Pennsylvania school cancels classes after man breaks in strips, vandalizes building overnight
SCRANTON, Pa. – An elementary school in Scranton was closed Thursday morning after educators realized someone broke in, got naked and vandalized the place.
Teachers discovered vandalism in parts of the gym and areas of the school.
“Once inside the school, the male took his clothes off and was walking through at least a portion of the school without any clothes on,” said Scranton Police Chief Carl Graziano.
Earlier in the day, WNEP was at the school for a segment about safety surrounding running in the dark. When they arrived around 4 a.m., a mess of Murphy’s Oil Soap was already cleaned off of the gym floor.
Initially, some thought it was just a school prank. That was until the principal reviewed security footage later in the morning.
For safety, school officials decided around 7 a.m. to cancel classes, forcing 623 students pre-K through fifth grade to stay home.
“We’re dealing with children, better to be safe than sorry,” Graziano said.
“I don’t know why people have to be that way anymore. Schools are here to protect the kids,” Marie Cimino said.
“I think that’s crazy,” Shauna Walsh said. ‘Who would do such a thing, and why, especially to an elementary school? That’s not right.”
Administrators said students at Neil Armstrong Elementary will not have to make up the lost school day.
Photo Credit: fox2now.com
Man stabs wife 17 times after argument over parenting style
ANTIOCH, TN (WSMV) — A woman is in critical condition after police said the woman’s husband stabbed her several times.
Metro Police said they found the victim at a home on the 2500 block of Rosalee Court on Tuesday. She was found stabbed in the torso and back. Affidavits show her husband, Jeremy Tyress Johnson, is charged with attempted criminal homicide.
Investigators say Johnson admitted to stabbing his wife after an argument about their parenting style. Affidavits show the victim was in the shower when her six-year-old came in and told her that Johnson gave her warm water. The victim also told investigators that Johnson was “bickering” with the child.
The victim told police that Johnson came into the bathroom and the two began to argue. The victim reportedly asked Johnson to leave for the night but he refused. The victim told Johnson that she was leaving, which enraged Johnson and subsequently he punched her in the mouth and proceeded to stab her with a kitchen knife while she was still in the shower.
The victim was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center where it was discovered she had been stabbed 17 times with wounds to her neck, behind her ear, right shoulder, left armpit, and mid back. The victim also suffered from a busted lip.
Johnson is facing charges of attempted criminal homicide, a charge that comes with a bond of $250,000. He is currently being housed in Davidson County Jail.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/05/30/police-man-stabs-wife-17-times-after-argument-over-parenting-style/
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Family heartbroken when baby dies after choking on pine cone at daycare
RALEIGH, N.C. – A 10-month-old boy choked on a pine cone and died at a Raleigh day care on Wednesday morning, investigators told WRAL.
According to the boy’s grandmother, she dropped Areon Ellington off at the day care Wednesday morning. A few hours later, she got a phone call.
“The day care lady called me and told me that I needed to get to the day care because Areon was choking on something,” Helena Harris said.
“He was my heart,” she said. “He was, through our struggles, what was bonding us together.”
So far, no charges have been filed in the case.
WRAL found the daycare, which is operated out of a home, had violations including hazardous items found on the property, health assessment filing issues, and daily schedules not being maintained.
Photo Credit: pix11.com
Newark woman allegedly stabs man 3 times during first date
NEWARK, NJ — It doesn’t seem like there’s going to be a second date for a Newark woman accused of stabbing a man three times during a first date.
Zaniya P. Stevens, 23, met the victim online, police said. This was their first meeting in person. Stevens flagged down police around 2 a.m. Thursday and told officers she stabbed her date in self defense.
She told them she’d been choked, but police found no evidence of any neck abrasions.
The victim told police he and Stevens had met on social media before he invited her her to his apartment.
Stevens faces charges of aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a weapon and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/05/30/newark-woman-allegedly-stabs-man-3-times-during-first-date/
Photo Credit: pix11.com/Newark Public Safety
New video released after 92-year-old woman allegedly killed her son over plan to send her to nursing home
FOUNTAIN HILLS, Ariz. – Newly released body camera footage, detective interviews, and 911 calls shed light on a murder that shocked the Valley, KNXV reports.
Anna Mae Blessing was arrested on July 2, 2018, for the shooting death of her 72-year-old son Thomas Blessing at their home in Fountain Hills.
Blessing told detectives she was upset about her son’s plans to put her in an assisted living facility. Blessing also said she was angry with how her son and his girlfriend, who also lived at the home, were treating her. She claims they were mean and did not care for her.
When the couple got home from a vacation and ignored Blessing, she told Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office deputies she walked into their bedroom with two concealed pistols in her robe pockets.
The grandmother said she got in an argument with her son and pulled out a revolver. “I can’t remember the caliber, it was a good size one,” she told a detective after being arrested.
Blessing said she did not remember why she removed the gun, but she said as Thomas lunged, she fired multiple rounds, killing her only son.
“I backed up and I pulled the trigger, and it broke the mirror and I don’t know what I did,” she said. “Then Tom was going to come at me again so I pulled the trigger…I’m sure the second round hit him.”
“Where did it hit him?” asked the MCSO detective.
“I have no idea, but I do know I killed him,” explained Blessing. “I bent over and took his pulse, and there was no pulse. So I knew I killed him.”
After she shot Thomas, she then admitted to pointing the gun at her son’s girlfriend. The two struggled over the weapon before the girlfriend knocked the revolver away.
The girlfriend, Julie, can be heard screaming at the dispatcher for help in newly released 911 calls.
“Help me! Help! She’s going to shoot me! She’s going to shoot me!”
Julie later told police how she was able to disarm Blessing. “I got that gun away from her. It was a brown gun and I believe I threw it,” said Julie.
“She got in her pocket and she pulled out another gun … I grabbed onto her and I was yelling, ‘Stop Ann! Stop.’ She’s strong for 92, let me tell you. And when I knocked her down, she took the gun and she put it in my side. Then she pulled it up again.”
Blessing had a second pistol but never used it.
“Then I went to my bed and sat in the chair and waited for police to come,” said Blessing.
During a roughly 11-hour holding period, with hours of interrogation, coughing, and naps, Blessing confessed multiple times.
“I killed my own son,” she said. “He was coming at me, so I fired the gun.”
She also explained her motive. “I didn’t want to go to a nursing home and he would promise me I never would have to.”
The 92-year-old was of sharp mind, correcting the detective at some points, but she was also clearly elderly.
“Right now I’m so damn tired, I don’t know,” said Blessing, who also had a Life Alert necklace and hearing aids on at the time of her arrest.
“When you reached down and felt that he didn’t have a pulse, how did you feel?” asked the detective.
“I didn’t have much of a feel I guess,” she replied.
“How do you feel right now about what happened?”
“I wish I had stayed in Florida,” said Blessing
Blessing did not appear remorseful throughout the lengthy interview.
When asked if she felt bad about pointing the gun at Julie — who she said she was close friends with weeks prior — she responded, “Yeah kind of. But she’s part of the trying to get me put in a nursing home too … so I don’t know that I do feel that bad.”
Blessing ultimately told the detective, “I probably ought to be put to sleep.”
“What can I do for society?” she asked out loud, “I killed my son. The person I brought into this world.”
Blessing died in jail hospice on January 25, 2019. She was set to stand trial for the murder weeks later in March.
Her only granddaughter told KNXV after the arrest that she thought Blessing should be released from jail where she could have her dignity back.
Photo Credit: pix11.com
Dad charged in death of 7-year-old boy found encased in cement in Denver storage unit
DENVER — Charges have been filed against the father of 7-year-old Caden McWilliams, the boy who was found dead in a southeast Denver storage unit in December.
The Denver District Attorney’s Office said Thursday that Leland Pankey, 39, faces three counts: first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death and tempering with a deceased human.
A hearing is scheduled for June 27.
McWilliams’ mother, Elisha Pankey, was already charged in the death in January. She was charged with child abuse resulting in death and abuse of a corpse
The boy’s body was found encased in cement in a dog carrier inside a storage unit in the 5000 block of East Evans Avenue on Dec. 23, 2018.
“What began as a domestic violence call to the Aurora Police Department rapidly evolved into a homicide investigation because responding officers cared enough to ensure the involved children were safe,” said District Attorney Beth McCann in a statement. “We have now implicated both parents in this truly horrific crime.”
McCann added that McWilliams’ younger sister is “safe and adjusting well.”
Photo Credit: pix11.com
Teacher forced black students to be ‘sold’ to white students in ‘mock slave auctions’
(Meredith) — A New York state investigation found that students at a private Lutheran school in Bronxville were “negatively affected” after a fifth-grade teacher forced them to enact a “mock slave auction.”
According to the New York State Attorney General Letitia James’ Office, the teacher at The Chapel School forced black students to wear imaginary shackles and encouraged white students to bid on them in a “mock slave auction.”
The attorney general’s office said the teacher held “mock slave auctions” in two separate fifth-grade social studies classes in March, supposedly as part of a curriculum on colonial America.
The teacher, who was not named, was fired following the incidents.
According to the attorney general, the teacher asked all of the black students in each class to raise their hands and then told them to wait in the hallway. The teacher then placed imaginary chains and shackles on the black students’ wrists, necks and ankles and had them walk back into the classroom. The teacher then told the black students to line up against the wall and proceeded to conduct a “mock slave auction,” “selling” the black students to the white students in the class.
“The investigation found that the teacher’s reenactments in the two classes had a profoundly negative effect on all of the students present – especially the African-American students – and the school community at large,” the attorney general’s statement said.
The Chapel School, located about 15 miles north of Manhattan, said 43 percent of their students are minorities. The school enrolls children from prekindergarten to eighth grade, and annual tuition costs up to $14,000. According to the school’s website, fifth-grade students (the grade in which the “mock slave auctions” took place) pay $12,400 yearly tuition.
The investigation also revealed prior complaints from parents to school administration regarding the school’s lack of racial sensitivity. The investigation found the school did not take sufficient steps to address the complaints.
Attorney General James said every young person regardless of race deserves the chance to attend school free of harassment, bias and discrimination.
“Lessons designed to separate children on the basis of race have no place in New York classrooms, or in classrooms throughout this country. I thank The Chapel School for agreeing to take measures that directly address the issues of race, diversity and inclusion at the school. My office will continue efforts to promote safe environments where all students can learn and thrive,” James said in a statement.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
Man sentenced to 10 months in prison for urinating on Kellogg’s cereal conveyor belt
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee man has been sentenced to 10 months in prison for urinating on a Kellogg’s cereal conveyor belt at a Memphis facility.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Memphis says 49-year-old Gregory Stanton was sentenced Friday in federal court. Stanton had pleaded guilty in November to tampering with consumer products.
An indictment says Stanton was a contract worker at the Kellogg’s plant in April 2014 when he recorded a video of himself urinating into a bucket and dumping the contents into the Raisin Bran production line. He also recorded himself urinating into a production line a month later.
Stanton posted the videos on the internet in 2016.
Law enforcement and the Food & Drug Administration investigated. Kellogg’s said in a statement that it is pleased Stanton was “brought to justice.”
Photo Credit: Getty Images
‘Evil’ suicide forum encouraged woman to kill herself
A young Pennsylvania woman with severe depression and anxiety killed herself after allegedly getting detailed instructions on a site that bills itself as a “pro-choice” suicide forum.
Shawn Shatto, 25, was found dead on May 22 in her family’s Newberry Township home by her mother, who thought her daughter had been sleeping.
Instead, Jackie Bieber said, she found her daughter blue and cold to the touch after Shawn followed clear directions on the website as part of a three-day regimen that included over-the-counter medications to stop her from vomiting the poison that would ultimately end her life.
“Not one person said there is another way,” Bieber told the York Daily Record. “It’s like a cult.”
Screenshots of Shatto’s posts on the site show that she said she fell asleep and missed one of the steps, Bieber said, prompting another forum member to tell her not to worry.
Shatto also wrote down in her journal the list of substances she ingested from a recipe she found on the website, including exact dosages, her relatives said.
“She had her issues,” Shatto’s stepfather, Chip Bieber, told the newspaper. “We were working on it. But this website never gave her a chance.”
Shatto’s parents saved screenshots of her posts and gave them to police. They now hope to raise awareness that such “evil” websites exist and to hold someone accountable in her death.
“No one gave her an option to live or for help,” Bieber told WPMT. “How can these people not be held liable?”
Shatto’s aunt, Elizabeth Hoffman, echoed that sentiment, saying other members of the forum were “cheering her on to the finish line of a suicide.”
Newberry Township Police Chief Steve Lutz told the York Daily Record that investigators were “looking into” the website, along with claims made by Shatto’s family.
York County Coroner Pam Gay, meanwhile, characterized Shatto’s death as “very disturbing” and questioned why others online didn’t do more to get Shatto the mental health help she so desperately needed.
“How can people do that and have a conscience and go to bed?” Gay told the newspaper. “It’s just disturbing.”
An administrator at the website has acknowledged Shatto’s death and confirmed that it deleted her final posts.
Shortly after her death, the site posted a disclaimer telling visitors that it serves as a forum to discuss mental illness and suicide from a “perspective of suicidal people,” as well as its moral implications.
“This is a pro-choice forum, not a pro-suicide forum,” the site read. “We are not a pro-suicide forum, nor do we encourage anyone here to commit suicide. We do not provide the means or the tools to do so either.”
The disclaimer urged anyone feeling suicidal to call a suicide hotline, but also warned that some people may be involuntarily committed to a mental health facility if they do so.
And while the administrator said he doesn’t blame Shatto’s family for wanting someone at the site to be held culpable in her death, he dismissed the allegations that Shatto was encouraged to kill herself.
“The demonization of this forum by family members and friends of the deceased member on Facebook has been sickening for me to watch,” the post read. “To say that our community encourages people to commit suicide is simply not true. To say that this forum ‘murdered’ this member is false.”
Shatto’s funeral was held Wednesday in Harrisburg. Her family asked for contributions to be made in her memory to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, WHTM reports.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/05/30/evil-suicide-forum-encouraged-woman-to-kill-herself-relatives-say/
Photo Credit: nypost.com/facebook.com
