Tragedies -- Perhaps Not the Worst But Tragic (& Don't Know How We Would Judge the Worst)
Nov. 14, 2024 Key Disney Animator Sentenced for Producing Rape and Torture Tapes of Young Girls & Disney Hired Him After He Was Convicted of Abuse of Minor
Part of the outrage is that Disney continued hiring him after he was convicted of abusing his partner's young daughter.
Bolhem Bouchiba, a key animator at Disney and Pixar for decades, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
In Paris’s Assize Court, Bouchiba admitted to a horrific series of crimes, which included ordering the remote rape and torture of hundreds of young girls in the Philippines. In addition to his sentence, the court ordered twenty years of socio-judicial monitoring, the obligation to compensate civil parties, and a permanent ban on working in a profession with minors. If Bouchiba lives to the end of his sentence, he would be 84 years old at the time of release.
In a closing statement to the court, Bouchiba said, “I am aware of everything I have done. I ask the victims for forgiveness.” Bouchiba also said during his trial he was looking forward to “the benefits of prison,” specifically meaning that he would not be tempted to abuse children while behind bars.
Per an English auto-translation of the Le Monde story:
For three days, several experts testified at the bar, detailing the story of this man who became an “international drawing authority,” according to the president of the court, Mahrez Abassi, but with a “complex” past and “disturbed sexuality.” During his interrogation, the accused spontaneously admitted to being guilty of “all the facts” alleged and highlighted “the benefits of prison” in his journey of redemption. “For three years, I did not masturbate while thinking of a child,” he assured. [Note: Bouchiba was arrested in 2021 and has been in prison since then.]
The Le Monde piece has further details on the trial, but Cartoon Brew is limiting the amount of detail it shares about Bouchiba’s crimes.
A significant question that remains unanswered is why Bouchiba was continually hired at major American film studios like Pixar and Dreamworks even after he was placed on the Fijais, France’s national sex offender registry, in 2014, for sexually assaulting his partner’s young daughter.
https://www.cartoonbrew.com/law/pixar-and-disney-animator-bolhem-bouchiba-sentenced-to-25-years-in-prison-243632.html
Nov 1, 2024 Killed Mother & Brother when 15; Released & Killed Two Others
The suspect in a double-murder and arson in Elizabethtown killed his mother and brother in Meade County in 1994.
Caudill, now 45, was 15-years-old when he committed the murders.
He spent 24 years in prison for killing his family members. He was released in 2020. In May 2023, he violated his parole and was sent back to prison before his release on July 1, 2024, WAVE.com reports.
Elizabethtown murders
As K105 reported Wednesday morning, the fire occurred at approximately 5:00 a.m. Wednesday in the 500 block of Henon Lane. Upon entering the home, Elizabethtown firefighters discovered two deceased adult males, 41-year-old Blake France, of Greenville, and 43-year-old Anthony Garrett, of Elizabethtown. Both died from gunshot wounds.
At a press conference Wednesday morning, Denham stated: “A person who has information concerning this investigation was identified within 90 minutes” of the bodies being discovered.
Police made contact with Caudill a motel on East Dixie Avenue after his vehicle, a gold pickup truck, was seen leaving the area of the house fire “at a high rate of speed,” Denham said.
“Video surveillance from the location showed Caudill exiting the vehicle and later discarding a handgun. Further investigation revealed personal belongings of the deceased victims inside Caudill’s motel room,” Denham said in a press release issued Wednesday evening.
“During the investigation,” according to Denham, “it was discovered that Caudill had also discharged his firearm at a third victim. During an interview, Caudill confessed to the offenses, specifically admitting to shooting the victims and intentionally setting fire to the residence. He further admitted to stealing wallets from the victims and discarding them in a gas station trash can.”
Caudill was arrested and charged with two counts of murder, first-degree arson, first-degree robbery, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, first-degree wanton endangerment, and tampering with physical evidence.
July 10, 2024 MS-13 Gang Member Pleads Guilty to Racketerring Related to 8 Murders
Alexi Saenz, a high-ranking member of the MS-13 gang, pleaded guilty in federal court in Central Islip, New York, on Wednesday to racketeering charges stemming from eight murders. He faces between 40 and 70 years in prison as part of a plea agreement, prosecutors said. Among the deaths Saenz pleaded guilty to were those of two Long Island teenagers -- 16-year-old Kayla Cuevas and 15-year-old Nisa Mickens -- who were killed in Sept. 2016. Prosecutors said several gang members chased them down and attacked them with baseball bats and a machete.
Prosecutors said the teens' murders arose from a series of disputes and an altercation Cuevas and her friends had with people associated with MS-13 at Brentwood High School. After the altercation, the gang members "vowed to seek revenge against Cuevas," according to prosecutors. Saenz, along with several other suspected MS-13 gang members, were arrested for the teens' deaths in 2017. Charges against his brother, Jairo Saenz, who was also arrested at the time, remain pending.
July 5, 2024 Substance Abuse Couselor Drives into Crowd; Kills
The suspected drunk driver accused of mowing down 10 people, killing three, at a Fourth of July celebration on the Lower East Side is a substance-abuse counselor and author of “The Sober Addict” — who claims his passion is to help “prevent death,” The Post can reveal.
Daniel Christopher Hyden, 44, has been charged with driving while intoxicated and for not having a valid license after he allegedly drove a gray Ford F-150 through the Water Street and Jackson Street intersection, over the sidewalk and into people celebrating at Corlears Hook Park, according to police. In February, Hyden was charged with assault and harassment following a dispute with a teacher in New York. He allegedly punched the victim in the eye. In 2015, Hyden was charged with a traffic offense and driving under the influence in Wisconsin, court records show. He pleaded guilty to the former charge and the latter was dismissed. (Dismissing the charge was certainly not to the benefit of those whom he drove into and perhaps not even to his benefit.)
July 2, 2024 Drunk Driver Kills Four and Injures Others
Steven Schwally, 64, is facing drunken driving charges in the death of four people at a Long Island nail salon. He was ordered held on $1 million bail on Monday. “The defendant admitted to Suffolk County police detectives that he had consumed 18 beers the night before and indicated that he stopped drinking around 3 or 4 a.m.,” Bopp said. Schwally, 64, is facing driving while intoxicated charges in the deadly crash but Bopp said the case is being presented to a grand jury, which is expected to bring more serious charges in the case.
June 3, 2024 Stepfather Accused of Rape & Out on Low Bail Kills Self & Step Daughter
On September 7, 2021, a young girl called police to report that her stepfather, Juliano Santana, had raped her on "multiple occasions," said a press release from Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan, perhaps over the course of several years. The most recent assault had reportedly occurred just one month earlier. The victim told investigators that Santana had warned her "not to be scared and not to tell her mom." Investigators also examined a diary in which the victim reportedly documented the attacks and shared them with her sister.
The same day that the girl lodged the accusations, officers arrested Santana, and prosecutors charged him with six counts of aggravated rape of a child. Despite the quick movement from law enforcement and the heinous accusations against Santana, the district court in Malden, Massachusetts, about five miles north of Boston, issued him bail of just $30,000, which Santana quickly paid.
As conditions of his release, the court ordered Santana to wear an ankle monitor and to have no contact with his stepdaughter. He was also forbidden to have unsupervised contact with anyone under age 18.
The girl's mother, Olena Wilson, immediately secured a restraining order against Santana on behalf of her daughter and herself. "I also fear for my safety because I [realized] that I do not know this man and based on this situation I do not know what he is capable of," Wilson wrote at the time.
Santana was originally scheduled to stand trial about a year later, but the case was issued one delay after another. Finally, it had been rescheduled for July 29, 2024. Unfortunately, neither the defendant nor the victim lived to see it.
Around 4 p.m. last Thursday, police in Acton, Massachusetts, received an alarming report that Santana, 49, had kidnapped his stepdaughter as she was walking home from school. Because of the ankle tether, his probation officer soon pinpointed Santana's location in the parking lot outside his condo.
When cops arrived at the scene, they quickly located Santana's vehicle. Inside, they found Santana and the girl both dead from apparent gunshot wounds to the head.
March 25: Unbelievable Crimes
Career Criminal kills NYPD copy during traffic stop. Woman released from mental institution (27 yo) calls to report that she beat her mother to death with a pan. Man killed after being pushed on to subway tracks by emotionally disturbed McPherson in unprovoked attack.
McPherson was released without bail after he was arraigned on an October 31 arrest for assault, menacing, harassment and other charges in Brooklyn. He failed to show up for court twice and a judge issued a warrant for his arrest. He was picked up and brought to court on Jan. 11, where bail was set for $2,000 -- which he posted. His next court date was set for July. "Recidivism is a real issue and the second issue we have in this city is a severe mental health illness problem that was played out at 125th Street and Lexington Avenue at the subway station," Mayor Eric Adams said. "And he was a recidivist, several severe mental health issues, indicators of violence. When you do an analysis and a cross correlation, you will see its the same people, over and over
Carlton McPherson, 24, was booted from a Big Apple hospital just two weeks before police say he randomly pushed 54-year-old Jason Volz into the path of a No. 4 train at the East 125th Street and Lexington Avenue station shortly before 7 p.m. Monday. “The city failed Carlton,” his older brother, Daquan McPherson, said in an exclusive interview. “The city is failing all mentally ill people. There’s too much red tape. He just got out of the hospital two weeks ago. We begged them to keep him but they said he wasn’t a threat to himself or others so they couldn’t keep him and they let him go.
March 25: Paroled Man Kills Son of Ex-Girlfriend Who was Denied a Protective Order
He was in prison for violating an order of protection while on parole for home evastion and aggravated assault. Truly Outrageous.
A member of Illinois' Prison Review Board resigned on Monday after supporting the release of a man who stabbed his ex-girlfriend and killed her 11-year-old son one day after being freed from prison. Brand forced his way into his ex-girlfriend's Edgewater apartment on March 13 as she was preparing to take her 11-year-old son, Jayden Perkins, and his 6-year-old brother to school, according to court documents. Brand repeatedly stabbed the ex-girlfriend, whom he had a relationship with about 15 years ago, authorities stated. Then, when Jayden tried to intervene and protect his mother, Brand stabbed him, police said.
Chicago police previously said Brand had a "history of domestic abuse" and three orders of protection against him. He most recently served time in prison for violating an order of protection while on parole from a 16-year sentence for home invasion and aggravated assault. Court records revealed a long history of domestic violence targeting the boy's mother, who repeatedly filed orders of protection against Brand and notified authorities. Both police and prosecutors questioned why he had been granted parole given his history of violence. "Let me start by saying this is something that should have never happened," Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling said at a previous news conference following the stabbing that killed Jayden and wounded his mother.
Weeks before the attack, the boy's mother filed a new order of protection, explaining that Brand sent text messages saying he would kill her and her family, documents revealed. He later showed up at the ex-girlfriend's house and threatened to break in. However, the request for an order of protection was denied by a Cook County judge.
March 24, 2024 Attempted Abduction by Man Who Had Tried Twice Before & on Whom There Was a Restraining Order
A doorbell camera captured the courageous moment Adriana Alvarez sprinted after the deli worker — who’d allegedly become obsessed with her 18-year-old daughter, Lex — as he violently dragged her down the stairs. Dramatic video shows how the nightmare unfolded just after 9 a.m. on Jan. 23, when Lex is seen returning to their fourth-floor apartment on 43rd Street following a morning walk with their two dogs. Suddenly, a masked man in a camouflage jacket — later identified by cops as George Vassiliou, 25 — emerges from a staircase, where he’d been lying in wait. Alvarez — who suffered a dislocated shoulder, a fractured orbital socket and a broken elbow during the savage battle — was undeterred. Though unable to see clearly, she kept struggling with Vassiliou and calling out for help.
“We reached the first floor, and a neighbor who’d heard us screaming came out with a stick and started hitting” him, she said. “I saw that the [apartment] door was open, and I pushed my daughter inside.”
He is being held on Riker’s Island with bail set at $50,000, according to jail records. NYPD sources said Vassiliou rented a car the night before the attempted kidnapping and parked it outside Alvarez’s building. Inside the car, cops recovered a bag containing rope, sleeping pills, melatonin, and tampons. A knife was also discovered in one of his pockets, sources said.
According to Alvarez, her daughter worked with Vassiliou at the C-Town Supermarket on 34th Avenue in Astoria. Lex, a cashier, had befriended Vassiliou, who worked in the deli department. “They were cordial, they spoke, they were friendly,” she explained. “But he got a little weird — where she would be bagging stuff, and he’d be staring at her.” Eventually, Vassiliou approached Lex about going on a date.
“She said ‘No,’ and he quit his job and started stalking her,” Alvarez, an aesthetician, alleged. “We had a restraining order against him, because he’d tried twice to grab her off the street — before this happened.” Police sources confirmed the previous two incidents.
https://nypost.com/2024/03/24/us-news/fearless-nyc-mom-adriana-alvarez-fights-teen-daughters-hulking-alleged-kidnapper-down-four-flights-of-stairs-in-insane-video/
Feb. 28 2024 Shooting of Toddler by Man Released Twice Despite Immigration Request
One of five people arrested in the fatal shooting of a Langley Park toddler had been released from Montgomery County custody twice last year even though federal immigration officials requested he be held for deportation proceedings, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Nilson Granados-Trejo, 25, of no fixed address, was arrested Friday on charges of first- and second-degree murder and related counts in the killing of 2-year-old Jeremy Poou-Caceres, who was caught in the crossfire outside an apartment complex in Langley Park, Md., police said. Jeremy's 17-year-old mother was injured in the shooting.
Charging documents do not accuse Granados-Trejo of firing the weapon that killed the child but allege he was in a car with a group of people connected to the shootout, which was related to a drug dispute.
Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich (D) said Wednesday afternoon that Granados-Trejo was arrested last year in Montgomery County on theft charges, which did not meet the threshold of the list of crimes for which the county enforces ICE detainers. He disputed the idea that the county was a "sanctuary" jurisdiction, a term that refers to places that limit their cooperation with ICE.
"We're not a sanctuary county," Elrich said at a virtual news conference. "What we … do is limit the degree of cooperation with ICE. … We have … two pages of crimes for which we enforce detainers, and it's anything violent, anything related to sex offenses, child abuse, use of a gun or any other weapon."
Earl Stoddard, an assistant chief administrative officer for Montgomery County, said the county will expand the notification time to ICE from 24 to 48 hours before release. The county will also review the list of serious crimes for additions, and any detainer being considered for denial will be sent to the county executive's office for feedback.
The case is the latest clash between federal immigration officials and local governments over whether and how to hold people accused of being in the country illegally. ICE officials have said that to keep communities safe, they need help detaining immigrants who are not allowed to be in the United States. But some local governments say they cannot always accept requests from ICE to detain people because their law enforcement agencies need to build trust among immigrant communities or don't have the resources or legal standing to keep people in jail beyond their scheduled release dates without a judicial warrant.
The day after a Prince George's County judge ordered Granados-Trejo to remain in jail pending trial earlier this week, federal immigration officials said he is an "unlawfully present" Salvadoran national.
A Justice Department immigration judge had ordered Granados-Trejo removed from the United States on Nov. 7, 2022, according to James Covington, a spokesman for ICE. In a statement, Covington did not indicate whether Granados-Trejo was in federal custody at the time of the judge's order in New Jersey or detail how he wound up in Maryland.
On March 21 of last year, Montgomery County police arrested Granados-Trejo on charges of theft, ranging from $100 to under $1,500, which are still pending, Covington said. The day after his arrest, ICE officials issued an immigration detainer on Granados-Trejo with the Montgomery County Detention Center.
However, county corrections "refused to honor the detainer," Covington said, and Granados-Trejo was released from jail on March 27 of last year.
Ben Stevenson, director of the county detention center, said that, "due to the nature of the crime," Granados-Trejo was not held and that the detention center did not notify ICE.
Montgomery County police arrested Granados-Trejo again in September on charges of theft less than $100 and attempted obstructing and hindering. Once again, the day after his Sept. 26 arrest, ICE issued another immigration detainer, which the police also "refused to honor," Covington said.
MCDC released Granados-Trejo from custody on Oct. 12, according to ICE.
Stevenson said the department is working to verify the September arrest because of conflicting information on aliases that Granados-Trejo used. "That wouldn't have been a high-level crime in which we would definitely want to cooperate with ICE," Stevenson said. Many counties and local jurisdictions in Maryland, including Montgomery and Prince George's counties, have a law on the books called the "Trust Act," which ends "proactive cooperation" between local law enforcement and ICE, like law enforcement asking individuals about immigration status, said Jossie Flor Sapunar, national communications director of CASA, a social justice organization serving immigrant, Hispanic and Black communities. "It's aimed at restoring trust between law enforcement and the immigrant community so that people don't live with fear, so that people can report a crime. . . without wondering if a normal police stop is going to end up with them being detained," Sapunar said.
Prince George's County Assistant Police Chief Vernon Hale said after the initial arrests in toddler Jeremy's killing that tips and help from the community largely made a difference. ICE issued an immigration detainer Tuesday against Granados-Trejo with the Prince George's County detention center, following his most recent arrest and charges in the killing of the toddler. According to Granados-Trejo's attorney, his client was "at the wrong place at the wrong time" in the back seat of the vehicle allegedly connected to the crime, but he did not exit. Granados-Trejo admitted to riding and fleeing in the vehicle with the alleged shooters during the fatal incident, which involved two groups exchanging gunfire outside an apartment complex, according to charging documents.
In recent months, ICE has issued several news releases asserting that several people have been released from custody in Maryland, despite the federal agency's request that they remain detained and went on to commit other crimes — some details of which county officials disputed in other media accounts. But Granados-Trejo's case — involving allegations of a slain toddler — drew swift attention. Elrich said the county cleared up "some misconceptions about our policy on immigration" and that ICE "underscored their need for more notice prior to releases" during a "productive" meeting with ICE earlier this week, in which Granados-Trejo's case was not specifically mentioned. Officials discussed "improved communications and operational challenges with custody transfers," Elrich said. Elrich said Darius Reeves, director of ICE removal operations at the Baltimore field office, emphasized that he was interested in violent crimes, use of guns, drug dealing, prostitution, human trafficking and terrorism. "In fact, he said, 'I'm not interested in deporting somebody who maybe took something from the bodega in their neighborhood,'" Elrich said.
"We do honor detainers, we do deport people, or help deport people, and we focus on violent crimes, sex offenses and the kind of things that Mr. Reeves says were the focus of who he wanted to remove from the community," Elrich added.
Manhattan detectives are investigating a case in which a man repeatedly sexually abused an 8-year-old girl and took pictures of the act at a Harlem afterschool program and may also have attacked other children. According to court records, Miles McNeal was arraigned on Feb. 2 before Manhattan criminal court Judge Marva Claudette Brown and ordered held on $75,000 cash bail or $200,000 bond. AM New York reports,
Police said Miles McNeal, 25, of Yonkers was taken into custody on Feb. 1 by members of the Manhattan Child Abuse Squad. He was charged with sex abuse, use of a child in a sexual performance, promoting an obscene sexual performance by a child, course of sexual conduct against a child, possessing an obscene sexual performance by a child, and acting in a manner injurious to a child. According to the criminal complaint provided by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, McNeal allegedly molested and sexually assaulted the girl on multiple occasions between Sept. 8, 2022 and Aug. 18, 2023 at the program based out of a West 112th Street location, within the confines of the 28th Precinct.
Feb 1, 2024
BETHLEHEM, Ga. — A 34-year-old woman is facing murder charges after her eight-year-old stepdaughter died in Gwinnett County. An arrest warrant accuses the woman of beating the child with a rolling pin. On Tuesday around 2:16 p.m., Gwinnett officers were called to Vine Springs Trace in Bethlehem regarding a medical call for a child. When officers arrived, first responders determined an eight-year-old girl was dead on the scene.
Police told Channel 2 Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson that the child was home with an adult woman when she had a medical emergency. The woman called the girl’s father who came home to find her unresponsive and began doing CPR. On Wednesday morning, police announced the arrest of Natiela Barros, 34, of Bethlehem.
Officials said Barros was the stepmother to the child and was married to the child’s biological father. She’s facing charges of cruelty to children in the first degree, aggravated assault, felony murder, and malice murder. The father has been charged with murder and cruelty to children.
https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/gwinnett-county/stepmother-arrested-murder-charges-after-suspicious-death-8-year-old-girl-gwinnett-county/3CQQXCUZXZHGPAVLP2JAANP6RI/
Jan 11, 2024: Seven Texas Men Film Themselves Sexually Abusing Toddlers
The FBI says they launched a probe last month after the abuse videos posted on a private online forum were shared by by the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation, as reported by the Star-Telegraph. Fernandez is the only suspect charged in the case so far. It is unclear if the others said to appear in the video have been identified by officials.
Police closed in on him by using an open-source image repository to search for the face of one of the children and then matched it with social media images shared by one of the women. When police showed the child's mom 'sanitized' image from the abuse materials, the woman reportedly noticed a pair of bracelets owned by Fernandez. Police then saw the bracelets on the suspect's social media.
Dec 19, 2023: Teen Driving Drunk at 156 MPH & Shooting a Video Kills Woman
Iowa teen Vasu Larolya was drunk-driving a Tesla at 156 mph and recording a Snapchat video when he slammed into a 22 year old woman's car causing the vehicle to burst into flames and killing her . Larolya admitted pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated vehicular homicide in Albany County Court on Dec 19 although he was indicted earlier or murder, manslaughter, reckless endangerment, driving while intoxicated and reckless driving. He had a previous alcohol-related conviction in New Jersey in 2019. He is to be sentenced on Jan. 6.
Dec 18, 2023 -- Teens Laugh While Kicking Man and Leading to his Death
A group of teenagers have been charged with murder after a father-of-three was viciously beaten to death outside an Ohio supermarket. Donnie Smith, 53, died following the attack on December 6 outside a Kroger Supermarket in Columbus. (Mr. Smith died on Dec. 18.) Jamarion Fredrae Evans-Bennett, 19, Dionta Davon Hughes, 18, and Jayden Agee, 17, have been charged with murder over Smith's death. Police allege the group stomped, kicked, and punched him until he was unconscious and left bleeding from the head. A witness told police how the group was seen 'laughing and enjoying themselves' while carrying out the vicious assault. The attack only came to an end when a witness with a firearm intervened and told the three to stop.
Nov 16, 2023: Teens Kill Spanish Teacher Over Grade in 2021; Sentenced in Nov 2023
One
of two Iowa teens who battered their Spanish teacher to death over a
bad grade was sentenced to life in prison
Wednesday — with blood pouring out of his nose in court as he tearfully
apologized to her family. Jeremy Goodale, 18, was sentenced to life
with the possibility of parole in 25 years for his role in killing Nohema
Graber, 66, with a baseball bat on Nov. 2, 2021. Goodale and Willard
Miller, 17, pleaded guilty earlier this year to first-degree murder of their
teacher, whom they first stalked at a park in Fairfield and then beat to death
when they were both still just 16. Prosecutors said the teens
decided to kill Graber because she had given Miller a bad grade. Miller,
worried about not being able to participate in a study abroad program,
masterminded the killing and the two teens ambushed the teacher at a park she
was known to walk in daily.
Judge Shawn Showers noted it was clear Goodale was remorseful and didn’t consider the repercussions, but that he was a smart boy who could have easily prevented the murder. The two teens were charged as adults, but because they were 16 at the time of the murder they are not subject to an Iowa requirement that those convicted of first-degree murder serve life without parole.
Nov 15, 2023 -- Assaulting a Police Officer When Asked to Stop Smoking at MTA
This event does not rise to the level of tragedy but is indicative of the outrageous behavior occurring in our country.
Two men were caught on video assaulting a New York City police officer at a Bronx subway station platform, as felony assaults continue to plague the Big Apple's subway system. Kareem McClary, 23, and Izayiah Jessamy, 20, were smoking cigarettes on the platform of the Freeman Street subway station with a third, unidentified, man on Monday afternoon, authorities said. Two police officers asked the men to stop smoking - which is prohibited in subway stations - and leave.
The men refused to and started to fight the cops, some of which was caught on video. In the clip, two of the men - McClary and Jessamy - were seen battering one of the officers in the head before help arrives. ultiple officers eventually handcuff the two men, before the third suspect runs down a stairway and gets away.
The police officers suffered minor injuries, and were treated at the scene, according to officials. McClary and Jessamy were charged with assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, violation of local law and trespass. Authorities released photos of the third culprit and asked that anyone with information call the city's CrimeStoppers hotline. While overall crime is down slightly - under one percent - in New York City this year compared to 2022, felony assaults remain a problem, up six percent.
Nov 14, 2023 -- Teenager Fires Gun While Standing Next to Mom; Kills Another Teenager
Nov. 0, 2023 -- Career Criminal Let Go to Kill
An 18-year-old Tennessee college student who was hit by a stray bullet while walking near Belmont University campus died overnight Wednesday Nov. 8, according to Metro Nashville Police.
Jillian Ludwig, of New Jersey, was walking on a track in a local park when she was shot in the head and critically wounded at about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to police. They arrested Shaquille Taylor, 29, after surveillance video and witness statements pointed to him as the shooter. Video showed Ludwig falling as Taylor fired at a nearby car, according to a police affidavit. A passerby discovered Ludwig, 18, on the ground about an hour later, and she was transported to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Taylor’s background also includes charges for vehicle theft, robbery, handgun possession and multiple aggravated assault charges. One affidavit WSMV4 Investigates obtained said he shoved a man to the ground on the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge downtown back in 2015 before stealing money from him. Taylor’s most recent aggravated assault charge was in May of this year, but the District Attorney’s Office did not prosecute. The DA’s Office told WSMV4 that he was found incompetent to stand trial.
That is an issue that WSMV4 Chief Investigator Jeremy Finley highlighted just two weeks ago in a WSMV4 Investigation: How is it that people deemed mentally incompetent keep getting arrested for crimes and are released back onto the streets?
“It is worth looking at the gap that exists between someone who is deemed incompetent to stand trial and yet winds up then in a place where they can be on the streets, untreated and armed,” said Mayor O’Connell. Nashville’s DA’s office said the standards for someone to be forced into a mental health facility are nearly impossible to meet and something needs to change.
Taylor's criminal history
- 2011: Police seized a .40 caliber handgun from Taylor during an incident when he was a juvenile.
- 2015: Taylor was charged with robbery and given probation
- 2016: Taylor violated that probation when he was charged with aggravated burglary and was sentenced to a year in jail.
- 2021: Taylor was arrested after he and another man fired a gun into a car on Dickerson Pike in East Nashville. He was charged with aggravated assault.
- May 2023: He was released from custody after three court-appointed psychologists deemed him incompetent to stand trial, but also found he didn't pose an imminent threat to himself or others.
- Sept. 2023: Taylor was charged with auto theft and released on bail, but an arrest warrant was issued for him last Friday when he failed to show up in court.
Oct 31 -- Driver Found Guilty for Hit & Run of Police Officer Directing Traffic
A woman accused of killing an NYPD cop in a drunken hit-run didn’t bat an eye as she was found guilty on all charges Tuesday — while the officer’s widow burst into tears. Jessica Beauvais, 32, of Long Island was convicted of aggravated manslaughter in the second degree along with vehicular manslaughter in the second degree and leaving the scene of an incident without reporting it in the 2021 horror that killed NYPD Officer Anastasios Tsakos on the Long Island Expressway.
Beauvais remained stoic as jurors read out the guilty verdict in the Queens Criminal Court. She faces up to 20 years in prison when sentenced Dec. 14. Beauvais’s vehicle slammed into Tsakos as he was directing traffic around an accident on the expressway about 2 a.m. day in April 2021.
The impact from her 2013 Volkswagen threw him high into the air, mangled his face and tore one of his legs from his body, the court heard during testimony. “His face was split in two,” New York Presbyterian EMS Kevin Beverly testified. Beauvais sped away from the scene without stopping, cops said. She had been driving 81 mph on the expressway before slowing down to about 56 mph before the collision, NYPD Sgt. Robert Denig testified. Her blood alcohol level was .15, nearly twice the legal limit, when she was finally apprehended and arrested.
Before jumping behind the wheel she had been recording a podcast episode, where she downed shots, drank a cocktail and smoked from a pipe, authorities said. Jurors were shown a clip from the recording during which she bragged about smoking weed “every day of my life” and drank what prosecutors described as “a strong mixed drink.”
Oct 30 -- Woman Stabbed Outside Home (Hate Crime Against Islam???)
A beloved pediatrician was killed in Texas when an assailant “came out of nowhere” and fatally stabbed her as the woman was sitting on a picnic table outside her apartment. Dr. Talat Jehan Khan, a 52-year-old mother of two, was casually sitting with her dog in the city of Conroe on Saturday when Miles Joseph Fridrich allegedly stabbed her multiple times, police said, according to reports.
Her niece said “She’s a Muslim, strong in her faith, those are identifiable traits about her. She’s extremely loving, kind." The family does not believe that Khan and Fridrich knew one another. Fridrich has been arrested on charges of first degree murder. He has faced previous drug and weapon charges in Conroe that were later disposed of or dismissed, KPRC reported.
Oct 27 -- 13 Year Old Stabs Mother To Death While Infant in Crib Next to Her (What Is Wrong with This Boy?)
A 13-year-old Florida boy allegedly stabbed and killed his mother while his 14-day old baby half sister lay in a crib next to her. Derek Rosa, from Hialeah, Florida, is accused of savagely murdering his mother, Irena Garcia, 39, in her bedroom last Thursday. When responding officers arrived on scene Garcia was lying dead with multiple stab wounds to the neck as her new born daughter lay unharmed nearby her. Lt. Eddie Rodriguez, a spokesperson for the Hialeah Police Department, told WPLG-TV the honors student called 911 just after 11.30pm to report that he had 'just murdered his mother.'
MORE ABOUT BREXIALEE TORRES-ORTIZ
Oct 18 -- NYC Woman Waiting for Subway Pushed Into Moving Train
The maniac suspected of randomly shoving a woman into a moving Manhattan train — leaving her with life-threatening injuries — was busted on Thursday in New Jersey, where he’s believed to have at least two dozen prior arrests dating back over a decade, authorities said.
Sabir Jones, 39 — who allegedly pushed the unsuspecting 30-year-old victim into a departing downtown F train at the Fifth Avenue/53rd Street station around noon Wednesday — was spotted at McCarter Highway and Raymond Boulevard in Newark just over 24 hours later and detained by local cops, according to Newark Public Safety Director Fritz Fragé.
His arrest came as law-enforcement sources said Thursday that Jones was believed to have attacked another straphanger at the same Midtown station just minutes before he allegedly shoved the woman — who hit her head on the train and then tumbled down onto the tracks, causing critical injuries that required brain surgery.
Jones allegedly slugged a 26-year-old man getting off a southbound E train in what also appeared to be a random attack, the law-enforcement sources said. That victim didn’t report the crime until nearly 8 p.m. — after seeing footage of Jones on the news, the sources said.
The suspect appears to be the same Sabir Jones who racked up at least 40 criminal cases in Essex County, NJ – including on weapons possession, drug, assault and sex crime charges – between 2012 and 2020, said Robert Florida, spokesperson for the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office.
Oct 10 -- Six Year Old Stabbed and Killed Because He is Muslin
71-year-old Chicago man allegedly yelled 'you Muslims must die!' before fatally stabbing a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy and wounding his 32-year-old mother, in a tragedy that appears to be influenced by the Hamas-Israel war.
The boy, identified by the local chapter of CAIR as Wadea Al-Fayoume, was pronounced dead at the hospital after he was stabbed 26 times with a large military-style knife by Joseph M. Czuba, according to an autopsy Sunday.
'Detectives were able to determine that both victims in this brutal attack were targeted by the suspect due to them being Muslim and the on-going Middle Eastern conflict involving Hamas and the Israelis,' the Will County Sheriff's Office said in a statement posted to social media.
Oct 9 -- Mercedes Deliberately Drives Into 16 Year Old on Moped
Two men have appeared in court accused of killing a 16-year-old boy knocked off his moped in an alleged “premeditated attack” in Orpington. Aaron Conway, 38, and Joseph Barnes, 40, allegedly murdered Tafari Thompson-Mintah by using a Mercedes car as a weapon.
Tafari was riding a moped along Sevenoaks Way at just after 3.30pm on October 9 when a Mercedes allegedly swerved and collided with him. The teenager was thrown off the moped and hit an oncoming vehicle. He was declared dead at the scene at 4.04pm and a post-mortem examination found the cause was head trauma. Barnes was arrested on October 12 and Conway was picked held in Kent two days later.
The pair were charged with Tafari’s murder and appeared at the Old Bailey on Wednesday for a preliminary hearing. They confirmed their identities by video link from Belmarsh prison before Judge Mark Lucraft KC set a timetable for the case. The defendants are accused of using a “car as a weapon in what would appear to be a premeditated attack”, the court was told. Conway, from Orpington, and Barnes, of no fixed address, were remanded into custody.
Oct 7 -- Hamas Attacks Israel. Unbelievable Cruelty and Carnage
As Israelis were wrapping up the seven-day-long Jewish festival of Sukkot on Saturday, sirens echoed across the country just before dawn, and citizens soon realized it was not a false alarm. A full-fledged surprise attack was being waged from the air, sea and ground by hoards of Hamas militants. As those under attack rushed to safe rooms and bomb shelters, groups of terrorists infiltrating the county marched into towns and into kibbutz after kibbutz, opening fire on homes and killing Israeli citizens at random. Militants burst into houses, shooting residents begging for their lives and taking others -- including women, children and the elderly -- hostage, driving the terrified captives back into Gaza as many of them screamed for help.
As of Oct. 15, the death toll in Israel stood at more than 1,300, officials said. Another 3,227 people were injured in Israel. At least 100 Israeli citizens and soldiers are being held hostage by Hamas fighters, Israel's Government Press Office said.
Biden said the atrocities committed by Hamas fighters included the "slaughter" of men, women and entire families, as well as "stomach-churning reports of babies being killed."
Students and others in the US including some members of Congress celebrate and praise what Hamas has done. What more is there to say? How far will this go?
Oct. 4 -- Pregnant Woman on Bus Shot and Looses Baby
A pregnant mother lost her baby amid a shooting in the downtown area of a western Massachusetts city, police said. In a press release, the Hampden County District Attorney's Office said that an "uninvolved female occupant" seated on a public transportation bus was struck by gunfire near an intersection in Holyoke before 1 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. The unidentified woman and her unborn baby were immediately transported to a local hospital "in critical condition," authorities said. Authorities said the baby was delivered and needed life-saving medical services after the incident.
The baby "tragically passed away," the DA's office said. Authorities have not released any details about the mother's health following the shooting. Massachusetts State Police (MSP) said that a preliminary investigation revealed that the shooting stemmed from an "altercation among a group of people." Authorities later said that three men were involved in the altercation. Police said that all three suspects are in police custody and that all involved suspects have been identified. Authorities have not released the names of the three suspects.
Sept 3 -- Philadelphia Man Stabbed in 2:15 pm Robbery (Many more or equally tragic outcimes but in broad daylight in the City of Brotherly Love)
A robbery took a violent turn as a 41-year-old man was stabbed and critically injured in West Philadelphia. The robbery and stabbing happened near North 60th Street and Lansdowne Avenue Sunday afternoon, just after 2:15, officials said. During a robbery, the 41-year-old victim was stabbed in the head and neck by another man. The victim was taken to Lankenau Medical Center and listed in critical condition. The suspect is described as 5’9" to 5’10" and wearing a black shirt with blue jeans on. Police are actively searching for the suspect. They have not found the weapon. (Any chance of even an arrest?)
August 27 -- Child Killed in School Bus Accident Caused by Driver w/o Valid License
A man has been charged with aggravated vehicular homicide after a crash involving a school bus in Clark County, according the Ohio State Highway Patrol. One student died and 23 others were injured in the Tuesday crash along State Route 41. It happened around 8:16 a.m. when Northwestern Local Schools said a school bus carrying 52 kids crashed while on one of their elementary routes.
According to Ohio State Highway Patrol Sgt. Tyler Ross, a Honda Odyssey was traveling east and went left of center into the westbound lane of a school bus. The bus drove onto the shoulder to avoid the car but still made contact. After making contact, the school bus traveled off the right side of the roadway and overturned. The Honda traveled off the right side of the road as well before it came to a stop. One student, 11-year-old Aiden Clark, was ejected from the bus and died at the scene. The driver of the school bus suffered minor injuries and was not taken to the hospital.
The driver of the Honda, identified as Hermanio Joseph, 35, from Springfield, has been charged with aggravated vehicular homicide. (The article does not mention that he did not have a valid driver's license. He had a Mexican license which was not valid for driving in the US given his immigration status. Nor does the article mention that he had been caught illegally crossing the southern border and then released.
I have absolutely no love or defense of guns, but if this had been a gun death the mainstream media would have been all over the story.
August 28, 2023 UNC Graduate Students Shoots and Kills Adviser.
Just one of many murders of the day but hits home since at UNC.
August 26, 2023 Navy Veteran Robbed/Attacked Philadelphia
Not nearly the tragedy of many other events listed here but striking since it was in Philadelphia.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A Navy veteran is recovering from an attack in the Brewerytown section of Philadelphia that left him with a concussion.
Scott Harris was walking his dog Saturday night when he was beaten and robbed about a block from his house on West Jefferson Street near N. 30th Street.
"It's kind of ironic. I spent a year in a war zone and two years in a country that's not so safe, and then I come here and get attacked in a neighborhood a block from my house," he said.
Harris served in Iraq and as an advisor in Ukraine. He now works at the Navy Yard. He doesn't remember much from the night of the attack because he has a concussion. He went outside to walk his dog Nora when he was jumped from behind. He believes the attackers were part of an illegal party at the park near his house. He had called the police earlier in the evening, but they never responded.
The attack left him with more than 100 stitches, broken teeth and a brain injury. The attackers also stole his wallet and credit cards. "The only thing I cared about was my mother passed, I had her driver's license in my wallet because I always wanted to keep her close," said Harris. Surveillance video showed three women helping to carry Harris home. He believes they were at the party too and took pity on him.
Aug 4, 2023 Two Black Men Abused by White Deputies
Several Mississippi deputy sheriffs
who were accused of sexually assaulting two Black men and shooting one of them
in the face have been fired or have resigned, the Rankin County Sheriff’s
Office said on Tuesday.
The announcement came after the two
men, Michael Corey Jenkins, 32, and Eddie Terrell Parker, 35, filed a federal
lawsuit against the officers earlier this month. The lawsuit claims that six
Rankin County deputies “forcibly entered” Mr. Parker’s home in Braxton, Miss.,
and raided the property without a warrant on Jan. 24.
That’s when Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Parker
said that they were beat and stunned with Tasers, abused with a sex toy and
made to strip naked in an ordeal that lasted nearly two hours.
Their lawsuit identified
three deputies involved in the raid as Hunter Elward, Brett McAlpin and
Christian Dedmon, along with three others referred to as John Doe 1-3. The
former deputies did not have defense lawyers listed and could not be reached.
Sheriff Bryan Bailey of Rankin County
said in a statement on Tuesday that the deputies involved in the episode had
previously been placed on administrative leave. They were not identified by the
authorities.
Some of the deputies involved in the
case had previously resigned, but Sheriff Bailey did not say how many had
resigned and how many had been fired. “Due
to recent developments, including findings during our internal investigation,
those deputies that were still employed at this department have been
terminated,” the sheriff said.
“We understand that the alleged
actions of these deputies has eroded the public’s trust in our department,”
Sheriff Bailey said in the statement. “Rest assured that we will work
diligently to restore that trust.”
The Mississippi
Department of Public Safety said in January that Rankin County deputies were
conducting a narcotics investigation at the home when someone “displayed a gun
toward the deputies.”
During the raid, deputies tried to put
a sex toy in the mouths of Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Parker, and turned Mr. Jenkins
onto his stomach in an attempt to use the sex toy on him “from the rear,” their
complaint said. Evidence submitted with the complaint included photos that
showed a sex toy left at the scene.
The lawsuit also claims that the
deputies, who the complaint says are white, called Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Parker
racial slurs, beat them, fired Taser guns at them several times, made them
strip naked and shower together, threw eggs at them and waterboarded them.
One deputy put a gun in Mr. Jenkins’s
mouth while he was handcuffed and fired the weapon, shattering his jaw and
“severely” lacerating this tongue, the complaint said.
At a news conference on Wednesday held
over a video call, Malik Shabazz, a lawyer for Mr. Parker and Mr. Jenkins,
described the raid as “one of the worst occurrences of police brutality.” Mr. Shabazz said that he was expecting the
Mississippi attorney general, Lynn Fitch, to pursue criminal charges against
the fired deputies.
July 28, 2023 Cabbie Beaten at 6th and 34th
Not the worst tragedy of the day but unbelievable that this is happening.
A New York City taxi driver was viciously beaten by a group of five brutes on a busy Midtown Manhattan street last week in a disturbing attack that was caught on camera. The horrific footage shows three women and two men repeatedly striking the 60-year-old cabbie with shoes and closed fists near Sixth Avenue and W. 34th Street on July 19.The male driver attempts to avoid their blows and bends down to pick an item off the street, but is continuously pummeled. He is knocked off balance and slumps along the side of his cab as one of the women strikes him several times more and kicks him in the chest, according to the video.
Police said the cab driver and the individuals got into an argument before the brutal beatdown. He was taken to a hospital in stable condition. Two of the suspects — 35-year-old Howard Colley and 51-year-old Natalie Morgan, both of Brooklyn — were arrested at the scene, according to cops.
July 27, 2023 Five Year Old Kills One Year Old Brother (both test positive for drugs)
So many such happenings. Many parents try so hard to take care of their children. Nonetheless a tragedy strikes. Others seem not to care about their children at all.
A five-year-old boy high on cocaine shot his toddler brother in the head, and prosecutors have charged their parents with neglect. The boy, who has not been named, shot and killed his little brother, Isiah Johnson - who had marijuana in his system - back in March at the family's home in Lafayette, Indiana. Deonta Jermaine Johnson, 27, and Shatia Tiara Welch, 24, have been charged with neglect and various drug charges
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