12 year old California boy charged with murder of 8-year-old sister www.privateofficer.com

 

VALLEY SPRINGS, Calif. May 13 2013 — The mother of an 8-year-old girl who was found stabbed to death in her Northern California home and of the 12-year-old boy accused of killing describes the boy as “protective of his sister.”

In an interview with Sacramento television station KOVR on Friday, Priscilla Rodriquez said her son “could never hurt his sister.”

The boy — who has not been named by authorities — was arrested Saturday. He will be charged with homicide, Calaveras County Sheriff Gary Kuntz said.

In the interview, Rodriquez said, “I know my son could never hurt his sister.

“They never used to fight when they were little,” she said.

Rodriquez told the station that a bitter custody battle had driven a wedge between her and the children’s father.

The April 27 attack on Leila Fowler shook the tightknit Valley Springs community of about 7,400 people and set off a massive manhunt.

Investigators did a door-to-door sweep of homes, storage sheds and horse stables scattered across the oak-studded hills foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Divers also searched two nearby reservoirs in search of clues.

After hearing Leila’s brother had been arrested, residents were in disbelief.

“I did not want to believe it. You kind of thought so, but it’s not something you want to believe,” Tammy Ainsworth told Sacramento’s KCRA-TV.

By Sunday, investigators had released few details of the arrest and did not return calls from The Associated Press seeking details of what led them to arrest the boy.

The boy had told police he found his sister’s body and encountered an intruder in the home while their father and stepmother were at a Little League game. He described the man as being tall with long gray hair. But afterward, police said there was no sign of a burglary or robbery.

A neighbor told detectives she saw a man flee the home, but she later recanted the story and was discredited by police.

As part of the investigation, authorities seized several knives from the Fowler home, where Leila lived with her father, stepmother and siblings.

Leila’s brother was taken into custody at 5:10 p.m. Saturday, and police hastily called a news conference to announce the arrest.

“Citizens of Calaveras County, you can sleep a little better tonight,” Kuntz said.

Authorities spent more than 2,000 hours on the investigation “to provide Leila Fowler’s family answers to her death,” the sheriff said.

Kuntz said the investigation was ongoing and declined to provide further details.

Local officials pledged support Sunday. The Calaveras Unified School District “stands ready to provide whatever level of support and assistance is necessary to the Fowler family” and the community, Superintendent Mark Campbell said in a statement. The district will make counselors available at all schools, he said.

Several days after the killing, hundreds of people gathered at Jenny Lind Elementary School where Leila was a popular third-grader. Her stepmother, Krystal Walters, tearfully thanked the crowd for the support.

“I just want to thank the entire community and all of our family and friends for all the overwhelming amount of support you’ve given our family,” Walters said at the time. “It will never be forgotten. Thank you.”

Police charge Virginia teens for trying to poison teacher www.privateofficer.com

NEWPORT NEWS, VA March 29 2013   Two Virginia middle school students are facing felony charges of attempted poisoning, accused of spiking their teacher’s tea at least twice with hand sanitizer.

The two 13-year-old male students, who have not been named, were removed from Hines Middle School in Newport News, Va., and placed in an alternative school after confessing, officials said. The attempted poisoning was brought to the school’s attention by student witnesses on Jan. 29, who contacted the school’s resource officer and assistant principal, according to Michelle Price with Newport News Public Schools.

“An investigation was started by the administrators at Hines,” Price told ABCNews.com. “This usually involves interviewing students involved, and the ones who came forward, and talking to the teacher. The students did then confess to putting some hand sanitizer in the teacher’s beverage.” The school’s officer then contacted the Newport News police department’s Special Victims Unit, which conducted a thorough investigation, police said in a statement.

On March 6, the two teens were each charged with one count of attempted poisoning, a class three felony. The two students were removed, according to Price, and recommended for long term suspensions.

They were then referred to a disciplinary review committee, which involves three school board members, who upheld the long term suspension.
“It’s the board’s philosophy that all students should be offered some sort of educational experience,” Price said.

“They are with students who have been convicted of or are facing charges.” The two students were sent to a separate community school in January, and will not be able to attend any other comprehensive school in the district during the police investigation, according to Price. Price said that the 66-year-old teacher, who does not want to be named, was unaware that anything had been put in her tea until she was told, and missed a few days of teaching when she went to see her doctor.

“She did not require hospitalization. Aside from few days she’s missed she’s been teaching,” Price said. “We don’t believe a lot of it was ingested, and we believe it may have happened twice.” Hines Middle School does not stand out as a problem school in the district, and most of the problems at the school can be characterized as “preteen and teen drama,” according to Price.

If the accused teens are found guilty they will have remain in the community school, she said.

A class three felony carries a punishment of not less than five years nor more than 20 years in prison and a fine of not more than $100,000 in Virginia, according to police. It is unclear how the teens plead, as Newport News juvenile court does not share information pertaining to juveniles.

Teen steals, crashes Washington Dc police cruiser www.privateofficer.com

Washington DC March 27 2013 One of the most fundamental safety tips that police dole out is to not leave your keys in your vehicle’s ignition with the doors unlocked. But that is precisely what a D.C. police sergeant did Monday afternoon in Southeast Washington. When the officer’s back was turned while investigating a missing person complaint, police said a juvenile jumped into the driver’s seat and sped off.
Obviously, the vehicle should be secured,” said Cmdr. Robert Contee, who heads the 6th District station. “Clearly, that wasn’t done.” The joy ride was short-lived. The young driver headed around the block — from the 1600 block of Fort Davis Place to R Street SE, near Pennsylvania and Alabama avenues — before crashing into a barrier or fence near a house, Contee said.

The driver escaped, and witnesses could not pinpoint an age. Contee said the squad car had minor damage, and there were no weapons inside.

Contee said the sergeant had parked about 12:20 p.m. to investigate someone who dialed 911 but hung up before talking to an operator. It turned out to be a missing person complaint, and the sergeant was standing outside his car talking on his cellphone when the cruiser was stolen.

The police commander said the sergeant was facing away from the cruiser and had left the door unlocked and the keys in the ignition. He did not think the car was still running. Contee said there will be an investigation and that the sergeant faces discipline.

8 Socastee High students arrested for synthetic pot incidents www.privateofficer.com

HORRY COUNTY, SC March 18 2013 – Eight students at Socastee High School have been arrested and charged in connection with two incidents involving synthetic marijuana being smoked on school property, police officials stated.

On February 15, a School Resource Officer at Socastee was alerted to students having some type of reaction to the ingestion of synthetic marijuana, according to a news release from the Horry County Police Department.

The officer found the students and the product; some of the students required medical treatment after ingesting it, the release states. On February 20, the School Resource Officer was again alerted to a student having a reaction to synthetic marijuana, and again, all students involved were located with the product, the release states. Any student found to be having a reaction was given medical treatment. In both instances, the product was recovered and sent to SLED to be tested.

According to Sgt. Kegler with HCPD, because the SLED’s tests on the synthetic marijuana were negative for any banned substances, none of the students received narcotics charges.
After the School Resource Officer and detectives with the Horry County Police Department’s Narcotics and Vice Section investigated the incidents, eight students were charged for their roles in the two incidents.

According to the news release from police, among those arrested and charged were: -

Grant Hollister Kolumba (17 YOA W/M) DOB: 06-14-95.  He resides in the Myrtle Beach section of Horry County.  He is currently in custody at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center. Charge: Public Disorderly Conduct

-Cassie Leeana South (17 YOA W/F) DOB: 10-14-95.  She resides in the Myrtle Beach section of Horry County.  She is currently in custody at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center. Charge: Disturbing Schools

-Joshua Palmer Vaught (17 YOA W/M) DOB: 06-27-95.  He resides in the Myrtle Beach section of Horry County.  He is currently in custody at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center. Charge: Public Disorderly Conduct

-Christopher Robert Kripple (17 YOA W/M) DOB: 04-03-95.  He resides in the Myrtle Beach section of Horry County.  He is currently in custody at Surfside Beach Police Department. Charge: Disturbing Schools

-Nathan Wesley Rose (18 YOA W/M) DOB: 11-02-94.  He resides in the Myrtle Beach section of Horry County.  He is currently in custody at the J. Reuben Long Detention Center.

Charge: Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor .

Three unidentified juveniles were also arrested, the release states. Horry County Schools spokesperson Teal Britton says that the school will be disciplining these students separately from any legal charges, adding that to the school, it doesn’t matter if it’s “synthetic” or “real” marijuana; the disciplinary procedures are going to be the same.

Each of the eight students will have a punishment hearing with school officials, but Britton says the outcomes of these hearings are confidential.
Source:WMBF

Ga. teen arrested after escaping cuffs, stealing cop car www.privateofficer.com

ATLANTA GA March 15 2013 – Atlanta Police have arrested a teen after they say he stole a police car and barricaded himself in a house. On Wednesday evening, 11Alive News learned from Lt. Chandler of the East Point Police Department that the boy is being looked at by several other Georgia jurisdictions for other crimes, including armed robbery.

11Alive’s Doug Richards reported that SWAT used tear gas to enter the house and arrest the teen on Wednesday afternoon. Police said the East Point patrol car was stolen on Astor Avenue after the teen was arrested for driving another stolen car.

According to Chandler the teen had been seen driving at a high rate of speed on Main Street in East Point Wednesday morning. After the teen crashed into at least three cars on Astor Avenue, he was arrested, handcuffed and placed in the back of an East Point patrol car.

Chandler said the boy was able to slip out of the cuffs and commandeer the police car. The car was found by Atlanta Police near the intersection of Mozley and Chicamauga in southwest Atlanta later Wednesday morning. The teen was tracked to his home on Gideons Street, about a block from where the police car was located.

Source:News11

Cops shoot teen gunman dead in Brooklyn www.privateofficer.com

New York City NY March 11 2013  Undercover cops fatally shot a teenager in Brooklyn last night after he pointed a loaded gun at an officer, police sources and witnesses said. Kimani Gray, 16, was shot in the leg and stomach when he whipped out a .38-caliber revolver after adjusting the waistband on his pants, said cops.

The two undercover officers, driving a red umarked car, had approached the group of teens because they were acting suspiciously on East 52nd Street near Snyder Street in East Flatbush just before 11:30 p.m.

Gray was rushed by ambulance to Kings County Hospital, only a few blocks away. But doctors could not save his life. Cops later recovered the .357 revolver, which had four bullets in its cylinder. When the two cops arrived at the scene, Gray was standing on the sidewalk with five friends.

As the cops opened fire, “he was screaming, ‘Stop! I’m not running,!’ ” said pal Devonte Brown, 16. Neighbors confirmed a rapid succession of gunfire booming through the area. “I heard a lot of shots, rapid fire, about eight shots,” said one resident. “I heard the gun shots from my living room.”

As the bullets struck Gray, he grabbed his side and began yelling, witnesses said.

The teenager’s friends refused to say exactly what prompted the cops to fire.

Police sources said one of the officers involved in the shooting was a sergeant, who fired multiple bullets. Gray had a rap sheet that included charges of grand larceny and inciting a riot, police sources said.

Source:NYPost

MD Teen Gunman Steals Sneakers www.privateofficer.com

Glen Burnie MD March 11 2013 A teenage boy was arrested after he allegedly stole a man’s sneakers while armed with a gun. Investigators say it happened Friday shortly before 10 p.m. outside the Marley Station Mall on 7900 Ritchie Highway in Glen Burnie, Maryland.

A gunman approached a man in the parking lot of the mall and demanded that he remove his shoes, according to police. Police say the suspect gave him his shoes and the suspect fled on foot.
Police say they found Jesse Scrivner, 16, standing nearby. The victim identified Scrivner as the person who stole his sneakers, according to investigators.

Scrivner was taken into custody and charged as an adult with robbery. Police also say the sneakers were recovered.

Source: Washington Post

11-year-old girl leads North Carolina police on pursuit www.privateofficer.com

CHARLOTTE, NC Feb 20 2013
An 11-year-old child was taken to a local hospital after she lead police on a low speed chase along I-77.
It was technically a chase, although State Highway Patrol Troopers say it never got over 20 miles an hour.
Just before midnight on Monday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police tried to pull over an older model truck for a traffic citation along I-77, however the driver refused to pull over.
They called in Troopers to take over the pursuit.
Officials say they followed the truck for several miles before it finally pulled over on the shoulder just before the I-85 interchange.
The whole thing was captured by DOT cameras.
Troopers said when they approached the driver, the lone female inside starting yelling that she was just eleven years old.
The SHP reports she was from Gaffney, South Carolina, and had just been in an altercation with her father when her finger was broken during being disciplined.
According to officials, she grabbed the keys to her father’s truck and took off, trying to get to Ft. Mill where she had friends.
She took back roads up to Charlotte, but got lost once she got on the freeway.
She reported to Medics she was feeling queasy, but Troopers said that was a symptom of the broken finger.
She was taken to Carolinas Medical Center for treatment.
Police have charged her with several traffic violations including no operator’s license, failure to maintain lane control, failure to head blue lights and siren and impede traffic by slow speed.
Right now, there’s no word on if any charges are going to be filed in the case. There was never a call placed reporting either a missing child, or the truck being stolen.

Source: WBTV

Baltimore teen pleads guilty in shooting at Perry Hall High School www.privateofficer.com

Baltimore MD Feb 20 2013 Robert W. Gladden Jr. pleaded guilty Tuesday to attempted first-degree murder and use of a firearm in a violent crime in connection with a shooting at Perry Hall High School.
The 15-year-old Kingsville resident faced attempted murder charges after police said he opened fire on the high school cafeteria, using his father’s disassembled shotgun, on the first day of school in August. Gladden is accused of injuring 17-year-old student Daniel Borowy.
As part of his guilty plea, Gladden faces a maximum of 40 years imprisonment. His sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 25.
Gladden’s lawyer, George Psoras Jr., argued during a hearing earlier this month that the teen should be tried as a juvenile where he would have access to intense, psychiatric treatment. Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge Robert E. Cahill Jr. ruled that Gladden be tried as an adult.
Gladden has been charged as an adult on 29 counts, including attempted first-degree murder.

source-baltsun.com

Jackson Ms teen charged in vicious murder of elederly woman www.privateofficer.com

JACKSON, MS Feb 19 2013
The hunt is over for the teenager wanted in connection with the murder of an elderly south Jackson woman.
Officer Colendula Green with Jackson Police Department said 17-year-old Kahlil Kennedy, of Jackson, was taken into custody Sunday morning. He is accused of the murder of 80-year-old Janie Fullilove.
Hinds County Coroner Sharon Grisham Stewart said Fullilove was shot twice, once in the back of the head and once in the abdomen. She was also struck in the head.
Green said the widow was found in the shed behind her Merigold Drive home Saturday evening some time after five o’clock. Fullilove’s silver 2010 Volvo was also missing.
Investigators were able to determine that Kennedy was last seen driving the vehicle.
“This morning we recovered the 2010 stolen Volvo that was at this residence and also Kahlil Kennedy was arrested for capital murder and auto theft,” confirmed Green.
Neighbors say Fullilove was a kind woman, always looking out for the needs of others.
“She was just very neighborly, very kind, always looking out for the neighbors. She gave me a little puppy about two weeks ago. Well, one of the neighbors was moving and so she wanted to make sure this little dog had a nice home,” recalls Stephany Brown.
According to police, Fullilove’s vehicle was found Sunday morning at the Westwick Apartments on Flag Chapel Road. Kennedy is believed to have a prior juvenile record.

Source: Mississippi News Now

Police looking for four people after riot at Va. juvenile detention center www.privateofficer.com

PRINCE GEORGE COUNTY, Va. Feb 10 2013 – Police are investigating a riot and escape at the Crater Juvenile Detention Center, located on Route 460 in Prince George.
Captain Brian Kei with Prince George County Police says they received a panic alarm for a riot just before 9 p.m. Four black juveniles between 14 to 17 years old escaped during the riot and are considered dangerous because of the incident that happened.
Two staff members were injured and were taken to Southside Regional Medical Center. They are currently in stable condition, one with serious cuts to the face.
Six ambulances and a dozen police cars were on scene, including Prince George Police, Fire and Emergency Crew, Petersburg Police, Dinwiddie County Sheriff deputies and Virginia State Police.
Police are using a helicopter and K-9 to track the juveniles. Investigators are still trying to determine what started the riot. The four escapees have ties to Greensville County and Emporia. Those living in the area are asked to use caution and call police if they see anyone suspicious.

Source- WTVR

14-year-old boy jailed for killing his 7-month-old sister www.privateofficer.com

WHITE OAK, Md. Feb 10 2013 — A 14-year-old boy is being held in jail and is charged with first degree murder for killing his 7-month-old sister, officials say.
On Thursday night, Johnathan Aguiluc was left to take care of his infant sister while his mother went to work her graveyard shift.
When the mother, 39-year-old Gloria Yanes, returned from work at 5:30 a.m. on Friday she saw the baby in the car seat and seemed to be sleeping, Montgomery County Police say.
Shortly after, Yanes tried waking the baby to feed her and found her unresponsive. Montgomery County Fire/Rescue took the infant to Holy Cross Hospital where she died due to her injures, police say.
During the investigation, police interviewed Johnathan who admitted to beating his sister. He said she began crying and he covered her mouth and nose to silence her, police say.
The teen was immediately taken into custody and is being charged as an adult with first degree murder.
He is being held without bond and is scheduled for a bond review on Monday.

Source-WUSA

SC teenager arrested in hire-for-murder plot to kill grandparents www.privateofficer.com

CHESTER COUNTY, SC Feb 3 2013
Sheriff’s deputies in South Carolina have arrested a third teenager in a hire-for-murder plot to kill an elected county official and his wife.
According to the Chester County Sheriff’s Office, 19-year-old Shaiderius Demark Cohen was arrested on Thursday night for the murder of Jimmie Diane Paul.
Investigators believe Cohen was the triggerman. “I told my son, listen I don’t know what’s going on but he told me to my face, ‘Daddy, I didn’t do it.’ He told me two times,” Michael Cohen said. “I aint never raised my son like that. I love my son. But I told him I got your back. I love you, I’m going to be there for you. I aint just gonna say you are a murderer or anything like that. When they prove you did it or not, you made the bed you gotta lay down in it.”
Two other teens had already been arrested in the case and denied bond, including Paul’s grandson.
Marquaes Issale Eric Buchanan, 18, and Clayton Eli Watts, 17, were both arrested in connection with the deadly shooting early this week. Watts is Paul’s grandson.
Paul is also the wife of Chester County planning director, Mack Paul. She was found dead Tuesday night at her home on Williamsville Church Road. Officials said it appears she died of gunshot wounds.
Cohen was arrested Thursday evening and charged with Murder and Possession of a Firearm during the Commission of a Violent Crime.
Investigators are calling the deadly shooting a murder-for-hire plot.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, Watts had planned to pay Cohen and Buchanan $5,000 to kill both of his grandparents.
“I’m not a very nosey person. It ain’t any of my business,” Daniel Melton, who lives down the road from Paul said. “I was real surprised.”
Flowers are at the driveway, and flags have been lowered to half staff at every county office building.
Chester County Manager Carlisle Roddey described the couple as well liked and respected.
“She was one of the most jovial and nicest people you’ll ever talk to. She had a great personality. You couldn’t find anyone nicer than those people are,” Roddey said.
Meanwhile, Daniel Melton feels the family connection in the case may lead to something that’s disturbing, “And with them being kin, they’re more to it than that’s out so far.”
Watts and Buchanan will remain in custody until they appear in High Court on March 14.
This is the first homicide investigation of the year in Chester County.

Source-WBTV

Vancouver Washington police shoot-kill teenager www.privateofficer.com

VANCOUVER WA Jan 28 2013 – A teenager’s life ended at about 11:30 p.m. Friday in the parking lot near East 21st and C Street in Vancouver.
The 16-year-old’s brother feared something tragic might happen. In fact, he made a plea for his brother, Doug Combs, to turn himself in on Newschannel 8 just hours before police caught up with his brother.

“I was asleep and at 4 a.m. Two police officers knocked on my door and told me my worst fears had come true –that Doug was dead,” said Jason Combs.
Doug Combs died in a hail of gunfire that rattled a downtown Vancouver neighborhood at about 11:30 Friday night.
“I heard four or five fired gunshots,” said Pete Johnson who lives near the shooting scene.
Terry Greenen heard gunshots on both sides of his house. He also heard police make some kind of command right before the shots were fired.
“I heard shots fired and there was one young man over there dead. They were not trying to resuscitate him, and a second one was right over here that was apprehended,” said Greenen
Vancouver police had been searching for the suspect in a home invasion shooting in Hazel Dell that happened early Friday morning. Police were back at the Hazel Dell scene Saturday and said it appeared the shooting victim would survive.

Doug Combs’ oldest brother Brian just drove down from Seattle after hearing his brother was killed.
“The thing I don’t understand is he made a mistake and deserved to be punished, but what I don’t understand is why if they knew where he was, they couldn’t have used non-lethal force,” said the oldest Combs.
“There are a thousand ways to bring this child in without having to kill him,” said Jason Combs. “We just want people to know he was a scared kid who made a terrible mistake, but he didn’t deserve to die,” said Brian Combs.
Vancouver police have released few details about the shooting. In fact, as of Saturday evening, they had yet to release Doug Combs name or the names of the officers involved in the shooting.
The Camas police department continue to investigate the officer involved shooting.

Source-kgw

New Mexico chaplain, wife and children gunned down by teenager www.privateofficer.com

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. Jan 22 2013 (AP) – A 15-year-old boy remained in custody Sunday night as detectives tried to piece together what led to the shooting of his parents and three of their children who were found dead in a New Mexico home.
The teenager was arrested on murder and other charges in connection with the shootings, which happened Saturday night at the home in a rural area southwest of downtown Albuquerque, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department said.
Authorities identified the victims late Sunday as Greg Griego, 51, his wife Sara Griego, 40, and three of their children: a 9-year-old boy, Zephania Griego, and daughters Jael Griego, 5, and Angelina Griego, 2. The suspect was identified as Nehemiah Griego.
Word of the shootings traveled quickly through the law enforcement community, and officials began offering their condolences for Greg Griego, a spiritual leader known for his work with firefighters and the 13 years he spent as a volunteer chaplain at the county jail.
“Chaplain Griego was a dedicated professional that passionately served his fellow man and the firefighters of this community,” Fire Chief James Breen said in a statement. “His calming spirit and gentle nature will be greatly missed.”
Jail Chief Ramon Rustin said Griego was instrumental in the creation of the Metropolitan Detention Center’s chaplain program and worked to get inmates integrated back into the community.
Griego also was a former member of the pastoral staff at Calvary, a Christian church in Albuquerque. As part of his work there, he oversaw the Straight Street program for jail inmates.
Authorities said each victim suffered more than one gunshot wound, and several guns were found at the home, one of which was a semi-automatic military-style rifle. Investigators were trying to determine who owned the guns.
“Right now we’re to the meticulous points of processing the scene and collecting physical evidence, and this is a vast scene with a lot of physical evidence,” sheriff’s department spokesman Lt. Sid Covington said.
Authorities declined to release details of any conversation that the 15-year-old had with investigators, but they said he was the Griegos’ son. The sheriff’s office said he is charged with two counts of murder and three counts of child abuse resulting in death.
The sheriff’s office said it wouldn’t release any further information about the case until Sheriff Dan Houston holds a news conference Tuesday morning.
On Sunday, a police roadblock cut off public access to the narrow dirt road that leads to the home, which is surrounded by trees and an agricultural field on one side.
Neighbors said they saw the first police cars and ambulances arrive at the home Saturday night. The road was blocked and word of the shootings began to make its way through the neighborhood.
Peter Gomez, a 54-year-old carpenter who lives about 200 yards from the home, said he had seen the family – a husband and wife and their four children – pass by many times but didn’t know them personally.
“It’s a horrible thing,” Gomez said. “You see all this stuff that happens all over the country, the shootings in the schools and theaters, and then it happens right here. It’s sad.”

Teen dumps newborn into Wichita dumpster www.privateofficer.com

Wichita KA Jan 19 2013

Police are investigating the death of a newborn baby, whose body was found in an east Wichita dumpster Wednesday night.
Earlier this week, a 17-year-old was admitted to an area hospital with significant hemorrhaging. Later, she admitted to hospital staff that she had delivered a baby girl the previous week, and took her to a dumpster at an east Wichita shopping center.
The hospital notified police, and officers found the child’s body around 11 p.m. Wednesday night in a dumpster at the Eastgate Shopping Mall, located at 8125 E. Kellogg.
Police believe the child had been there for several days. Homicide investigators are working this as a suspicious death, but are not sure if the child was still alive when she was left at the dumpster.
The teen mother remains hospitalized.

Source-kake.com

12-year-old boy guilty of murder www.privateofficer.com

Riverside CA Jan 15 2013 A judge found a 12-year-old boy guilty of murder in the second degree and sentenced the 12-year-old murderer to remain in juvenile detention until he is 23.
According to a Los Angeles Times report on Jan. 14, 2013, Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Soccio commented that “the boy remains a threat to society. … I think he is a very dangerous boy.”
Finding the 12-year-old Riverside boy guilty of murder was not an easy task for the judge, the Dist. Atty. Michael Soccio, or anyone involved in the case.
What made the case of the 12-year-old guilty murderer an emotionally challenging trial was the fact that the Riverside boy had lived a life of abuse and neglect.
The 12-year-old murderer’s father, Jeffrey Hall, was a West Coast leader for the neo-Nazi organization known as the National Socialist Movement. According to court records, Jeffrey Hall took his son to neo-Nazi meetings and activities that included coordinated events with hooded members of the Ku Klux Klan. During one of those events, the father and son team joined others for an illegal immigrant “patrol” along the Mexican border.
During the trial of the 12-year-old, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Jean P. Leonard commented that the fact that Jeffrey Hall tried to indoctrinate his son into the hate group, that he tried to brain wash him, and that he exposed his 12-year-old son to guns, hate, and violence certainly contributed to the 12-year-old’s murder.
On May, 1, 2011, while Jeffrey Hall was asleep on a couch early in the morning, the then only 10-year-old “crept downstairs with Hall’s .357 magnum revolver and shot his father point-blank in the head.”
The 12-year-old boy’s murder of his father was only the culmination of a life filled with trouble. Not surprisingly, the 12-year-old boy who was found guilty of murder today had been “expelled from eight schools for violent outbursts, including an attempt to strangle a teacher with a phone cord.”
What does a boy have to do to signal to society that he is a walking time bomb?
What if this 12-year-old boy would not have been only guilty of murdering his father but 27 other people as in the Connecticut school shooting?
No discussion about gun control, mental health, or school safety measures can save the lives of any children or adults if society does not start to act.
How much physical or mental abuse does a child need to endure by a father or a mother before someone else takes action?
If there is no responsible action for a child in a family, in a school, or in society, it is no surprise that a 12-year-old is guilty of murder.

Source:the examiner

Richland County Sheriff’s teen program national model www.privateofficer.com

RICHLAND COUNTY, SC Dec 21 2012

It’s not where they want to be. Handcuffed and uncooperative, six teenage boys are put in the back of a van.
“We get a lot of kids here for disrespect issues,” said Investigator Gerard Walls with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department’s Gang Unit. “Don’t want to listen at home. Some parents bring their children here because they need to be shocked. They need a reality check.”

Walls has been putting kids in check for the last 3 years.
Teens in trouble for smoking marijuana, fighting, talking back to their parents, for a variety of reasons are put in the custody of Richland County’s Educating And Deterring Youth, or READY program.

“A lot of these kids say and do whatever they want to in school and many times at home,” said Walls. “So, to have somebody tell them they’re not going to be able to act in that manner is kind of shocking to them because they really believe they can do and say whatever comes to mind.”
Treated as inmates, they’re searched, put into jumpsuits and prepped for the long night ahead in jail.

“It’s not a nice place to be when that jail cell closes and your freedom is taken away from you,” said Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott. “It’s not like being at home.”
“Think this is a game if you want to,” the teens are told. “This ain’t no game. This is your last straw.”

“What we try to do is get kids before they go out here and break the law,” said Lott. “Our goal is not to lock them up. Our goal is to turn their life around.”
For one night, deputies give them a new reality and force the teens to obey strict rules. It is the only program in the nation that keeps the kids all night.

They are forced to exercise.
“Exercise is designed to break them down physically and mentally,” said Walls. “And then over the course of the evening we build them back up by talking to them about positive things they can do to put their life back on track.”
“You have to break them down,” said Lott. “You have to get that meanness, that resistance from them. Once you get that gone, then you can start building them back up.”

Deputies talk to the kids about why they’re there and why they shouldn’t go back.
“We go from being that tormentor, I guess you can say, to being just a mentor to try to help the kids to see the error of their ways,” said Walls.

Deputies even check up on the kids after the program to make sure they’re not falling off track.
“Just because they come here with us for one night doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to change their life.” said Walls. “Parents also have to change some things they may be doing to make sure that child is a success.”

Parents spend two hours in class while their children are in jail. They learn how to deal with and help curb bad behavior.
In the three years the READY program has been operating, close to 900 kids have come through the program and more than 86 percent of them have changed their behavior.

The cable channel A&E has profiled the program several times before. Its latest episode featuring the Richland County Sheriff’s Department airs Thursday night at 10 p.m.
“When a parent or grandparent calls me up, sends me an e-mail, writes me an e-mail and says thank you for giving me my child back, I know it’s working,” said Lott.

Source:WIS

Raleigh teens killed homeless man to “earn their stars” with gang www.privateofficer.com

RALEIGH NC Dec 21 2012 — A prosecutor told a Raleigh judge Thursday that a group of teens charged with beating homeless man to death did it as a way to “earn their stars” with a gang.
Wake County prosecutor Katie Carter said the three 15-year-old boys and a 13-year-old boy charged with murder should be kept in custody. Another 15 year old is charged as an accessory.

She said the teens charged with murder beat 37-year-old Regynald Jose Brown and used a rock to crush his skull.

Carter said the teens also robbed a 67-year-old homeless man on September 1 and took part in the gang rapes of two girls in June and November.

The rapes were just reported to authorities on December 7.

Carter said the teens came back to the area where they allegedly killed Brown days – or weeks – later to dispose of the body. They stuffed it in a trash can and attempted to bury it near the Capital Area Greenway along Walnut Creek – between Wilmington Street and Hammond Road near Interstate 40.

Carter said all the alleged attacks were a way for the teens to “earn their stars” with “State Money Flag,” a subset of the “Cutthroats” gang.
Carter told the judge she intends to bind all the cases against the teens into one and present them at a probable cause hearing in February in the hope they can be bound over to adult court.

State law bars prosecutors from seeking the death penalty in murder cases where the defendants are younger than 18.

Source-wtvd

Five NC teens charged with homeless man’s killing www.privateofficer.com

RALEIGH Dec 16 2012 — ABC11 has learned five teens are charged in the death of a man whose body was found stuffed in a trash can last weekend.
A 13 year old and three 15 year olds are charged with murder. Another 15 year old is charged as an accessory. The names of the teens have not been released.

Their alleged victim, Regynald Jose Brown, 37, was first reported missing November 20. According to reports, Brown was homeless and lived in a makeshift camp in the woods.

911 calls released this week show friends went looking for him last Saturday near the Capital Area Greenway along Walnut Creek – between Wilmington Street and Hammond Road near Interstate 40.

They made a grisly discovery.

“I have a friend that’s missing and we were out looking for him and we discovered a body,” said the caller.

The man said he found a garbage can on the edge of Walnut Creek with a body inside.

“It was half buried in the sand and, like I said, when I kicked it I noticed it was kind of heavy. So when I pulled it and opened it up there was a body in there face down with the head down in the bottom of the trash can,” said the caller.

The teens accused of Brown’s murder where scheduled to face a judge for the first time Friday.

Source:WTVD

Nashville teen faces charges in three shootings www.privateofficer.com

NASHVILLE, Tenn Dec 15 2012.- A 17-year-old is facing multiple charges,including attempted murder, after police identified him as the suspect in three separate shootings.
Police said that 17-year-old, who lives on Old Matthews Road, shot three people in the month of December. He has been charged with attempted murder after he allegedly shot 21-year-old Marquinta Johnson outside a market on Lewis Street on December 7th. Johnson told police that she was leaving the store when she was struck by the bullet. She was shot in the stomach and remains in critical condition at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
The teen was also charged two aggravated assault cases. One case took place on December 1st, when police said the teen got into an argument with 18-year-old Lamonderius Goodner and subsequently shot him. In the other shooting case, the 17-year-old was accused of shooting Andrea Brown, 19. Brown told police that he was walking down Lewis Street on December 9th when the suspected teenager approached and opened fire on him for a no reason.
Officials have charged the teenager with attempted murder, two counts of aggravated assault, criminal trespassing, gun theft, unlawful handgun possession and marijuana possession. He was taken to a juvenile detention facility.

source-newschannel5.com

Two boys, ages 11 and 7, use gun in attempted robbery, carjacking www.privateofficer.com

PORTLAND OR Dec 10 2012– Two boys, ages 11 and 7, had a loaded gun and tried to carjack and rob a woman in Southeast Portland Saturday afternoon, police said.

After hearing reports of an 11-year-old with a gun, police rushed to 16000 Southeast Alder Street near the Freedom Foursquare church, said Sgt. Pete Simpson with the Portland Police Bureau. Officers spotted an 11-year-old and a 7-year old boy on the south side of the church.

Police told the 11-year-old to keep his hands out of his pockets but he ignored them. The officers grabbed his arms and found a cocked and loaded .22 caliber handgun in his pocket, Simpson said.

The officers were then flagged down by 22-year-old Ami Garrett who said she was sitting in her truck when the two kids approached her in the church parking lot and tried to carjack her while she waited for her parents, Simpson said. Garrett told officers that the 7-year-old told the 11-year-old to “show her your piece” and the 11-year-old lifted his shirt and showed her the gun.

“They told me they had a gun and I asked if it was real, and they said ‘you don’t ever ask if a gun is real,’” Garrett told KGW Sunday. “There was a lot of curse words and at first I thought they were just punk kids. I didn’t think it was a real gun until he showed me the bullets.”

Garrett refused to give up her truck, so the kids demanded her phone and money, telling her they couldn’t leave without something and threatened to shoot her, Simpson said.

“They told me they were going to blow my brains out if I didn’t give them something,” Garrett said. “My heart was beating a million miles an hour. I definitely didn’t think I was going to get out of there alive. I thought I was going to die.” Garrett didn’t give them anything.

Instead, she drove away and called police. As she was driving, she saw the 11-year-old pull the gun out. “It’s crazy. It seems like something you would see on CSI,” she said. “God was obviously protecting me.” “In almost 20 years of police work, I’ve never heard of anything like this,” Simpson said. “Not only was it young kids with a gun, but the attitude that came out of the kids and the kind of criminal aurora that was being displayed is just unbelievable.” Because of the boys’ ages, they were placed into the custody of their families.

When the 11-year-old was taken home, he took off running. He was quickly caught again and left in the custody of his parents. “If they were old enough, they’d be booked into the jail and charged with a measure 11 robbery one, which would land them 90 months in prison. They’re too young for that,” Simpson said.

“They’re not set up at the Juvenile Justice Center to be able to handle 11 and 7 year olds, so officers took them home to parents to explain the situation to them.”
Source:KGW

Girl shot to death on private school bus laid to rest www.privateofficer.com

 

Miami Fla Nov 27 2012 Family and friends gathered Monday afternoon for the funeral of a 13-year-old girl fatally shot on a private school bus in Homestead last week.

The funeral for Lourdes Guzman-DeJesus will be held at Caballero Rivero Woodlawn at 11655 SW 117th Avenue in Miami.

A 15-year-old boy has been arrested and was being held at Miami-Dade’s juvenile assessment center on charges of manslaughter and carrying a concealed firearm in Guzman-DeJesus’ death, authorities said.

“It was one of those things you can’t even put into words. It’s immense. I can’t even describe the pain that one feels,” said relative Waldermar Arent.

According to an arrest form, the children were on their way to school when the boy took the firearm out of his backpack and displayed it. The gun went off, hitting Guzman-DeJesus.

Based on the findings so far, “it appears to have been an accident,” Miami-Dade Police spokeswoman Aida Fina-Milan said.

Guzman-DeJesus was taken to Miami Children’s Hospital, where she later died, police said. No one else was injured, and the boy was taken into custody, officials said.

Guzman, known as Jina to her family and friends, was shot while riding a private school bus about 6:45 a.m. Tuesday in the area of Southwest 296th Street and Southwest 137th Avenue inHomestead, police said. Eight other children, including Guzman-DeJesus’ 7-year-old sister, were on the bus at the time of the shooting.

The girl’s mother, Ady DeJesus, has described her daughter as the “most wonderful girl in the whole wide world.” She said her daughter, a student at Palm Glades Preparatory Academy, was very smart, nice and happy.

According to Miami-Dade Clerk of Courts spokeswoman Eunice Sigler, the state plans to prosecute the boy as an adult.

Source:NBC6

Youth violence soars in months after TN DCS shuts 2 detention centers www.privateofficer.com

 

Nashville TN Oct 30 2012 The Department of Children’s Services has seen a sharp spike in violence involving children and youths housed in its juvenile detention system in just the past three months, according to data obtained by The Tennessean.

Over July, August and September, there were 102 youth-on-youth or youth-on-staff assaults that involved teachers, staff and guards at Woodland Hills Youth Development Center in Nashville, a facility that holds 125 boys and young men ages 13 to 19.

At the Mountain View Youth Development Center in Jefferson County, where 105 boys and young men live, there were 67 reported assaults in the same three-month period.

And at Wilder Youth Development Center in Fayette County, which houses 139 boys and young men, the assault total for three months reached 90.

The rash of assaults reported at DCS facilities follows a controversial decision by agency Commissioner Kate O’Day to shut down two of the state’s detention centers on July 1 as a cost-saving measure. Those two facilities — the Taft Youth Development Center for boys in BledsoeCounty and the New Visions center for girls in Nashville — had been where DCS sent some of its most violent and troubled youths. Those youths have now been transferred to four of DCS’ remaining facilities.

“This was our worst fear,” said Rep. Cameron Sexton, a Crossville Republican who helped lead an unsuccessful effort last spring to keep the detention centers open.

“Taft was for the worst of the worst,” Sexton said. “They got the help they needed there. And we didn’t want Taft kids who were 17 or 18 or 19 put in an environment with 13-year-olds and in a place that was not equipped to handle them. I fear that’s what has happened.”

DCS officials acknowledged Friday that the transition process has been rocky.

But the violent incidents now appear to be leveling off and the agency is taking steps this week to address them, said Albert Dawson Sr., a former superintendent of Woodland Hills who is now the agency’s deputy commissioner for juvenile justice.

“Every time a facility like ours goes through change there is a reaction,” he said.

Nevertheless, after being shown police reports detailing the number of police visits to Woodland Hills, department officials said they would meet with police to “conduct a full review.”

Beginning this weekend, officials were set to launch a retraining program at Woodland Hills for newly hired staff that includes lessons in de-escalating violence, Dawson said. The program will eventually retrain all the staff who work directly with youth, he said.

DCS also will focus on placing youth at Woodland Hills into an intensive treatment unit away from the general population, a process that has been ongoing for several months, Dawson said.

The assaults resulted in nine students and one staff member at Woodland Hills being transported to the emergency room during the three-month period, according to DCS. None of the injuries proved serious, an agency spokesman said. DCS provided no further details about the nature of injuries, with one exception: A staff member who broke a hip while trying to restrain a youth was among those transported.

Youth out of control

At Nashville’s Woodland Hills facility, police records paint a picture of youths seemingly veering out of control, with staff members unable to control violence and often falling victims to it.

Police responded to at least 47 calls for assistance at Woodland Hills Youth Development Centerbetween July and September this year — a number that surpasses the total police visits to theNorth Nashville campus in the previous two years combined.

The reported assaults included one guard trapped in a headlock who was punched repeatedly in the head by a young man upset because he wasn’t added to a school program.

Another assault involved a staff member ambushed by four youths and beaten until he was rescued by colleagues.

A teacher reported she was spat on and threatened with violence by one of her students.

DCS officials provided internal data on assaults for The Tennessean. When questioned about the number of times police responded to Woodland Hills, DCS officials were surprised and requested a chance to review the data themselves. Thursday, after reviewing the police records, DCS said the information prompted them to order a full review of incidents at the facility.

We “are concerned that there appears to be an increase in the number of calls for service being made to Woodland Hills YDC,” said DCS spokesman Brandon Gee. “The department is in communication with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department and has requested documentation necessary to conduct a full review of the report. … Once we can complete a full review, we will determine what action is needed and will work to address issues raised.”

Some police reports about assaults on guards were recorded only after the guards themselves decided, often outside of work, to visit a precinct and make a report.

False rape reports

The police data also show 25 rape reports made by youth at the facility in three months.

Two rape allegations are under investigation, according to a DCS spokesman.

The remaining rape allegations were found to be false, according to police and a district attorney who reviewed the claims.

“Victim stated he was raped in the hallway of the bathroom but later stated it happened in the stall,” one police report said. “Victim stated his clothes were taken off by force, but later stated he had taken them off on his own. … The victim stated he was lying because he did not like that staff was disrespecting him and wanted to be in a different housing area.”

One youth said he reported he was raped because he wanted his mattress back; another said he was lying about a rape because he thought staff were disrespecting him, police noted. One youth said his accusation that a female staff member penetrated him with a pen was a “hallucination,” then told police he was part of the “Aryan Nations Brotherhood and how he doesn’t like black people.” He had made the allegations against an African-American woman.

In several other instances, police simply noted that the youth recanted.

“They’re outlandish,” Dawson said. “That’s the only thing I can point to is that, again keep in mind that the young men have had problems. They’re troubled young men,” he said. “But, yes, we take every report seriously.”

None of the cases prosecuted

Mark Lipsey, director of the Peabody Research Institute at Vanderbilt University, is working with DCS to identify the best methods for rehabilitating youths in its system.

He said Friday that the youth rape reports “sound like the kids have found a way to game the system,” a disruption tactic that affects the ability of staff to keep order. “But,” he said, “you also have to consider the possibility that police are often more inclined to empathize with staff.”

Kristin Menke, a Davidson County prosecutor with the Child Physical and Sexual Abuse Unit, said her office had taken note of a rash of false rape reports from the facility, which were unprecedented and posed a serious drain on resources. At least two of the teens have now been charged with filing false reports, she said.

Although DCS is required by law to report rape accusations to police, agency officials said they have no such requirement to report other physical assaults involving children and youths at their facilities.

That decision, said Dawson, is up to the individual victim, including each child or youth in DCS custody.

DCS has its own internal process to assess assaults, he said.

Although some staff members reported their assaults to police, no one — neither staff or youth — followed through to press charges, according to Stacy Miller, assistant Davidson Countydistrict attorney and team leader for the Juvenile Court Team.

Miller was general counsel for DCS for 11 years and left there in 2010.

She said it’s important for crimes to be accurately reported and prosecuted as a matter of transparency for taxpayers and safety for those who work at the facilities.

“I believe that people have a right to work and be safe and not be assaulted in their workplace. And if people are being assaulted, we at the district attorney’s office will prosecute those cases.”

Source:The Tennessean

Two teenage NJ brothers charged with murder of 12-year-old www.privateofficer.com

Clayton NJ Oct 24 2012 Two teenage brothers have been charged in connection with the murder of 12-year-old Autumn Pasquale, who disappeared from her New Jersey home this weekend and was found in a recycling bin Monday night.

The boys, ages 15 and 17, were neighbors of Pasquale, who was last seen alive riding her bicycle on Saturday in her neighborhood in Clayton, N.J., police said today.

Police said that Pasquale’s injuries were consistent with strangulation, and that there was no sign of sexual assault. They believe she was lured to the boys’ home on Saturday.

Both boys turned themselves in to police in the company of their attorneys this afternoon, just hours after police found Pasquale’s body in a recycling bin not far from her home, police said today.

Police said at a press conference this afternoon that information posted on one of the boy’s Facebook pages led their mother to call police. He did not specify what kind of information was posted.

Authorities said they cannot legally release the names of the boys due to New Jersey law.

The brothers are charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, disposing a body, and tampering with evidence, according to police.

“The search for Autumn is over,” Gloucester County Prosecutor Sean Dalton said earlier today.

The body was found at about 10 p.m. Monday, according to a statement released by Bernie Weisenfeld, spokesman for the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office. Police have not given the exact location of the recycling container, but indicated that it was not far from Pasquale’s home. She was reported missing Saturday night.

“This is a very sad day for the Pasquale family,” Dalton said in a statement this morning. “Our hearts go out to the family and to all the residents of Clayton who stood together in support of this young girl.”

An autopsy to confirm the body’s identity will be conducted this morning by the Gloucester County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Weisenfeld said the girl’s family has been notified of the discovery, which came a few hours after a candlelight vigil was held for her.

Pasquale had been the subject of an extensive search in the past two days that involved about 200 law enforcement personnel and hundreds of volunteers.

Pasquale’s father, Anthony, said he last saw her Saturday around 12:30 p.m., leaving their home on a white BMX bike. Her father reported her missing at 9:30 p.m., 90 minutes after her 8 p.m. curfew.

A friend, 11-year-old DeAnna Edwards-McMillen, said Pasquale was at her house Friday night and they exchanged text messages Saturday, ABC News station WABC-TV reported.

She said she received the last one at 1:22 p.m. and didn’t believe it was intended for her. She said it read, “Don’t be like that.”

The last known communication was in a text message she sent around 2:30 p.m. Dalton would not say who received the message or what it contained. But he said there was nothing alarming or unusual about it.

Pasquale would have turned 13 next Monday.

Two Mobile teens charged in string of armed robberies www.privateofficer.com

 

MOBILE, Alabama Oct 24 2012 – Two teens were arrested by Mobile police today after detectives said they committed four armed robberies in Mobile this month.

Amanda Bailey, 16, and Austin Yates, 17, were arrested today and charged with four counts each of first-degree robbery. Yates was also charged with second-degree receiving stolen property after police said they found him with a gun stolen from a home.

“This month we started investigating multiple robberies,” said Cpl. Christopher Levy, public information officer for the Mobile Police Department. “We had a detective that was determined to solve these crimes.”

The unnamed detective found a dark P.T. Cruiser matching the description of the getaway vehicle in four robberies on Farnell Lane, Midtown Park, Brawood Drive and Airport Boulevard, Levy said. All four crimes had teen victims.

“They were riding around and just looking for people to rob,” Levy said.

According to police, the car used in the robberies belonged to someone the suspects knew.

Police are still investigating whether the teens could be involved in other open Mobile crimes and what roles they played in the robberies.

Police are also continuing to investigate whether the teens were part of a larger theft ring or if they acted alone.

Bailey and Yates declined to comment when asked whether they committed the crimes.

Source:AL.com

Three Virginia teens found guilty of murder www.privateofficer.com

 

HANOVER, Va Oct 24 2012– Three teens have been found guilty of first-degree murder  in the shooting death of a 16-year-old Atlee High School student.

The verdict came down just before 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Tracy Sears reports 19-year-old De’von Byars and 18-year-olds Kevin Drayton Jr. and Xavia Highsmith were found guilty of first-degree murder, malicious wounding, conspiracy to commit murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Police say Brett Wells was killed inside his Mechanicsville home on the night of January 21, after a planned drug deal went astray.

The prosecution says that 19-year-old De’von Byars and 18-year-olds Kevin Drayton Jr. and Xavia Highsmith carried out an elaborate plan to rob Wells inside his home on Verdi Lane and steal approximately 4oz of marijuana.

The Commonwealth’s Attorney says Wells was shot in the chest when he tried to stop Byars and Highsmith after they grabbed the drugs and attempted to flee out the front door.  Before being shot, police say Wells blocked the door and yelled to his friends “get these guys!”

Well’s close friend, Aaron Evans, was shot in the hand outside the home after prosecutors say he attempted to stop the suspects.  Evans testified Monday that he ran inside the home after another friend yelled, “Brett has been shot!”

Evans says he turned Wells onto his back and noticed he was “white as a ghost.”  He says he attempted to perform C-P-R on his friend until paramedics arrived.

In both shootings, the prosecution alleges that Xavia Highsmith was the triggerman.

While the defense maintains the defendants were armed and intended to steal marijuana from Wells, they say the shootings were not pre-meditated.  They say the murder and shooting injury occurred in a scuffle after Highsmith panicked because he was being confronted.  The attorneys claim the shootings were in self-defense.

Source: . WTVR

Maine Girl, 11, Youngest Charged With Homicide In 30 Years www.privateofficer.com

 

SKOWHEGAN, Maine Oct 23 2012 (AP) — The youngest person to be charged with homicide in Maine in at least 30 years bit her nails and looked down during her first court appearance Monday.

The girl was charged at age 10 with juvenile manslaughter over the summer in the death of 3-month-old Brooklyn Foss-Greenaway, who was staying overnight in the girl’s home in Fairfield in the care of the girl’s mother.

The girl, now 11, entered a plea of “no answer” in District Court in Skowhegan. Her only other choices in Maine’s juvenile system were “admission” and “denial.” Maine District Court Judge Charles LaVerdiere ordered a competency evaluation for her.

The girl, who had her hair pulled back and wore glasses, looked down most of the time during the hearing, twiddled her fingers and occasionally bit her nails. When asked if she understood the conditions of release, she simply nodded.

The girl’s mother called police early on July 8 to report that the infant was not breathing, authorities said. The infant, who was reportedly fussy, was sleeping in a portable crib in the 10-year-old’s bedroom that night, said the infant’s mother, Nicole “Nicki” Greenaway of Clinton.

The state hasn’t released the cause of death, but Greenaway was told that her daughter ingested medication and was suffocated.

“They both need to go to jail,” Greenaway told WZON radio before the hearing got under way Monday. “The need to wake up every morning and look at those bars and realize what they did.”

Greenaway didn’t talk to reporters after the hearing.

The Maine Department of Health and Human Services, which removed the young suspect from the home, faulted the baby sitter for leaving the infant in the room with the girl. In a letter, an agency case worker said the 10-year-old had a behavior disorder that made her unsuitable for caring for the infant.

The Associated Press generally does not identify juveniles accused of crimes.

The state opted not to try the girl as an adult. If convicted as a juvenile, the maximum penalty is incarceration until age 21.

The girl’s lawyer, John Martin, said he felt the manslaughter charge was “too harsh” given the girl’s young age. The girl has been removed from her mother’s care, but Martin declined to say where she was living.

 LaVerdiere issued a special order warning that no recording device of any type was allowed in the courtroom Monday.

10-year-old boy shoots sister-commits suicide www.privateofficer.com

 

Huntsville, TX Oct 14 2012 - Police in Texas aren’t sure what prompted a 10-year-old boy to shoot his sister and then kill himself.

It happened in the small town of Huntsville.

Walker County sheriff’s deputies say Coby Tucker opened fire on his sister in her bedroom, and then fatally shot himself.

The childrens’ mother was in another room at the time of the shooting, and called 911 when she heard the shots.

Investigators haven’t said how Coby got the gun. But they said the family does have a gun safe in the house.

“The ten-year-old gained access to a handgun, she walked into the 15-year-old’s room and discharged the weapon multiple times in the direction of his sister,” said Det. Gregory Williams.

Deputies say they have never been called out to the Tucker house before.

KPRC/CNN

9 Year old boy shoots- kills child during argument www.privateofficer.com

 

Pilot Station AK. Oct 2 2012 A 9-year-old boy in the village of Pilot Station was shot and killed Friday afternoon during an argument with another 9-year-old boy, Alaska State Troopers reported on Sunday.

he shot came from what troopers described as “a high-powered .17 caliber pellet rifle.” The other boy fired the air rifle while the two were having an argument, and the round hit the child in the chest, troopers said.

No one is in custody. Troopers are consulting with juvenile authorities, trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters said in an e-mail. They haven’t released either child’s name and won’t release the name of the shooter because he is a young juvenile, she said.

It’s unclear what the boys were arguing about. They were fourth-grade classmates but weren’t friends, relatives of the victim said. The family members said they weren’t aware of an argument that day, though.

Relatives identified the child who died as Spencer Polty, a fourth-grader who had just been awarded “student of the week” and was looking forward to playing basketball and being part of the wrestling team.

The shooting occurred on a day off for students, a teacher in-service for training.

His mother, Joyce Polty, said in a phone interview Sunday that “it seemed like a usual day.”

“He wasn’t causing any trouble. He wasn’t teasing like he used to do. He was just jolly.”

She didn’t have any hint that something terrible was about to happen.

Around 9 that morning, Spencer went ptarmigan hunting with his stepbrother. They didn’t get any birds, Polty said. He asked to hunt some more but she told him to wait until Saturday.

He wanted to take a shower, so she fired up the hot water heater. He used up all the hot water, she said, laughing, because she had planned to shower, too.

He was waiting for wrestling practice at 6 p.m. His first cousin, Noah Heckman, came over. The boys ate pancakes and went outside to play. They joined with another boy, who Joyce said she learned later had an air rifle with him.

Maybe around 1:45 p.m., Noah burst into the house, calling for her in a panicked voice, Polty said.

The other boy had shot Spencer, Noah exclaimed.

“I said ‘Where is he? Where is he?’ “

She rushed on her four-wheeler to where the boys were playing.

“My mind went blank. I didn’t know what to do. So I cruised right over,” she said. She paused, trying to collect herself. Her voice began to crack. “I found my boy laying on the ground.”

She struggled to get out the words. “I was crying but there was no tears coming out of my eyes. I kept calling his name and shaking him. His eyes just moved a little bit.”

She recognized “one of her uncle’s boys” standing there and asked him to help her get Spencer to the Pilot Station health clinic but he couldn’t do it. She managed to get Spencer to the clinic on her four-wheeler. Others met her there.

At the clinic, the first person she saw was a Russian Orthodox priest. She broke down, sobbing and handed her son over. “I lost my mind,” she said.

The clinic workers tried CPR but couldn’t save Spencer.

Her son’s nickname was “Crazy,” a name he got just after he was born. Another boy in the village had the nickname and died of an illness. So the family gave the newborn Spencer the name. The other boy was the older brother of the boy who shot Spencer, Polty said.

Last year, Spencer had wanted to play basketball but was too young for the team. He loved the game and was looking forward to getting to play at last, said his aunt, Olga Heckman. He knew he had to do well in school to play.

“We were so excited for him,” Heckman said.

Her own son, Noah, has been through a lot, too. He witnessed the shooting. Heckman said the family is keeping close watch on him.

Polty doesn’t know what should happen to the young boy who shot her son.

“I have to forgive him,” she said.

She saw the boy’s mother in the village store.

“She gave me a really big hug, and we end up crying.” The other mother told her she was sorry.

Troopers are continuing to investigate the shooting. They haven’t explained why they didn’t notify the public about the death until two days after it happened.

The village, with a population of about 600, is on the lower Yukon River.

Source: http://www.adn.com