Tag: Americas

KENT COUNTY, Del. (TCD) — A couple pleaded guilty to the “serial abuse and torture of their children” that occurred over the course of nearly two years.

According to an Oct. 18 news release from the Delaware Attorney General’s Office, over a span of 20 months, 46-year-old Mary Vinson and 37-year-old Charles Vinson subjected their children to a series of abusive acts. They reportedly forced them to stand for extended periods of time, deprived them of food, forcibly fed them, and repeatedly inflicted violent physical assaults.

Both children, who have since been placed under the care of the Division of Family Services, were hospitalized multiple times due to the abuse. The Attorney General’s Office said the abuse was documented on video because Charles and Mary Vinson installed cameras in the children’s room.

According to the Attorney General’s Office, one of the victims was 10 years old at the time, while the other child was abused from age 11 to 13.

The couple was initially indicted on 646 charges in September 2022.

On Sept. 26, Mary Vinson pleaded guilty to six counts of first-degree child abuse, seven counts of attempted first-degree child abuse, two counts of first-degree kidnapping, three counts of attempted second-degree assault, four counts of strangulation, three counts of first-degree reckless endangering, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, two counts of second-degree conspiracy, and one count of false statement to police.

Charles Vinson pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree child abuse, two counts of first-degree kidnapping, one count of second-degree assault, two counts of act of intimidation, two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, two counts of second-degree conspiracy, and one count of third-degree child abuse.

In a statement, Attorney General Jennings said, “These are the cases that keep us up at night. The pain that these children endured — and that it was inflicted by people who should have been their protectors — is unthinkable.”

The Vinsons are scheduled to be sentenced in January. Mary Vinson faces a minimum of 30 years and up to 444 years in prison. Charles Vinson faces a minimum of 10 years and up to 158 years in prison.

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NEW ORLEANS (TCD) — Three children, all younger than 8 years old, were killed in a house fire early Wednesday morning in what police are now investigating as a homicide case.

The New Orleans Fire Department said in a statement firefighters received a call Wednesday, Oct. 18, at 12:09 a.m., about “possible persons trapped” inside a home on the 4900 block of America Street. Trucks arrived five minutes later and fire crew were told that three children were likely still in the residence.

Firefighters started an “interior attack” of the fire and searched for the children at the same time. They discovered an unresponsive child near the front door and another between the kitchen and entryway. Firefighters tried to resuscitate them before EMS arrived and transported the two juveniles to the hospital, where they died. WVUE-TV reports the victims were an 8-year-old boy and 5-year-old girl.

The fire department received a request for a second alarm at 12:27 a.m. because firefighters did not want the blaze to spread to neighboring homes. Officials continued to search the home for the third child and found a toddler “near the center of the dwelling.” The 3-year-old child was already dead.

According to the statement, 17 trucks and other vehicles responded to the home with 46 fire personnel battling the flames. The fire was under control at 12:40 a.m.

Police reportedly suspect the children’s father, Joseph Washington, started the blaze. WVUE shared surveillance footage from a neighbor’s Ring camera that showed the fire and a man exiting the home, then getting into a dark vehicle. About 11 hours later, a black Dodge Charger was reportedly pulled out of a levee.

Washington’s father, Troy McDonnell, urged his son to turn himself in.

According to the New Orleans Advocate, McDonnell also said, “If I catch him, I’m gonna kill him.”

The children’s mother was reportedly at work when the fire broke out, and she is now allegedly at the hospital being monitored for suicide. Washington and the children’s mother married in 2014 but split up five years later.

Washington has previously been convicted of domestic violence-related crimes. The New Orleans Advocate reports he often choked the children’s mother, hit her, and threatened to kill her in 2018. She later filed for a restraining order against him.

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MILWAUKEE (TCD) — A 45-year-old man is being charged with several child neglect-related crimes after his 12-year-old son was found dead and badly decomposing in his home.

The Milwaukee Police Department announced the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office charged Romuan Moye with one count each of chronic neglect of a child — consequence is death, chronic neglect of a child — consequence is bodily harm, chronic neglect of a child, and failure to report the death of a child in connection with his son’s death.

The boy was found dead Oct. 10 at approximately 6:10 p.m. at a home on the 4100 block of North Elmhurst Road. Milwaukee Police said the child’s cause of death was still under investigation.

According to the criminal complaint, police went to the home after receiving a call about a deceased child whose body was “in an advanced state of decomposition.”

WITI-TV identified the victim as Jacarie Robinson. The affidavit says Jacarie lived at Moye’s house with two other children, but they were staying with their mother at the time.

Police spoke with Moye’s son, who said he went to Moye’s house four to five days before Jacarie was found dead. The son, who was identified as “JM” in the affidavit, said Moye was “acting abnormal, repeatedly taking deep breaths.” JM said he was worried about his father and asked Moye to keep in touch. JM reportedly did not go into the house, nor did he see Jacarie.

On Oct. 8, JM reportedly texted his father and said he was going to drop off two of his siblings at Moye’s house. Moye initially agreed, then later said he was not home. Two days later, JM went to Moye’s residence, knocked on the door, and asked his father to come outside.

Moye did not answer, so JM went inside. The affidavit says he was “immediately struck by the strong odor from inside,” but he did not see anyone. He went outside, then reentered. When he walked through the living room, he reportedly “observed a human foot protruding from covers on the living room floor.”

JM reportedly lifted up the cover and saw Jacarie’s face “eaten up” and decomposed “with maggots present.” His body had been wrapped in a blanket and his face covered with a torn T-shirt.

According to the affidavit, Moye allegedly told JM he had cancer and that it started to worsen. JM also told investigators Moye had reportedly recently been forbidding Jacarie to see other relatives. Moye would allegedly let other siblings go out of the house, but not Jacarie. JM reportedly last saw Jacarie alive on the boy’s birthday on Aug. 19, and noticed he looked “extremely skinny.”

JM reportedly asked Jacarie if he was OK, and Jacarie allegedly responded, “No.”

The affidavit says Jacarie’s mother had not seen him for three years, but she spoke with him on the phone about five weeks prior to his death. Moye allegedly told the mother Jacarie often stole food, so he would not let the boy go to her house. The other children, however, could go. The mother sent Moye a text on Oct. 10 asking to see Jacarie, but Moye reportedly never responded.

Police searched the home and noticed “an overwhelming smell of mold, feces, and decay.”

The home was reportedly covered in trash and mold, including the kitchen and bathroom sinks.

Jacarie’s siblings allegedly told police Moye home-schooled them and that Jacarie “misbehaves and gets into constant trouble.” Jacarie reportedly often snuck into the kitchen to steal food.

The autopsy showed Jacarie had several fractured bones, some of which were in the process of healing. He weighed 54 pounds when he died and was “extremely malnourished and emaciated.”

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DELAWARE COUNTY, Ind. (TCD) — A 30-year-old man will spend seven decades in prison for “brutally executing” his neighbor last year over his electrical issues.

According to the Delaware County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, on Monday, Oct. 16, a judge sentenced Cy Alley to 60 years in prison for the murder of 59-year-old Gary Copley. Alley was given an additional 10 years for use of a firearm during the commission of the murder. A jury convicted Alley on Sept. 15 after deliberating for around 20 minutes.

According to the affidavit posted by the Attorney’s Office, on Aug. 23, 2022, the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home at 12361 E. 500 N Road to a report of a shooting. Upon their arrival, deputies found Copley lying up against his house deceased with multiple gunshot wounds.

The Sheriff’s Office recovered a spent 12-gauge shotgun shell at the scene.

A witness told deputies they were on a walk when they saw Alley shoot the victim multiple times, enter a black Ford F-250, and drive off. Another witness reportedly went to check on Copley and found him dead.

According to the affidavit, deputies located Alley at 9119 N CR 900 E., and the SWAT Team apprehended him without incident. Officials found a similar unspent shotgun shell in Alley’s pocket that matched the spent one found at the scene.

Alley reportedly said he was “having trouble with his electricity at his house,” and he believed Copley was “hacking into his network.”

When Alley went to confront Copley about his electricity issues, the Attorney’s Office said Alley shot the victim four times with the “intent to kill him.” He reportedly told authorities the gun he used was in his black Ford F-250, which was later recovered.

The Attorney’s Office noted that Alley was “not remorseful for his actions.”

During the trial, evidence was presented indicating that Alley shot Copley two times, reloaded his weapon, and then shot him two more times. According to the Attorney’s Office, Alley “asserted the defenses of insanity and self-defense.”

During his sentencing, the Attorney’s Office said the court “noted the sheer brutality of Alley’s acts” and that it was “much like a predator chasing his prey.”

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SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. (TCD) — A 41-year-old man allegedly fatally strangled his mother-in-law in her home last week.

On Thursday, Oct. 12, at approximately 2:47 p.m., the Shelby Township police and fire departments responded to a home on the 14000 block of Stoney Brook West Drive, where they found 79-year-old Stella Lopiccolo Maltese deceased. Police determined her death was “suspicious.”

Police conducted several search warrants and interviews, which led to them to arrest Kenneth McDonald hours after his mother-in-law was found dead.

According to the Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office, McDonald was charged with second-degree murder, which means he could face up to life in prison. He was arraigned Oct. 16 and was denied bond.

McDonald is set to appear in court for a probable cause hearing Monday, Oct. 30.

In a statement, Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido said, “A son-in-law is expected to show respect to his mother-in-law, just as he would to his own mother. We are committed to ensuring justice prevails in this case.”

The investigation is ongoing.

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TITUSVILLE, Fla. (TCD) — A 31-year-old woman will spend the foreseeable future in prison for killing a 36-year-old woman during an argument and abandoning her body in Tennessee.

In a statement, the 18th Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office announced Courtney Gibson was sentenced to 30 years behind bars after she pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and tampering with evidence in connection with Anna Primavere’s death. Gibson will also be required to serve 10 years of supervised probation, which includes psychiatric evaluations and treatment.

Gibson will get credit for her over 1,300 days in jail.

According to the State’s Attorney’s Office, Primavere was reported missing in February 2020 from a residence on Trinidad Avenue. She had been renting a room in a residence where Gibson worked as a babysitter for the landlord’s child while he was out of town. When the landlord got back, his child was alone and Gibson and Primavere were nowhere to be found.

Investigators found “evidence that a crime scene had been cleaned and the mattress from Primavere’s room was missing.”

Primavere’s body was discovered in Gibson’s vehicle in Lebanon, Tennessee. The statement says police suspect the two women “had a confrontation in the home that led to Primavere’s murder.”

WKMG-TV reports detectives searched Primavere’s room, which “revealed alarming circumstances and physical evidence that she may have been harmed.”

Surveillance footage from Feb. 22, 2020, reportedly showed Gibson driving away from the residence with a mattress on the roof of her car. The mattress reportedly toppled off, so she burned it on the side of the road.

Gibson turned herself in to authorities Feb. 27, 2020.

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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (TCD) — A man will serve 17 years in prison for shooting a service dog and killing its owner in 2021.

According to the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office, on Monday, Oct. 16, a judge handed down the sentence against Xavier Marquez for the murder of Shawn Lynch.

On Sept. 22, 2021, the Albuquerque Police Department said Marquez, who was 22 years old at the time, was sitting in his car in front of his home on Kentucky Street SE when Lynch, 34, was walking in the area with his service dog. According to police, the two exchanged words before Marquez shot the service dog, and they began arguing. The dispute escalated, and Marquez reportedly shot Lynch in the head.

According to KOB-TV, the argument allegedly began because the service dog barked at Marquez while Lynch was on his way to a barbecue.

Following the shooting, police said Marquez changed his clothes and fled the scene on a scooter or moped.

Lynch suffered severe injuries and died several days later, on Monday Sept. 27, 2021.

Marquez was initially charged with an open count of murder, shooting at an occupied dwelling, and extreme cruelty to animals. He pleaded guilty in February to second-degree murder with a firearm enhancement and fourth-degree extreme animal cruelty, according to KOB.

At the sentencing, Marquez apologized and said, “I’ve lost a lot of close people due to gun violence, so I do regret the actions that took place, and I do send my condolences from the bottom of my heart to the family that lost a loved one.”

Lynch leaves behind a 6-year-old child. KOB reports the dog made a full recovery after the shooting.

The District Attorney’s Office noted that Marquez has a separate homicide case pending. Police allege he fatally shot 34-year-old Daniel Bustos at a Travel Lodge motel in Northwest Albuquerque in June 2021.

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MIAMI (TCD) — Two brothers and another man allegedly kidnapped an individual and threatened to kill him after realizing he wasn’t the intended victim.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, on Friday, Oct. 13, Jeffry Arista, Jonathan Arista, and Raymond Gomez “forcefully” abducted the victim outside his apartment and transported him to an Airbnb in Plantation, Florida. There, they realized “they had abducted the wrong person” and allegedly began assaulting him.

WTVJ-TV reports that one of the defendants forced the victim into a white Dodge Charger while wearing a police uniform, a ballistic vest, and a gold badge on his belt. Another defendant allegedly drove the vehicle with a police light. During transport, the two reportedly made the victim wear a head covering as they drove him to the Airbnb, and they threw his phone out of the vehicle.

According to the affidavit obtained by WTVJ, the third kidnapper met them at the Airbnb, removed the victim’s mask, and asked for his name, “implying they had kidnapped the wrong individual.”

The defendants reportedly took the victim’s ID from his wallet and discovered they had the wrong person. According to WTVJ, the trio intended to kidnap the victim’s strip club co-worker instead.

After realizing they had the wrong person, the kidnappers reportedly brought the man into a bathroom, covered his face with several black masks, and began waterboarding him. The Attorney’s Office said they also threatened his life, aiming firearms, Tasers, and an electric drill at him.

The suspects reportedly learned the intended target worked at the Booby Trap gentlemen’s club with the victim, so they drove him there in a Porsche.

According to the Attorney’s Office, the kidnappers “ordered the victim to go into the business and lure out the intended target.” However, once inside, the victim called law enforcement, and officials apprehended the alleged kidnappers.

In an interview, WTVJ reports that Gomez told investigators that he and the Arista brothers were taking orders from another individual because the intended victim owed a monetary debt.

The three defendants face federal charges of kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap. Jeffry Arista and Jonathan Arista appeared in federal court Monday, Oct. 16. Gomez has not yet appeared in court.

The three suspects each face a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

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DETROIT (TCD) — A 53-year-old woman was shot and killed at a baby shower over the weekend after she and the suspect reportedly got into an argument about the victim’s son.

According to WXYZ-TV, the shooting occurred Sunday, Oct. 15, at a home on Edmore Street. The suspect, who was not named, reportedly showed up at the baby shower even though she was not invited. WXYZ reports the women had an argument during which the victim, Phebe Williams, allegedly hit the suspect. Then, the suspect allegedly pulled out a gun and shot Williams.

Williams’ niece told WXYZ that the suspect is “a friend of the family” and that Williams and the suspect had been close friends since childhood.

The woman reportedly alleged Williams’ son was involved in a crime, which she reported to Detroit Police on Friday, Oct. 13.

WDIV-TV reports the suspect drove to a nearby Detroit Police precinct and turned herself in.

Detroit Police Capt. Donna McCord said in a news briefing, “After the shooting, the female fled to our Detroit police 9th Precinct, and the victim’s son followed her to that location and struck her with his vehicle.”

Both the son and the suspect are reportedly in custody.

Williams’ niece said to WXYZ, “Y’all could have just fought. You didn’t have to pull a gun. There’s kids in the house. It’s a lot of people in the house, so why would you pull out a gun?”

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JUPITER, Fla. (TCD) — A jury found a man guilty last week of abusing his adopted son and confining him to a windowless room in his garage with nothing but a bucket, desk, and mattress.

Palm Beach County court records show Tim Ferriter was convicted Oct. 12 of aggravated child abuse, false imprisonment, and neglect of a child. Assistant Palm Beach County State Attorney Brianna Coakley said prosecutors are “very happy with the verdict.”

According to WPTV-TV, the victim testified at Ferriter’s trial and said he never wanted to be locked in the room and stuck there, saying it was “dehumanizing.” However, he said he did not “have a bad image” of Ferriter and his wife, Tracy, who is awaiting trial on the same charges.

The teen said, “They just made a mistake. They were just acting out of frantic surprise of my actions,” and that they “weren’t trying to do any harm.”

Forensic psychologist Dr. Sheila Rapp testified at Ferriter’s trial and said the victim suffers from reactive attachment disorder. She said she does not “believe that they were malicious in so far as they were deliberately trying to abuse and hurt their child.”

A different psychologist. Dr. Wade Myers, however, said on the stand, “It was a longstanding pattern of harsh, cruel and demeaning actions toward this child, as well as close to three years of essentially solitary confinement when he was not in school, as well as really sadistic punishments while he was locked away in the room.”

The Palm Beach Post reports Tim Ferriter was offered a plea deal that would have required two years in prison with five years of probation, but he rejected it.

On Jan. 30, 2022, Jupiter Police responded to a home about a missing runaway and found an “8×8 structure within the garage that was described by the mother as a small office.” The structure had a deadbolt on it and locked from the outside, while inside, there was only a mattress, bucket, and camera. Police located the boy at school and learned he had been “forcibly confined” and locked in the structure since at least 2017.

Tracy and Tim Ferriter, his adoptive parents, allowed him to go to school, but he was reportedly locked inside the structure when he returned. Jupiter Police said his parents would bring him food and made him use the bucket as his toilet.

The Ferriters were arrested in February 2022.

According to Tim Ferriter’s arrest affidavit, the boy said Ferriter once “slammed him against a wall by his neck and struck him in the face with an open hand.” Other abuse included Tim Ferriter spitting in the boy’s face and spanking him with a belt. Most of the teen’s meals consisted of leftovers, the affidavit says.

The victim said the abuse “happened a lot in Arizona” when they lived there for about five years.

The Palm Beach Post reports Ferriter plans to appeal the verdict.

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