally-choked-on-a-chicken-nugget-settles-for-2m/
Photo Credit: Williams Family
Florida woman pleads guilty to coughing in cancer patient’s face
A Florida woman faces up to 60 days behind bars after pleading guilty to deliberately coughing in a cancer patient’s face in a store – but is now reportedly asking a judge to consider the backlash she has experienced.
Debra Jo Hunter pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault in the June 25 incident in a Pier 1 at the St. Johns Town Center in Jacksonville, where she berated employees and coughed on a woman who captured the incident on video, News4Jax reported.
The victim, Heather Sprague, told authorities that she observed Hunter upbraiding store staff as she tried to return an item she didn’t have in her possession, according to the news outlet.
Sprague whipped out her phone and began recording the heated encounter – prompting Hunter, 53, to make obscene gestures toward her.
“I think I’ll get really close to you and cough on you then. How’s that?” Hunter, who was not wearing a mask, is heard saying before she is seen coughing on the woman and then walking out of the store with her children.
Sprague, who described herself as a brain tumor patient and was wearing a mask, later filed a police report, saying she had not been feeling well since the incident, News4Jax reported.
On Monday, Hunter pleaded guilty after Judge James Ruth told her that he was ready to pick a jury. She also had agreed to plead guilty on two previous hearings, but the judge rejected them because it didn’t involve jail time.
Meanwhile, Hunter — who could get up to 60 days in the slammer at her sentencing – said she was not seeking “mercy,” but urged the judge to take into consideration the backlash she has endured since the episode.
In a three-page letter, she said her kids “continue to suffer indignities caused by my mistake […] embarrassed, chastised and mocked by both their peers as well as adults. Each of my three children have lost nearly every friend they had,” First Coast News reported.
“And that highly regrettable, split second, knee jerk reaction has cost my family dearly,” she added.
Hunter also submitted reams of vitriolic messages she said she has received, including one that read: “Despicable, vile skank. I hope your whole family gets COVID and suffers immensely, then dies.”
via: https://nypost.com/2021/03/25/florida-woman-pleads-guilty-to-coughing-in-cancer-patients-face/
Photo Credit: Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office