Iowa mom pulled son into path of train in apparent murder-suicide
BELLE PLANE, Iowa – Authorities say a woman and boy whose bodies were found at a railroad crossing in eastern Iowa died in a murder-suicide, according to KCCI.
The incident happened May 4. Teresa Gerleman, 35, and her 8-year-old son, Henry Fields were found by police officers responding to a Belle Plaine crossing around 5 a.m. Friday.
The Iowa Public Safety Department said after speaking with Union Pacific Railroad employees, video footage from the Union Pacific engine and a multitude of interviews, the conclusion is Gerleman committed suicide and pulled her son into the path of the train, thus killing him as well.
“Evidence at the impact site indicates Gerleman waited near the railroad tracks for the Union Pacific train to approach,” Iowa Department of Criminal Investigation officials said in a statement. “Gerleman and her son Henry can be seen on video crossing the tracks and as the train draws near, Gerleman returns to the center of the tracks and at the last moment pulls Henry into the path of the train.”
Ruth Ann Stratto, who lived across the street from Gerleman, said she still gets choked up thinking of the 35-year-old and her 8-year-old. Stratto said Gerleman and her son died just a few blocks north of their neighborhood.
“I heard the train just squeal their brakes,” Stratto said.
Friends of Gerleman created a Facebook page entitled, “In Loving Memory Of Teresa Gerleman & Henry Fields” as a tribute.
According to the Facebook page, Gerleman was dealing with family issues and had just recently moved to Belle Plaine.
“I think it’s very tragic,” Stratto said. “I’ve got grandchildren (and) great grandchildren. My heart goes out to that little boy.”
Just a week before Gerleman and her son died another man threw himself in front of a train on the same crossing.
Friends told KCCI that Gerleman and the man were connected, but authorities could not confirm the claim.
Family members told KCCI that there will be no funeral for Gerleman.
via: http://pix11.com/2018/05/23/iowa-mom-pulled-son-into-path-of-train-police-say/
Man accused of stabbing pregnant girlfriend joked on Facebook, with knife, about ‘murdering’ a birthday cake
THE BRONX — The photos from nine years ago seem eerie, when you consider what 30-year-old Oscar Alvarez is now accused of doing.
The Bronx resident, charged with viciously stabbing his pregnant girlfriend multiple times early Wednesday—resulting in the loss of their unborn baby girl—is seen in Facebook pictures celebrating a family birthday in 2009.
Alvarez is holding a cake knife in one hand and hugging his mother with the other. The caption? “About to murder that cake, lmao.” Other photos show Alvarez about to cut the cake.
The remark seems somewhat prophetic of bad days to come, because Alvarez is now charged with repeatedly stabbing his live-in girlfriend, Liv Abreu, who was 26 weeks pregnant with their daughter.
An argument broke out in the couple’s third floor Bronx apartment on Walton Avenue early Tuesday morning.
Alvarez allegedly stabbed Abreu, a former U.S. paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division, in the chest and side multiple times.
Alvarez told police he cleaned up and changed his clothes. He allegedly took Abreu’s cell phone, when he left the apartment, so she couldn’t call for help.
When he finally went out about 30 minutes after the stabbing, a critically wounded Abreu managed to drag herself to a neighbor’s apartment on the second floor to call 911.
Earlier this month, Alvarez had reposted a “selfie” he took on his October birthday in 2013. He’s wearing a nice suit and tie. One of his aunts posted a message, telling him to give a kiss to “Liv.”
Back to the birthday celebration from March 2009. A second photo of Alvarez holding his mother tight is captioned, “My mom and I. She loves me.”
Alvarez is now being held without bail on Rikers Island, charged with the attempted murder of Abreu.
An NYPD source explained to PIX11 that the loss of an unborn fetus is not considered a homicide.
4-year-old accidentally shoots, kills 2-year-old brother after mistaking gun for toy
LOUISA COUNTY, Va. – A Virginia toddler died Tuesday after his older brother accidentally shot him with a gun the boy thought was a toy, according to the Louisa County Sheriff’s Office.
It’s not yet clear how the 4-year-old boy had access to the weapon, which he fired Tuesday morning, striking his 2-year-old brother – identified as Tyler Aponte – in the chest, according to Major Donald A. Lowe.
“It’s of paramount importance to make sure your guns are secured and out of the reach of children and everything,” Major Lowe said. “At least have them unloaded or a safety lock on them, whatever you have to do to keep them from being discharged accidentally.”
The children’s mother was at home when the shooting occurred, authorities said.
“It will be thoroughly investigated,” Major Lowe said. “Our heart breaks for this family… they’re devastated, naturally, so we want to do everything we can to help them.”
Neighbor Linda Eddy told WTVR she’s known the Aponte family for more than a decade.
“There’s no way they would leave a loaded gun out,” she said. “They’re good people, good Christians good people, they take care of their children [and] make sure they have everything they need. I know this is going to be tragic to them.”
Eddy said she was not sure how Tyler’s mother would make it through the tragedy.
“I don’t know how she is going to do it, but she believes in the Lord, so that’s good,” she said.
Woman accuses R. Kelly of sexual battery, giving her herpes
NEW YORK — R. Kelly sexually abused and demeaned a woman, locked her in rooms and vehicles for punishment and infected her with herpes, according to a lawsuit that furthers a string of misconduct accusations against the platinum-selling singer.
Faith Rodgers said in the suit filed Monday in New York that the “I Believe I Can Fly” singer “mentally, sexually and verbally” abused her during a roughly yearlong relationship.
Kelly’s management team declined to comment Tuesday but previously denied claims that Rodgers made in a police report filed in Dallas in April.
Rodgers’ lawsuit includes some of the same allegations and adds to them, painting a portrait of forceful sex, humiliation, unwanted sex tapes and sometimes confinement by one of pop music’s best-selling — and most embattled — artists.
Rodgers, 20, said Tuesday on “CBS This Morning” that Kelly, 51, instructed her to call him “daddy” and told her his goal was to teach her how to have sex like a “mature woman.”
Her suit comes as Kelly faces growing criticism after years of being accused of troubling conduct toward girls and young women.
The Time’s Up campaign against sexual harassment and assault took aim at the R&B singer last month. This month, a Chicago concert was canceled after protests. Spotify removed his music from its promoted playlists and algorithms following a #MuteRKelly social media campaign.
Rodgers said she met the three-time Grammy winner after a March 2017 concert in San Antonio. Two months later, she said he flew her to New York to attend a show.
She told “CBS This Morning” that she “submitted” to sex when he came to her hotel room and demanded she take off her clothes. She said she didn’t want to have sex with him but “just froze up.”
“He has this type of, like, intimidation right off the bat. You know? So I was just waiting for it to be over,” she said.
Her lawsuit says Kelly disregarded her when she said she was “not ready to have sex” with him.
“After initiating non-permissive, painful and abusive sex with plaintiff, defendant, R. Kelly, immediately insulted and criticized” Rodgers “concerning her ‘lack of participation’ and physical inadequacies,” the suit says.
The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they decide to make their names public, which Rodgers has done.
Kelly is a three-time Grammy winner who has sold close to 30 million albums, with hits including “Ignition,” ”I Believe I Can Fly,” and “Bump N’ Grind.”
Kelly has won multiple Grammys, sold close to 30 million albums and has written hits for Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, Aaliyah and more. He has crafted pop anthems and love songs, but he is defined by sexually explicit songs such as “Feelin’ on Yo Booty,” ”Your Body’s Calling Me,” ”Sex Me” and even more explicit fare.
He has long been accused of behavior that has ranged from questionable to allegedly criminal.
He wed Aaliyah, then his 15-year-old protege, in 1994. The marriage was later annulled and the two refused to confirm that it happened.
He was later accused of child pornography after a widely circulated videotape appeared to show him having sex with, and urinating on, a teenage girl. He was acquitted of all charges in 2008 and continued to rack up hits and sell out stadiums around the country.
In recent years, a series of women has come forward to accuse him of everything from sexual coercion to physical abuse.
That includes parents who said their daughter was being held by Kelly as part of a sex cult, and a woman who said she was in a long-term abusive relationship with him. Kelly and the girl whose parents came forward denied the allegations against him.
via: http://pix11.com/2018/05/22/woman-accuses-r-kelly-of-sexual-battery-giving-her-herpes/
Man charged with knowingly spreading HIV
GULFPORT, Miss. — Police say a Mississippi man has been charged with knowingly exposing others to HIV.
News outlets report 29-year-old Tyrone Ross, of Gulfport, was arrested Sunday as the result of a complaint received against him at a hospital.
Gulfport police Sgt. Clayton Fulks says Ross met a man while they were in jail and was intimate with him behind bars. Fulks says they continued their relationship after they were released.
Police say the relationship lasted between October 2015 and May 2018.
Police say Ross had previously been convicted for knowingly exposing others to HIV twice. It’s unclear if Ross has a lawyer.
via: https://nypost.com/2018/05/22/man-charged-with-knowingly-spreading-hiv/
Junkies are filling Bronx parks with over 5,000 used needles a week
Junkies have been dumping some 5,000 used needles a week in parks across the Bronx — prompting desperate city officials to install dozens of syringe-disposal kiosks in hopes of cleaning up the dangerous mess.
There has been a dramatic gain in the number of syringes found in parks in the Bronx in recent years because of the ongoing opioid epidemic, city Health Department officials say.
The 60 kiosks, which will be locked trash boxes placed in the hardest-hit Bronx parks, are part of a $60 million HealingNYC program to combat the drug plague, announced Monday.
The plan will also include outreach from needle-exchange programs to users who shoot up in parks.
“Everyone deserves parks that are safe and clean,” said Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver. “Our goal is to protect parkgoers and to offer a helping hand to those struggling with addiction.”
He added that the program will be modeled after similar initiatives in Seattle and Vancouver, Canada.
Among the 16 impacted parks is Saint Mary’s in Mott Haven — the largest park in the South Bronx — as well as Tremont Park and Crotona Park.
City Health Department officials couldn’t say how many needles a typical addict runs through per day, since it varies by level of addiction, as well as the type and amount of drug injected.
Drug users are eager to dispose used needles quickly because they’re worried about getting caught by police, according to Mark Townsend of the Corner Project in Washington Heights.
The nonprofit group piloted the city’s first-ever syringe kiosk in May 2016, installing a daisy-shaped drop box at Haven Park Underpass in upper Manhattan.
The first city-run kiosks — which will be emptied by trained park workers or needle-exchange-program staffers — can hold from 250 to 2,000 syringes each, according to health officials.
The program will expand to other boroughs if it proves successful, but officials couldn’t immediately say when the first of the kiosks will be installed.
“Collaborating with NYC Parks is part of our comprehensive plan to address the opioid epidemic and help keep all New Yorkers safe, including people who use drugs,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett.
As part of the city’s wider efforts to combat opioid use and stem an increase in overdoses, Mayor Bill de Blasio recently approved the opening of four supervised injection facilities where drug users can shoot up under medical supervision.
Community hearings concerning the sites — two in Manhattan, one in the Bronx and one in Brooklyn — have been scheduled while the city awaits necessary approvals in coming months.
via: https://nypost.com/2018/05/21/junkies-are-filling-bronx-parks-with-over-5000-used-needles-a-week/
Construction worker finds noose at Queens home
BROAD CHANNEL, Queens— It’s the last thing Jawuan Blake, a construction worker, expected to see at his Queens job site Thursday.
“I come out, take a few steps, look up and see a noose hanging – my heart just stopped,” he said.
Blake told PIX11, Saturday, it was hurtful to see the noose on the side of the home on East 6th Road in Broad Channel.
The home is part of NYC’s Build it Back program, which launched after Superstorm Sandy.
“No one should have to come to work and see that, it’s 2018,” he said.
He took pictures and when he told his coworkers he said they made insensitive comments and ignored it.
“I feel like it’s not a joke or laughing matter,” he said.
John Kodetsky lives next door to where the noose was found.
“I don’t think it should have been done but I thought the guys were fooling around,” he said, adding he saw the noose.
“As a sign of a death mark, It’s kind of disturbing,” Rob Wilson, an electrician who has also been working on the home responded.
Workers at the site tell PIX11 they want Tishman Construction to take the matter seriously and take appropriate action.
PIX11 reached out to the company for comment and have not heard back from anyone yet.
The workers say they have a meeting with the company Monday morning.
via: http://pix11.com/2018/05/19/exclusive-construction-worker-finds-noose-at-queens-home/
Body of ‘severely neglected’ child found in California storage unit
SACRAMENTO – Officers found the body of a child after responding to a storage facility in Sacramento on Tuesday night, according to KTXL.
The body was inside of a storage unit that belongs to Nevada residents Tyler and Averyauna Anderson, according to the Sacramento Police Department.
Sacramento and Reno police departments have opened a joint investigation with Reno as the lead agency.
According to the Reno Police Department, Tyler’s 5-year-old daughter died at some point in the last two weeks inside of Tyler’s and his wife Averyauna’s apartment in Reno.
Reno PD says the couple then rented a vehicle to transport the child’s body from Reno to the Sacramento facility, located on the 1800 block of Glenrose Avenue.
Investigators revealed that the child had been severely neglected prior to her death.
On Wednesday, detectives arrested Tyler Anderson. He was booked into the Sacramento Main County Jail on manslaughter charges. He is awaiting extradition back to Reno.
Investigators say Averyauna Anderson is in custody at the Washoe County Jail in Reno – facing two charges, child abuse and destroying or concealing evidence.
Both Averyauna and Tyler were arrested on Wednesday.
The child’s identity will be released once the corner notifies next of kin. The cause of death was not known as of Friday evening.
Teen accused of killing dad who teased her for being fat
An 18-year-old woman from Indiana is accused of brutally killing her dad who teased her for being fat.
Ameera Stokes reportedly called 911 early Sunday to confess that she murdered her father, Donald Stokes, while visiting his home in Mt. Morris Township, Michigan, according to news station WJRT.
Police said the pair was fighting over “life issues” when the teen attacked her dad with a hammer then stabbed him, MLive.com reported.
Authorities arrived at the home to find the father’s body in the stairwell. He appeared to have suffered blunt force trauma, according to police.
The teen was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the Mother’s Day slaying. She is being held without bail.
Her mother, Gretchen Brasher, said she sent the teen to live with her dad as a child. However, the 18-year-old’s relationship with her father was fraught.
“He was very verbally abusive,” Brasher told news station WJRT. “She had a belly, so he would tease her about being fat.”
via: https://nypost.com/2018/05/18/teen-accused-of-killing-dad-who-teased-her-for-being-fat/
Man dismembered girlfriend’s body, made necklace with her teeth
A man in England was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday after being found guilty of murdering his girlfriend, dismembering her body and admitting to police he made a necklace out of her teeth.
Devon & Cornwall Police said in a news release that Dean Lowe, 33, was convicted last week of killing his girlfriend, 32-year-old Kirby Noden, in January 2017.
The 33-year-old then lived with the evidence of the murder for months, and told family and friends that Noden had left him for another man.
In May 2017, authorities were contacted by concerned members of Lowe’s family after they received “disturbing” messages from him on social media, saying there had been a body on the floor, which he had cut up and put into bins, according to police.
“Either I’m getting set up or I’ve murdered Kirby. I had a blackout, hazy memory and woke up with a body on the floor. I am scared so I just got rid,” he wrote to a cousin, according to Sky News. “I put the body in the bins down the road. I remember the binmen finding all the meat and didn’t know what it was. The carpet was lifted because of the body matter.”
When investigators searched Lowe’s home, they found blood spattered on the walls, a metal pole and rock used to kill Noden, in addition to stains on a mattress the 33-year-old continued to sleep on.
He also told police he made a necklace of Noden’s teeth, according to Sky News.
“Miss Noden’s family have been put through a living hell with Lowe not disclosing where he disposed of Kirby’s body and denying all knowledge in court. Lowe added to their upset by insisting that Kirby was still alive,” Detective Inspector Ian Ringrose said in a statement. “We hope today’s verdict gives them some comfort in the conclusion of the case and our thoughts and sympathies are with them.”
During his sentencing on Tuesday, a judge said Lower showed the “opposite of remorse” by constantly lying.
“You must have eaten, slept, watched TV and taken your drugs next to [Noden’s corpse] for several days, with two bull terriers in the same room,” Justice May said. “You cut up what remained, wrapped some in the carpet and took the rest in rucksacks to the bins.”
Noden’s family thanked authorities to achieve a conviction in the case.
“Dean Lowe has taken away from us something totally precious, and although we welcome this verdict and sentence, it will never replace our loss,” the family said in a statement.
via: https://nypost.com/2018/05/15/man-dismembered-girlfriends-body-made-necklace-with-her-teeth/