Tag: DEATHS
Colorado officers who shot and killed fleeing teen won’t be charged
The Colorado police officers who shot and killed a teen this summer while he was running away from them will not be charged with a crime, a report said Wednesday.
A grand jury in Colorado Springs unanimously concluded that cops were justified in killing 19-year-old De’Von Bailey, who was armed with a handgun, in August shooting, the Denver Post reported.
The decision was announced by the local district attorney, who told reporters the case “was a horrible tragedy for our community.”
The officers who shot Bailey responded to the scene on Aug. 3 after receiving a report of a suspect with a gun in the area.
The cops asked Bailey and another man to hold their hands above their waists so they could check them for weapons, body camera footage of the incident shows.
As one of the officers approached Bailey from behind to search him, he sprinted off, the video shows. The cops chased after him, repeatedly yelling for Bailey to get his hands up.
They then opened fire, hitting Bailey in the back. Bailey collapsed at the scene and the officers searched him, discovering the handgun tucked in his shorts, the video shows.
The killing touched off protests across the state over the summer as the video of the shooting drew national headlines.
A lawyer for the Bailey family said his relatives were “extremely disappointed” with the grand jury decision, the Denver Post reported.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/11/13/colorado-officers-who-shot-and-killed-fleeing-teen-wont-be-charged/
Photo Credit: nypost.com
Man found dead hanging from a tree inside Bronx playground
A 37-year-old man was found dead and hanging from a tree in a Bronx playground Friday morning, police said.
A local resident found the fully clothed man unconscious and unresponsive hanging from a rope in the French Charley’s Playground around 7:35 a.m. near the corner of East 204th Street and Webster Avenue, cops said. The resident called 911.
There were no other signs of trauma on the man’s body, and an emergency responder pronounced him dead at the scene, authorities said.
He has been identified, but police are waiting to release his name until family is notified.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/04/26/man-found-dead-hanging-from-a-tree-inside-bronx-playground/
Mom’s rotting body concealed with 66 air fresheners
The discovery of a 78-year-old woman’s rotting body in a rocking chair led authorities to arrest her daughter, according to officials.
Jo-Whitney Outland, 55, was charged Monday after her mom was found dead surrounded by 66 air fresheners at their home in Bristol, Virginia, the Bristol Herald Courier reported.
Concerned relatives who hadn’t heard from Outland’s elderly mom, Rosemary, decided Monday to check on the woman at the residence, authorities said.
After Outland turned them away, saying her mom wasn’t home, they climbed through a window, according to police.
“They found what they believed was their deceased aunt inside the home,” Sgt. Steve Crawford told the Bristol Herald Courier. “They couldn’t tell for sure.”
The relatives called 911 and authorities entered the home to find Rosemary’s body under more than 50 blankets.
“I pulled back the blankets, and I see the body of an elderly female under these blankets,” Crawford said. “There were all of these air fresheners around.”
Officers wore protective suits as they dug through the blankets, car air fresheners and other items, to recover the body.
Police said there were no signs of foul play on her body and they believe she died from natural causes.
Near the body, there was a letter penned by Outland claiming her mother died in December 2018.
“It’s very bizarre,” Crawford said. “I don’t know what her future plans were.”
Police arrested Outland and charged her with felony concealment of a body.
via: https://nypost.com/2019/02/15/moms-rotting-body-concealed-with-66-air-fresheners-cops/
Photo Credit: Jo-Whitney Outland – Bristol Police Department
Patient dies after she says both kidneys mistakenly removed
A 73-year-old Colorado woman who claimed her healthy kidneys were removed by doctors died eight months following the surgery, according to reports.
Linda Woolley was taking the steps to get on the nation’s kidney transplant waiting list when she died Friday from cardiac arrest, news station KDVR reported.
Wooley underwent surgery in May 2018 to remove both kidneys after she claims doctors at the University of Colorado Hospital told her she likely had kidney cancer. Following the procedure, she was required to undergo four hours of dialysis three days a week, according to KDVR.
It wasn’t until after the surgery that Woolley discovered her biopsy reports prior to the procedure showed “no evidence of malignancy,” news station KDVR reported.
“I was not real happy,” Woolley told the news outlet in November. “My life was totally changed. Dialysis is no picnic no matter how used to it you get, it robs you of your life.”
Prior to her death, Woolley retained an attorney to file a lawsuit alleging malpractice against the hospital, news station WGN-TV reported.
Woolley’s family said they believe the grandmother would “absolutely” still be alive if she didn’t have the procedure.
“There’s a few things the kidneys regulate, one of them being potassium,” her daughter Jodi Fournier told KDVR.
“And when you don’t have them you have the dialysis that removes those toxins in your body. Her [potassium] levels were twice what they should’ve been and that ultimately caused the cardiac arrest.”
The University of Colorado Hospital released a statement following the former patient’s death.
“Our deepest condolences go out to the family and loved ones,” the hospital said.
“We are committed to providing the highest-quality care for our patients. Unfortunately, we are unable to discuss any specific patients because of federal and state laws that protect patients’ privacy.”
A GoFundMe page has been launched to raise money for Woolley’s funeral expenses
via: https://nypost.com/2019/02/05/patient-dies-after-she-says-both-kidneys-mistakenly-removed/
Man says he had sex with dead girlfriend in effort to wake her up
A Connecticut man is behind bars after he had sex with his dead girlfriend — in the hope it would wake her up, according to reports.
Aaron Graser, 39, was sentenced to a year in prison for fourth-degree sexual assault of a corpse on Tuesday, the Hartford Courant reported.
Cops found Graser’s girlfriend dead in their apartment and surrounded by needles back in January, the paper reported.
Graser told police that he found her unresponsive with heroin and drug paraphernalia in her lap — and decided sex would be the best way to rouse her because she didn’t like sleeping with him.
“Aaron stated he listened to see if the victim was breathing and he heard gurgling. Aaron stated he knew the victim hated having sex with him so he figured that the victim might wake up if he had sex with her,” a warrant for Graser’s arrest read.
He also admitted tying her ankles and wrists to the bedposts because it was one of his kinks.
When the attempted coital revival failed, he put her pants on and called his neighbor, who used to be a paramedic. The neighbor later told police he believed the woman had been dead for hours.
An autopsy later determined the paramedic was correct — the ligatures caused by the bedpost ties didn’t have bruises, which means no blood was flowing at the time, a medical examiner testified at the trial.
The ME also testified that the gurgling Graser heard could have been decomposition gases escaping the woman’s body.
A toxicology report determined the woman had high levels of fentanyl, heroin and another synthetic drug in her body and she died from a drug overdose.
Graser originally was charged with second-degree assault, but agreed to plead guilty to the lesser charge.
He was spared from being placed on the sex offender registry — the judge determined it wasn’t necessary for public safety “based upon the facts” of the case.
via: https://nypost.com/2017/12/07/man-says-he-had-sex-with-dead-girlfriend-in-effort-to-wake-her-up/
‘Worst nightmare’: Parents sue hotel after 5-year-old boy’s skull gets crushed in rotating restaurant
The family of a 5-year-old boy whose skull was crushed in the rotating wall of a hotel restaurant has sued the Atlanta hotel, accusing it of negligence in his death.
Attorney Joseph Fried filed suit Wednesday for Rebecca and Michael Holt of Charlotte, North Carolina, whose son Charlie died April 14.
“What started out as the best family trip, turned into the worst nightmare,” Rebecca Holt said in a statement emailed by Fried.
They had chosen the Sun Dial restaurant “because it was recommended as a fun place for families with kids to see the Atlanta skyline and enjoy a meal,” Charlie’s father, Michael Holt, said in the statement.
Marriott International, the hotel’s owner, didn’t immediately respond to an email and phone call requesting comment.
Police had said the boy wandered away from his family’s window table at the restaurant atop the Westin Peachtree Plaza hotel and got his head stuck between tables. They also said the rotating floor shut off automatically when he was struck.
The lawsuit disagrees with police statements.
It said the family left along a path that various members had used without problems to go to and from the bathroom. But this time, it said, a booth rotating near a stationary wall blocked their path.
Charlie, a few steps ahead of his parents, “was too short to see past the booth and did not appreciate the danger until it was too late,” and was trapped in the “pinch point” between booth and wall, according to the lawsuit.
“To Michael’s and Rebecca’s horror, the rotation did not automatically stop when Charlie got trapped,” the lawsuit states, and there was no emergency button to stop it.
Rebecca Holt tried to pull her son free and Michael Holt “threw his body against the booth,” but both actions were futile, it said.
It said Michael Holt heard his son’s skull crack before someone finally stopped the rotation.
“The family has filed this law suit to set the record straight about what happened and to make sure, to the best of their abilities, that no other family ever has to suffer the same fate,” Fried’s statement said.
Defendants include Marriott, as well as the chain that previously owned the Peachtree before Marriott bought the chain. Also named are other former owners and operators, and the architects, interior designer and contractor in charge of renovations to the restaurant in 2012 and 2013.
The hotel reopened the restaurant in June.
“After Charlie’s death, Marriott has said that it won’t allow the restaurant to revolve again until it has addressed the dangerous pinch points,” Fried’s statement said. “Marriott should not have waited for this tragedy before acting to correct this hazard, especially while it held itself out as a safe place for kids.”
Brothers lived with mom and partner’s corpses for days after double suicide – believed the couple were “asleep and cold”
Four young brothers in Spain lived with the decomposing bodies of their mother and her partner for nearly a week after the couple killed themselves – not realizing they were dead despite the overpowering stench.
The boys, between the ages of 5 and 13, believed the couple were “asleep and cold,” the Daily Mirror reported.
They dressed and fed themselves, and went to school, while the corpses rotted away after what police say were deliberate drug overdoses.
One of the youngsters finally mentioned to their landlord that their 32-year-old mom had been asleep for days. When he went to check, he was overcome by the smell of death.
On Sept. 20, police found the bodies of Rocio Aguilar and her 40-year-old partner, Jose Antonio, inside the home in La Zarza-Perrunal in southwestern Spain.
It turns out that cops had already stopped by after the boys’ school raised concerns – but they left when the kids assured them that their mother was asleep.
The co-owner of a hostel where the family had stayed before moving to the rental place told the Spanish paper El Mundo that they had arrived “with nothing” only two weeks earlier.
“They were running from something, I do not know what,” said the woman, who only gave her first name, Isabel.
Bella Vazquez, the hostel’s other co-owner, said she knew Aguilar when she was a child and that her family had moved away to Huelva during a mining crisis.
“She was a girl with a very miserable life. It’s a terrible shame,” she said. “There are four children who will hopefully go on and have a good life.
via: http://nypost.com/2017/09/28/brothers-lived-with-moms-corpse-for-days-after-double-suicide/
Woman charged after great-grandson dies after being left in hot car for 7 hours
POINT PLEASANT, W.Va. — Police say a 67-year-old West Virginia woman has been charged in the death of her great-grandson, who was left in a hot car for seven hours.
WSAZ-TV in Huntington reports Carolyn Davis of Point Pleasant was charged with child neglect resulting in death.
Police say the 19-month-old died of heat exposure after he was left in the car after Davis dropped the boy’s mother off at work and returned home. Police say Davis got the child’s 4-year-old sibling out of the car but left the 19-month-old inside, although investigators don’t believe she intentionally left the child.
Police said the boy was inside the car from 7:30 a.m. until around 2:30 p.m. with no windows down.
Davis was picked up May 5 in Ohio and is awaiting extradition. It was not clear whether she had a lawyer.
via: http://nypost.com/2017/05/10/woman-charged-after-great-grandson-dies-in-hot-car/
Teen arrested for recording girl hanging herself from tree
A Utah teen was arrested Saturday in connection to the death of a 16-year-old girl found hanging from a tree.
Tyerell Joe Przybycien, 18, was charged with murder after confessing to investigators that he helped the girl kill herself and recorded the incident, the Desert News reported.
He told officers he was “suicidal and wanted to watch the victim die to see if it was something he could go through with himself,” according to an affidavit.
On Saturday morning, the 16-year-old girl was found hanging in Maple Lake, Utah, with a receipt for rope purchased by Pryzbycien nearby.
Authorities also recovered a cellphone and handwritten note identifying the girl at the scene. The note also said “if there were any questions to watch the video” on the phone.
Officers said they charged the phone and watched the video, which showed the girl’s final moments.
“You can clearly see the victim with a noose around her neck while standing on a rock” according to an affidavit. “Przybycien is heard asking the juvenile to say something.”
In the video, the teen girl inhales a large dose of industrial strength air duster, which was later discovered at the scene.
“Przybycien then continues to film this incident on camera for approximately 10 to 11 minutes,” the report said. “Przybycien never offers assistance at anytime, and can be heard asking her to move or say something.”
Utah County Sheriff’s Sgt. Spencer Cannon said that the 18-year-old was not captured on video trying to dissuade the girl from taking her life.
“Don’t know if he encouraged her as much as he did not actively discourage her. They talked about it,” Cannon told the Desert News. “He knew what she intended to do. They went together as he purchased the items she intended to use. And he played an active role in her death.”
Przybycien reportedly returned to the scene while officers were still investigating and confessed to his involvement.
He was taken into custody at Utah County Jail, where is being held on $20,000 bail.
via: http://nypost.com/2017/05/08/teen-arrested-for-recording-girl-hanging-herself-from-tree/
Woman dies after man fondles, punches her
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Authorities say a man fatally punched a woman who tried to prevent him from re-entering a bar where he had fondled her against her will.
The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports 35-year-old Michael Lamothe was arrested on aggravated battery charges after the incident at Oyster Bay pub in Daytona Beach early Sunday. The charge was upgraded to manslaughter after 54-year-old Debra Jost died.
The newspaper says police found Jost on the floor with a cut to the back of her head and blood coming from her nose and mouth.
Witnesses told investigators Lamothe walked up behind her, hugged her and grabbed her breasts. He left the bar and Jost tried to close the door when he attempted to return.
Lamothe remains in jail without bond. Jail records don’t list an attorney.
via: http://nypost.com/2017/05/02/woman-dies-after-man-fondles-punches-her-cops/