Category: Metro

SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y. (TCN) — A 55-year-old woman stands accused of pretending to be a dentist, operating an illegal business, and injuring patients.

According to Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina, officials received multiple tips that Yolany Carranza had injured patients at a dental practice, including one instance of nerve damage and partial facial paralysis. Upon further investigation, police determined Carranza was allegedly performing dental work without a license on Heckscher Avenue in Bay Shore and had previously operated an illegal dental business in Huntington Station.

In a statement obtained by WABC-TV, Catalina said, “I think everyone knows it’s not really fun to go to the dentist, so you can only imagine what this experience was like for her patients.”

Catalina alleges Carranza targeted the Hispanic community, people who didn’t have health insurance, and those who might be in the country illegally. The police commissioner asked other possible victims to come over as they continue the investigation.

Authorities executed a search warrant at a Bay Shore home on March 13 and arrested Carranza. She faces three counts of unauthorized practice of a profession.

• Press Conference – Suffolk County Police Department
• Long Island woman arrested, accused of working as fake dentist – WABC

Source: True Crime Daily

One in three women experiences some form of physical or sexual violence, but no one should ever feel scared to walk home alone, go for a jog, or do anything but live safely. Thanks to this week’s safety deal, Safely, you can feel calm, cool, and protected.

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Source: True Crime Daily

MUNCIE, Ind. (TCN) — A 32-year-old woman has been arrested for allegedly leaving her two kids home alone, covered in filth, while she went out to a bar.

According to court documents cited by WXIN-TV, on Wednesday, March 12, at 2:30 p.m., Muncie Police Department officers responded to a home on East Butler Street after a neighbor called to report hearing babies crying inside Sandra Henriquez’s house. Police arrived and made their way inside the home and located a 1-year-old and 1-week-old covered in filth. Medics transported them to a hospital for treatment. Officers also discovered a dog inside a crate without food or water, as well as alcohol cans strewn around the house.

The Muncie Star Press reports the newborn appeared malnourished and was “blue in the hands, feet, and around the mouth,” while the 1-year-old was in fine health but had on a full diaper.

Police learned that earlier that morning, Henriquez drove her car into a pole and appeared to be intoxicated. Officers saw a car seat in the back and reportedly asked how many children she had, and she allegedly said none. Later that day, she reportedly admitted to having children but did not provide her home address.

Henriquez allegedly told officials she left her house at 12:30 a.m. and drank a six-pack of beer before heading to a local bar. She reportedly left the children home alone between 12:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

Henriquez was booked on multiple charges of neglect of a dependent and one count of obstruction of justice.

• Docs: Mom charged with neglect after drinking 6 cans of beer, leaving babies alone to go to bar – WXIN
• Police: Muncie mother went drinking, left children, including a 9-day-old baby, home alone – Muncie Star Press

Source: True Crime Daily

MORENCI, Mich. (TCN) — A judge declared three boys dead more than 14 years after they spent Thanksgiving with their father and were never seen again.

WDIV-TV reports a Lenawee County judge rendered the decision March 5 but reportedly said she could not rule that the boys had been murdered.

The case began when Tanya Zuvers was scheduled to pick up her sons Andrew, 9, Alexander, 7, and Tanner, 5, from her estranged husband, John Skelton, on Thanksgiving 2010. Zuvers told “True Crime News” that she was supposed to get them at 3 p.m., but she reached out and asked if she could pick them up earlier. Skelton allegedly told her that he wasn’t home, but Zuvers became concerned because his van was in his driveway.

Zuvers explained Skelton kept giving her different excuses, until he said he was at the hospital and the boys were with a friend he had recently met on the internet. Zuvers called local police and asked them to go to Skelton’s house. Officers searched the home and reportedly found broken dishes, cut-up mattresses, and the house in disarray. Skelton allegedly claimed he hid the boys with an underground organization in order to “protect them from Tanya’s abuse.”

Phone data showed Skelton drove to Ohio the morning the boys went missing and turned his phone off for two hours, then returned to Michigan.

Authorities continued to search for the boys, but to no avail. Skelton was eventually arrested and charged with parental kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment. He pleaded no contest and is in prison until his release in November.

For more information about the case, watch the “True Crime News” segment below!

• Judge issues decision on mother’s request to declare missing Skelton brothers dead – WDIV2

Source: True Crime Daily

DIX, Ill. (TCN) — A woman will spend two decades behind bars for intentionally running over her husband last year.

According to the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Melissa Howes pleaded guilty on March 11 to first-degree murder and aggravated DUI involving a death. As part of her plea, Howes agreed to 20 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

On the evening of Sept. 2, 2024, deputies responded to a Dollar General parking lot to a report of a pedestrian hit by a car. At the scene, authorities learned Howes struck her husband, 49-year-old Jeffrey Howes, with his vehicle. Deputies and emergency personnel attempted lifesaving measures, but Jeffrey Howes was pronounced deceased when he was transported to a hospital.

The sheriff’s office said, “Evidence of alcohol impairment was observed with Melissa,” and she was arrested and initially booked into the Jefferson County Justice Center.

• Arrest made in fatal accident and update – Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office

Source: True Crime Daily

AMARILLO, Texas (TCN) — Authorities identified and arrested a person of interest after a woman’s body was found in an alley last week.

According to the Amarillo Police Department, on March 11, officers responded to the area near Center Avenue and Alabama Street, where they found Elizabeth Duckworth deceased and wrapped in plastic. Officials did not say how she died but called Duckworth’s death “suspicious.”

Investigators identified 67-year-old Ronald Milles as a person of interest in the case and asked for the public’s help in finding him.

Witnesses also allegedly saw the victim’s body being placed in a stroller and pushed around the neighborhood in the area of 6th Avenue and South Georgia Street.

On March 13, police said Milles had been located, interviewed, and booked into the Randall County Detention Center for a separate charge.

• Person of Interest in Suspicious Death – Ronald Ernest Milles – Amarillo Police Department

Source: True Crime Daily

The teen accused of killing his mother one year after allegedly fatally stabbing his father is now free.

Collin Griffith, 17, was arrested in September after he called the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and said he and his mother, Catherine Griffith, “had a very long fight and she fell on a knife and she’s bleeding from the neck.” Paramedics and deputies responded to scene and found Catherine Griffith deceased from a knife wound. The medical examiner, however, determined there was “no reasonable or plausible” way she could have died by falling on a knife.

Prosecutors alleged Collin Griffith stabbed his mother amid a volatile relationship. He had previously been arrested for domestic battery on her and was detained under the Baker Act, which is a temporary involuntary hold due to a mental health crisis.

At his trial, prosecutors argued Collin Griffith wanted to kill his mother, who he allegedly called an “evil b–ch.” His attorneys, however, claimed Catherine Griffith wanted her son to kill her because she was suicidal. They said Collin Griffith killed his mother in self-defense because she attacked him with a knife. In the end, the jury decided to acquit him.

Do you think Collin Griffith acted in self-defense? Share your response in the poll below!

Source: True Crime Daily

Do you believe Collin acted in self-defense in his mother’s death?

Source: True Crime Daily

Can’t get enough true crime in your life? Well, we’ve got some big news!

Fans of “True Crime News” will now be able to stream the show on Discovery+. We’re launching with 131 episodes on Monday, March 17, and new episodes will be available to stream daily on Discovery+ one week after they air on your local TV station.

If you don’t have Discovery+ yet, don’t stress. New subscribers are eligible for a seven-day free trial, which you can sign up for here or on the Discovery+ app.

After the free trial, it’s $5.99/month or $9.99 for an ad-free version. No matter what, you can watch your shows on four devices at once and get full HD video resolution.

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Source: True Crime Daily