Man shoots infant in the head after being rejected by her mom
A 10-month-old Fresno girl was shot in the head Sunday by a man who was apparently angry that the baby’s mother had rejected him, California police said.
The baby, Fayth Percy, was rushed to the hospital, where she underwent surgery to remove bullet fragments from her head, Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer told reporters. She is in critical but stable condition.
The alleged shooting took place at a home in Fresno. A man there tried to grab the mother’s hand but she rejected his advances, police said.
The mother later left the home with the baby and another male friend, police said. As they were driving away, the suspect, Marco Antonio Echartea, 23, began shooting at the car, police said.
“At some point when he got close, he pulled out a handgun and fired three rounds into the driver’s-side window, which was up,” Dyer said. “One of those rounds struck baby Fayth on the side of the head as she was being held by her mother.”
Police found the suspect near the home and arrested him on suspicion of three counts of attempted murder, the Fresno Bee reported. He was also wanted for another shooting in May. It was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney. No further details were released on the baby’s condition.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/06/25/man-shoots-infant-in-the-head-after-being-rejected-by-her-mom-cops/
Photo Credit: latimes.com
JoJo Siwa Addresses Makeup Kit Being Recalled for Containing Asbestos: ‘It Is Serious to Me’
Nickelodeon star JoJo Siwa has some “more serious” things to speak about on her YouTube channel.
On Saturday, over a week after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced her make-up kit tested positive for asbestos and issued a warning to stop using the product, Siwa shared a video on YouTube to address the situation.
“Recently it’s been brought up to my attention that there has been a problem with one of my products in Claire’s stores, with one of the JoJo makeup products,” the 16-year-old Dance Moms alum stated in the video. “I just want to let everyone know that, no matter what, safety is myself and Nickelodeon’s No. 1 priority in everything, in every JoJo product and in everything out there.”
“This product is something that, with a lot of things, that I put my trust into other people’s hands, [and] we are working really, really hard to make sure that this product is recalled and off all shelves,” she continued. “And also that anyone who has this product, you can get a refund… If it’s used or it’s unused, you can get a full refund.”
The YouTuber went on to thank fans for being understanding and said that she is not taking the situation lightly.
“But I just wanna let you guys know the situation, and I hope you understand and I thank you for understanding, because it is serious to me, and it means a lot to me,” Siwa added. “‘Cause it is my name, and it is my brand, and it is my face — quite literally.”
On June 6, the FDA released a formal statement about the product’s recall on Twitter. According to USA Today, the FDA announcement regarding Siwa’s makeup kit came just three months after other Claire’s products were pulled from the shelves for also containing asbestos, a carcinogen linked to lung cancer and mesothelioma.
“Today, the FDA is releasing new results from its continued testing of cosmetic products for asbestos & is warning consumers to not use 2 additional products that have tested positive for asbestos & have been recalled,” the statement read, along with an image of Siwa’s metallic, heart-shaped set.
Claire’s released a statement obtained by PEOPLE.
“Claire’s Stores, Inc. has voluntarily recalled the JoJo Cosmetic Kit out of an abundance of caution after testing by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration indicated the possible presence of trace amounts of asbestos fibers in the powder eyeshadow element of the kit,” it read. “Claire’s stands behind the safety of this item and all other Claire’s cosmetic items, as such small trace amounts are considered acceptable under European and Canadian cosmetic safety regulations. In addition, last year Claire’s moved to talc-free cosmetic manufacturing to prevent any further concerns about talc contamination. Claire’s also supports increased FDA oversight of personal care products.”
The “Kid in a Candy Store” singer first found fame after appearing on the hit show Dance Moms. She later took her talents to social media, where she has become a breakout star with her own YouTube channel, garnering 9.7 million subscribers.
via: https://people.com/style/jojo-siwa-speaks-out-makeup-kit-asbestos-recall/
Photo Credit: Getty Images
She’s Mentally Disabled and Pregnant. A Judge Has Ordered Abortion
A UK judge’s ruling is being called “horrendous” by anti-abortion advocates, with even abortion rights supporters acknowledging how “heartbreaking” it is. Per reports cited in the New York Times confirmed by a court rep, a mentally disabled woman in her 20s who’s 22 weeks pregnant has been ordered by Court of Protection Judge Nathalie Lieven to have an abortion.
Even though the woman wants to keep the baby, and her mother says she’ll care for it, the judge fears there’s risk due to the woman’s mental issues, doesn’t think she fully understands what taking care of a baby would entail, and isn’t confident the woman’s mother will fulfill her vow.
“I think [the woman] would like to have a baby in the same way she would like to have a nice doll,” Lieven said. The woman is said to have the mental capacity of a grade schooler, a mood disorder, and a “moderately severe” learning disorder.
She acknowledged a
court-ordered abortion where the woman doesn’t seem to want it “is an
immense intrusion,” but added she was ruling in the woman’s “best
interests, not on society’s views of termination.” Lieven also said if
for some reason the baby ever had to be placed in foster care or
adopted, it would be more traumatic for the woman in the long run.
Anti-abortion supporters say the decision is “horrendous,” with commenters on one Facebook page calling it “devastating,” “criminal,” and “awful.” A rep for an abortion rights group says the case is “sad and complex,” but that “we shouldn’t undermine free, safe, legal abortion based on one difficult case,” per the Times.
Police are looking into how the pregnancy came about in the first place, per the Independent. The Catholic News Agency notes Lieven has appeared as an attorney in several court cases in which she’s argued for abortion rights.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
5-year-old dies after being given 10 times amount of insulin in misdiagnosis
A British boy with autism died after being given 10 times the standard dose of insulin after bungling doctors misdiagnosed him with diabetes, his grieving parents have claimed.
Little Shay Turner, 5, was rushed to a hospital in Rotherham, Yorkshire, in March 2018 — but died four days later after suffering a catastrophic brain injury.
Parents Laura, 28, and Martyn, 29, claim doctors diagnosed him with diabetes instead of the sepsis that hospitalized him.
The couple is trying to raise 12,000 pounds to pay for lawyers to represent them at Shay’s inquest in October.
“So far nobody has told us the truth and we want to know what happened to our son,” Laura said.
“On Good Friday, Shay was unwell — he looked tired, he kept saying he couldn’t go to the toilet, he wanted to drink but couldn’t keep any water down and kept being sick.”
Parents had to turn off life support
“I thought he had caught a bug, but by the time his dad came home from work, Shay looked gray and we decided to go to the ER. It was obvious Shay was very unwell, but it felt like sheer panic at the hospital. A pediatric consultant came to speak to me around 11 p.m. and said ‘due to the laws of transparency,’ they had to tell me about the incorrect dosage. I asked him what this meant and he said, ‘I honestly don’t know.’”
A scan later revealed that Shay had suffered a catastrophic brain injury — and his parents made the heartbreaking decision to turn off his life support.
His autopsy report said he died from multiple organ failure from an unknown cause with the possibility of Hirschsprung disease — a condition that is the result of missing nerve cells in the muscles of the colon — leading to a bowel infection and causing sepsis.
The coroner’s report concluded that Shay did not have diabetes.
South Yorkshire police carried out a 10-month investigation into Shay’s death, but Laura said no further action is being taken.
A spokesperson for Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Rotherham General Hospital, said: “Our thoughts and sympathies are very much with Shay’s family and our medical director has recently written to them about the serious incident investigation which we are currently undertaking. Given an inquest is scheduled for the autumn, we cannot comment further at this time.”
Photo Credit: GoFundMe
‘Fame’ school principal forced out for being too focused on academics
A principal at one of the city’s top high schools has been forced out — for being too focused on academics, The Post has learned.
Lisa Mars, who ran La Guardia High School, an elite performing arts-based school that requires students audition to get in, has been forced out amid parent and student gripes about her focus on education to the detriment of song and dance, sources said.
She officially left famed La Guardia Monday — hours before graduation ceremonies — and will now work under the Department of Education’s Chief Academic Officer, sources said.
La Guardia, which inspired the hit 1980 movie and theme song “Fame” — and an offshoot TV series that ran for six seasons on NBC — counts Robert De Niro, Liza Minnelli and Jennifer Aniston as graduates.
Citing personal reasons, Mars told parents in an email that she would not be attending graduation. Several students told The Post that they had planned to protest Mars by turning their backs to her if she had shown up.
“I think everyone felt a lot more comfortable because there was a lot of drama leading up to graduation because people were saying, ‘I’m gonna turn my back, I’m gonna walk out,’ I’m gonna do this or that because she isn’t really someone that we felt wanted to be a part of the celebration,” one student said.
While they knew Mars would not be attending graduation, parents and students were not yet aware that she had been permanently reassigned.
Opposition to her reign crested last month when hundreds of students staged a protest at the school and demanded her removal.
Among other complaints, they cited shrinking rehearsal times and admissions criteria that have slowly pivoted away from artistic merit and toward academic metrics.
“We are forced into Advanced Placement courses we don’t want to take so that the school can boast high [college] enrollment statistics,” the protesters griped in a letter to the administration.
Mars also angered students last year when she tried to block the use of Nazi props from the school’s December performance of “The Sound of Music” on grounds that it was inappropriate to use symbols of the Third Reich.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/06/24/fame-school-principal-forced-out-for-being-too-focused-on-academics/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Toys ‘R’ Us plans to return in the United States
(CNN) — Toys “R” Us stores are coming back this year.
Richard Barry, CEO of Tru Kids Brands and former global chief merchandising officer at Toys “R” Us, plans to open at least two Toys “R” Us stores this year, according to a person familiar with Barry’s plans.
Tru Kids Brands’ owners won the rights to the Toys “R” Us brand last October. They also took over the former company’s other assets and brands including Babies “R” Us, Geoffrey the Giraffe, and Imaginarium.
“We’re definitely coming back in 2019. At minimum two stores. There’s more planned for 2020,” the person said. The new stores will be smaller than Toys “R” Us’ old stores and “experiential,” the person added.
Bloomberg first reported Barry’s plans.
“We have significant interest about how to bring the brand back to the US,” Barry told CNN Business earlier this year. “We’re working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to bring it to life.”
Barry pitched his plans for Toys “R” Us at a recent conference in Las Vegas, said Isaac Larian, the billionaire toy executive behind Bratz dolls and Little Tikes toys.
“They’re considering opening two stores to begin with and then go from there. I hope they’re successful,” he said. “There is a need for an independent toy chain in the US, whether it’s Toys ‘R’ Us or something else.”
Larian tried to buy roughly 300 Toys “R” Us locations in the United States and Canada last year. Toys “R” Us rejected that offer.
Tru Kids Brands has dabbled in the United States since it won the rights to Toys “R” Us in October. The company teamed with US grocer Kroger to set up “Geoffrey’s Toy Box” sections in 600 stores during the holidays. Thirty-five toys were part of the promotion, which featured the iconic Toys “R” Us giraffe mascot.
More than 700 American Toys “R” US stores closed last year. But the company kept 900 stores open in Europe, Asia and India. The new owners have plans to open another 70 stores overseas — mostly in Asia — by the end of the year.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Dad visiting Bronx for sister’s baby shower killed after fight spills from restaurant into street
THE BRONX —An Alabama father of two visited the Bronx for his sister’s baby shower; less than 24 hours later, he was dead.
Troy Scott, 40, was killed after a fight inside the Kennedy Fried Chicken at East 169 Street and Prospect Avenue spilled into the street. Video posted on social media shows the fight.
Stedroy Phillips, the victim’s father, has a message for his son.
“If I could say something to my son, I’d tell him I appreciate the life he lived with me and appreciated the love and understanding he brought to the community,” he said.
He also has a message for his son’s killer.
“I forgive him. I don’t love him. I don’t hate him. But I forgive what he did,” he said. “I’ll go with you to the police. Make sure you get there safe, nobody do nothing to you. Because I’m gonna let you know. I’ll go with you but you’re gonna stand trial and pay for what you did.”
Police say the man who killed Scott is about 5 feet, 7 inches tall. He fled the scene on June 16 in a red vehicle going southbound on Prospect Avenue.
Photo Credit: pix11.com
Queens Uber driver gets 3 years for kidnapping sleeping passenger
NEW YORK — A man who drove for Uber in New York City has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for abducting a woman who fell asleep inside his vehicle.
A judge Monday also ordered Harbir Parmar to pay more than $3,600 in restitution for overcharging customers.
Parmar pleaded guilty in March to charges of kidnapping and wire fraud.
The kidnapping happened in February 2018 after the woman ordered a ride from Manhattan to her home in White Plains, New York, about an hour away.
Prosecutors said Parmar changed her destination to an address in Boston, Massachusetts, after she fell asleep.
The woman told authorities she awoke to Parmar groping her in the back seat, reaching under her shirt.
Parmar ultimately left the woman on the side of a highway in Connecticut.
Photo Credit: pix11.com
A 2-year-old boy found a gun at home and fatally shot himself
A 2-year-old boy died after accidentally shooting himself in the head at home in South Carolina, authorities said.
Officers responded to a call Thursday about a child who got a hold of a gun at home and shot himself, Greenville County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Ryan Flood told CNN affiliate WYFF.
Deputies tried to provide medical aid to the child while waiting for EMS, but he died on the way to the hospital, Flood said.
The Greenville County coroner identified him as Kayden John Stuber, according to the affiliate, and ruled the cause of death as a gunshot wound to the head.
There have been 288 children killed or injured by a gun in 2019, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which compiles data on shooting incidents.
A GoFundMe has been set up for funeral expenses.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/06/23/a-2-year-old-boy-found-a-gun-at-home-and-fatally-shot-himself/
Photo Credit: GoFundMe
Man struck his 15-year-old brother in the head because he was upset about the teen vaping indoors, cracking his skull that led to death
The (Northwest Indiana) Times reports that a recording of a hearing in the involuntary manslaughter case against 21-year-old Tyler Kiger detailed the circumstances of the June 7 dispute involving Michael Kiger. It happened in rural LaPorte County at their great-grandmother’s home.
Records don’t yet list a defense lawyer, but their father has said Tyler Kiger didn’t intend to harm his brother.
LaPorte County sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Adam Hannon says Michael Kiger called 911 and told the dispatcher he had head pain after his brother hit him. He was pronounced dead June 8 at a home in LaPorte.
via: https://fox2now.com/2019/06/21/authorities-man-upset-about-vaping-cracked-brothers-skull/
Photo Credit: Getty Images