Arkebia Albury, 25,  of Macon, Georgia, faces two counts of cruelty to children, reckless conduct and theft by shoplifting, after she ran over her 4-year-old son in a desperate attempt to avoid getting busted for shoplifting, reports the Macon Telegraph.

The child is in critical condition with injuries to his head and vital organs.

“The child is in bad shape,” Centerville Police Chief Sidney Andrews said. “It wasn’t looking too good.”

According to the Telegraph, a security officer followed Albury and her two children, the other being a 2-year-old, to her vehicle after leaving the department store, Belk.

Once she realized that she was about to be busted, she jumped into her, not realizing that only her 2-year-old child had made it inside before pulling off. According to police, Albury got out of the car, picked the child up, threw him into the vehicle and drove away. Police stopped the car on a near-by street and medical workers were called to care for the child.

“I believe [she was stealing] a couple of T-shirts. I do know it was clothing. It was a misdemeanor amount,” Andrews said. “This certainly was not worth it.”

In addition to the charges brought by the police department, the Georgia State Patrol charged Albury with “serious injury by motor vehicle, failing to stop at an accident with injuries, driving with a suspended license and two counts of child seat belt violation.”

Southside Jamaica, Queens, New York came out in full force Friday morning to say final farewells to D’aja “Asia” Robinson, 14, the young girl killed when someone fired 9 rounds into the Q6 city bus she was riding home after a friend’s Sweet Sixteen birthday party, Saturday, May 18th,  reports NY Daily News.

As previously reported by NewsOne, of the shots fired, one bullet hit D’aja in the temple. She was pronounced dead at Jamaica Hospital.

At the same time that thousands were paying their respects to the young girl and her family, Nathaniel Parker, 16, was questioned at the 113th Precinct in Jamaica, and subsequently released with no charges filed against him in relation to her death.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Thursday that he believes the shooting to be turf or gang related. The intended target was an unidentified girl associated with the EBK crew who was threatened after making “derogatory” comments on social media about members of the Snow Gang.

 ”The 14-year-old girl had nothing to with this,” Kelly said. “It’s a terrible tragedy, but it’s indicative of the fact that we just have too many guns and too many young people with access to these guns.”

White horse and carriage carrying D’aja’s body away from Greater Allen AME Church.

Over 2,500 people attended D’aja’s funeral at the Greater Allen AME Church. According to the Daily News, her mother, Shadia Sands, was too overcome with grief to speak at the service. Her grandmother, Cheryl Sands, repeatedly kissed her casket.

D’aja was lovingly dressed in a lavender dress and laid in a white coffin. A beautiful white horse and carriage, reportedly paid for by Southside Jamaica, Queens rapper 50 Cent, carried her body to the cemetery.

According to Nathanial Parker’s attorney, Tim Rountree, he and his mother are living in fear after hearing that there is a bounty on the head of whomever killed D’aja.

Rev. Alfonso Wyatt, who delivered the eulogy at D’aja’s funeral, warned the mournful teens who packed the church not to seek vengeance:

“God made you in his image, not to be a corner warmer or a sneaker pimp. Not to die for a piece of concrete, a street that will never know your name. You ain’t Sutphin Blvd.,” preached Wyatt.

At this time, there are no other suspects in custody.

Queens MC, QueenzFlip, and his mother, Marie Deluse, a community activist involved with the grassroots organization Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense, have a set up a fund to help D’aja’s family.

The information below is provided by the Queens Chronicle:

***The fund for Robinson that is administered by QueenzFlip and his mother through their corporation T “Flip” R, LLC can be found at facebook.com/dajarobinsonfund. This Facebook page includes the link to the PayPal information needed to send a donation. Sentiments to the family can also be sent by email to dajarobinsonfund@gmail.com.

Sandy Springs resident Michael Parson (pictured) was sentenced to 35 years in prison Friday on aggravated assault and attempted murder charges for shooting his wife eight times, according to WSBTV.

SEE ALSO: Life Coach Helps Entrepreneurs Take Their Businesses To Next Level

In April 2012, Parson approached then-wife Adina Broome outside their apartment and fired repeatedly at her. Broome is now confined to a wheelchair, partially blind, and barely able to speak as a result of her wounds.

Officials say Parson, 40, shot Broome because he was secretly engaged to a a Petland co-worker at the time. He allegedly lied to the co-worker that Broome was his aunt.

At the time of the shooting, Parson provided a false alibi, telling police he was at a hospital in Decatur when his wife was shot. However, phone records indicate that he was in fact at his apartment complex. Still, his mother spoke out in court, saying her son is innocent.

Watch Parson’s sentencing here:

Despite her injuries, Broome apparently has no hard feelings. “After all this, she still forgives,” a friend of hers said. The judge who sentenced him wasn’t so nice with her words, telling Parson he deserves more than the 35-year maximum sentence for his crime.

SEE ALSO: Chief Keef Threatens To ‘Slap The Sh*t’ Out Of Katy Perry

Just heard a new song on the radio called "I hate being sober" I now have serious doubt for the world.—
Katy Perry (@katyperry) May 21, 2013

The Chicago-bred high school drop-out, turned criminal, turned corporate rapper, turned (unofficial) murder suspect, responded as he typically does — with misogyny and violence:

Dat bitch Katy Perry Can Suck Skin Off Of my Dick—
AlmightySo (@ChiefKeef) May 23, 2013

Ill Smack The Shit out her ✋—
AlmightySo (@ChiefKeef) May 23, 2013

New Song Katy Perry Coming Soon—
AlmightySo (@ChiefKeef) May 23, 2013

As previously reported by NewsOne, Chief Keef is no stranger to controversy.

RELATED:

Chicago PD Investigate Link Between Teen Rapper’s Murder, Several Slayings Throughout City

The Beat Bang Theory: How Corporate Hip-Hop Profits From Rape Culture

The mother of slain Chicago teen rapper, Lil JoJo, Robin Russell, and his brother, John Coleman, made an appearance on BET’s Don’t Sleep with T.J. Holmes and accused Keef, born Keith Cozart, of playing a role in her son’s death. While Russell says that she doesn’t believe he pulled the trigger, she does believe that he hired a hitman and she also fears for her life.

Keef is currently being sued for child support by a Chicago 8th grader.

Surprisingly, when Katy Perry heard that she had offended the Chicago clown rapper, she apologized for offending him.

Mr. Keef! I'm sorry if I offended you. I heard a lot of people guesting on the song & didn't even know it was you in particular. Actually…—
Katy Perry (@katyperry) May 24, 2013

I'm a fan of your "Don't Like" video tbh. I was really just having a general opinion on our generations desire to be constantly intoxicated.—
Katy Perry (@katyperry) May 24, 2013

No word on if Keef accepts her apology, but he probably won’t. After all, the more violent, derogatory and misogynistic his words, the more his peers seem to love it and the more corporate America pays him.

Philadelphia police are looking for a 21-year-old man who fired into a local strip club after getting into an argument with club management, WPVI-TV/DT Philadelphia reports.

On May 11, Henry Pettigrew (pictured) and another man were escorted out of the Purple Orchid Gentleman’s Club after arguing with club management over the DJ’s refusal to play a song they had requested.

As Pettigrew and the man were being escorted out of the establishment, they mistook a customer who was walking inside the club as a bouncer and assaulted him. As that man tried to escape in his SUV, Pettigrew allegedly emerged with an AK-47 and shot at the fleeing vehicle. The driver was hit above his right hip.

“Fortunately where it hit him, it hit the flesh of his body and it didn’t hit any vital organs,” Lt. Johnny Walker of the Philadelphia Police Department said.

Here is more from WPVI-TV/DT Philadelphia:

Surveillance video then shows the suspect running into the club while brandishing the rifle. He moves to open a door but slips and falls, due to being very intoxicated, police say.

The man then gets up, opens the door, brings up the gun and opens fire.

The video shows multiple muzzle flashes and debris flying as round after round are fired.

“Just wildly, obviously with an AK-47 with a banana clip, it can fire multiple rounds at a high rate of speed very quickly,” Walker said.

He then went into the bar area. The DJ dove for cover as Pettigrew fired indiscriminately.

“You see one of the bullets actually strike the mirror right where [the DJ's] head would have been, so we’re very fortunate the person did not get struck by the gunfire,” Walker said.

The camera then shows the gunman turning around and running out of the club.

Police say Pettigrew and his getaway driver whose identity is unknown to them got away in a light colored sedan, possibly a Hyundai or Mitsubishi.

With the gunman and getaway driver still on the loose, a number of workers at the Purple Orchid quit their jobs.

Henry Pettigrew is described as a black male standing 5’11″ tall, weighing 180 pounds. He also has a thin beard.

Anyone with information is urged to call Philadelphia Police at 215-686-TIPS (8477), text a tip to PPD TIP (773847) or through PhillyPolice.com.

Watch strip club shooting below:

NewsOne has partnered with the Black and Missing Foundation and TV One to focus on the crisis of missing African Americans.

To be a part of the solution, NewsOne will profile a missing person weekly and provide tips about how to keep your loved ones safe and what to do if someone goes missing, while TV One‘s newest show, “Find Our Missing,” hosted by award-winning actress S. Epatha Merkerson, tells these stories in visual form.

                                                                                                —————————————

The body of Ivanice Harris, the Portland woman who went missing in Hawaii while celebrating her birthday, was found nude on a beach Monday.

RELATED: Portland Woman Goes Missing in Hawaii While Celebrating Birthday

Harris, who was in Waikiki celebrating her 29th birthday, was last seen by her friends last Thursday outside of a bar speaking with a man. Harris worked as a traveling escort and advertised in various online publications, reports The Oregonian. Jillian Gibides, one of the women Harris was traveling with, also reportedly told a local Hawaii newspaper that Harris worked as a prostitute.

The Oregonian reports:

Harris has a criminal record in Oregon for theft and tampering with evidence but no prostitution convictions. But both Harris and Gibides have an extensive footprint on escort websites. While early reports about her disappearance indicated that Harris was simply vacationing in Hawaii, she and Gibides appeared in a joint ad on May 11th marketing their services together in Waikiki Beach. Both women had posted previous escort ads in Hawaii over the last year, including one in April 2012 in which Harris explicitly stated money “exchanged is strictly for my quality time.”

Police in Hawaii declined to confirm whether Harris was working as an escort. Harris’ family confirmed her death on a Facebook page they set up to help find her. They are also seeking financial help to bring Harris’ body home.

Ivanice’s body was the body found in Hawaii yesterday. Ivanice’s family would like to THANK everyone for their support throughout these last five days and would also like time to be in peace alone w/ no calls, texts, emails, or visits at this moment. They truly are appreciative of everyones outpouring of support NATIONWIDE.

Harris’ remains were found in a brushy area on a beach in Wai’anae, which is a 50-minute drive from the bar where she was last seen alive. Honolulu homicide detectives are investigating the case. No cause of death has been determined and police have not named any suspects.

Natalie Wilson, co-founder of the Black and Missing Foundation, said Harris had family and friends who loved her.

“Our thoughts and our prayers go out to her family. She did not deserve this. She has a mother and sister who were looking for her. Whatever her profession does not negate the fact that she was missing,” said Wilson. “Sex trafficking is a big issue here in the United States.”

According to a study from Shared Hope International, the average age that minor children in America enter the sex trade is 12 to 14 years old. Many of the victims are runaway girls who have suffered sexual abuse as a child.

“So by the time that they’re Ivy’s age, they really feel that they lack any choices to do anything else. They don’t have any job skills; they don’t have any formal education or training,” Pacific Alliance to Stop Slavery Executive Director Kathryn Xian told KHON 2.

Pimps lead the women to believe that they will protect them and that they will be safe but nothing could be further from the truth.

“It’s highly violent. It places the girl and woman at risk on a daily basis for sex assault, physical violence and emotional, spiritual, and mental trauma,” Xian said.

Wilson said Harris’ case should serve as a warning. More and more, Wilson said, the Black and Missing Foundation is dealing with young girls who run away from home only to end up being sex trafficked.

“If Ms. Harris was an escort, we want this to be an example to our young girls and women that this is a dangerous occupation,” said Wilson.

Kiera Wilmot was arrested for felony charges involving a science experiment gone wrong at school. Despite her impeccable school record, she was arrested and released pending charges from the prosecutor’s office. After immense pressure from some national media, including NewsOne, the public, and concerned citizens, the prosecutors decided to drop the charges against her. Finally a small taste of justice.

Unfortunately, that dismissal is far from enough.

RELATED: Victory: Kiera Wilmot Will Not Be Prosecuted For Exploding Science Experiment!

In today’s digital age, once something is in a database or on the Internet, it is there for eternity.

In other words, FOREVER.

It is hard to erase or delete information if that database has been sold or disseminated to someone else; it is almost impossible to retract once the information has been created.

That is the long-term damage that Kiera may face in her future.

Her criminal arrests can follow her everywhere whether it has to do with filling out college applications, applying for an apartment, or any other instance where a background check is warranted.

In other words, Kiera will  have some serious explaining to do: Why were you arrested? What was the outcome? Should we believe your version of events?  Are you a terrorist threat? Are you dangerous? Why would we want a person who was arrested at our school?

These are real-life questions she may face unless all records of her arrest are expunged from EVERY database. But remember, in our digital age, once something is out there, it is hard to take back.

How does this translate to other youth across the country?

Unfortunately, for most Black youth whose cases surely do not get national media attention, they are stuck with a criminal history even when they are innocent of the crime.

This happens all too often with our young people who get labeled as criminals, and that label stays with them until they die.

So there are many Kieras out there. Many children get arrested and charged for alleged crimes. They are arrested, booked, mugshots and fingerprints are taken, and then they are placed in the system. A disproportionate number of these children are Black and/or poor.

The statistics don’t lie.

In my criminal law practice, I’ve witnessed White teens’ parents being called to pick them up when they are caught shoplifting, drinking, or smoking marijuana. For those teens, they are considered to be “a typical teenager,” or instead of being called a “thief,” it is said that they “were just pulling a prank.”

These youths are rarely arrested.

Unfortunately, for Black youths, the very same officers will arrest them, and now they are criminals and convicts — that is a long way from the teenage pranksters title of their White counterparts.

An example of disparities in prosecution are found in statistics for drug arrests. According to recent statistics, Blacks account for only 14 percent of drug users; however, 37 percent of the people arrested for drugs are Black!

Yes, really.

That, in and of itself, shows you the disparity in arrests and why there is a higher number of Blacks in prison, on probation, or parole and “in the system”: Blacks are not doing more crimes but are arrested and convicted almost three times as much as the other races.

That is why you should care.

Kiera’s story is the same story of countless others but those others did not get the media attention, legal assistance, and help like she did.

When we see an injustice, it is our duty to stand up and fight for justice and fairness. There is power in numbers. Your voice alone may not be heard, but when you stand with 10, 50, or 100 others, your voice is multiplied and cannot be ignored.

Let your voice be heard.  Stand, shout, and fight against any injustice. Not only for Kiera, but for those like her in your community.

Eric L. Welch Guster is founder and managing attorney of Guster Law Firm in Birmingham, Ala., handling criminal and civil matters, catastrophic injuries, criminal defense, and civil rights litigation. Mr. Guster has become a go-to lawyer for the New York Times, NewsOne, NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, Black  America Web, and various radio programs about various court issues and high-profile cases.

Follow Guster on Twitter @ericguster.

News flash!

Dirty south hardcore rapper Lil Scrappy (pictured) says he’s a weed head and needs help breaking his Dozier habit, TMZ reports.

He appeared in court Wednesday morning where he responded a drug test he took last month that tested positive for weed.

SEE ALSO: The Obamas’ Tough Talk To Black Grads


The entertainer was suited down, looking like an upstanding citizen. “Momma D,” his mother in real life and reality show “Love and Hip-Hop Atlanta” co-star, would have been pleased. Lil Scrappy, whose actual name is Darryl Kevin Richardson II, reportedly admitted to TMZ that he has an addiction to marijuana. The 29-year-old’s attorney, Mawuli Mel Davis, admits that his client is scheduled to enter a rehab facility in order to kick his ongoing drug habit.

SEE ALSO: Details Of McCree Twitter Trial


The hip-hop star’s penchant for weed got him into hot water in March when he was jailed for violating his probation following a dispute over a urine test. According to TMZ, court officials stated that Lil Scrappy attempted to turn in a drug urine sample that was cold to the touch, which signaled to them that it could have been tampered with. When the officials asked him to submit another urine sample, he flatly refused. A warrant was then issued for his arrest. 

SEE ALSO: New Yorkers Rally After Murder Of Gay Man


Lil Scrappy turned himself in to authorities last month. The entire episode was captured on tape and will be aired in a later episode on “Love and Hip-Hop Atlanta.”

Meanwhile, Lil Scrappy is scheduled to appear before a judge again next month regarding his case.

Oh “Momma D,” just hold on! Your baby will be out in no time–ya feel me!

Shaquioa Chantres Crawford (pictured) of Powder Springs, Ga., was arrested Sunday night after she allegedly stabbed her stepfather multiple times, the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

SEE ALSO: 10 Pieces Of Advice For Postcollege Life


Crawford, 19, and Vince Anderson, 51, were arguing over the location of an EBT card, according to the West Cobb Patch.

“The accused stated the victim grabbed her by the arm and tried to remove her from the residence,” according to a warrant obtained by The Patch. “The accused admitted to removing a silver in color folding pocket knife from her pocket and striking the victim on the head and neck area causing cuts and lacerations to the victims head and neck.”

Crawford allegedly stabbed Anderson some more in the front yard.

SEE ALSO: Enough Of Nice-Nasty Christianity


He was seen walking along Powder Springs Road bleeding and attempting to flag down motorists for assistance, according to Powder Springs police officials.

SEE ALSO: Could Chelsea Hurt Hillary?

When officers arrived on the scene, Anderson told them that Crawford had stabbed him several times. She was charged with aggravated assault and booked into the Cobb County jail, where she was being held on $20,000 bond.

Anderson was taken to a local hospital, where he was treated and released.

A Detroit mother claims that four women attacked her in front of her children over a possible road incident, Fox 2 News Detroit reports.

Watch news video Kesha’s account of the attack at the bottom

The woman, Kiesha, told the TV station that she went out for food for the family on a recent late night at a nearby McDonalds when she noticed a Ford Taurus “driving down the street all crazy.” She waited to see if the Taurus would slow down, but she said she had the right-of-way and proceeded to turn in to restaurant’s parking lot.

SEE ALSO: 9-Year-Old Girl Among Children Missing After Oklahoma Tornado

“The people followed me into McDonald’s,” Kesha said. “They blocked me off. She got out of the car. She came to my car. She leaned in the car. She argued with me. I tried to reason with her.”

SEE ALSO: Daughters Sue Mandela Over Control Of His Artwork, Companies

It is not clear what exactly caused the argument. Maybe it was road rage or, perhaps, Kesha cut them off. Whatever the reason, the dispute only got worse.

SEE ALSO: Sinbad Is Broke As A Joke — Again!

“I kept saying, ‘Wait, wait, wait, calm down. Please just calm down. Wait a minute. Hold on,’” Kesha explained. “I was like, ‘I didn’t do anything wrong. Just wait a minute.’ And she just kept on saying, ‘You shut the [expletive] up.’”

Here is more from Fox 2 News:

We’re told the woman spit on her twice and threw a liquor bottle through the car window.

“My kids were in the car. They had kids in the car. I go to try to leave and drive around their car. The next thing you know there’s a bottle flying in the window, glass all in my mouth,” Kesha said.

She jumped out, but four young women from the other car got out, too.

“It was crazy. They literally [were] thumping me. The girl that came to my car, she sat on top of me,” Kesha said.

Cut, bruised and now left with two bloody eyes, she said she was not trying to fight, but rather trying to reason with them.

“For them to be as upset as they were over something so simple, they had to be either intoxicated or on drugs or something,” Kesha said.

“By her being epileptic, God was on her side because she ended up having bruises, but this could have killed her,” said her finance.

“Of course, we do want justice for both her and for our children,” he added. “For our children to witness something like this, it’s an atrocity.”

Three Chicago teens have been arrested and charged with the rape of a 12-year-old girl. The teens allegedly posted video of the attack on their Facebook pages, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Scandale Fritz, 16, Kenneth Brown, 15, and Justin Applewhite, 16, were all ordered held in lieu of $900,000 bail in a hearing Friday; all three were charged as adults. The alleged attacks took place in December at Fritz’s home in the 400 block of West 60th Place in the Englewood neighborhood on Dec. 15.

It is not clear why it took so long to for the teens to be charged.

The girl, whose identity has not been released because she is a minor and a sex assault victim, went to Fritz’s home to speak with him. But when she entered the residence, she reportedly saw Brown with a gun in his pocket. Fritz then allegedly took the girl into the basement where he raped and sodomized her. After his alleged sexual assault, Fritz had Brown and Applewhite enter the basement and asked her to have sex with both teens.

At first, she refused but eventually gave in to their demands because Brown had a gun and both boys are reported to be members of the Black Disciples gang faction “Tay-Town,” according to DNAinfo Chicago.

In the video of the alleged sex act, Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Bridget O’Brien said that the boys can he heard yelling gang slogans. One of the boys is seen waving a gun in the air while the girl performed sex acts.

All three boys were charged as adults with aggravated criminal sexual assault. While it appears that the charge was Applewhite’s first arrest, Fritz and Brown were both expected in juvenile court this week on pending robbery, aggravated battery and theft charges, according to DNAinfo Chicago. Brown was convicted of unauthorized use of a weapon in 2012. He was still on probation for that crime when the alleged rape took place in December.

The day after the assaults took place, the girl told someone about the attacks, and a police report was made. The girl was then treated and examined at a local hospital. On Dec. 17, the video was posted on Brown’s Facebook page. Eventually, all three boys posted the video on their Facebook pages. Prosecutors say Fritz admitted to making the tape.

All three boys are due back in court June 6.

In this Sept. 29, 2011 photo, Dr. Christine Daniel gives a flu shot to patient Amparo Villaluazo at Daniel’s Sonrise Medical Clinic in Mission Hills. Daniel, 57, of Northridge, was found guilty on Friday May 17,2013 and sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for selling bogus cancer cures to dozens of victims across the country as part of a “treatment” program that prosecutors said was “despicable, cruel and heinous” and hastened the death of some patients. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Daily News, Hans Gutknecht)

LOS ANGELES  — A Los Angeles doctor was sentenced Friday to 14 years in federal prison for bilking patients out of more than $1 million by promising them that an herbal supplement she hawked could cure late-stage cancer and other diseases.

SEE ALSO: Should IRS Apologize To Tea Party Racists?

U.S. District Judge Robert Timilin also ordered Dr. Christine Daniel to forfeit $1,277,083.

Daniel, 58, was found guilty of 11 counts, including wire fraud, tax evasion and witness tampering in September 2011.

She enticed patients to take her herbal product and charged them as much as $100,000 for a six-month treatment program that she claimed could cure cancer, diabetes and multiple sclerosis, authorities said.

Some of her patients, however, died from complications of cancer within three to six months after taking the supplement. In one case, prosecutors contend a 22-year-old woman who had a highly curable form of neck lymphoma died because she relied on Daniel’s recommendation to avoid radiation or chemotherapy treatments.

“The scope of Daniel’s fraud was breathtaking,” U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. said in a statement after Daniel was sentenced. “Daniel robbed victims of more than money — she also stole their hopes and dreams for a cure. Daniel is responsible for a shockingly cold-hearted fraud that has brought her a richly deserved federal prison sentence.”

SEE ALSO: Zoe Saldana: ‘People Of Color’ Don’t Exist

Prosecutors sought a 27-year prison term, while Daniel’s attorney argued that nearly six years behind bars was more appropriate.

In all, authorities believe Daniel siphoned about $1.1 million from dozens of families between 2001 and 2004.

Some patients also endured additional pain and suffering because they took the herbal tonic provided by Daniel.

At trial, experts called by federal prosecutors said chemical tests of the product showed it contained beef extract flavoring and a sunscreen preservative, among other ingredients.

“I live with the guilt that I should have seen that none of what she was going through was helping her, but instead was hurting her,” Debra Harris wrote in a letter submitted to the court about her sister Barbara Davis, who was one of Daniel’s patients and who later died. Harris said Daniel’s patients were not only convinced they could be cured, but so were family members who “wanted to believe it just as bad.”

SEE ALSO: Which Slave Sailed Himself To Freedom?

Paula Middlebrooks also put her faith in Daniel, who billed her nearly $60,000 over a five-month period to help treat her terminal breast cancer. Eventually, Daniel pronounced Middlebrooks free of cancer and threw her a party. But in reality, the cancer was spreading and Middlebrooks died shortly after she returned to her home in Georgia.

Federal prosecutors said Daniel preyed upon people in their most vulnerable state.

Daniel “repeatedly demonstrated a merciless and callous indifference to the suffering of her patients and their family members,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Johns wrote in court documents. “It is unlikely that our federal criminal justice system will see the likes of defendant Christine Daniel again.”

NewsOne has partnered with the Black and Missing Foundation and TV One to focus on the crisis of missing African Americans.

To be a part of the solution, NewsOne will profile a missing person weekly and provide tips about how to keep your loved ones safe and what to do if someone goes missing, while TV One‘s newest show, “Find Our Missing,” hosted by award-winning actress S. Epatha Merkerson, tells these stories in visual form.

                                                                                                —————————————
Ivanice Harris

Case Type: Endangered
Date of Birth: May 18, 1985
Missing Date: May 16, 2013
Age Now: 29
Missing City: Waikiki
Missing State: Hawaii
Gender: Female
Race: Black
Complexion: Medium
Height: 5’3″
Weight: 125
Hair Color: Black
Hair Length: Shoulder Length
Eye Color: Brown
Wear Glasses or Contacts: No

Location Last Seen: Harris was last seen at 2:15 a.m. on Thursday talking with a man outside a bar in Waikiki.

RELATED: Portland Woman Goes Missing in Hawaii While Celebrating Birthday

Circumstances of Disappearance: Harris, 29, who is from Portland, was visiting Hawaii to celebrate her birthday. She was last seen by her friends talking to a man outside of a bar.

Friend Jillian Gibides said she pulled up to the area in a cap and saw Harris outside of the bar.

“When I had gotten out and came around the cab, I looked back over and didn’t see her, so I just figured, okay. She’ll just call me when she needs to,” said Gibidies who told HawaiiNewsNow that she considered Harris to be a sister.

Friends and family say it is unusual for Harris to go this long without contacting family.

“The last message we have from her is a text message to our mom on Wednesday,” Harris’ sister Holley Watson told the Oregonian. “She was having a good time. She went to breakfast [on Wednesday]. She went to the beach in the afternoon and she seemed to be extremely happy and enjoying herself.”

Harris’ mother said they spoke regularly.

“Every single day. She and I talk every single day. And I hadn’t heard from her,” said Harris’ mother, Patricia Harris. “And I said okay, she didn’t text me back. That’s when I got the text from her boyfriend, but she was having a great time.”

“I know her, and I know her well enough that this is not normal,” said Gibides. “And on her birthday?”

Harris had recently enrolled at Mt. Hood Community College. Her family has launched a Facebook page to bring attention to the case. They are also trying to raise money to hire a private investigator.

“I’m just hoping that somebody can tell us anything, you know. I just want her to come home, call, give us something to go on at this point,” said her sister, Ivesha Harris.

Last Seen Wearing: A red-orange, long-sleeve sweater and long blue denim pants.

Identifying Marks or Characteristics: Unknown.

If anyone has information regarding the whereabouts of Ivanice Harris contact CrimeStoppers in Honolulu at (808) 955-8300 or the Black and Missing Foundation’s confidential Tip Line.

SEE ALSO: Ct. University Student Who Planned to Pursue Doctorate In Psychology Still Missing

A 14-year-old girl was shot dead by a stray bullet as she sat on a New York City bus Saturday night, Fox 5 News New York reports.

RELATED: D’aja Robinson: Suspect Questioned, Released In Shooting Death Of Queens, N.Y. Teen

Authorities say D’Asia Robinson had just left a friend’s Sweet Sixteen party when she was shot around 8:50 p.m at Sutphin and Rockaway Boulevard in the Jamaica section of Queens. Robinson was sitting on the Q6 bus with another girl just before the bus began its route when gun fire erupted.

“She sits in the rear of the bus, just to the rear of the back door and all of a sudden – shots rang out,” said NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly. “We believe at least nine shots were fired, nine shell casings were found on the ground – 40 caliber shell casings.”

Of the shots fired, one bullet hit Robinson in the temple. She was pronounced dead at Jamaica Hospital.

SEE ALSO: Will The Media Apologize To The Central Park 5?

Robinson’s friends gathered on the street where she lived to mourn her loss . They made several memorials of Robinson, one near the bus stop where she was killed. One of her friends who was with her before her death was dismayed at the shooting.

SEE ALSO: Woman Gets Job Via Instagram


“She was happy, she was having fun. We were all dancing with each other – that’s why it’s so shocking,” Tamia McDaniels, friend of Robinson, said. “I was just with her and an hour later, after I left the party, I hear she’s killed – it’s just so unexpected.”

One community leader called on residents to come together and fight for an end to the senseless violence.

“We have to take immediate action and call for the community’s participation in providing law enforcement officials with what information they may have that will lead to the arrest and conviction of the shooter or shooters,” said Community Advocate Tony Herbert.

The NYPD is pursuing all leads. Anyone with information about the shooting should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).

MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — A Hofstra University student being held in a headlock at gunpoint by an intruder was accidentally shot and killed by a police officer who had responded to the home invasion at an off-campus home, police said Saturday.

Junior public relations major Andrea Rebello was shot once in the head early Friday morning by an officer who opened fire after the masked intruder pointed a gun at the officer while holding the 21-year-old student, Nassau County homicide squad Lt. John Azzata said.

In a tense confrontation with the officer, gunman Dalton Smith “menaces our police officer, points his gun at the police officer,” Azzata said. The officer opened fire, killing Smith and his hostage.

Azzata said the Nassau County police officer fired eight shots at Smith, who police described as having an “extensive” criminal background. Smith was hit seven times and died. Rebello was shot once in the head.

“He kept saying, `I’m going to kill her,’ and then he pointed the gun at the police officer,” Azzata said.

A loaded 9 mm handgun with a serial number scratched off was found at the scene, police said.

Nassau County Police Commissioner Thomas Dale said he had traveled to Rebello’s Tarrytown, N.Y., home to explain to Rebello’s parents what happened.

“I felt obligated as a police commissioner and as a parent to inform them as soon as all the forensic results were completed,” Dale said.

The veteran police officer, who was not identified, has about 12 years of experience on the Nassau County police force and previously spent several years as a New York City police officer, Dale said.

The officer is currently out on sick leave. He will be the focus of an internal police investigation once the criminal investigation is completed, which is standard police procedure in any officer-involved shooting, the commissioner said.

Earlier Saturday, police announced that Smith, 30 (pictured right), had been wanted on a parole violation related to a first-degree robbery conviction and had an arrest history dating back nearly 15 years.

The shooting came just days before the school’s commencement ceremonies, which are scheduled to take place Sunday.

A university spokeswoman said students will be handed white ribbons to wear in memory of Rebello. The shooting, which took place just steps from campus, has cast a pall over the university community as it geared up for commencement on Sunday.

“Today is the last day of finals and this should be a happy day on campus; but it’s not,” Hofstra freshman Scott Aharoni of Great Neck, said Friday as he passed through the area rife with yellow crime-scene tape. “It’s really sad.”

Rebello was in the two-story home with her twin sister Jessica, a third woman and a man when Smith, wearing a ski mask, walked into the house through an open front door, Azzata said. Smith demanded valuables and was told they were upstairs, Azzata said.

Smith, apparently unsatisfied with the valuables upstairs, asked if any of the four had a bank account and could withdraw money, Azzata said. The intruder then allowed the unidentified woman to leave and collect money from an ATM, telling her she had only eight minutes to come back with cash before he killed one of her friends, Azzata said.

The woman left for the bank and called 911, according to Azzata.

Minutes later, two police officers arrived at the home and found Rebello’s twin sister Jessica running out of the front door and the male guest hiding behind a couch on the first floor, Azzata said.

One of the officers entered the home and encountered Smith holding onto Rebello in a headlock, coming down the stairs, Azzata said. Smith pulled Rebello closer and started moving backward toward a rear door of the house, pointing the gun at her head before eventually threatening the officer, Azzata said.

Rebello’s family declined comment Saturday.

The Rev. Osvaldo Franklin, who gave Rebello and her sister Jessica their first communions, on Saturday night told The Associated Press their mother, Nella, couldn’t even speak to him earlier in the day.

“She was so devastated,” said Franklin. “She’s just crying. We have to pray for Andrea, to pray for Jessica because she needs help.”

Franklin said a funeral is scheduled for Wednesday at Teresa of Avila Church in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., and will be in Portuguese.

“The family’s a very good family, they have very good values,” he said. “I gave them first communion to Andrea and Jessica and they started to help me in the mass for many years. They are a very good, very devoted family.”

Detroit recently hired a new police chief.

But if Chief James Craig was expecting a honeymoon period, he was sadly mistaken. Fox 2 News Detroit reports that 13 people were shot within a 24-hour period. Though, during a press conference this week, the department failed to mention it, according to Fox 2 News.

In fact, when a reporter asked about the high number of shootings during a press conferece, a police department spokesperson shut it down. For some reason, asking about crime numbers seemed to be a bit of an issue.

It’s something that Detroit Police Commission Chairman Rev. Jerome Warfield says he wants to change.

“Part of community policing is to arm the community with as much information as you can give them in order [that] they may look out for you,” Warfield said. “If these type of activities are going on, then the community can coalesce and come together and then be able to help the police in their job.”

The most recent shooting involved the death of 54-year-old Almeter Walls who was murdered in front of her home Wednesday. All that is known so far is that Walls argued with someone and gun fire occurred soon after.

The 54-year-old Walls, who was going to dialysis once a week, was hours away from a kidney transplant.

Four other people were also shot, including Walls 24-year-old daughter, Fairline, her boyfriend, Arturo Franklin, and two of her nieces, one of them just 15 years old, according to Fox 2 News.

In light of the 13 shootings over the last 24 hours, the department’s unwillingness to hand over crime rate figures was something that did not go unnoticed. But Warfield is confident that Detroiters will see some big changes now that they have a new police chief.

“Transparency is an issue for (Chief Craig), making sure that he’s engaged… because he cares a great deal about community policing,” he said.

As for the unanswered questions over homicide deaths during the press conference, the Detroit Police Department did release a statement. It said, in part, there have been 115 homicides in Detroit since the beginning of the year The number of non-fatal shootings stand at 375.

Detroit has a population of 706, 585 residents, making the number of homicides and shootings relatively high.

See the guy pictured above?

That’s Michael Maxwell‘s mugshot after he allegedly tried to break into a Palm Bay, Fla., home Wednesday morning.

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Florida Today reports that the cops were called to the home around 1 a.m. to investigate a disturbance. Maxwell and several other men allegedly stormed the home but were met with force. By time Palm Bay police arrived on the scene, they found that Maxwell had been kicked, beaten and tased by the residents.

He was taken to Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne for treatment of his injuries. The suspect was charged with one count of home invasion robbery with a firearm or deadly weapon and four counts of battery.

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He was held on a $51,000 bond at the Brevard County Jail Complex in Sharpes. A 17-year-old companion of Maxwell was arrested on the same charges.

It is not clear whether the victims knew Maxwell or the other men suspected in home invasion. The case is still under investigation.

NEW ORLEANS — Jail records show that the suspect in a Mother’s Day parade shooting that wounded 19 people faces 20 charges of attempted second-degree murder.

RELATED: Cops ID 19-Year-Old Man In NOLA Mother’s Day Shooting

Nineteen-year-old Akein Scott (pictured) was arrested Wednesday night in the Little Woods section of New Orleans.

He was already facing a gun and drug possession charge and was out on bond at the time of Sunday’s shooting at a parade through a neighborhood near the French Quarter.

Investigators said he was identified as a suspect after police released surveillance video that appeared to show the shooter running from the scene as the crowd scattered.

It was not immediately clear why 20 counts were filed when authorities have said 19 people were injured.

Police were expected to release more details on the case Thursday.

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PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – A Philadelphia doctor was sent to prison on Wednesday to serve three life terms without parole for murdering babies during late-term abortions and other crimes at his squalid clinic.

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In a deal that spared him from the death penalty, Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 72, faced a judge in a two-day sentencing at Philadelphia Common Pleas Court after waiving his right to appeal his conviction on three counts of first-degree murder.

Graphic trial testimony about Gosnell’s actions at the now-shuttered Women’s Medical Society Clinic in West Philadelphia, which served a predominantly black and low-income community, cast a spotlight on the controversial practice of late-term abortions.

A seven-woman, five-man jury convicted Gosnell on Monday in the case that focused on whether the infants were born alive and then killed. A clinic worker testified during the trial that the doctor had delivered live babies during botched late-term abortions and cut their spinal cords.

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Gosnell’s defense had claimed there was no evidence that the babies were alive after they were aborted and that any noise or movement would have been involuntary spasms.

After the sentencing, Philadelphia District Attorney R. Seth Williams called Gosnell a “monster” and said imprisoning him for the rest of his life would prevent him from harming others.

“Kermit Gosnell will never kill another baby, he will never kill another woman seeking medical assistance,” Williams said. “He will never again subject poor women to barbaric procedures performed in squalor under less than third world conditions.”

Gosnell’s lawyer, Jack McMahon, said Gosnell maintained his innocence.

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“He believes what he did was not homicide. He believes he never killed a live baby,” McMahon told reporters.

Jurors speaking publicly for the first time said after the sentencing on Wednesday that the trial, which lasted more than two months, was emotionally draining.

“There was a lot to deal with,” said jury foreman David Misko, 27. Asked why the jurors agreed to convict Gosnell on first-degree murder charges, he said they found that the doctor’s actions were premeditated.

“It was business as usual,” Misko said. “He snipped the necks no matter what happened.”

Both anti-abortion and abortion rights advocates pointed to the trial as powerful evidence for their arguments. But juror Sarah Glinski, 23, said the highly emotional issue of abortion had no place in the jury deliberation room.

“Unfortunately with this trial things like pro life and pro choice take the forefront. For me and for all of us, it wasn’t about abortion. It was about the murder of these children,” Glinski said.

One juror, Joseph Carroll, 46, said the women undergoing abortions should have been charged too.

“It should be their fault too for having such late term babies. The mothers should have been charged. Women know when they are pregnant,” Carroll said.

Gosnell was sentenced on Wednesday to a life term in the murder of Baby A, whom a clinic worker said the doctor had described as “big enough to walk me to the bus stop.”

He had previously been sentenced late on Tuesday to two life terms in the murders of Baby C and Baby D.

With three capital murder convictions, Gosnell faced a potential death penalty. The same jury was to decide his fate next week, but the sentencing deal eliminated that possibility.

Gosnell was also sentenced on Wednesday to up to five years for the involuntary manslaughter of a patient, Karnamaya Mongar, 41, of Virginia, who died from a drug overdose after going to him for an abortion.

He also was sentenced to up to 20 years each for two conspiracy charges in the babies’ deaths and a charge of running a corrupt organization.

Testimony depicted a filthy clinic that prosecutors called a “house of horrors.”

The jury also convicted Gosnell of infanticide and 211 counts of failing to comply with a state law that requires a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion is performed.

In addition, he was found guilty of performing 21 abortions after 24 weeks into pregnancy at his clinic. It is legal in Pennsylvania to abort a fetus up to 24 weeks.

Given that Gosnell will spend the rest of his life in prison for the murders, Judge Jeffrey Minehart declined to sentence him further.

Nine states ban abortions after 20 weeks, according to the pro-choice organization NARAL. Other states recently put new restrictions on abortions, with Arkansas banning them at 12 weeks and North Dakota at six weeks.

Ninety-two percent of abortions are performed before 14 weeks, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and 1.3 percent are performed beyond 20 weeks.

Gosnell has been in jail since his arrest in January 2011.

Eight other defendants have pleaded guilty to a variety of charges and are in jail awaiting sentencing later this month. They include Gosnell’s wife, Pearl, a cosmetologist who helped perform abortions.

A newlywed looking to have sex with a hooker and a youth minister expecting to have sex with a 14-year-old girl were among 92 people arrested during a Polk County Sheriff‘s Office undercover prostitution investigation in Florida, NBC Miami reports.

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The four-day investigation, which took place between May 8 and May 11, focused on websites that advertise prostitution services, authorities said.

Mohammed Ahmed, originally from Lincolnwood, Ill., answered an ad from an undercover cop posing as a prostitute. When Ahmed did not return to his hotel room, his wife reported him missing. Authorities then broke  the news to her that he had been arrested and charged with prostitution and possession of marijuana.

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Also arrested in the sting was Samuel Yoon, a 45-year-old youth minister at the New Community Mission Church in San Leandro, Calif. He was in Orlando attending a youth conference when he responded to an ad posted by an undercover detective offering women for sex.

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Yoon was charged with one count of traveling to meet a minor, and one count of using a two-way communication device to commit a felony, among other charges.

Here is more from NBC Miami:

Two of those arrested were from South Florida, including Julenny Aquino, 19, of Miami Gardens, who showed up at an undercover location to commit prostitution, deputies said.

Gerald Atilus, 40, of Homestead answered an ad posted by an undercover detective who was posing as a prostitute, and he was charged with battery, deputies said.

No one answered the door at Atilus’ home when NBC 6 went there on Tuesday.

Michael Kempfer, from Orlando, was arrested after he brought a 15-year-old girl as a prostitute to the undercover location, authorities said.

Others arrested included 12 “pimps” who brought prostitutes to the undercover location, 39 prostitutes, 39 people who were willing to pay for sex from prostitutes and two others who went with suspects to the undercover location and were arrested on other charges, the sheriff’s office said.

Ahmed and Yoon were both released from jail after their arrests.  For a full list of the charged and arrested, please refer to the press release published by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

A Bronx judge threw out the manslaughter indictment against NYPD police officer Richard Haste, who fatally shot 18-year-old Ramarley Graham last year, over an error in court proceedings, according to ABC News.

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In the days before his decision, Supreme Court Justice Steven L. Barrett reportedly went on record to say that he was considering throwing out the indictment because prosecutors may have acted improperly by advising jurors that they did not have to consider what other police officers told Haste before the fatal shooting.

And on Wednesday morning, Judge Barrett followed through with his decision.

According to Barrett’s line of thinking, the grand jury that decided to indict Haste in Graham’s death, may have come to a different decision if they fully considered that his peers reportedly informed him that Graham was armed.

Stuart London, Haste’s attorney, explains further, “The whole case centers around justification and the reasonableness of his actions. Officer Haste’s mindset was formed by fellow officers from his team. The grand jury may well have made a different decision.”

This sole detail derailed the prosecutor’s case, solidifying Barrett’s midweek decision.

But the Justice’s decision reportedly brought Graham’s mother, Constance Malcolm, to tears in the courtroom as justice for her son seemed cruelly elusive.

In response, Rev. Al Sharpton released the following statement:

This is an outrageous miscarriage of justice and an insult to the family and supporters of Ramarley Graham. We demand that a new Grand Jury is convened immediately and that the case is re-presented. We will be rallying and planning direct action at National Action Network’s Saturday action rally. The family will be present.

RELATED: Ramarley Graham Update: Cop Who Killed Teen Turns Himself In

Obviously, the case isn’t over.

Even before Judge Barrett officially threw out the indictment, he reportedly said that he would allow  prosecutors to present the case again to the grand jury.

Either way, Malcolm told the press in the face of the case dismissal earlier this month, “We will continue to fight because we will get justice.”

Graham was shot and killed in his bathroom by Officer Haste on February 2, 2012, after he was pursued by Haste and his narcotics unit.

Haste and his fellow officers were reportedly monitoring a local bodega for drug activity, when they allegedly spotted Graham in a drug deal.

Police claim that Graham gave chase once he saw police officers and then refused to put his hands up when commanded to, causing Haste to pull the trigger and end the teen’s life. Graham was allegedly attempting to flush the small purchase of marijuana down the toilet.

But what can be clearly seen on a surveillance tape tells a different story.

If Graham was indeed running from a drug deal gone bad, why is he seen on video calmly entering his home? And while officers are seen running up to the residence and immediately kicking the door down, why did they refuse to follow protocol and announce themselves and then enter Graham’s residence WITHOUT  a search warrant?

Watch the surveillance video here:

Another major issue is the shooting of an UNARMED teen. Police contend that they told Haste the teen was armed, supposedly justifying Haste’s extreme use of force. Will anyone be held accountable for this call and why is it when it comes to our Black males, police officers can never seem to ascertain whether they are armed?

Think I’m overreacting?

Just ask 16-year-old Kimani Gray, 19-year-old Kendrec McDade, and 68-year-old former Marine Kenneth Chamberlain who were all unarmed Black males who were fatally shot by the police in the last year or so.

Yes, the judge’s decision to throw out this case is an initial hurdle wrapped in technicalities, but given the track record of this country to convict the boys in blue when they improperly cut down Black boys and men, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if Graham’s murder was legally justified as well.

NewsOne will continue to keep you updated on the proceedings of this murder case.

PHOTO CREDIT: NBC 4 New York.

James Parham, 75, has been charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and maintaining a nuisance after he was allegedly discovered running a prostitution ring from the Vincente K. Tibbs Senior Citizen Building in New Jersey and using some elderly residents as sex workers, reports New Jersey’s The Record.

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His accomplice, Cheryl Chaney, 66, stands accused of allowing residents and visitors to use crack in their apartments, according to police. In addition to the drug paraphernalia and nuisance charges, Chaney was also charged with being in possession of crack cocaine.

Read more from NBC New York below:

Englewood Police Chief Arthur O’Keefe told NBC 4 New York on Tuesday that Parham ran the prostitution ring through his apartments, and employed a mix of young women and older residents.

…

O’Keefe says there was also sex and drug use going on in common areas of the complex, and that some seniors were afraid to venture into certain areas because they were afraid for their lives.

Richard Allaway, a resident, says he and others were aware of “a lot of nonsense going on.”

….

Kevin Thomas, who has loved ones living in the complex, said he couldn’t understand why older people were turning to crime.

“Why they wait so late in life to start doing stuff they should have did years ago, or shouldn’t have touched period, why do you wait this late?” he said.

Selma McDuffie, 54, who was also arrested in connection with the case, was found to be in possession of a crack pipe and suspended from her position as a police-run school crossing guard, reports the Associated Press.

Lack of security is believed to be partly to blame for the unusual nature of the crime, and its scope. Resident complaints about the rise in crime led to an investigation which included round-the-clock police patrol.

There have been no reports of diminished mental or physical capacity that would make the elderly sex workers victims of exploitation and neglect, but Chief O’Keefe told New Jersey’s The Record that it was a tragic situation.

“Essentially, they were prisoners in their own building,” O’Keefe said. “I wasn’t going to allow that to continue.”

Reportedly, none of sex workers have been arrested in connection with the crime. Though some of them are elderly, Parham allegedly told police that most were young women with addictions that he would pimp out to younger neighbors.

The Vincente K. Tibbs Senior Citizen Building is a 152-unit complex, exclusively for low-income people 62 and older, and disabled people 55 and older.

Both Parham and Chaney are in the process of being evicted.

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Cleveland Man Gets Charles Ramsey’s Face Inked On His Leg

Brooklyn Teacher Fined $10K For Making Third Grader Hit Bully Back

A Baltimore city police officer was arrested last week after he allegedly tried to pimp his wife out to an undercover cop, WBAL-TV 11 reports.

SEE ALSO: Family Suspects Foul Play In Case Of Missing Grandmother

The Maryland State Police Child Recovery Unit was working its normal routine Thursday night when they noticed an ad online featuring a very young-looking woman offering her services as an escort. Authorities say, however, that the website on which the ad was found is known for facilitating prostitution.

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The cops responded to the ad and set up a meeting. An undercover officer met with the woman in question, 19-year-old Marissa Braun, at a hotel room in the area around Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. Her husband, 31-year-old Lamin Manneh, waited outside in the parking lot, according to authorities.

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Braun was arrested after she allegedly told the undercover officer, “You give me the $100 and then you can (have sex) with me.”

She then said her husband “posts the ads and uses his credit cards to do so. He drives her from date to date since she cannot drive.”

Manneh was charged with human trafficking and prostitution and Braun was charged with one count of prostitution.

Manneh has been suspended from the Baltimore City Police Department without pay pending an internal affairs investigation. He is reportedly in a probationary period with the department, so his arrest will likely lead to dismissal.

Baltimore City Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi released the following statement from Deputy Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez:

“This allegation is a disgrace and embarrassment to every member — both current and retired — who serve with the Baltimore Police Department. The alleged actions and criminal charges brought against Mr. Manneh are serious and undermine the integrity and pride of this organization. We expect every member of this department to hold themselves to the highest of professional standards. Our colleagues and our community deserve nothing less.”

A photo provided by New Orleans Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas shows 19-year-old Akien Scott, who is wanted in the Mother’s Day shootings, during a news conference in front of police headquarters in New Orleans, Monday, May 13, 2013. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)

NEW ORLEANS  — New Orleans police and federal authorities were searching early Tuesday for a young man who is suspected of opening fire at a Mother’s Day parade in New Orleans, wounding 19.

Police Superintendent Ronal Serpas identified the suspect late Monday as Akein Scott, 19, of New Orleans. Referring to blurry surveillance camera images of the mass shooting, Serpas said police have “multiple identifications of Akein Scott as the shooter” seen in the film.

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Serpas said officers would be searching all night and into Tuesday for Scott, whom he called “no stranger to the criminal justice system.” He urged the teen, who has previous arrests on firearms and drug charges, to give himself up.

“We would like to remind the community and Akein Scott that the time has come for him to turn himself in,” Serpas said at a news conference outside police headquarters.

A photo of Scott hung from a podium in front of the police chief. “We know more about you than you think we know,” he said.

Serpas said it was too early to say whether he was the only shooter.

The mass shooting showed again how far the city has to go to shake a persistent culture of violence that belies the city’s festive image. Earlier, police announced a $10,000 reward and released the surveillance camera images, which led to several tips from the community.

SEE ALSO: ‘Pastors Of L.A.’ Coming To Oxygen Network

“The people today chose to be on the side of the young innocent children who were shot and not on the side of a coward who shot into the crowd,” Serpas said.

The superintendent said SWAT team members and U.S. marshals served a searched warrant at one location looking for Scott, but didn’t locate him.

Angry residents said gun violence – which has flared at two other city celebrations this year – goes hand-in-hand with the city’s other deeply rooted problems such as poverty and urban blight. The investigators tasked with solving Sunday’s shooting work within an agency that’s had its own troubles rebounding from years of corruption while trying to halt violent crime.

Watch video of shooting below:

“The old people are scared to walk the streets. The children can’t even play outside,” Ronald Lewis, 61, said Monday as he sat on the front stoop of his house, about a half-block from the shooting site. His window sill has a hole from a bullet that hit it last year. Across the street sits a house marked by bullets he said were fired two weeks ago.

“The youngsters are doing all this,” said Jones, who was away from home when the latest shooting broke out.

Video released early Monday shows a crowd gathered for a parade suddenly scattering in all directions, with some falling to the ground. They appear to be running from a man in a white T-shirt and dark pants who turns and runs out of the picture. Two children were among those wounded.

Police were working to determine whether there was more than one gunman, though they initially said three people were spotted fleeing from the scene. Whoever was responsible escaped despite the presence of officers who were interspersed through the crowd as part of routine precautions for such an event.

A police news release says Scott has previously been arrested for illegal carrying of a weapon, illegal possession of a stolen firearm, resisting an officer, contraband to jail, illegal carrying of a weapon while in possession of a controlled dangerous substance and possession of heroin.

It was not immediately clear whether Scott, who was arrested this past March, had been convicted on any of those charges.

Serpas said ballistic evidence gathered at the scene was giving them “very good leads to work on.”

Witness Jarrat Pytell said he was walking with friends near the parade route when the crowd suddenly began to break up.

“I saw the guy on the corner, his arm extended, firing into the crowd,” said Pytell, a medical student.

“He was obviously pointing in a specific direction; he wasn’t swinging the gun wildly,” Pytell said.

Pytell said he tended to one woman with a severe arm fracture – he wasn’t sure if it was from a bullet or a fall – and to others including an apparent shooting victim who was bleeding badly.

Three gunshot victims remained in critical condition Monday, though their wounds didn’t appear to be life-threatening. Most of the wounded had been released from the hospital.

It’s not the first time gunfire has shattered a festive mood in the city this year. Five people were wounded in a drive-by shooting in January after a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade, and four were wounded in a shooting after an argument in the French Quarter in the days leading up to Mardi Gras. Two teens were arrested in connection with the MLK Day shootings; three men were arrested and charged in the Mardi Gras shootings.

The shootings are bloody reminders of the persistence of violence in the city, despite some recent progress.

Last week, law enforcement officials touted the indictment of 15 people in gang-related crimes, including the death of a 5-year-old girl killed by stray gunfire at a birthday party a year ago.

The city’s 193 homicides in 2012 are seven fewer than the previous year, while the first three months of 2013 represented an even slower pace of killing.

On Monday night, 100 to 150 people gathered for a unity rally and peace vigil in the wake of Sunday’s shootings. Some residents stood in their doorways or on their steps. At one point, trumpeter Kenneth Terry played, “O For a Closer Walk With Thee.”

Robin Bevins, president of the ladies group of the Original Four Social Aid and Pleasure Club, said she and members of her organization came to the rally to show solidarity.

“This code of silence has to end,” said Bevins, who’s also a member of the city’s Social Aid Task Force. “If we stand up and speak out, maybe this kind of thing will stop.”

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu walked into the area, greeting people, shaking hands and stopping to talk with some residents before addressing the crowd.

“We came back out here as a community to stand on what we call sacred ground,” Landrieu said. “We came here to reclaim this spot. This shooting doesn’t reflect who we are as a community or what we’re about.”

Leading efforts to lower the homicide rate is a police force that’s faced its own internal problems and staffing issues. At about 1,200 members, the department is 300 short of its peak level.

Serpas, who has been chief since 2010, has been working to overcome the effects of decades of scandal and community mistrust arising from what the U.S. Justice Department says has been questionable use of force and biased policing.

The site of the Sunday shooting – about 1.5 miles from the heart of the French Quarter – showcases other problems facing the city. Stubborn poverty and blight are evident in the area of middle-class and low-income homes. Like other areas hit hard by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the area has been slower to repopulate than wealthier areas. And Landrieu’s stepped-up efforts to demolish or renovate blighted properties – a pre-Katrina problem made worse by the storm – remain too slow for some.

Frank Jones, 71, whose house is a few doors down from the shooting site, said the house across from him has been abandoned since Katrina. Squatters and drug dealers sometimes take shelter there, he said.

A city code inspector, who declined to be interviewed, was there Monday.

“It’s too late,” Jones said. “Should have fixed it from the very beginning. A lot of people are getting fed up with the system.”

]]> http://newsone.com/2452110/akien-scott-new-orleans-mothers-day-parade-shooting/feed/ 16 Akien Scott new orleans shooting ionetstarr Akien Scott new orleans shooting http://newsone.com/2450651/evelyn-gunter-missing/ http://newsone.com/2450651/evelyn-gunter-missing/#comments Mon, 13 May 2013 20:57:06 +0000 Jeff Mays http://newsone.com/?p=2450651 ]]> Although African Americans make up just 13 percent of the U.S. population, we account for 33 percent of the missing in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s database. Cases involving African Americans also tend to receive less media coverage than missing Whites, with missing men of color getting even less attention.

NewsOne has partnered with the Black and Missing Foundation and TV One to focus on the crisis of missing African Americans.

To be a part of the solution, NewsOne will profile a missing person weekly and provide tips about how to keep your loved ones safe and what to do if someone goes missing, while TV One‘s newest show, “Find Our Missing,” hosted by award-winning actress S. Epatha Merkerson, tells these stories in visual form.

                                                                                                —————————————

Evelyn Gunter

Case Type: Endangered
Date of Birth: January 1, 1966
Missing Date: March 10, 2013
Age Now: 47
Missing City: Detroit
Missing State: Michigan
Gender: Female
Race: Black
Complexion: Medium
Height: 5’7″
Weight: 170
Hair Color: Brown
Hair Length: Short
Eye Color: Brown
Wear Glasses or Contacts: No

Location Last Seen: Evelyn Gunter was last seen at her residence by her grandson at approximately 6 p.m.

SEE ALSO: Ct. University Student Who Planned to Pursue Doctorate In Psychology Still Missing

Circumstances of Disappearance: Gunter had just come home from running errands and was dressed to go out.

She left the home and never returned.

Gunter’s adult children say she would never leave for a significant period of time without informing her family. In addition, Gunter had recently welcomed a new grandchild who was just 4 days old at the time of her disappearance.

Adding further to the family’s concerns is that Gunter’s bank account was flush with cash after receiving a 401K deposit and paycheck from General Motors. And then Gunter’s daughter received an odd text from her mother a couple of days later. According to the text, Gunter told her family she was visiting friends in Chicago.

“I know that wasn’t her texting me. Things weren’t spelled right and she doesn’t have any friends in Chicago,” Gunter’s daughter told WXYZ.com News.

Gunter’s car was found outside of a Detroit bar called “Club Celebrity.” There are also unconfirmed reports that a credit card was found near Gunter’s car. Money may have also been taken from Gunter’s account.

The Gunter family believes something terrible may have happened to their matriarch because she was a reliable and steady employee at GM and close with her children and grandchildren.

The family is pleading for the public to provide any detail they can think might help in the case.

Last Seen Wearing: Unknown.

Identifying Marks or Characteristics: Scar by right eye; C-section scar.

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of Evelyn Gunter should call Detroit Police at (313) 267-4600 or contact the Black and Missing Foundation’s confidential Tip Line.

SEE ALSO: Police Search For Missing Las Vegas Man, Truck Discovered Abandoned

PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia abortion doctor was found guilty Monday of first-degree murder and could face execution in the deaths of three babies who authorities say were delivered alive and then killed with scissors at his grimy clinic, in a case that became a flashpoint in the nation’s debate over abortion.

Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 72, was also found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the drug-overdose death of a patient who had undergone an abortion. He was cleared in the death of a fourth baby, who prosecutors say let out a soft whimper before he snipped its neck.

Gosnell appeared hopeful before the verdict was read and calm afterward; jurors and lawyers on both sides were more emotional.

The jury will return May 21 to hear evidence on whether Gosnell should get the death penalty.

Former clinic employees testified that Gosnell routinely performed illegal late-term abortions past Pennsylvania’s 24-week limit, that he delivered babies who were still moving, whimpering or breathing, and that he and his assistants “snipped” the newborns’ spines, as he referred to it.

“Are you human?” prosecutor Ed Cameron snarled during closing arguments as Gosnell sat calmly at the defense table. “To med these women up and stick knives in the backs of babies?”

The grisly details came out more than two years ago during an investigation of prescription drug trafficking at Gosnell’s clinic in an impoverished section of West Philadelphia.

Authorities said the clinic was a foul-smelling “house of horrors” with bags and bottles of stored fetuses, including jars of severed feet, along with bloodstained furniture, dirty medical instruments, and cats roaming the premises.

Pennsylvania authorities had failed to conduct routine inspections of all of its abortion clinics for 15 years by the time Gosnell’s facility was raided and closed down. In the scandal’s aftermath, two top state health department officials were fired, and Pennsylvania imposed tougher rules for clinics.

“We see this as triumph of justice,” said Charmaine Yoest, president and CEO of Americans United for Life, a group that has taken a lead role in efforts to enact anti-abortion laws in state legislatures.

Four former clinic employees have pleaded guilty to murder and four more to other charges. They include Gosnell’s wife, Pearl, a cosmetologist who helped perform abortions.

Both sides of the abortion divide seized on the case. Abortion foes said it exposed the true nature of abortion in all its disturbing detail. Abortion rights activists warned that Gosnell’s rogue practice foreshadows what poor and desperate young women could face if abortion is driven underground with more restrictive laws.

Midway through the six-week trial, anti-abortion activists accused the mainstream media of ignoring the case because it reflected badly on the abortion rights cause. Major news organizations denied the allegation, though a number promptly sent reporters to cover the trial.

After prosecutors rested their case, Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Minehart threw out for lack of evidence three of seven murder counts involving aborted fetuses. That left the jury to weigh charges involving fetuses identified as Baby A, Baby C, Baby D and Baby E.

Prosecution experts said one was nearly 30 weeks along when it was aborted, and it was so big that Gosnell allegedly joked it could “walk to the bus.” A second fetus was said to be alive for some 20 minutes before a clinic worker snipped its neck. A third was born in a toilet and was moving before another clinic employee grabbed it and severed its spinal cord, according to testimony.

Baby E let out a soft whimper before Gosnell cut its neck, prosecutors alleged. Gosnell was acquitted in that baby’s death, the only one of the four in which no eyewitness account was given during the trial.

Gosnell’s attorney, Jack McMahon, argued that none of the fetuses was born alive and that any movements were posthumous twitching or spasms.

He also contended that the 2009 death of 41-year-old Karnamaya Mongar of Woodbridge, Va., a Bhutanese immigrant who had been given repeated doses of Demerol and other powerful drugs to sedate her and induce labor, was caused by unforeseen complications.

Gosnell was also convicted of infanticide, racketeering and more than 200 counts of violating Pennsylvania’s abortion laws by performing third-term abortions or failing to counsel women 24 hours in advance.

Gosnell did not testify, and his lawyer called no witnesses in his defense. But McMahon argued that the doctor provided desperate young woman with “a solution to their problems,” and he branded prosecutors “elitist” and “racist” for pursuing his client, who is black and whose patients were mostly poor minorities.

“We know why he was targeted,” McMahon said.

Prosecutors described Gosnell’s employees as nearly as desperate as the patients. Some had little or no medical training, and at least one was a teenager still in high school. One woman needed the work to support her children after her husband’s murder.

Stephen Massof, an unlicensed medical school graduate who could not find a residency, told jurors that Gosnell taught him how to snip babies’ spines, something he then did at least 100 times at the clinic.

“I felt like a fireman in hell,” Massof testified. “I couldn’t put out all the fires.”

Gosnell still faces federal drug charges. Authorities said that he ranked third in the state for OxyContin prescriptions and that he left blank prescription pads at his office and let staff members make them out to cash-paying patients.

He performed thousands of abortions over a 30-year career. Authorities said the medical practice alone netted him about $1.8 million a year, much of it in cash. Authorities found $250,000 hidden in a bedroom when they searched his house. Gosnell also owned a beach home and several rental properties.

“He created an assembly line with no regard for these women whatsoever,” Cameron said. “And he made money doing that.”

Defense attorney Kathleen DeMetz, second from right, talks with Pedro Castro as Onil Castro, left, watches and Ariel Castro, right, looks down, in Cleveland Municipal court Thursday, May 9, 2013.

CLEVELAND — The two brothers of the Cleveland man accused of holding three women captive for about a decade say they have no sympathy for him. One called him a “monster” who he hopes “rots in jail.”

RELATED: NewsOne’s Cleveland Kidnapping Coverage

Onil and Pedro Castro told CNN that they want Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight to know how sorry they are for their ordeal.

“I’m just grateful they are home and out of that horrible house, and I’d just tell them I’m sorry for what Ariel done,” said Pedro Castro, 50.

Watch Pedro and Onil’s interview with CNN here:

The brothers were initially taken in to custody but released after investigators said there was no evidence against them. Brother Ariel Castro has been charged with rape and kidnapping and is being held on $8 million bond.

Pedro Castro says he was shocked to learn DeJesus was a victim, because they’d known her father for a long time, and Ariel even went to a vigil for her when she went missing.

“You go around like it was nothing? You even went to the vigil. You had posters. You give his momma a hug and you got his daughter captive?” Pedro recalled saying to Ariel.

Pedro Castro said he had been in the house but never noticed anything amiss. He said part of house was blocked off by curtains, and a radio or TV was always on.

Onil Castro, 50, said he wanted Ariel to “suffer in that jail to the last extent.”

“I don’t care if they even feed him,” Onil Castro said. “The monster’s a goner.”

The brothers said they are worried that people will continue to associate them with their brother’s alleged crimes, even though police say they didn’t know anything about it. They have received death threats since being released from custody.

“This has torn my heart apart,” Onil Castro said. “This has killed me. I’m a walking corpse right now.”

“I hope the world listens to us,” Pedro Castro said. “You already got your monster, please give us our freedom.”

RELATED: Attorney General: Castro Is Father Of Captive Girl

CLEVELAND — The Ohio attorney general says tests have confirmed that alleged kidnapper Ariel Castro (pictured) is the Father of a 6-year-old girl rescued from his house with three women this week.

RELATED: Ariel Castro Held On $8M Bond For Rape, Kidnapping

Attorney General Mike DeWine‘s office confirmed Castro’s paternity in a news release Friday. DeWine says a sample of Castro’s DNA was taken Thursday and forensic scientists worked through the night on the case.

The girl is the daughter of Amanda Berry, who authorities say was held for about a decade in Castro’s house in Cleveland along with Gina Dejesus and Michelle Knight.

Castro is being held on $8 million bond.

__________________________________

CLEVELAND — The man accused of holding three women captive for a decade in his home terrorized the Mother of his children, frequently beating her, playing twisted psychological games and locking her indoors in the years before their relationship disintegrated, her relatives say.

Several relatives of Grimilda Figueroa, who left Ariel Castro years ago and died last year after a long illness, painted a nightmarish portrait of Castro’s family life as authorities made public horrifying details of the abuse endured by the imprisoned women.

In interviews with the Associated Press on Thursday, the relatives described Castro as a “monster” who abused his wife and locked his family inside their own home. Their views were at odds with those of some of Castro’s family and a neighbor, who knew the former school bus driver only as a happy and respectful man.

Figueroa’s relatives said Castro savagely beat her, pushing her down a flight of stairs, breaking her nose and dislocating her shoulder, among other injuries. Her sister, Elida Caraballo (pictured above), said Castro once shoved Figueroa in to a cardboard box and closed the flaps over her head.

“He told her, `You stay there until I tell you to get out,’” said Caraballo, who cried as she recounted her late sister’s torment. “That’s when I got scared and I ran downstairs to get my parents.”

Castro, to frighten his wife, kept a mannequin wearing a dark wig propped up against a wall and sometimes drove around the neighborhood with it, relatives said.

“He threatened me lots of times with it,” said Angel Caraballo, Castro’s nephew, who used to play with his cousins at the house where the kidnapped women were found. “He would say, `Act up again, you’ll be in that back room with the mannequin.’”

One day, Figueroa was returning home with her arms full of groceries when Castro jumped into the doorway with the mannequin, frightening her so badly that she fell backward and smashed her head on the pavement, Elida Caraballo said.

Prosecutors said Thursday they may seek the death penalty against Castro as police charged that he impregnated one of his captives at least five times and made her miscarry by starving her and punching her in the stomach. The allegations were contained in a police report that also said another one of the women, Amanda Berry, was forced to give birth in a plastic kiddie pool.

Cuyahoga County prosecutor Timothy McGinty said his office will decide whether to bring aggravated murder charges, punishable by death, in connection with the pregnancies that were terminated by force. McGinty said Castro will be charged for every act of sexual violence, assault, and other crimes committed against the women, suggesting the counts could number in the hundreds, if not thousands.

Castro, 52, is being held on $8 million bail under a suicide watch in jail, where he is charged with rape and kidnapping.

“Capital punishment must be reserved for those crimes that are truly the worst examples of human conduct,” McGinty said. “The reality is we still have brutal criminals in our midst who have no respect for the rule of law or human life.”

A sample of Castro’s DNA was delivered to state crime investigators Thursday afternoon and scientists are rushing to process it and enter it into a national database to see if it links him to other crimes, Lisa Peterson Hackley, spokeswoman for Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, confirmed in an e-mail Friday.

The three women said Castro chained them up in the basement but eventually let them live on the home’s second floor. Each woman told a similar story about being abducted after accepting a ride from him.

Berry, now 27, told officers that she was forced to give birth in a plastic pool in the house so it would be easier to clean up. Berry said none of the women – or her 6-year-old child – went to a doctor during their captivity.

Michelle Knight, now 32, said her five pregnancies ended after Castro starved her for at least two weeks and “repeatedly punched her in the stomach until she miscarried.” She also said Castro forced her to deliver Berry’s baby under threat of death if the baby died. When the newborn stopped breathing, Knight said, she revived her through mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

During his brief arraignment Thursday, Castro tried to hide his face, tucking his chin inside his shirt collar. He appeared to close his eyes during the hearing and awkwardly signed documents while handcuffed. He did not speak or enter a plea.

In court, prosecutor Brian Murphy said Castro used the women “in whatever self-gratifying, self-serving way he saw fit.”

Kathleen DeMetz, a public defender assigned to represent him at the hearing, didn’t comment on his guilt or innocence or object when prosecutors recommended that bail be set at $5 million. The judge, instead, ordered Castro held on $8 million bail.

Castro was arrested Monday, when Berry broke out of his run-down house and called 911 while he was away. Police found the two other women inside. The women had vanished separately between 2002 and 2004, when they 14, 16 and 20.

Police then entered the house and found the other women, who flung themselves into the officers’ arms.

Berry and former captive Gina DeJesus, 22, went home with relatives Wednesday. Knight was reported in good condition at a Cleveland hospital.

Castro’s two brothers, who were arrested with him but later cleared of involvement in the case, appeared in court on unrelated charges Thursday and were released.

Figueroa’s relatives said Castro often forced her to remain inside her home and forbade her from using the telephone. After warning her not to leave, he would test her to see if she obeyed, Caraballo said.

Some relatives of Castro have said they were shocked by the allegations against him. An uncle, Julio Castro, said it’s been difficult news to absorb.

“Of course we have taken it hard,” he said. “We only knew one Ariel, my sweet nephew. He was a sweet, happy person, a musician. We didn’t have the slightest idea of the second person in him.”

Juan Perez, who lives two doors down from Castro, said Castro was always happy and respectful. “He gained trust with the kids and with the parents. You can only do that if you’re nice,” Perez said.

On a recent visit to Castro’s rundown home, his friend Ricky Sanchez said he heard noises “like banging on a wall” and noticed four or five locks on the outside door. While he was there, a little girl came out from the kitchen and stared at him. But she didn’t say anything.

“When I was about to leave, I tried to open the door,” he said. “I couldn’t even, because there were so many locks in there.”

Relatives say that in 1996, Figueroa finally left Castro after he hit her for the last time. After one particularly bad beating, Figueroa ran outside with one of her sons, crying out to neighbors just as the captive women did.

“The neighbors went across the street to get her,” Elida Caraballo said. “And that was the last time she ever stepped in the house.”

RELATED: NewsOne’s Coverage of Ohio Kidnappings

Last February, Brandon Jackson would be sentenced to 12 years in prison by a nearly all-White jury, after being jumped by a group of White males in Jackson, N.J.  Here, Brandon’s mother, Gloria Fisher, describes the void she has been experiencing each Mother’s Day without her son.

RELATED: Son Jumped By Whites, Sentenced To 12 Years: Mom Demands Justice! [VIDEO]

Mother’s Day with Brandon still incarcerated.

This is the second Mother’s Day I will spend without Brandon. This year, although I am carrying great sadness and heartbreak, I feel more encouraged.

Last year, Mother’s Day came a few weeks after Brandon was found guilty of a crime the prosecutor and judge know he did not commit.

I cried constantly — not sure if the heavy pain in my chest would ever go away.

I didn’t know who to turn to or what to do next. I kept asking, How could such obvious injustice happen? Why Brandon? Why me? How much more could I bear?

Last Mother’s Day, I went to church with my mother, as was expected. I sat numb, not hearing all of the praise and encouragement given to “good” Mothers. I felt that I had failed somehow. Somewhere along the way, I had not done whatever “it” is that makes a Mother “good.” After church, I returned home to spend the rest of that and the next few days in tears.

I cried so much that I became frustrated with my weakness.

I had considered myself a strong and fair Mother. I had been tough, but supportive. Brandon was raised to respect others. He was kind and considerate to his friends. He never had any problems with the police. Did I make him weak, easy prey? My emotions ranged between despair and rage.

Months passed before I could even open the door to his room.

So I have spent the last year trying to tell Brandon’s story. A story that too many Mothers of color share. I have a solid, strong family who have supported me emotionally, and as much as possible, financially. I have been somewhat fortunate because I have had access to the media.

How many Mother’s tears are shed alone, in silence? Mothers who are forced to accept that they can’t make a difference.

This Mother’s Day, I am encouraged.

I have spent the last year working on myself. I still cry sometimes, but I stand solid and confident in my faith. I have been broken and am renewed.  I understand how blessed I am to be a member of a strong family. I thank them often.

I am confident that Brandon will be free soon. I look forward to long talks about life, past, present, and future. I still ask why did he have to lose all these years to such foolishness.

But he will return home, stronger and wiser.

I can’t wait.

Bring added joy to Ms. Fisher by wishing her a happy Mother’s Day here.