City Lawyers Claim That the Murder of a Woman in a Public Housing Development Was Her Own Fault

A college student who was murdered at an East Harlem housing project in 2013, should have known the “risks” of being there, say city lawyers who don’t want to give her family a settlement.

In 2013, Olivia Brown was shot and killed by Michele “Mohawk” Graham after they got into anargument at the Lincoln Houses development,Gawker reports. Graham, who used to live in the building, was homeless at the time of the shooting.

Crystal Brown, Olivia’s mother, has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city, claiming that her daughter’s death was due to a lack of security in the building.  Lawyers for the New York City Housing Authority have argued otherwise, saying that the shooting was “spontaneous” and “unavoidable.” “All the risks, hazards and dangers were open, obvious and apparent to [Brown] and said risks, hazards and dangers were openly and voluntarily assumed by [Brown],” the lawyers wrote in a statement.

By: Unknown On 6:49 PM

Continue Reading

Police arrest suspect in string of Phoenix freeway shootings

Play Video

PHOENIX (AP) — Police arrested a man Friday for a string of seemingly random freeway shootings in Phoenix, adding that they had linked the man's gun to four of the 11 cars hit.

Leslie Allen Merritt Jr., 21, was arrested at a Wal-Mart in Glendale, a suburb west of Phoenix at about 7 p.m., said Daniel Scarpinato, a spokesman for Gov. Doug Ducey.

Department of Public Safety Director Frank Milstead, announcing the arrest at a news conference two hours later, said Merritt had not been formally charged yet.

Milstead said the suspect was arrested in the first four shootings, which took place on Aug. 29 and 30. The agency says the suspect faces a range of charges that include criminal endangerment, assault and unlawful discharge of a firearm.

The four shootings that police say he committed hit a tour bus, SUV and two cars, all of them on Interstate 10. No one was injured.

In an interview with The Associated Press, the suspect's father was adamant that his son had nothing to do with the shootings and that anyone who says he was involved is a "moron."

By: Unknown On 2:46 AM

Continue Reading

Boston 'Baby Doe' ID'd as 'Bella,' Suspect Charged With Her Murder

Click to see more picture

The identity of the young girl found dead inside a trash bag in Massachusetts earlier this summer was finally revealed today, officials said, and a man has been charged with her murder.

The girl found dead on Deer Island in June and nicknamed "Baby Doe" by authorities was a girl named Bella Bond, authorities said today. Her case captivated the country and computer composites used in an attempt to identify her were viewed by millions.

By: Unknown On 6:16 PM

Continue Reading

Russia threatens Poland over dismantling Soviet monument

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — In a new dispute exposing the complexity of Poland's relations with Russia, Moscow is threatening Warsaw with "most serious consequences" for dismantling a monument to a Soviet World War II general.

The removal of the 1970s memorial to Gen. Ivan Chernyakhovsky began Thursday in the northern town of Pieniezno, where the general died of wounds in February 1945. He is buried in Russia.

Local authorities argue that Chernyakhovsky crushed units of Poland's clandestine Home Army during the war and also symbolizes the imposition of communism on Poland.

By: Unknown On 6:12 PM

Continue Reading

Islamist shot dead after stabbing German policewoman

Berlin (AFP) - An Iraqi man who spent time in jail for membership in an Islamist terrorist group was shot dead by German police Thursday after he stabbed and seriously wounded a policewoman.

The 41-year-old man had been convicted in 2008 of planning an attack in Berlin against former Iraqi prime minister Iyad Allawi, a prosecution spokesman told AFP.

Thursday's incident began around 0700 GMT, when four police cars were called to the western Berlin district of Spandau because the man was reported acting aggressively and threatening passers-by, police said.

By: Unknown On 5:29 AM

Continue Reading

Here’s a photo of the clock that isn’t a bomb but got 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed arrested anyway

14-year-old Irving, Texas native Ahmed Mohamed was practically born a mechanical engineer. He loves robotics and he regularly builds things like clocks and radios at home. Earlier this week, the young MacArthur High School student went to school with one of his latest projects in hand, a homemade clock of which he was particularly proud.

Ahmed was promptly arrested.

DON’T MISS: 15 hidden features in iOS 9

That’s correct. The image above shows a bright young 14-year-old engineering wiz in a NASA t-shirt being hauled off by police in Irving, Texas for bringing a homemade clock to school. A more attentive teacher might have seen the device and known that the budding engineer loves to build gadgets at home. Ahmed’s teacher called the police.

From The Dallas Morning News:

School officers questioned Ahmed about the device and why Ahmed had brought it to school. Boyd said Ahmed was then handcuffed “for his safety and for the safety of the officers” and taken to a juvenile detention center. He was later released to his parents, Boyd said.

“The follow-up investigation revealed the device apparently was a homemade experiment, and there’s no evidence to support the perception he intended to create alarm,” Boyd said, describing the incident as a “naive accident.”

Asked if the teen’s religious beliefs factored into his arrest, Boyd said the reaction “would have been the same” under any circumstances.

Of note, police acknowledged immediately following the incident that at no point did the young 14-year-old claim the device was anything but a homemade clock. Meanwhile, Irving authorities continued to call the clock a “hoax bomb.”

At a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Irving Police Chief Larry Boyd confirmed that the department would not be filing charges against the young boy. Police also released an image of the homemade clock, which can be seen below.

While the entire ordeal is obviously upsetting, it does have a happy ending: Ahmed may not be allowed to bring his incredible creations to school, but they’ll be welcomed at the White House.

Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It’s what makes America great.

— President Obama (@POTUS) September 16, 2015

By: Unknown On 6:52 PM

Continue Reading

Mom Who Killed Son By Injecting Hand Sanitizer Into His Feeding Tube Gets 40 Years

A Louisiana mother who confessed to putting hand sanitizer and perfume in her toddler's feeding tube - ultimately killing him - has been sentenced to 40 years behind bars.

Erika Wigstrom, 22, was handed the maximum sentence after she pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the 2014 death of 17-month-old Lucas Ruiz, Plaquemines Parish District Attorney Charles Ballay said on Tuesday. She does not have the possibility of probation.

Read: Mom Killed Her 17-Month-Old Daughter By Giving Her Methadone to Help Her Sleep

Her toddler son had Down's syndrome and a heart condition, which left him needing surgery and a feeding tube.

By: Unknown On 1:22 AM

Continue Reading