Category: Metro

STAFFORD COUNTY, Va. (TCD) — Deputies have arrested a 19-year-old father who allegedly abused and killed his 3-year-old son last week.

According to Stafford County Sheriff David Decatur, on Friday, Oct. 27, at approximately 12:25 p.m., deputies responded to a home on Richland Road in reference to a medical emergency. Once there, deputies found an unresponsive 3-year-old child and attempted lifesaving measures until Stafford County Fire and Rescue arrived.

The boy was transported to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced deceased.

The medical examiner conducted an autopsy and ruled the child’s death a homicide.

According to Decatur, on Saturday, Oct. 28, detectives charged the boy’s father, Dallas Bowling, with second-degree murder and felony child abuse. He was booked into the Rappahannock Regional Jail and remains held without bond.

Bowling worked for Stafford County Fire and Rescue, WRC-TV reports.

In a statement, Stafford County Fire and Rescue said, “The allegations do not reflect the values of the department,” and Bowling has been placed on leave pending the investigation.

The department is fully cooperating with the sheriff’s office.

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HOUSTON (TCD) — A 58-year-old father faces charges after he allegedly killed his 49-year-old wife and then tried to take his own life this week.

On Wednesday, Nov. 1, shortly after 4 a.m., the Houston Police Department responded to a disturbance call at 1211 Elberta St., where they learned Michael Simpson allegedly stabbed his wife. Officers at the scene found the unresponsive victim as well as Simpson suffering from “severe self-inflicted injuries.”

Houston Fire Department paramedics declared the victim deceased at the scene. Simpson was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, though he is in police custody there.

KRIV-TV identified the victim as Robin Simpson.

Houston Police Lt. Ronald Willkens told KRIV-TV, “The call came in initially as we believe the mother, the wife, called in stating that her husband was having a major crisis, was running around with a knife, thinking about suicidal thoughts.”

Police didn’t hear anything from the front door and reportedly went around the back, where they noticed an 8-year-old girl running out of a bedroom toward the front door. Police then went back to the front door and made entry, KRIV reports.

Willkens said the girl told police, “Daddy’s stabbing Mommy.”

The young girl was unharmed.

Michael Simpson faces charges of murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

The victim reportedly worked for Lydon B. Johnson Hospital as a social worker, according to KRIV.

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NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (TCD) — A 23-year-old woman and 30-year-old man were sentenced to several decades in prison for luring a Tinder date to the woman’s house and killing him.

According to the Charleston Post and Courier, Asherai Gadsden and Joshua Mack received the sentences after pleading guilty to murder and attempted armed robbery for killing Alan Johnson on Jan. 8, 2022. Court records show Gadsden was sentenced to 30 years behind bars with 375 days credit for time served, while a judge sentenced Mack to 38 years with 612 days credit.

On Jan. 9, 2022, North Charleston Police Department officers were called to a home on Suzanne Drive regarding a medical issue. Upon arrival, police located a male suffering from gunshot wounds, and he was pronounced deceased at the scene.

The Charleston Post and Courier reports Johnson and Gadsden went on a date the night of Jan. 8, 2022. After dinner and drinks, they returned to Gadsden’s apartment. Gadsden went into another room, and while there, Mack appeared and tried to rob Johnson. Mack reportedly told authorities Johnson fired the gun.

Gadsden reportedly did not call police until an hour after Johnson died.

Johnson, 24, reportedly had recently graduated from college with a 4.0 GPA and received scholarships and honors for his education. He reportedly planned to attend graduate school to become a teacher, which was his lifelong dream.

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PORTAGE, Mich. (TCD) — A 30-year-old man must spend a minimum of 29 years in prison for killing his parents in 2021 and dumping their bodies in a wildlife area.

WOOD-TV reports a Kalamazoo County judge sentenced Nicholas Johnson to two terms of 29 to 69 years behind bars, which will run concurrently, in connection with the shooting deaths of his parents, Gary Johnson and Laura Johnson. Nicholas Johnson pleaded guilty in October to two counts of second-degree murder. Nicholas Johnson reportedly fatally shot his parents at their home in Portage Feb. 3, 2021.

According to WOOD, Gary Johnson’s employer reached out to law enforcement after Johnson failed to show up for work several days in a row, which was unlike him.

In a news conference Feb. 11, 2021, Portage Department of Public Safety Chief Nicholas Armold said it was clear there was “some type of violent activity” at the Johnsons’ home. Armold told reporters investigators were “going to remain optimistic that we’re gonna find the Johnsons,” but said they were aware it would likely turn into a homicide investigation.

According to WOOD, investigators found blood in several rooms of the house, as well as a 9 mm shell casing in the garage.

WWMT-TV reports the bodies of Gary and Laura Johnson were discovered Feb. 12, 2021, at Gourdneck State Game Area, a wildlife area used by hunters. Investigators located Nicholas Johnson in a storage unit with his mother’s car, which had been missing from their home.

Court documents cited by WWMT show the Johnsons filed a protective order against their son in March 2018, which read in part, “Gary and I are concerned for our safety and others’ safety. I need him to stay away from us for a while and he needs to seek mental health help.”

He reportedly assaulted his parents on multiple occasions. One time, he reportedly pushed his mother so hard that she fell and hit her head. His parents told him he could not return to their home. Laura Johnson said in the protective order that Nicholas “previously pushed my husband, threatened us.”

She added, “He is now homeless. …We are done with allowing him to keep destroying our house and property.”

WWMT reports Nicholas Johnson apologized at his sentencing hearing and said, “I want another chance. I won’t ever hurt anyone else.”

He reportedly told the judge he felt “terrible” about what happened.

According to the Portage Department of Public Safety, Nicholas Johnson is considered a person of interest in the May 2018 disappearance of Bonafacio Pena.

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BOSTON (TCD) — State police are searching for a suspect they believe flew to Kenya after allegedly killing a 31-year-old woman whose body was found in a garage at Boston Logan International Airport this week.

According to a news release from Massachusetts State Police, on Wednesday, Nov. 1, at approximately 6:30 p.m., troopers assigned to the Logan Airport Barracks found 31-year-old Margaret Mbitu deceased inside a vehicle that had been parked inside the Central Parking Garage. Police learned Mbitu was reported missing Monday, Oct. 30.

Further evidence suggested Mbitu was the victim of a homicide.

According to an arrest warrant obtained by WCVB-TV, authorities found Mbitu with slash injuries along her face and neck. She also reportedly sustained a puncture wound on her side.

Inside the vehicle, police reportedly noticed a large amount of blood as well.

Mbitu, a nurse, was last seen leaving work in Halifax, according to WCVB.

State police identified 40-year-old Kevin Kangethe as the primary suspect and said the homicide was “not a random act.” The suspect and victim were reportedly dating.

Massachusetts State Police said Kangethe purchased an airplane ticket to Kenya and boarded a flight. The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and Massachusetts State Police obtained a warrant for Kangethe’s arrest and are working with Kenyan officials to locate and arrest him.

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HARRISBURG, Pa. (TCD) — A 41-year-old nurse accused of killing patients with a fatal amount of insulin is now facing additional murder and attempted murder charges for allegedly mistreating 19 other people at five different medical facilities.

On Thursday, Nov. 2, Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry announced that her office charged Heather Pressdee with two counts of first-degree murder, 17 counts of attempted murder, and 19 counts of neglect of a care-dependent person. She was previously charged with two counts of homicide, one count of attempted murder, one count of aggravated assault, three counts of neglect of a care-dependent person, and three counts of reckless endangerment in May.

The May charges stem from alleged crimes that occurred at Quality Life Services in 2022. Pressdee allegedly administered too much insulin to a 55-year-old and 83-year-old man in December 2022, and a 73-year-old man in August 2022. The 55-year-old and 83-year-old patients died as a result, while the 73-year-old man survived but required emergency medical treatment. According to the attorney general’s office, only one of the patients was diabetic.

Further investigation revealed that between 2020 and this year, Pressdee allegedly did the same to additional victims while she worked as a registered nurse for Concordia at Rebecca Residence, Belair Healthcare and Rehabilitation (Guardian), Quality Life Services Chicora, Premier Armstrong Rehabilitation and Nursing Center, and Sunnyview Rehabilitation and Nursing Center. The patients ranged in age from 43 to 104 years old and some were diabetic, while others were not.

The attorney general’s office said Pressdee often “administered the insulin during overnight shifts when staffing was low and the emergencies would not prompt immediate hospitalization.”

In total, Pressdee allegedly killed at least 17 patients and mistreated 22 while they were under her care.

The first-degree murder charges stem from cases where “physical evidence is available to support the cause of death,” and the attempted murder charges are from incidents “where the victims either survived the excessive dosage of insulin, or the cause of death could not be determined,” according to the attorney general’s office.

On Thursday, Nov. 2, the Honorable Maura Palumbi arraigned Pressdee. She remains held in the Butler County Prison without bail.

Henry said in a statement, “The allegations against Ms. Pressdee are disturbing. It is hard to comprehend how a nurse, trusted to care for her patients, could choose to deliberately and systematically harm them.”

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HALL COUNTY, Ga. (TCD) — A 33-year-old man and his 34-year-old wife were sentenced to several years in prison after a 2-year-old girl they were babysitting died from a “traumatic brain injury.”

Hall County court records show Juan Martinez was sentenced to 29 years in prison with one year of probation after he entered an Alford plea to second-degree murder. His wife, Nancy Martinez, received eight years behind bars with two years of probation for cruelty to a child. Both Juan and Nancy Martinez were initially charged with murder, first-degree cruelty to a child, and second-degree cruelty to a child.

On Oct. 10, 2021, Hall County Fire Services responded to the 2000 block of Bennett Circle and transported Valeria Jordan Garfias to the Northeast Georgia Medical Center. She was later flown to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta for additional treatment, but she died from her injuries.

Deputies spoke with Juan Martinez and Nancy Martinez about the girl’s death and arrested them the next day.

The Hall County Sheriff’s Office said the married couple “caused traumatic brain injury and other internal injuries to the child’s body, resulting in her eventual death.”

Juan and Nancy Martinez were babysitting the little girl at the time of her death.

Law & Crime reports Juan Martinez got mad at Garfias because she defecated on a chair.  As a result, he reportedly hit her several times. Nancy Martinez was reportedly at work when he struck the girl, but she was implicated because she supposedly did not tell officials the truth about how Garfias died.

Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Bagwell reportedly said in court Juan Martinez was “angry because Valeria wet her diaper and poop came out on the chair at the table, and that she was supposed to let them know when she had to go potty.”

At the sentencing hearing, Judge Jason Deal reportedly told the Martinezes, “In this case, I’m faced with the facts that a child less than 3 years old was beat to death while she was in the care of the two defendants. And when the defendants were confronted with that fact, Mrs. Martinez chose Mr. Martinez over this child. And Mr. Martinez chose to be less than truthful, which they both had a right to do.”

He continued, “But they claimed that this was their child, that they loved this child, that this child called them mother and father. Yet when she died, they chose to lie.”

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EVERMAN, Texas (TCD) — A mother was indicted on murder and several other charges for allegedly killing her 6-year-old son, who has been missing for a year.

In a Monday, Oct. 30, press conference, Everman Police Chief C.W. Spencer announced a Tarrant County grand jury charged Cindy Rodriguez-Singh with one count of capital murder, two counts of injury of a child, and one count of abandoning without the intent to return in connection with Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez’s disappearance and death. Spencer said the indictment will “significantly support” efforts to extradite Rodriguez-Singh back to Texas from India.

Rodriguez-Alvarez went missing exactly one year ago.

On March 20, 2023, Everman Police officers responded to a home on the 3700 block of Wisteria Drive to conduct a welfare check on the children who lived at the home, including Rodriguez-Alvarez. Officers spoke with Rodriguez-Singh, and she allegedly said Rodriguez-Alvarez was staying with some family in Mexico, but Everman Police said that was “misinformation.”

Two days later, Rodriguez-Singh, her husband, and six children boarded a flight to India. Rodriguez-Alvarez, however, was not present.

Police learned several days after the family left that Rodriguez-Singh paid for new concrete to be poured on the porch at their home. Investigators were able to obtain a search warrant and looked through the concrete and soil but did not find anything.

An arrest warrant was issued March 31 for Rodriguez-Singh and her husband, Arshdeep Singh, for abandoning or endangering a child.

In an April update, Everman Police announced detectives were shifting from an endangered missing person case to a death investigation.

Police said Rodriguez-Singh was “known by relatives to be abusive and neglectful to Noel,” which included allegedly beating the boy with keys because he drank water. She allegedly withheld food and water because “Cindy did not like changing Noel’s dirty diapers.”

On July 21, 2022, Rodriguez-Alvarez attended a speech therapy appointment. He missed several other appointments after that, which caused the Texas Department of State Health Services to reach out to Rodriguez-Singh to warn her she could lose government benefits for the boy. Everman Police said Rodriguez-Singh allegedly asked a friend’s son to pretend to be Rodriguez-Alvarez at the doctor’s office.

He was still alive in October because he was reportedly seen at the hospital after Rodriguez-Singh gave birth to twins. Following the birth, Rodriguez-Singh allegedly referred to Rodriguez-Alvarez as “evil” and “possessed.” She also reportedly believed he had a demon living inside him.

The next month, in November, Rodriguez-Singh reportedly got photos and applied for passports for her six children, except for Rodriguez-Alvarez. When people asked about Rodriguez-Alvarez’s whereabouts, she allegedly said he was in Mexico with his biological father, in Mexico with his aunt, or that she sold him to a woman in a market parking lot.

Investigators determined Rodriguez-Alvarez had not been trafficked or sold.

In honor of Rodriguez-Alvarez’s memory, the city of Everman passed a resolution to name a new playground after him. They opted to take out his mother’s name from the title and named the park Noel Angel Alvarez Playground.

Spencer said at the Oct. 30 press conference, “The last thing I want is to have a 6-year-old boy die at the hands of his mother. That’s not what I want, but that’s the facts that we’re faced with here and that’s what we’re looking at.”

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