Crime

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The death of an unarmed 52-year-old man who died after an Alabama police officer kneeled on his neck was ruled a homicide by a county coroner, according to an official autopsy reviewed by The Associated Press. The finding led lawyers representing Phillip Reeder's family on Monday to compare his death to that of George Floyd in 2020.

The report issued by the Jefferson County medical examiner’s office concludes Reeder, of Irondale, Alabama, died last August of heart failure "associated with cocaine use and restraint during altercation."

Officers in the Alabama suburb 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Birmingham were dispatched to a local highway just after 5 a.m. on August 6, 2024, after one of Reeder's colleagues called 911 to report a medical emergency, according to Reeder's wife, Sandra Lee Reeder. Phillip Reeder, who owned a construction company, was driving home from a job in Memphis, Tennessee, she said.

At the time, police said Reeder was wandering in and out of traffic when they approached him, according to AL.com.

An FBI agent was found guilty of raping three women after luring them into his tattoo shop by promising them free tattoos and modeling contracts, officials said.

FBI supervisor Eduardo Valdivia, 41, ran secret tattoo parlors under the names Lalo Brown and El Boogie when he wasn’t at his day job, prosecutors said.

The agent used fake names and the Instagram account DC Fine Line Tattoos to lure women into the shop, promising them modeling contracts before filming himself sexually assaulting them, prosecutors said, according to NBC 4 Washington.

After filming the assaults, Valdivia, who joined the FBI in 2011, would then use the fake modeling contacts as blackmail to get the women to return.

Valdivia, a married father of three children, sat expressionless as the jury announced he was guilty on all counts on Friday, according to the Washington Post. He could spend decades in prison for the charges.

While in court, Valdivia took the stand and claimed his encounters with the women were consensual. However, he later admitted to hiding evidence after learning that a warrant had been issued for his arrest.

Valdivia said that he threw away a box of condoms and wiped his laptop and memory card, which held photos and videos of himself having sex with the women.

Valdivia also told the courtroom that he never told the FBI about the tattoo parlors. He had been suspended by the bureau.

The former agent holds degrees in Spanish literature and public health and helped oversee public health clinics around the country before joining the FBI in 2011, according to court documents.

It’s the second time within a matter of years that Valdivia went on trial for felony counts in Montgomery County. In 2020, he was charged with attempted murder for shooting a man on a Metro train.

Johannesburg - Muti killings are suspected to be behind the murder and mutilation of the bodies of two young boys, aged five and six, who were discovered yesterday morning in two separate places in Soweto after they went missing on Wednesday night.

This has led the community of White City in Soweto to live in fear as they do not know who is behind the killings that have sparked outrage across the Rockville, White City, and Mofolo South communities.

It is reported that the two toddlers, identified as Nqobile Zulu, aged five, and Tshiamo Rabanye, aged six, were playing with one of their friends when they were allegedly approached by unknown men travelling in an unidentified car just after 8pm on Wednesday.

Nqobile’s body was found in White City, while the second body, belonging to Tshiamo was found a few kilometres away in Rockville at Thokoza Park. Both bodies were missing their private parts, noses and lips — resulting in suspected muti or ritual killings.

Speaking to the media, the chairperson of the CPF, Melusi Hlatshwayo, and leader of community patrollers in Mofolo South and White City, said the search party conducted a widespread search across the two townships, including Mofolo South and White City.

“The two kids who were discovered this morning were reported missing from last night just after 8pm. We went on a search for the two kids just after load shedding happened, but we could not find them. This morning, we continued with our search and went to all the hotspots that we knew.

A suspect remained on the loose Sunday after stealing a 35,000-pound fire engine in Everett, Washington, and going on a rampage, crashing into more than a dozen parked vehicles before abandoning the emergency rig and fleeing on foot, according to police and fire officials.

The theft of the Everett Fire Department pumper truck unfolded as its fire crew was on the fifth floor of a nearby building attending a medical emergency call, police said.

"Losing a fire engine in such a reckless manner not only jeopardizes the safety of our first responders but also puts our community at risk," Everett Police Chief John DeRousse said in a statement. "We are committed to ensuring the safety of our residents, and any information that helps us resolve this incident is crucial. It is imperative that we hold the suspect accountable for their actions, and we will work diligently to bring them to justice."

At least 30 people were injured after a car plowed through a crowd early Saturday in East Hollywood, Los Angeles, authorities said.

After the crash, the driver was pulled from the car by bystanders and then shot and wounded by an unknown person, who remains at large, police said.

Police identified the driver as 29-year-old Fernando Ramirez. He was taken to the hospital after the shooting but has been booked into jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. The district attorney will determine formal charges in the coming days.

The incident began unfolding around 2 a.m. local time outside the music venue The Vermont, near the intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard and Vermont Avenue in east Los Angeles.

As of Saturday afternoon, at least one person -- a woman in her 20s with leg injuries -- was still in critical condition, police said, with several others in serious condition. In total, 24 patients were taken to the hospital.

The death of a 9-year-old girl whose father initially reported she was missing and possibly abducted is being investigated amid “inconsistencies” in his account, police said Sunday after the girl’s body was found in New York state.

Melina Frattolin was reported missing from near Lake George in northeast New York late Saturday evening by her father, Luciano Frattolin, according to New York State Police. Both father and daughter were identified by authorities as residents of Canada.

No charges have been announced in the case.

The girl’s body was discovered Sunday in the area of Ticonderoga, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of Lake George near the state line with Vermont during a search, state police said. Police said K9 and aviation units were involved in the search.

Ticonderoga also is about 250 miles (400 kilometers) north of New York City in a popular resort area in the Adirondack Mountains.

“As the case progressed, law enforcement identified inconsistencies in the father’s account of events and the timeline he provided,” state police said in a statement.

“At this time, there is no indication that an abduction occurred, and there is no threat to the public,” the agency added. The agency did not elaborate.

The Justice Department on Thursday announced that a former Voice of America (VOA) employee has been indicted and charged with allegedly threatening to kill Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

The department accuses Maryland resident Seth Jason, who was a longtime employee at VOA, of making eight threatening calls to Greene and her team over a 15-month span from Oct. 11, 2023, through Jan. 21, 2025.

Jason allegedly used various VOA phone lines connected to studios and control rooms at its headquarters to make the calls, where he allegedly threatened to use firearms to kill Greene, her staff and their family members

WASHINGTON (TNND) — The accused assassin responsible for the murders of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband, wrote in a letter addressed to FBI Director Kash Patel that Democratic Gov. Tim Walz selected him to kill Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN).

"Recently I was approached about a project that Tim Walz wanted done, and [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] Keith was also aware of the projecrt," the letter statted. "Tim wanted me to kill Amy Klobushar and Tina [REDACTED]. Tim wants to be a senatoer and he doesn't trust. [REDACTED] to retire as planned and thinks she is going to stay on at the last minute."

Five weeks ago today, former Aberdeen City Councilor Riley T. Carter was convicted of three counts of rape of a child in the first degree, three counts of incest in the first degree, one count of child molestation in the first degree, and one count of incest in the second degree, by a jury of his peers in Grays Harbor County Superior Court.

On Friday, Carter was sentenced to a minimum of 46½ years in prison.

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Prior to sentencing, Grays Harbor County Criminal Chief Deputy Prosecutor Daniel Crawford deferred to the victim, her mother and anyone else who wished to give a statement.

Mya Hernandez read her daughter’s statement to the court. It read, in part, “I felt betrayed, very betrayed by someone who was meant to keep me safe and happy, but I did not feel that. … I want Riley to be gone forever. I want him to be stuck in one loop, like how I was, and I want him to be in a bad place — like how he put me in a horrible place.”

Hernandez also read a prepared statement from the victim’s biological father that read, in part, “She is the bravest girl I know,” and went on to describe how Carter had betrayed his responsibilities as a step-father.

Hernandez read from her prepared four-page statement, that read, in part, “This isn’t just about abuse. This is about betrayal that carved through the bones of my family. This is about a man who didn’t just break trust — he broke us. He didn’t just lie, he ‘performed.’ To the world. He was a councilman. A hero. A ‘protector of children against predators.’ But in our home he was the danger. … Riley is vile. He confessed — then took it back — and forced a little girl he broke to take the stand and relive every sick thing he did to her. … He is not safe. He is not sorry. And he does not deserve leniency.”

The victim, who was present via Zoom, chose not to speak.

AUSTIN, Texas — A former Army officer charged with the shooting deaths of six people, including his parents, has been deemed mentally competent to stand trial for the killings, according to the Travis County District Attorney’s Office. Shane M. James Jr., 36, is accused of killing his parents in San Antonio sometime between Dec. 4 and Dec. 5, 2023, and then driving north to Austin, where police said he killed four more people and shot and injured two police officers and a cyclist in separate incidents across the city.

Judge Cliff Brown determined in October that James was not competent to participate in his court proceedings and ordered him to a state mental health facility until his capacity improved.

The judge decided July 9 that his murder case can start again. New hearings have not yet been scheduled, according to the county’s online court docket. Prosecutors look forward to continuing to fight for justice for the victims and their families, according to a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office. An attorney for James was not immediately available Wednesday for comment.

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuador’s government on Sunday offered a $100,000 reward for information on the whereabouts of a lawmaker whom authorities accused of raping a minor.

The case against Santiago Díaz Asque became public when he was expelled from an opposition party earlier this week. Interior Minister Jhon Reimberg in a post on X said the reward is for “true and verifiable” information on Díaz’s location.

Authorities on Wednesday raided three properties linked to the case, but prosecutor’s have declined to provide details of the investigation.

Díaz requested unpaid leave from the National Assembly after he was kicked out of the Citizen Revolution party, but it was denied. He also published a letter in which he rejected the accusation and characterized it as at attempt to “silence my incorruptible and critical voice.”