Family forced autistic relative to eat her mom’s ashes
A family in Louisiana held an autistic relative captive for nearly 11 months in a backyard cage and subjected her to shocking abuse, including forcing her to eat her mother’s cremated remains mixed with milk, federal authorities allege.
Department of Justice officials announced Thursday that a federal grand jury in New Orleans returned a six-count human trafficking and hate crime indictment in connection with the vile and twisted abuse sustained by the 22-year-old woman — identified only as D.P. — in Amite.
Details of the depraved allegations were outlined in an indictment obtained by the Times-Picayune, including accusations that the five family members shot the woman with a BB gun and covered her “from head to toe” in feces and urine.
Federal prosecutors also allege the woman’s relatives forced her to eat her mother’s ashes from a cereal bowl after mixing them with milk and to take meth and prescription painkillers under the threat of being reported to police if she stopped obeying the family’s orders to work at the home without getting paid.
The abuse, according to the indictment, began in August 2015, one day after the victim’s brother died, and continued through June 2016. The family members charged in connection with the allegations were identified as Raylaine Knope, 42; Terry Knope II, 45; Jody Lambert, 23; Taylor Knope, 20; and 21-year-old Bridget Lambert, who was charged separately for allegedly taking part in the forced-labor conspiracy.
It’s unclear how the victim is related to the suspects, who moved from a home in Kentwood they shared with the woman’s late mother to a mobile home in Amite in August 2015, according to the Times-Picayune.
Federal prosecutors also allege the family took extreme measures to make sure the woman didn’t try to escape, including regular death threats and holding her captive in a cage with no electricity or running water. They also forced her to make sexual advances to several men as part of a sex trafficking scheme, according to the indictment.
During one alleged incident, prosecutors said Terry Knope and Jody Lambert dumped a bucket of human waste onto the woman, leaving her entire body covered. She then began screaming as Jody Lambert laughed, according to the indictment.
The woman’s relatives were arrested in June 2016 after police received calls about a caged woman in the area, the Times-Picayune reports.
via: https://nypost.com/2018/07/27/family-forced-autistic-relative-to-eat-her-moms-ashes-feds/
Family warns of ‘Hot Water Challenge’ danger after teen suffers severe burns
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — An Indianapolis family is raising a red flag about the so-called “Hot Water Challenge” after the dangerous prank resulted in a 15-year-old being severely burned.
The so-called challenge, which made national headlines last year and has been circulating online since at least 2014, consists of someone either drinking boiling water through a straw, or having the water poured on them.
Last week, Kyland Clark said he and a friend were looking up the challenge on YouTube when they decided to prank each other. While Clark was sleeping, he said a friend poured water on him as a joke.
“And then I looked down at my chest. My skin just fell off my chest, and then I looked in the mirror and I had skin falling off here and, on my face,” he told WXIN.
The prank resulted in Clark suffering second-degree burns on his back, chest and face. He had to stay in the hospital for a week while undergoing treatment.
“To see my baby, all burned up like that, it was heart breaking,” his mother said.
Doctors with IU Health said they’re starting to see more victims of these so-called internet challenges land people in the emergency room.
“It’s suggesting to people that they can try it and they won’t be hurt, but they will be, I can guarantee it,” Dr. Ed Bartkus said.
Bartkus said it’s possible that people who do the challenge could end up with permanent disfigurement due to burns on the body or burns to the airway that could result in death.
“If your friends are telling you to do this, they aren’t good friends,” he said.
Last year, an 8-year-old girl died in Florida after she drank boiling water through a straw on a dare.
A week later, an 11-year-old girl in the Bronx suffered second-degree burns to her face, shoulders, neck and chest when another girl poured scalding-hot water on her during a sleepover. She was hospitalized for more than a week.
Now Clark and his mother said they want to make it known how dangerous the challenge is.
“There’s a limit to what you should do in a challenge and what you shouldn’t. Don’t take it overboard,” Clark said.
Clark is expected to heal from his injuries, and doctors said his pigment should return in a few months. He starts school next week but his mother said for now, the plan is for him to stay at home and focus on healing.
3 dead, 7 wounded after gunmen in New Orleans fire on crowd
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Two armed individuals walked up to a crowd gathered Saturday evening outside a strip mall in New Orleans and opened fire, killing three people and wounding seven more, the police chief said.
The shooting happened on a busy thoroughfare about 3 miles (4.83 kilometers) from the French Quarter, police said.
Police chief Michael Harrison, speaking to reporters late Saturday in televised comments, said the two suspects believed to be wearing hoodies had a rifle and a handgun. He said they appeared to have fired indiscriminately into the crowd, striking ten people. Before fleeing they took time to stand over one person.
“We believe that they actually stood over one of the individuals and fired multiple rounds and then after that fled,” he said.
Police responding to the shooting found three victims – two men and one woman – who were pronounced dead at the scene. Seven other victims – five men and two women – were taken to two separate hospitals. Four of them were driven in private vehicles, and three were transported by ambulance.
Harrison said one underwent surgery and was in critical condition; the other six were in various conditions but none were considered life-threatening.
Harrison spoke with family members and friends at the scene of the “volatile and tense situation.” He called on people to come forward and help police find the killers and also asked people not to take matters into their own hands.
“This was an extremely tragic incident. A lot of people were out here tonight. A lot of people, we know, saw what happened, heard what happened. And we need more than anything for people to come forward to help the NOPD right now solve this case,” Harrison said.
He said police do not know whether it was gang-related.
Lawrence Russo was buying a scratch-off ticket at nearby gas station when he heard what he at first thought were firecrackers before he realized they were gunshots. He told NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune that he heard a total of 13 to 16 shots fired.
“They never stop killing each other,” he said, shaking his head as he spoke.
Near the scene of the shooting, beyond the police tape, people could be seen crying and hugging one another in comfort.
The New Orleans Advocate (https://bit.ly/2AlrJXt ) reported that a woman stood behind the crime scene tape shouting, “Pick my brother up,” as two bodies lay uncovered. NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune reported two men were trying to console two sobbing women as one of the women shouted: “That’s my baby.”
Mayor LaToya Cantrell said in a statement: “There is no place in New Orleans for this kind of violence. I speak for everyone in our City when I say we are disgusted, we are infuriated, & we have had more than enough. Three more lives — gone. It has to end. It’s unacceptable anywhere.”
Woman poisoned baby in twisted plot to get husband back
A South Carolina woman — who admitted to murdering her baby by feeding the toddler a deadly amount of salt in a twisted plot to win her husband back — was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in prison.
Kimberly Martines, of Fingerville, must serve 85 percent of her sentence before she is eligible for parole, FOX Carolina reported. The 25-year-old pleaded guilty to homicide by child abuse following her daughter’s death in July 2016.
Martines’ 17-month-old daughter, Peyton, arrived at the hospital with an inflated amount of sodium in her blood. The child, suffering from acute salt poisoning, died three days later after doctors took her off of life support.
Martines initially told investigators Peyton ingested large amounts of salt when the toddler and her twin sister got into a bag that was left on a bookcase. But Martines’ 4-year-old son later told officials he watched his mother feed his sister a spoonful of salt.
Police found a bag of salt under a sofa cushion.
Martines later confessed to giving her daughter the poison dose of salt to “get her husband back into her life” after the couple separated. She chose Peyton as her victim because she was near her at the time, FOX Carolina reported.
via: https://nypost.com/2018/07/26/woman-poisoned-baby-in-twisted-plot-to-get-husband-back-cops/
Gwyneth Paltrow Denies Amber Rose’s Claim That She’s Beyonce’s ‘Becky with the Good Hair’
Gwyneth Paltrow is shutting down Amber Rose‘s claim that she is the alleged mistress whom Beyoncé references in her Lemonade track, “Sorry.”
Rose recently named the Oscar-winning actress as the identity behind “Becky with the good hair,” the woman at the center of the JAY Z cheating rumors in April 2016 when Beyoncé released the latest solo album that contained many revelations of her marriage to the rapper.
However, a rep for Paltrow tells PEOPLE that Rose’s allegations are “completely absurd and 100 percent false.”
A source also adds, “Gwyneth and Beyoncé and JAY Z are still very close friends so none of this makes any sense.”
“It was literally a joke on a podcast!” says a source close to Rose. “She was only kidding.”
Rose made the joke during the latest episode of Spencer and Heidi Pratt’s podcast, Make Speidi Famous Again, telling The Hills couple, “I definitely think that Gwyneth Paltrow is ‘Becky with the good hair.’ I really feel like she’s the one who was, like, f—ing JAY Z.”
Rose also speculated that Paltrow has not been seen publicly with Beyoncé and/or JAY Z. “They were like friends, and then, like, you don’t see Gwyneth Paltrow with Beyoncé anymore. But like Beyonce’s still with Jay,” she said.
Paltrow has had a very public friendship with Beyoncé and JAY Z with both of their children growing up together.
The music-mogul couple has been part of Apple, 14, and 12-year-old Moses Martin’s lives for a long time. The Goop creator even dedicated her 2016 cookbook, It’s All Easy, to Bey and Jay’s daughter Blue Ivy, now 6.
Paltrow and her Coldplay frontman ex also were among the select few to attend Beyoncé and JAY Z’s low-key wedding in 2008.
When Beyoncé released “Sorry,” she left all women named Becky cringing, and everyone else wondering who the mystery mistress she seemed to be referencing, could be.
Following 2014’s elevator-gate, when video surfaced of sister Solange Knowles attacking JAY Z as Beyoncé stood and watched, reports circulated that the incident was related to JAY Z having a mistress, though the alleged “Becky” was never verified.
After Beyoncé’s Lemonade HBO special, some fans accused designer Rachel Roy as being “Becky,” after she reportedly “provoked” Solange in the infamous elevator incident. Roy later denied the “Becky” rumors, telling PEOPLE she respects “love, marriages, families and strength.”
Angry driver follows black man home, repeatedly calls him the N-word *Video Here*
A state contractor from Ohio followed a black man to his home, posted up in front of his driveway and then called him the N-word repeatedly — all because he thought the man cut him off while driving.
“You wanna let me know how much of a n—er I am?” asks Charles Lovett, the black man being accosted.“I just want to let you know what a n—er you’re being,” the contractor says, with cellphone video showing the entire confrontation.
“Yeah, I want to let you personally know how much of a n—er you are,” the contractor fires back.
Questioned by Lovett as to why he is making this assessment, the man says: “Because you’re a rude n—er … You cut me off in my lane.”
He then adds, “You cut me off because you feel entitled — because you get everything for free.”
To which Lovett replies, “You feel entitled because I’m black.”
The contractor — identified by ABC 6 and FOX 28 as Jeffrey Whitman — is a white man from Columbus who owns a company called Uriah’s Heating and Cooling. He was driving a work van on Tuesday, which had the company’s logo and state contracting info on it, when the incident occurred.
“I’m glad I got all this information, that I’ll be sending to the state, since you’re a state contractor,” Lovett tells Whitman on the video.
He posted the footage on Facebook Tuesday, along with a description of what allegedly went down.
“So this is happened to me this morning,” Lovett said. “A man followed me from the interstate exit to my house, and then proceeded to berate me with the most disrespectful word to any African American. I wasn’t going to post it, because I felt that I should’ve known and did better in handling the situation, by just walking away and going into my house. But I’m human.”
The confrontation is just the latest example of racism caught on camera — with countless people getting recorded and losing their jobs in recent months.
“Nobody, African American Mexican Puerto Rican deserves what’s been happening to us across the United States here lately,” Lovett said. “This incident is just one of many sadly.”
Whitman has apologized for his racist rant, but he only did so after his company started getting blasted online. He was initially unapologetic.
“I didn’t follow him home,” Whitman claimed during an interview with NBC4.
“The way I confronted him, I confront him as ‘Hey, you cut me off,’” he said. “I don’t know if it makes it right or wrong, all I can say is I grew up with it and not a big deal for me.”
Lovett later filed a police report against Whitman, though it’s unclear if police plan to pursue charges. None had been filed as of 11 p.m. Wednesday.
“I never would have expected it to happen to me,” Lovett told NBC. “But [that’s] the world we live in nowadays.”
via: https://nypost.com/2018/07/26/angry-driver-follows-black-man-home-repeatedly-calls-him-the-n-word/
Pennsylvania Board Finds Bill Cosby Is a Sexually Violent Predator
Pennsylvania’s Sexual Offenders Assessment Board found that Bill Cosby is a sexually violent predator and should be classified as such, according to a court filing in his sexual assault case.
Still, the ultimate decision on Cosby’s status will be up to Montgomery County Judge Steven O’Neill at an upcoming hearing, according to Kate Delano, public information officer for the Montgomery County district attorney’s office.
In April, Cosby, who turned 81 this month, was found guilty on three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his home in a Philadelphia suburb in 2004. Cosby’s defense counsel said afterward that the comedian planned to appeal the case.
He faces up to 10 years in prison on each count, although legal experts said he is likely to spend much less time, if any, behind bars.
The Sexual Offenders Assessment Board is responsible for conducting assessments of convicted sex offenders to help courts determine whether they meet the legal criteria to be classified as a sexually violent predator, according to the board’s website. The distinction would mean that Cosby is subject to lifetime registration with state police, lifetime sex offender counseling and community notification.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele filed a motion Tuesday requesting a hearing to determine whether Cosby is a sexually violent predator after receiving the board’s assessment.
In response, Cosby’s attorneys said in a new court filing that the process used by the board is unconstitutional, and they rejected the assessment.
The defense argued that the single board member who did the assessment did not conduct a hearing and considered largely “irrelevant and improper information.”
“Confrontation and cross-examination” was not a part of the process, they said, basing their argument a 2017 Pennsylvania Supreme Court case.
“The true facts establish that this defendant is not a sexually violent predator,” they said.
Additionally, the defense asked the judge to declare as unconstitutional a recent state law that updates registration by sex offenders.
The hearing on Cosby’s sexually violent predator status will take place before his criminal sentencing, according to Delano. Sentencing is currently scheduled for September 24.
At the status hearing, the prosecution and the defense will call expert witnesses to make their arguments, and then the judge will issue his ruling, Delano said.
The determination does not affect Cosby’s potential sentence for the assault charges. Since Cosby was convicted of aggravated indecent assault, he is already required to register under Megan’s Law.
The sexually violent predator report was sent to the prosecution, and it shared the report with the defense, but it has not been made public.
via: https://ktla.com/2018/07/25/pennsylvania-board-finds-bill-cosby-is-a-sexually-violent-predator/
Gun rights activists allowed to post plans for 3-D printed guns online
A judge’s ruling brought a victory for gun advocates on Friday.
People across the country will not only be able to own a gun, but they will have the ability to build it from scratch. All folks will need is a 3D printer.
Beginning Aug. 1 that will be the nation’s new reality.
“This is something we do not need in society right now. Not now, not ever,” said Rosalind Clark-Stewart, resident.
Anyone can simply go online, find a 3D plan for a gun and print it off on their 3D printer.
“To make a law that says you can’t make something or pass on how to make something, that would be hard to do,” said Glenn Duncan, owner of Duncan’s Outdoor Shop.
In 2013, a man named Cody Wilson posted plans for a 3D printed handgun online. The government ordered him to take it down. A court fight ensued and ultimately, they settled the case saying he could publish his plans online.
Duncan said it’s the same thing as a “how to” book.
“Same thing is that you can go to the library and buy a book at the library on how to build a gun, how to build anything. So are we gonna get rid of books,” Duncan said.
The printed guns will not have serial numbers and will be untraceable. Because they will be made out of plastic they could get through metal detectors as well.
“I think this is very frightening. I think this should not be permitted,” Clark-Stewart said.
Like many gun issues, the jury is still out on what’s right or wrong.
“Do we wanna give up rights? That’s gonna be a big battle,” Duncan said.
Teen couple hoping to get married plots murder of girl’s parents, sister
OKLAHOMA — A 15-year-old girl and her 18-year-old boyfriend — frustrated that her parents opposed their plan to get married — tried to murder her mom, dad and sister, officials said.
The girl’s mother was shot in the face in the botched plot to kill her family. The mother is expected to survive — the father and sister were unharmed.
Zachary Sligar, 18, and his unidentified 15-year-old girlfriend allegedly plotted to kill her family in Chandler after the parents would not allow her to be emancipated so they could get hitched.
“They come up with a plan to do a three-way homicide by killing mom, dad and an older sister that lives on the property not in the house,” Sheriff Charlie Dougherty of Lincoln County told WPIX sister station KFOR.
The teens were both armed and had their bags packed when Sligar shot at his girlfriend’s parents shortly after midnight on Friday, the sheriff told KFOR.
“Zach goes into the bedroom. Fires one time at dad and misses. Shoots a hole in his pillow. Immediately turns the gun on mom. Shoots her one time in the face,” Dougherty said.
The girl then allegedly told her boyfriend to go home and come up with a story.
The teens were subsequently arrested.
Sligar is expected to face three counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, one count of shooting with intent to kill, and one count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.
The girl is expected to face the same charges, but as a youthful offender.
“We prepare for everything, and we get surprised every day. I’ve done this for 38 years and I’ve never hear of stuff like this,” Dougherty said.
Father says he killed infant son on altar after finding ‘666’ on him, court documents show
OGDEN, Utah – A Utah man is behind bars after witnesses say he killed his 10-month-old son and fled from police Friday afternoon.
Police say they arrested 37-year-old Alex Hidalgo Saturday afternoon after he had broken into an abandoned residence.
Court records show Hidalgo had been left to watch the infant while the child’s mother ran errands.
When she returned she told police she found Hidalgo in the front room reading a Bible and watching “a video of religious music and sermons.”
The mother, referred to as A.D., was unable to locate their child and when she asked where he was she claims Hidalgo told her he “he had built an altar like they had talked about” and began talking about how their son had “666” on him.
When Hidalgo told A.D. their son was dead she told police she thought it was a joke. She later located the child’s body in a garbage bag which had been pulled shut in a closet.
A.D. and a neighbor attempted to give the boy CPR while they say Hidalgo fled the scene. When medical personnel arrived, they were unable to resuscitate the child and he was declared dead at a nearby hospital.
Police say a post-mortem examination showed the child had been stabbed multiple times in the neck. Investigators say they recovered blood-soaked towels throughout the home and a paring knife in the sink that “was wet as if it had recently been washed.”
When Hidalgo was arrested Saturday afternoon police say he was wearing the same outfit, which was stained with blood, that he had been seen wearing on surveillance footage on the day of the homicide.
According to Hidalgo’s probable cause statement, he attempted to flee on foot but was detained by officers.
Hidalgo is being charged with aggravated murder for the act of killing the child, obstruction of justice for cleaning the blood and destroying evidence, and desecration of a human body for concealing the body in a garbage bag and then inside a trash can.
The Ogden City Police Department says they believe Hidalgo “represents a danger to the community and has exhibited a likelihood to flee prosecution.” For that reason, they have asked the court that he be held without bail.