FL Mom stabbed 11-year-old to death to keep her from having sex
ORLANDO, Fla. – A Florida mother allegedly stabbed her 11-year-old daughter numerous times then drove the girl around until she died, Orange County Sheriff John Mina said during a press conference Sunday.
Police arrested Rosa Alcides Rivera, 28, after she brought the girl, Aleyda Rivera, to Winnie Palmer Hospital in Orlando Sunday morning. Investigators believe the child was already dead by the time Rivera arrived.
Rivera told hospital staff members “My baby is gone,” according to an arrest report obtained by the Orlando Sentinel. Authorities say they found 15 stab wounds on Aleyda’s back, along with a defensive wound to her right arm.
Authorities believe the incident began around 7:30 a.m. Sunday, when witnesses reported seeing Rivera banging on the door of an Orlando home, accusing a man of having sex with Aleyda, which her daughter denied.
At some point after Rivera and her daughter got back into the car, the arrest report says the Florida mother stabbed the girl repeatedly “and while stabbing her she was attempting to make her more comfortable.”
Rivera “then drove her around in her vehicle until she ultimately died from those stab wounds,” Mina said.
Mina said River later told investigators she stabbed her daughter “to prevent her from having sex with other men,” but he said authorities don’t believe she was being sexually abused.
“We believe that part of the investigation is unfounded, we are looking into it but don’t believe it to be credible,” Mina said.
While speaking with deputies, Rivera said she thought her daughter was in heaven.
River is currently being held without bail at the Orange County Jail on a charge of first-degree murder as authorities continue to investigate.
“These cases are horrific and tragic,” Mina said. “And then to know that the child was killed by a mother — basically, a mother is the first line of defense to what is sometimes a very cruel world — is very hard on all of us.”
2 children drown, 1 rescued after SUV rolls into creek while mother ran into store
LELAND, Miss. — Two children drowned and one was rescued after the locked SUV they were in rolled into a Mississippi creek when their mother left them alone to go into a store, Leland Police said.
Jenea Monique Payne, 25, was arrested and charged two counts of negligent homicide and one of child neglect.
Payne told investigators she left the children for five or 10 minutes while she went into a Stop-N-Shop on Main Street just before 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 9. When she walked back outside, her Nissan Pathfinder was floating away in Deer Creek.
Payne’s three children were trapped inside as the SUV floated downstream.
Emergency officials jumped into the creek and attempted to break the windows out of the vehicle in order to get the kids out. Raelynn Johnson, 2, was rescued, but 4-year-old Steve Smith and 1-year-old Rasheed Johnson Jr. drowned inside the vehicle.
The vehicle and the children were pulled from the water around 8:30 p.m. and pronounced dead at the scene.
Leland Police Chief Marcus Davis said Payne left the keys in the vehicle and the 4-year-old is believed to have put the key in the ignition.
Leland is about 85 miles (135 kilometers) northwest of Jackson.
Man throws 83-year-old woman to floor, tries to rape her in the Bronx
CASTLE HILL, the Bronx — A man threw an 83-year-old woman to the floor of her apartment and tried to rape her on Saturday afternoon, an NYPD spokesperson said.
He came to her home in Castle Hill Houses, a NYCHA complex, just before noon and knocked, officials said. When she answered the door, the man said he was there to fix a leak.
He hit her several times, threw her to the floor and tried to rip her clothing off after she let him in, police said. She struggled with him.
The woman’s daughter and granddaughter came in during the attempted rape and the man fled, police sources said.
He took the 83-year-old woman’s phone and some jewelry, police said.
The woman suffered broken ribs and bruising to her face, officials said. She was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Police identified the suspect as Gary Mallette, 51. Sources said his mother lives in the building where the incident happened. He has at least 60 prior arrests.
The NYPD has asked for help finding Mallette.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/03/10/man-throws-83-year-old-woman-to-floor-tries-to-rape-her-in-the-bronx/
Heroin addicted Cheerleading Coach Sentenced for Repeated Sex Assault of Underage Student
A Georgia teacher has been sentenced for having an ongoing sexual relationship with an underage student.
Raquel Eleana Spencer pleaded guilty on Friday to sexual assault by a person with supervisory and disciplinary authority, according to online records from the Whitfield County clerk of court’s office.
Spencer, 29, was an English teacher at Northwest Whitfield High School in Tunnel Hill, Georgia. She also coached cheerleading and track and field.
On April 25, students and staff at the school, located near the Tennessee border, noticed that Spencer was behaving erratically. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, administrators escorted her to the office and then then notified authorities that Spencer seemed to be under the influence of drugs. Authorities arrived at the school and arrested her for possession of heroin.
During their investigation into Spencer’s activities, authorities checked her phone and found text messages between her and an underage student. Authorities alleged that the relationship began on October 1, 2017 and lasted until April 8, 2018.
According to the indictment, Spencer had sex with the student multiple times. The indictment noted that she had “supervisory and disciplinary authority over” the student.
In addition to the sexual assault charge, Spencer was charged with possession of a schedule 1 controlled substance. That charge was later dropped as part of the plea agreement.
According to court documents, Spencer will spend 90 to 120 days in a detention center, followed by 10 years of probation. She will perform 300 hours of community service and will pay a $1,000 fine. She will have to register as a sex offender.
Spencer will be held at a probation detention center instead of a prison. The minimum security facility will provide substance abuse counseling.
Whitfield County Schools did not immediately return PEOPLE’s call for comment, but Superintendent Judy Gilreath told the Daily Citizen that she wasn’t familiar enough with the details of the case to determine whether the sentence was fair.
“I do hope that she gets the treatment and help she needs,” Gilreath told the newspaper.
An attorney for Spencer did not immediately return PEOPLE’s message for comment.
George Foreman’s Daughter Freeda Dies by Apparent Suicide at 42
George Foreman’s daughter, Freeda Foreman, has reportedly died by apparent suicide. She was 42.
Citing law enforcement sources, TMZ reported that Freeda was found unresponsive in her home near Houston, Texas, by a family member. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office confirmed in a statement to PEOPLE that officers were called to her home around 6:13 p.m. local time on Friday night.
“Atascocita EMS were at the home and determined the woman, Freeda George Foreman, was deceased,” police said. “Harris County Sheriff’s Office Homicide investigators also responded to the scene. Preliminary indications are that the cause of death is an apparent suicide. A final determination on the cause of death will be made by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences.”
Reps for George did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.
Although the two-time world heavyweight champion has yet to publicly comment on his daughter’s death, he tweeted Sunday morning about how “heaven send[s] so many wonders.”
“Heaven send so many wonders; too many to have questions about any one thing or event in my life. Lippizana colt just born on the ranch,” he wrote, alongside a photo of a newborn horse standing beside a fully grown horse.
The retired boxer owns a ranch in Marshall, Texas.
Taking after her father, Freeda began boxing professionally in 2000, and retired the next year with a record of 5-1, according to the Houston Chronicle.
She is survived by her husband, two daughters, three grandchildren, her parents and 11 siblings, according to TMZ.
Child traumatized by slavery lesson at Westchester school, mother says
BRONXVILLE, N.Y. — The Chapel School in Bronxville called emergency meetings with parents Thursday after a controversial lesson on slavery.
Parents tell PIX11 Tuesday during a fifth grade Social Studies class, African-American students were singled out in a mock slave auction.
“I’m getting teary eyed about it because it’s like, how could somebody do this to my son,” mother Vernex Harding said.
Harding said her son recalled the teacher pulling the African-American students into the hallway “to put imaginary chains along our necks and wrists, and shackles on our ankles.”
The African-American students were then brought back into the classroom and their classmates were encouraged to bid on them in a mock auction, the Harding family said.
In an email to the school, the principal called the lesson “racially insensitive and hurtful.”
The school is now investigating and the teacher involved has been removed from the classroom.
Attorney General Letitia James sent PIX11 a statement Thursday, “the reports of racist ‘lessons’ by a teacher at The Chapel School are deeply troubling. My office is monitoring this matter closely.”
Joshua E. Kimerling, an attorney for the teacher, released the following statement on Friday:
“The portrayal of the history lesson that has been reported is inaccurate, out of context, contains false facts and ignores the overwhelming support of our client from dozens of parents at the school, including several letters of support from African-American parents with children who have been taught by our client, a loving, devoted and uniformly respected teacher for more than fifteen years, the last five of which have been at The Chapel School. Our client loves her students and is beloved by them. To the extent anyone took offense to a small portion of the overall lesson that day that was used solely to emphasize the tragic injustice of slavery, it certainly was never intended. She looks forward to continuing teaching with the same dedication, sensitivity, and passion that she has always shown.”
via: https://pix11.com/2019/03/08/child-traumatized-by-slavery-lesson-at-westchester-school-mother-says/
Couple arrested after Olive Garden waitress notices child’s bruises, posts on Facebook
PADUCAH, Ky. – An observant waitress at a Kentucky Olive Garden said she knew something was wrong as soon as her co-workers seated a family Sunday.
“I first walked around to the baby,” 21-year-old Jordan Cooper told WPSD. “She looked at me with a face that said ‘help.’” The behavior of the couple accompanying the young girl quickly caught her attention.
Cooper later wrote in a Facebook post that the child’s face was “black and blue all over” and that “the guy … was force feeding her food down her throat and grabbing her by her shirt and getting in her face … he kept taking her to the bathroom when she cried and acting very aggressive towards her.”
According to WPSD, Cooper, who is expecting a child of her own, usually doesn’t work on Sundays.
She wrote on Facebook that she couldn’t just keep serving tables “because my heart hurt so bad.”
So Cooper decided to do something – first she pretended to take a photo for another table near the couple, so she could get the couple in the background. She slid her phone number to the diners whose phone she used, and asked them to text her the images.
She said the couple eventually noticed the attention they were getting and abruptly left the restaurant, but Cooper managed to get a partial license plate number from a silver Dodge Caravan.
Cooper said she then called 911 and Kentucky’s Department of Children and Family Services.
That night, she decided to share what happened, along with the photo and partial plate number, on Facebook. Thousands of people shared the post, including Aaron Caldwell, a childhood classmate who is now a 911 dispatcher in Metropolis, Illinois, according to WPSD.
Caldwell said he used information from Cooper’s post and the numerous comments to track the couple to their hometown of Paris, Tennessee. Hours later an arrest was made.
“[Paris authorities] called me back at 4 a.m. and said they arrested both of them for aggravated child abuse and neglect and the kids are now in state custody,” Caldwell told WSIL.
Pierce and Woodworth remain jailed in Henry County, Tennessee, on a bond of $200,000 each, the station reports.
Woman jailed for 11 years for performing female genital mutilation on her 3-year-old daughter
(CNN) — A judge has sentenced a 37-year-old Ugandan woman to 11 years in jail for performing female genital mutilation (FGM) on her three-year-old daughter, the UK’s Press Association (PA) news agency reported.
The defendant was found guilty of the “barbaric” practice last month, becoming the first person to be convicted of the offense in the UK.
In sentencing at London’s Old Bailey criminal court Friday, Judge Mrs Justice Whipple handed down an 11-year jail term and a further two years for possession of indecent images and extreme pornography.
“FGM has long been against the law and let’s be clear FGM is a form of child abuse,” PA reported the judge as saying.
“It’s a barbaric practice and a serious crime. It’s an offense which targets women, particularly inflicted when they are young and vulnerable.”
The judge told the woman that her daughter will likely suffer long-term psychological effects from the ordeal.
“This is a significant and lifelong burden for her to carry,” the judge said, according to PA. “You betrayed her trust in you as her protector.”
In February, the Central Criminal Court confirmed to CNN that a 37-year-old Ugandan woman from Walthamstow, London was found guilty of performing FGM on her daughter in summer 2017.
The mother wept in court when the verdict was announced, PA reported, while her partner, 43, from Ghana, was acquitted of all charges. The couple, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had denied the charges of performing FGM and failing to protect a girl from the risk of genital mutilation.
Detective Chief Inspector Ian Baker from the Metropolitan Police acknowledged the “bravery” of the victim since the ordeal, and confirmed in a statement that she has made a “very speedy recovery” and been placed with another family.
Under UK law, anyone found guilty of performing FGM can be imprisoned for a maximum of 14 years. It has been illegal in the UK since 1985.
Mom says teacher made her son urinate in trash can and then wear garbage bags all day
(CNN) — Sonia Mongol says her son was not allowed to go to the restroom at his South Los Angeles school and instead had to wear two plastic garbage bags and sit in his urine-soaked clothing, according to CNN affiliate KCAL.
Mongol talked about the alleged incident in November during a news conference at Manhattan Place Elementary School Thursday. She said her 8-year-old son was not allowed to use the restroom during class. Mongol called on school officials to clarify what happened.
The district told CNN in a statement Thursday that it is conducting an investigation.
“Los Angeles Unified takes all matters concerning the safety and well-being of our students very seriously,” a Los Angeles Unified School District spokesperson said. “Upon learning about this allegation, law enforcement was notified immediately, and we are fully cooperating in the investigation. Los Angeles Unified is also conducting an administrative investigation. Due to confidentiality laws, we cannot offer further details at this time.”
What she says happened
Mongol said after her son asked to go to the bathroom, the teacher told him that he could instead urinate in a trash can at the front of the classroom, “exposing himself in front of all the other students.”
He got urine on himself and was given trash bags to cover his wet clothes, Mongol said. She also claims she was not told that he would have to spend the rest of the day wearing them.
Retired teacher Latricia Mitchell joined Mongol at the news conference and she told reporters that teachers can refuse to let students leave to go to the restroom under certain circumstances. But there is common sense and good judgment.
“After they ask you twice, you should realize something is going on,” Mitchell said.
Mongol said teachers have denied her son permission to use the restroom since the incident, KCAL reported, and that since the principal did not adequately respond to the claims, she will be taking the issue to the school board.
Mongol said that her son is now being bullied because of the incident, according to the station.
“Why would you make a child expose himself in front of the classroom and then put a garbage bag over him when he came to you for help? Why would you treat a child that way?” she asked. “He’s a kid.”
Dead baby found in freezing car; mother unconscious with bottle of alcohol
INDIANAPOLIS — A mother faces charges after she was found unconscious in her car with a bottle of alcohol and her dead baby, according to court documents.
Police found Rachel McAfee, 36, and her 3-month-old infant daughter, Emma, inside a vehicle in the 2600 block of Stanford Court Tuesday afternoon.
Rachel was taken to Eskenazi Hospital where she was treated for frostbite. A doctor that examined her said the mother appeared to be intoxicated and she “had short term memory loss about the death of her child and no concept of time,” according to court documents, according to WXIN and WISH.
Emma was pronounced dead at the scene.
Rachel and Emma were at the center of a city-wide search earlier that day after family members reported them missing.
Police say a homeowner called 911 to report a woman and baby inside of a gray Subaru just after 2:50 p.m. The temperature was about nine degrees at the time.
Responding officers said they tried to find Rachel’s shoes in the car and found a bottle of rum. The vehicle was out of gas, and its battery was dead.
According to police, McAfee had been battling postpartum depression and might have been suicidal. McAfee’s husband told investigators his wife was supposed to drop off the infant at his parent’s house while Rachel McAfee was supposed to attend a meeting for excessive drinking.
WXIN talked to John McAfee after his wife and daughter disappeared but before they were found. He admitted early on his wife struggled with alcoholism and depression.
“She’s drank since I’ve known her, but it’s gotten out of control the last couple of years. That’s kind of when all this started spiraling,” said John McAfee.
In fact, police reports show just last week officers were called to check on Rachel’s emotional welfare and John told police, “Rachel is known to drink alcohol until she passes out.”
Her husband also said Emma didn’t make it to her last scheduled doctor’s appointing on Feb. 22 because his wife had consumed too much alcohol and passed out.
Police say McAfee remained in the hospital but was charged Wednesday with neglect of a dependent causing death.
The death remains under investigation by IMPD.