Rapper YNW Melly could face the death penalty in Florida killings
Florida prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty against rapper YNW Melly in connection with the killing of two men.
Prosecutors will look to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” the 19-year-old rapper, whose legal name is Jamell Demons, committed homicide “in a cold, calculated and premeditated manner” for financial gain, according to a State Notice of Intent to Seek the Death Penalty.
Police arrested YNW Melly and another man, Cortlen Henry, in February, charging them with two counts of murder. Police said YNW Melly fatally shot his friends and then staged the crime scene to look like a drive-by shooting.
The rapper’s album “We All Shine” was released in January and featured the hit song “Mixed Personalities” with Kanye West.
‘They took my brothers from me’
YNW Melly was arrested after the deaths of Anthony Williams and Christopher Thomas Jr., both of Vero Beach, Florida, according to Miramar Police. On October 26 at 4:35 a.m., police said, Henry drove up to the Memorial Miramar Hospital with both victims in the vehicle. They had multiple gunshot wounds and were pronounced dead at the hospital, police said.
Henry gave a statement to police, but the facts discovered during the preliminary investigation did not match what was presented to detectives, police said. Further investigation and forensic evidence found that YNW Melly shot and killed Williams and Thomas, and that YNW Melly and Henry then staged the scene to resemble a drive-by shooting, police said.
The day after the shooting, YNW Melly mourned the loss of his “brothers” in an Instagram post full of breaking heart emojis.
“They Took My Brothers From Me Over Jealousy,” he wrote. “I know y’all watching over me.”
In February, the rapper took to Instagram again, saying he was turning himself in to police and referred to “rumors and lies” about him.
“I want you guys to know I love you and appreciate every single one of y’all,” he wrote. “[A] couple months ago I lost my two brothers by violence and now the system want to find justice.. unfortunately a lot of rumors and lies are being said but no worries god is with me and my brother.”
The Instagram caption ended with a hashtag: “#freeus”
The rapper had an up-and-coming career
Before his arrest, YNW Melly had just begun a concert tour across the country, and his Instagram was full of the trappings of hip-hop stardom: stacks of cash, diamond jewelry and a gold grill covering his smiling teeth.
Billboard interviewed him a week before he was arrested and the rapper discussed his plans for 2019, how he linked up with Kanye and his overall background. During the interview, he said the two men who were fatally shot were his “day one brothers” and that he couldn’t speak on whether he was a target in the shooting.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/04/22/rapper-ynw-melly-could-face-the-death-penalty-in-florida-killings/
In this handout photo provided by the Broward’s Sheriff’s Office, rapper YNW Melly, real name Jamell Demons, is seen in a police booking photo after being charged with two counts of murder in the first degree February 13, 2019 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Demons allegedly conspired with Cortlen Henry to fatally shot two other Florida based rappers, Christopher Thomas Jr and Anthony Williams, October 26. (Photo by Broward’s Sheriff’s Office via Getty Images)
Bill requires schools to conduct Pledge of Allegiance
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama lawmakers might soon require public schools to start the day with the Pledge of Allegiance.
The House of Representatives voted 101-0 Wednesday for the bill that would require all K-12 public schools to conduct the pledge each morning.
Republican Rep. Nathaniel Ledbetter of Rainsville said some children don’t know the pledge because they do not regularly recite it.
While the bill requires schools to conduct the pledge each morning, it does not force students to participate.
The bill passed without a dissenting vote. It now moves to the Alabama Senate.
During the brief debate, Rep. Laura Hall, a Democrat from Huntsville, said she hopes lawmakers will be equally committed to the idea of making sure children get a quality education.
Survey finds teens unaware they are vaping nicotine
“Many of our participants were unaware of the nicotine content of the e-cigarette products they were using,” said researcher Dr. Rachel Boykan.
Article via UPI.com
As e-cigarette use soars in high schools across America, new research shows many people don’t understand the amount of addictive nicotine they’re inhaling with every puff.
In a new survey, many teens said they regularly used e-cigarettes, but swore they only vaped nicotine-free products.
However, urine tests for a “marker” of nicotine use came up positive 40 percent of the time in this same group of vapers, the researchers reported.
“Many of our participants were unaware of the nicotine content of the e-cigarette products they were using,” concluded a team led by Dr. Rachel Boykan, a pediatrics researcher at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, N.Y.
That could mean even more lifelong nicotine addictions arising in the young, including many who already believe vaping to be “harmless” compared to traditional smoking, experts said.
Patricia Folan directs the Center for Tobacco Control at Northwell Health in Great Neck, N.Y. She said, “Other studies have revealed that one of the main reasons adolescents use e-cigarettes is that they perceive them to be less harmful than combustible cigarettes — without full knowledge of their actual contents.”
But the new study “shows that many of the participating youth were unaware of the nicotine content in their vaping devices,” Folan said.
The study findings were published online April 22 in the journal Pediatrics.
As Boykan’s group noted, about one in five high school students now say they’ve used an e-cigarette at least once over the past month, and in just the 12 months between 2017 and 2018, teen vaping rates soared 78 percent.
But do young people even understand the addictive dangers of nicotine-laden vaping products such as Juul vape “pods”?
To find out, the Stony Brook team first had 517 people, aged 12 to 21, complete questionnaires about their use of e-cigarettes, traditional cigarettes and marijuana. The investigators then compared those survey results against the results of urine tests that looked for a chemical called cotinine.
Cotinine is a well-known “marker” for the presence of nicotine in a person’s body.
Overall, the survey participants were largely honest about their use of tobacco, e-cigarettes and marijuana: Only about 2 percent who said they didn’t use those substances later were found to have evidence of tobacco, nicotine or pot in their urine samples.
The big discrepancy came among young vapers, Boykan’s team found.
In this subgroup, about four of every 10 people who said they vaped non-nicotine products only were found to have markers for nicotine in their urine.
In many cases, this lack of awareness occurred with use of Juul vaping pods, which actually “have the highest nicotine concentrations to date,” the researchers reported.
These products have also “become the most widely used [vaping] products among adolescents,” the study authors added.
“The risk for addiction is clear,” said Dr. Len Horovitz, a lung health specialist who wasn’t involved in the new study. The fact that many young vapers may not even realize that they are ingesting nicotine is “disturbing,” he said.
“It’s well known that e-cigarettes end up delivering more nicotine because every ‘draw’ yields nicotine, whereas traditional cigarettes burn down between puffs and therefore deliver less nicotine,” Horovitz said. He works in pulmonary care at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
For her part, Folan believes more must be done to alert kids to the danger.
“This study demonstrates the need for more regulation regarding e-cigarettes, including labeling of ingredients and health warnings,” she said. Better education about what’s in a vaping product “may help teens make more educated decisions,” Folan added.
A Missouri teacher is accused of hiring a hitman to kill a 10-year-old boy he allegedly molested
Deonte Taylor, 36, and his boyfriend Michael Johnson, 66, pleaded not guilty to multiple charges in a St. Louis court on Wednesday, KSDK reported.
Taylor was busted in November after his DNA was found to match samples found on his former student.
He’s facing three charges of first-degree statutory sodomy related to the accusation that he took the then-7-year-old boy from class at an elementary school where he worked as a teacher’s assistant in 2015, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Court papers said he took the boy to another room, where the boy performed oral sex on him, KSDK reported.
The boy reported the alleged attack right away, but the investigation lingered after the detective on the case left the department, and charges were not immediately filed.
In the meantime, Taylor got his teaching certificate, and was hired as a teacher by a different school district. He passed a series of background checks despite the open case in his prior district, and was working at a different elementary school when he was arrested, the station reported. That district alerted families about the accusations at Taylor’s former school after he was nabbed.
Investigators said in February, Taylor met a fellow inmate and arranged to have him kill the boy — and his mother — when that inmate was released. The man instead became a confidential informant for the police, the outlet reported.
Meanwhile, Taylor then talked to Johnson, whom he lived with before he was busted, and allegedly convinced Johnson to pay for the hit, the station reported. Court papers say Johnson paid the man.
Taylor and Johnson were charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder and two counts of attempting to tamper with a victim in a felony prosecution.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/04/20/teacher-accused-of-hiring-hitman-on-student-he-allegedly-molested/
A bill in Washington state would allow the composting of human remains
(CNN) — Lawmakers in Washington state passed a bill Friday that would allow human remains to be composted.
If Gov. Jay Inslee signs Senate Bill 5001 into law, it will take effect May 1, 2020.
Right now, if a person dies in Washington, the body can only be cremated or buried, according to the bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Jamie Pedersen. The bill gives people a third option for disposing of human remains: recomposition.
The process of recomposition essentially turns dead bodies into soil, a practice colloquially known as “human composting.” According to the bill’s language, this is the practice of “contained, accelerated conversion of human remains to soil.”
“It’s about time we apply some technology, allow some technology, to be applied to this universal human experience both because we think that people should have the freedom to determine for themselves how they’d like their body to be disposed of and also because we have learned over time that there are some more environmentally friendly and safe ways of disposing of human remains,” Pedersen said in February.
How human composting works
Katrina Spade is the CEO of the human composting company, Recompose, and told CNN affiliate KIRO-TV she is hoping her company can be one of the first to build a facility for the practice.
She explained to KIRO the complex process of turning a dead body into soil.
“(The) body is covered in natural materials, like straw or wood chips, and over the course of about three to seven weeks, thanks to microbial activity, it breaks down into soil,” she said.
While the dead body is being broken down, Spade said families of the deceased will be able to visit her facility and will ultimately receive the soil that remains of their loved. It is up to the family how they want to use that soil, Spade said.
“And if they don’t want that soil, we’ll partner with local conservation groups around the Puget Sound region so that that soil will be used to nourish the land here in the state,” she said.
The process was the focus of a new study at Washington State University, according to KIRO, in which six people donated their bodies for research.
“We proved recomposition was indeed safe and effective for humans as well,” Spade said.
The average burial, KIRO said, can cost between $8,000 and $25,000. Cremation can top $6,000. Spade said she hopes to charge about $5,500 for human composting.
One supporter for human composting, Leslie Christian, told KIRO it’s an attractive from an environmental perspective. She said she told her brother, who reportedly said, “Oh great, you can plant tomatoes in me.”
CNN’s Artemis Moshtaghian contributed to this report.
Church apologizes after pastor asks students to spit on him and cut him as part of Easter lesson
(CNN) — An Ohio church is apologizing for an “inappropriate” Easter lesson in which a pastor urged students to spit on him, slap him and cut him with a steak knife.
Impact City Church lead pastor Justin Ross and part-time associate pastor Jaddeus Dempsey went on Facebook this week to publicly apologize to students who were part of the unusual after-school activity Monday.
Dempsey was leading a group of middle and high school students who were part of the church’s weekly “After School Student Hangouts.” The program includes food and activities, Ross said.
That’s when Dempsey decided to share his message with students about Easter, in a way which he later said, “crossed the line.”
‘I thought it was OK’
“Jaddeus got up in front of the students and he said, ‘I’m going to ask you to do something that might seem a little crazy, but if there’s anyone here that would like to spit in my face, you can do so without any repercussions,’ ” Ross said on social media, describing the event.
Some students took him up on his offer. Then, he told them they could slap him. Several did.
Finally, Dempsey pulled out a steak knife and set the same conditions.
One student took the knife and sliced his back.
Students pulled out their phones and began posting on social media. Videos of that day show the students lining up before the pastor and taking turns spitting on his face while others laugh.
One student is heard saying “I’m doing it,” while others respond, “Do it.”
“Can I do it again?” another asks.
Another video shows students attempting to cut the pastor’s back, before the pastor seems to say, “Make me bleed.”
Ai’Janae Parker, 12, took part in the activity.
“I thought it was very weird and awkward,” she told CNN affiliate WBNS. “I took part because I thought it was OK because it was coming from an adult.”
The affiliate also reported the Licking County Sheriff’s Office opened an investigation.
Intent was ‘honorable’, pastor says
The illustration went too far, Ross said in a video the Pataskala church later uploaded. But, he said, it was used to explain a “very important topic about the crucifixion.”
“The reactions are appropriate,” Ross said. “Many of you were disgusted, many of you were hurt by this, many of you were very confused.” Even though the activity was inappropriate, he said, the “intent was honorable.”
After letting them spit, slap and cut him, Dempsey sat students down and talked to them about Jesus, his trial and crucifixion and how he was “beaten, he was broken, he was whipped, he was crucified and he died as an innocent man,” Ross said.
“[Jesus] chose to allow them to spit on him and beat him and crucify him in order to take the payment of our debt that we call sin,” Ross said. “So Jaddeus, in an effort to share that message of love through the Gospel and the story of Jesus’ crucifixion, he shared this illustration and tried to share some of the pain that Jesus took on that day.”
Ross said the church does not condone that students or anyone should spit or slap others, or “use a weapon to harm anyone or to harm themselves.”
Dempsey says no one knew about the activity
In the same Facebook video by the church, Dempsey said it was completely his idea and no one else knew about his plans.
It was over the top and bad judgment, he said.
“I am so sorry for misrepresenting the community, the church, the parents, the students and anybody that I hurt,” Dempsey said. “It was not my intention. My intention was just to show them how much Jesus loves them and I love them.”
Dempsey said he has been a student leader for almost four years and that Monday’s activity was “an anomaly and is not normally what happens.”
Many Facebook users came to Dempsey’s defense after the incident.
The church said its board of directors will conduct a formal review and investigation.
Oklahoma woman accused of starving kids, feeding them feces
JAY, Okla. (AP) — An Oklahoma mother has been charged with child neglect, accused of starving her children and feeding them dog feces.
The Tulsa World reports that 34-year-old Mary Elizabeth Moore was charged in Delaware County court this month.
The children, aged 5 and 3, are severely malnourished and have been placed on a special diet with nasal feeding tubes. They are in state custody.
An affidavit says the older child told Department of Human Services workers that she ate dog feces. The arresting officer noted the child had parasitic pinworms.
The girl also told investigators that her mother’s boyfriend “throws bottles” at her younger sibling.
The affidavit says Moore denied starving her children and feeding them dog feces. Her court-appointed attorney, Lee Griffin, didn’t immediately return a phone call Saturday seeking comment.
Woman caught on video tossing a plastic bag full of puppies near a trash bin
(CNN) — Seven puppies were found next to a dumpster in Coachella, California, and authorities say they are looking for the woman caught on camera leaving them.
The woman is accused of leaving the newborn puppies in a plastic bag near a dumpster behind a NAPA Auto Parts store on Thursday afternoon, according to Riverside County Animal Services.
Commander Chris Mayer with animal services said he is building an animal cruelty case against the woman with the help of the Riverside Sheriff’s office and the District Attorney’s office.
A passerby discovered the bag, and a store employee then contacted animal services. The puppies were about three days old and believed to be terrier mixes, animal services said.
“If not for the Good Samaritan’s actions, the puppies may not have survived much longer,” said the Riverside County Animal Services in a release. “The mid-day temperatures in Coachella on Thursday were in the mid-90s range.”
Animal Service’s veterinary team members cared for the puppies and found a rescue group to accept and bottle feed them, according to the release.
“There is no excuse for dumping puppies,” Mayer said. “Especially in today’s age when we or other shelters would be willing to get these animals to foster parents or rescue partners. This was a shameful act.”
via: https://www.kmov.com/news/woman-caught-on-video-tossing-a-plastic-bag-full-of/article_952329c0-e2a5-5cec-adbf-4f7b98c81f3d.html
CNN’s Hollie Silverman contributed to this report
Netflix originals presents Homecoming A Beyoncé film
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Chucky official trailer 2019
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