FL Man killed girlfriend’s dog because she didn’t come home on time
(Meredith) — A Florida man faced a judge Thursday after police said he killed his girlfriend’s dog because she didn’t come home on time.
Lawrence Graham, 19, is accused of killing a one-year-old Shih Tzu named Jordan.
The Broward Sheriff’s Office told WSVN that Graham had given his 16-year-old girlfriend the puppy as a gift last year.
According to WTVT, Graham told police he was angry that his girlfriend wouldn’t answer his calls or texts Tuesday night. He went to her house Wednesday morning. She wasn’t there, and he told police he was jealous that she might be with someone else.
An arrest report said Graham texted his girlfriend, “U got til 1030 if u not here by then I swear 4 God I’ll finnish Jordan off.”
When his girlfriend didn’t arrive home by 10:30, police said he choked and slammed the dog to the ground and then put it in a plastic bag. The dog was still alive and tried to scratch holes in the bag, then Graham choked the dog again and killed it, police said.
The report said Graham then placed the dog next to the front door with a towel over it, flowers next to the dog with the dog’s collar, and a note that read: “Coulda made it RIP Jordan.”
Police said Graham then texted his girlfriend to tell her he killed Jordan. One text message read, “If u really loved him u woulda made it in time 2 save him. Hope it was worth it.”
Police said the girlfriend is devastated.
“This is a heinous crime that he did this to this poor dog that’s a year old,” Broward Sheriff’s Office Detective Sira Arroyo told WSVN. “Also, I mean, it’s a small puppy he eventually ended up killing. Thank God she didn’t come home ’cause who knows what he would’ve done to her.” 4 Signs Your Heart Is Quietly Failing You How To Avoid A Heart Attack (Do This For 7 Seconds Twice A Day) Ad By PhysioTru See More
Graham’s mother showed up to his court appearance Thursday to tell the judge she raised her son better than this, according to WSVN.
“Good morning Lawrence. After they told me what you did, you hurt me so bad,” she told Graham in court.
Graham allegedly walked away after seeing his mother.
Graham is charged with six counts of animal cruelty and is being held in the Broward County Jail on a $15,000 bond.
29-year-old foster father raped, impregnated teen he was fostering, prosecutors say
Yellowstone County (Billings Gazette) — A 29-year-old foster father in Yellowstone County has been charged with raping and impregnating his teen foster daughter.
The man, whom The Billings Gazette is not naming to avoid identifying the alleged victim, has pleaded not guilty to a single count of sexual intercourse without consent.
He’s currently being held in jail.
The man initially told police he’d provide a statement but later declined. He then told an employee at a mental health organization that he had had sex with the foster child and it had resulted in a pregnancy, according to charges. He later provided a saliva sample to police, charges state.
The teen was in the man’s care for less than three months, according to Deputy Yellowstone County Attorney Jacob Yerger. The investigation began in 2018.
Foster parents can be as young as 18, according to the state health department’s policies. The most important requirement for eligibility is the ability to protect and promote children’s well-being, the policies state.
The health department said confidentiality laws prohibit commenting on individual cases or investigations.
“We take all allegations of abuse and neglect seriously,” a spokeswoman said.
School nurse arrested for allegedly stealing and ingesting student meds
(WRTV) — Lawrence County prosecutors filed criminal charges Thursday against a Mitchell Community Schools nurse for stealing student’s medication and ingesting it herself.
Carol Sanders is charged with felony official misconduct, felony neglect of a dependent, and five counts of misdemeanor theft.
Police arrested Sanders Thursday and she was booked into the Lawrence County Jail.
A staff member at Burris Elementary launched an investigation earlier this month after medication belonging to students went missing.
Sanders admitted to stealing amphetamines, Ritalin, Zyrtec and other medications from students at Burris Elementary and Hatfield Elementary.
The school nurse also admitted to replacing some of the students’ medications with baby aspirin.
Sanders said she stole the medications between February 25 and March 7 of 2019, court records show.
“Carol stated she stole the medication because she is an addict,” read the probable cause affidavit. “Carol admitted to needing help with her addiction.”
Carol Sanders also admitted that this is not the first time she’s been terminated from a nursing job for stealing and ingesting medication.
Sanders said she omitted that information to the school district during the hiring process.
Superintendent Dr. Mike Wilcox said the district performed an expanded criminal history check and no prior history was reported.
Wilcox provided the following statement.
“The Mitchell Community School Family is deeply concerned about this event. This, or any other, issue that forces us to question the safety of any Mitchell student immediately becomes our top priority. Our outstanding school administrators and school resource officer responded firmly, fairly, and in a timely manner. The parents of our students effected by this event, who were contacted immediately and have shown remarkable support. Mrs. Sanders is no longer employed by Mitchell Community Schools. She has submitted her letter of resignation, The Mitchell team of students, families, community members, and educators will continue to analyze current practices and collaborate on best solutions in regard to all Mitchell students.”
Sanders is scheduled for an initial hearing in Lawrence County on March 25. No attorney is listed for her.
Woman charged with shooting 11-year-old boy and his mother at playground
BALTIMORE (AP) — A woman is charged in the shooting of an 11-year-old boy and his mother at a Baltimore playground.
Baltimore police said in a Friday morning release that 31-year-old Nichole George has been charged with attempted first-degree murder, assault and handgun violations in connection with the Wednesday evening shooting.
The child suffered at least one gunshot wound, and remains in critical condition. His 34-year-old mother suffered a gunshot wound to her upper body, and is listed as stable, but her exact condition is unknown.
Police haven’t yet identified a motive in the shooting. Investigators believe the suspect approached the pair before opening fire.
The victims’ names haven’t been released. It’s unclear whether George has a lawyer.
90-year-old woman threatened to kill neighbor over leaves
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Police arrested a 90-year-old Tennessee grandmother after a neighbor claimed she threatened to kill her because of leaves in her yard.
Bessie Bowen was charged with aggravated assault and violation of an order of protection.
According to police, they responded to the 2300 block of Larose Avenue in Bethel Grove early Thursday morning. That’s where they met a woman who claimed Bowen had stopped by her house, pointed a gun at her and threatened to kill her.
Police say it escalated quickly. The neighbor told officers she captured it all on camera.
The victim also told authorities she has an order of protection against Bowen following a previous assault. It was served in June 2018.
Bowen was arrested but later released on her own recognizance. She’s scheduled to appear in court Friday.
“I never knew her to do anything like that before. Kind of shocked,” said a neighbor on the block who asked us to hide his face.
He didn’t want to say too much about the situation, just that he’s known Bowen for years.
“She’s always been serious about her yard,” he said. “I never had a problem with her. I never seen or heard her do anything like that.”
Bowen’s family didn’t want to comment, and the neighbor who called police didn’t come to the door.
Neighbors seem to be aware of the problems and hope they’re resolved without anyone else going to jail.
“I hope they don’t send her to jail,” a neighbor said. “She’s an old lady. Just serious about her yard.”
via: https://pix11.com/2019/03/16/90-year-old-woman-threatened-to-kill-neighbor-over-leaves-police-say/
Man Murdered Wife, Then Tried To Frame 12-Year-Old Daughter By Writing Fake Confession Note
A 45 year-old man has been convicted of the 2009 murder of his estranged, wealthy wife who was found dead in the bathtub of her tony Manhattan apartment the day before she planned to cut him out of her will, multiple outlets report.
On Wednesday, a jury found Roderick Covlin guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Shele Danishefsky Covlin, 47, The New York Times reports.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on April 10.
Colvin, an unemployed stockbroker and backgammon pro, has maintained his innocence since his wife was found dead on New Year’s Eve in 2009.
“It is impossible to know beyond a reasonable doubt what happened to Shele Covlin, how it happened and why it happened,” Colvin’s lawyer, Robert Gottlieb said in closing arguments on Monday, the Times reports.
Lead prosecutor Matthew Bogdano said in his opening statement the motive was “pure unadulterated greed,” the Times reports.
The Covlins were in the midst of a bitter divorce and living in separate apartments across the hall from one another in the upscale Dorchester Towers on West 68th Street when she was killed, CBS News and the Associated Press report.
Danishefsky Colvin, a successful wealth manager at UBS, had filed for divorce in May 2009. She planned to cut her estranged husband out of her will but was killed just a day before she was due to meet with her lawyer.
She had originally planned to leave him $5 million, prosecutors said, CBS News reports.
“She was fearful for her life, believed Rod intended to kill her, and there was some urgency to make changes in her will,” documents filed previously in New York Surrogate’s Court state, NBC New York reports.
Danishefsky Colvin’s death was initially ruled accidental after the couple’s then 9-year-old daughter found her in a bloody bathtub with a large gash on her head, The New York Times reports.
Covlin told police he had administered CPR to his wife after calling 911.
Danishefsky Colvin’s family initially declined an autopsy for religious reasons.
But they later agreed to have her body exhumed after investigators learned that Danishefsky Colvin had filed for an order of protection against her husband earlier that year, The Journal News reports.
After the exhumation, a New York City medical examiner determined that she showed signs of strangulation and reclassified her death as a homicide.
In 2011, Danishefsky Colvin’s family filed a wrongful death suit against Covlin claiming he killed her.
In 2013, prosecutors alleged that he tried to frame his daughter, by then 12, by posing as her in a fake confession letter that said she had killed her mother, the Times reports.
Covlin was arrested on Nov. 1, 2015, and charged with two counts of second-degree murder.
His lawyer did not immediately return PEOPLE’s call for comment.
Man arrested in alleged plot to kill child he is accused of raping
CRAWFORD COUNTY, Ark. — An Arkansas man has been arrested for conspiring to kill a child he’s accused of raping in 2018, along with her grandparents and her father.
John Kelly, 49, considered sending them to Mexico and arranging that they “never return,” according to an affidavit.
“We had received some information Mr. Kelly was looking to hire someone to kill those who were involved in this and the Crawford County sheriffs started an undercover operation and today we were able to present an affidavit to the judge,” said Crawford County Sheriff Ron Brown.
The affidavit also says Kelly discussed killing all four himself.
Sheriff Brown says that the investigation lasted about five months. Kelly faces four counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
The affidavit states that Kelly gave the other person money and a motorcycle. He also promised the other person a Mustang upon completion of the job.
Kelly was previously charged with five counts of sexual assault in January 2018, but was released on June 7, 2018, on a $50,000 bond.
Kelly ran a well known photography business in Van Buren. KFSM chose not to identify the business because it is under new ownership. During the time Kelly ran the business, he contracted to take class pictures for surrounding school districts.
Formerly homeless NJ teen accepted to 17 colleges
JERSEY CITY, NJ — Homeless students have rougher times in school than many others, but one New Jersey teen whose family struggled through homelessness beat the odds.
Dylan Chidick, 17, has been accepted to 17 colleges. Chidick, who’s class president at Henry Snyder High School, was inducted into the National Honor Society when his family lived at a homeless shelter. Now he’s got his choice of schools, including Xavier University, New Jersey City University and Rowan University.
“The situation that my family has been through, I don’t want it to define me,” Chidick said.
Chidick lived in Brooklyn with his mom and younger twin brothers until a few years ago. The skyrocketing cost of living triggered an emergency move to Jersey City.
“It was because of the rent,” Chidick said. “It got too high in New York.”
His brothers both needed heart surgery. Mom Khadine Phillip lost her job.
“Everything went downhill from there,” she said.
Phillip credits non-profit Women Rising with providing a safety net for her family and for her son’s future.
“Once you have that housing stability in place, then families are able to work on their goals to improve their wellbeing,” Anne Miller-Christensen, a member of the Women Rising management team, said.
Chidick is not resting on his laurels. Now that he has his pile of acceptance letters, he’s already thinking about his next step: law school.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/03/13/formerly-homeless-nj-teen-accepted-to-17-colleges/
DMV examiner took bribes, groped women taking road tests
A Department of Motor Vehicles examiner in Queens was charged Tuesday with demanding bribes to pass drivers taking their road tests and with groping female applicants.
Ian Alexander Cioffi, 35, of Stewart Manor, LI, was hit with a slew of felony charges, according to state Inspector General Letizia Tagliafiero and Queens DA Richard Brown.
In one incident, Cioffi was administering a road test to a woman in Astoria on March 14, 2018, when he asked if she had any money, authorities said.
When the applicant said no, he took hold of the steering wheel, pulled the car to the curb and demanded $100 for a passing grade, officials said. When she refused that demand and another one for $20, Cioffi allegedly placed his hand on her leg and up her shirt — and then told her she had passed although she hadn’t performed the required three-point turn or parallel park tests, authorities said.
Officials also allege that Cioffi flunked a woman when she refused to give him “coffee,” his euphemism for cash.
Cioffi couldn’t be reached for comment.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/03/12/dmv-examiner-took-bribes-groped-women-taking-road-tests-da/
Man busted outside Google HQ with baseball bats after his YouTube channel was shut down
A Maine man angry at Google because his YouTube channel was shut down was busted in California with baseball bats in his car while on his way to the tech giant’s headquarters, officials said.
Police arrested Kyle Long, 33, on Sunday afternoon in Mountain View, Calif., with three baseball bats in his car and his navigation set to Google’s headquarters, according to a post to the Mountain View Police Department’s Facebook page.
Iowa State Police were first alerted to Long’s bizarre behavior on Friday, when he told troopers he was on his way to the company’s flagship location in Mountain View “to meet with Google after his YouTube channel had been shut down, which he claimed was resulting in him losing money,” according to the Facebook post.
Iowa police encountered him twice that day — once during a car crash, and later when he allegedly “vandalized a restroom at a gas station store,” during which time he made the claims.
Then, on Sunday, Mountain View cops heard from Maine’s Waterville Police Department.
“They had received information that Long was not only in California, but that he had stated if his meeting with Google personnel did not go well, he was going to resort to physical violence,” the post further states.
Long was arrested shortly thereafter with the bats in his car. He was charged with making criminal threats and was being held on $25,000 bail.