RNA

Wednesday 27 April 2022

Prosecutor: Teen planned rape, killing of Wisconsin girl

A prosecutor says a 14-year-old boy accused of killing a 10-year-old Wisconsin girl knew the girl and planned the attack

28 April 2022, 02:05

3 min read

CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. -- A 14-year-old boy accused of killing a 10-year-old Wisconsin girl knew the girl and planned the attack, knocking her down and choking her before sexually assaulting her, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

The body of Illiana “Lily” Peters was found Monday along a walking trail just a day after she went missing while returning home from an aunt's house a few blocks away, sparking anxiety in her small western Wisconsin community before the teenager's arrest Tuesday.

The boy, identified only by his initials, appeared in adult court in Chippewa County by video from a juvenile detention center. Judge Benjamin Lane agreed to District Attorney Wade Newell's request for $1 million cash bond.

Lane said the high bond was necessary to protect the community given the teen's "statements regarding his intentions and his statements regarding that when he did get off the trail, he punched the victim in the stomach, knocked her to the ground, essentially strangled her, hit her with a stick, before strangling her to the point of death -- before he then sexually assaulted her,” Newell told the judge at the bond hearing.

The teen made statements “that his intention was to rape and kill the victim from the get-go,” Newell said.

The defense had argued for $100,000 cash bond.

The judge sealed the criminal complaint, but Newell said after the hearing that the boy is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree sexual assault and first-degree sexual assault of a child under age 13 resulting in great bodily harm.

Wisconsin law generally calls for juveniles age 10 and up to be prosecuted as adults when they are charged with first-degree intentional homicide. The judge set a May 5 status hearing in the case.

Chippewa Falls Police Chief Matthew Kelm announced the arrest of the suspect Tuesday evening, after police earlier executed a search warrant at the home of Lily's aunt and the last place the girl was seen before she disappeared. Kelm said police got more than 200 tips, calling them “critical” to the investigation.

"While nothing will bring Lily Peters back or change what happened, we are very grateful to be able to deliver this news for the family and for the community,” Kelm said.

People in the town of about 13,000 left drawings, flowers, candles and stuffed animals at Lily's elementary school and on a downtown bridge to remember the girl, with some residents dressing in purple to honor her. Chelsea Torgerson said she kept her daughter home from school Tuesday, before the arrest was announced, “just for my own peace of mind.”

“I know these things happen in the world every day, but this is just so close," she told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Chippewa Falls is about 100 miles (161 kilometers) east of the Twin Cities.

US prosecutors indict Mexican Mafia leadership in California

Federal prosecutors have announced a sweeping racketeering case against the leaders of the Mexican Mafia that controlled Latino street gangs in Orange County, California

28 April 2022, 02:28

4 min read

ORANGE, Calif. -- Federal prosecutors announced a sweeping racketeering case Wednesday aimed at dismantling the leadership of the Mexican Mafia that controlled street gangs in part of Southern California.

The indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court against three members of the group and 28 associates includes allegations of two murders, six attempted killings, extortion and drug trafficking in Orange County.

Prosecutors said the case would not eradicate the organization, which mainly operates from behind bars to call shots on crimes in prison and on the streets. But the prosecution would disrupt the leadership that arose when the longtime kingpin who for decades controlled gang activity in Orange County was convicted of racketeering in 2016.

“The message that this case sends is that if you rise to power in that vacuum, we will come for you,” U.S. Attorney Tracy Wilkison said. “No gang member is beyond our reach.”

Twenty-one of those charged were already in custody and nine others were arrested in the past two days. One remained a fugitive.

The 106-page indictment charges members of the group with conspiring to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, committing violent crimes to aid racketeering, conspiring to traffic drugs, dealing methamphetamine and heroin, and firearms charges.

The Mexican Mafia, which was started in the 1950s at a juvenile jail and grew to an international criminal organization that controls smuggling, drug sales and extortion inside California’s penal system, is made up of leaders of different street gangs.

Leaders direct associates to collect “taxes” on drugs proceeds and order hits on enemies or people who betray them or violate their rules.

For decades, Peter Ojeda was the head of the Mexican Mafia in Orange County, calling shots from inside prison. After Ojeda's racketeering conviction and subsequent 2018 death in prison, Johnny Martinez, Robert Aguirre, and Dennis Ortiz filled the leadership void, prosecutors said.

“The triumvirate of new leaders had expanded the Mexican Mafia’s control over the street gangs and Latino inmates in Orange County jails,” Wilkison said. “Those gang overseers stepped up punishment of those who violated their rules.”

It wasn’t immediately clear if Martinez, Aguirre and Ortiz had lawyers who could comment on their behalf.

The indictment describes a series of crimes carried out as part of the racketeering conspiracy that range from shaking people down for money or dealing drugs to murders plotted for showing disrespect or violating orders.

One man was shot to death in January 2017 during an armed robbery that had been ordered. Another was lured into a car in August that year and shot seven times for failing to pay a drug debt to Martinez, according to the indictment.

At least two of the defendants in the case were also targets of violence but managed to survive vicious attacks.

Gregory Munoz was shot seven times on the street in August 2017 after Martinez ordered him to be removed as a so-called shot caller, the indictment said. He survived and is among the defendants.

Another defendant, Michael Cooper, survived two hits — in January 2018 and another attack on New Year's Eve 2019. Martinez allegedly ordered the killing because Cooper had ordered a hit he hadn't sanctioned and was also suspected of causing a police raid on a gang.

Cooper was stabbed multiple times in the head and back area in the first attack in Calipatria State Prison and cut in the throat and face the second time.

At least four others survived attempted slayings for allegedly abusing their authority, warning others they were targets of violence and showing disrespect to Martinez. One man had his throat slit for allegedly talking about snitching on the Mexican Mafia.

Brian Gilhooly of the FBI said that one of the goals of bringing the case is to lock up leaders farther from their home turf in federal prisons, where it's harder to smuggle contraband.

Despite being locked in prisons where cellphones are banned and communications are monitored, the Mexican Mafia operates through a crude but elaborate communication network of speaking in code with smuggled phones, notes passed between inmates and instructions sent through girlfriends and confidantes who visit.

“We are going to make sure that these individuals get lengthy sentences, and get sent to other prisons throughout the country,” Gilhooly said.

Fire crews prepare for dry thunderstorms, erratic winds

From the Southwestern U.S. to the southern High Plains, forecasters are warning that more strong winds and low humidity will challenge fire crews over the coming days

28 April 2022, 00:01

3 min read

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- From the Southwestern U.S. to the southern High Plains, forecasters are warning that more strong winds and low humidity will challenge fire crews over the coming days.

More strong winds and low humidity levels are on tap for the coming days, prompting firefighters in drought-stricken New Mexico to cut away brush and burn out any extra fuel Wednesday in an effort to keep the flames of what has become the largest wildfire burning in the U.S. from reaching homes that are still in its path.

The perimeter of the fire stretches more than 180 miles (290 kilometers). It has moved across meadows and up mountainsides, forcing residents from several villages to flee as the flames consumed family ranches, a community center and other structures.

Authorities said Wednesday they continue to work on damage assessments but haven't been able to access some areas that are still hot.

“Fire is creeping all over the place,” San Miguel Deputy County Manager Jesus Romero said, noting the danger has yet to pass and it's unclear when people will be allowed back into the area.

The Southwest has been bearing the brunt of large fires, with five incident management teams assigned, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. One complex incident management team was overseeing a large fire in Nebraska.

More than 200 firefighters in that state were battling a prairie fire that has been burning since last week. About 65 square miles (168 square kilometers) of mostly grasses and farmland have been blackened, several homes have been destroyed and at least one person was killed.

The fire was about three-quarters contained going into Wednesday, and crews were hopeful that a storm system expected to push through the area would bring much-needed moisture. While rain would be welcomed, there were also concerns that any lightning could spark new fires and gusts could spread existing fires.

Meanwhile, crews in New Mexico were most worried about dry thunderstorms. No moisture was predicted, just erratic winds that could fan flames and ground the air tankers and water-dropping helicopters that have been aiding from above.

In Arizona, crews on Wednesday worked to contain two major wildfires, with firefighters gaining ground on containment of a blaze in the Prescott National Forest after winds on Tuesday pushed the fire outward. Near Flagstaff, crews patrolled burned areas of a different large fire and looked for hot spots amid milder weather.

Nationally, large fires have burned more than 1,688 square miles (4,372 square kilometers) this year, putting the U.S. on track to far outpace the 10-year average.

The pressure on firefighters is not likely to let up anytime soon. Climate outlooks indicate likely below normal precipitation from Texas through the southern Rockies and Great Basin, with above normal temperatures likely across much of the U.S into summer.

Facebook parent Meta expands Illinois data center in DeKalb

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is expanding a data center in northern Illinois and says more than 200 operational jobs will be based there once complete

28 April 2022, 00:37

2 min read

DEKALB, Ill. -- Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is expanding a data center in northern Illinois and says more than 200 operational jobs will be based there once complete.

The company announced the expansion Wednesday.

The company announced its initial plan for the DeKalb data center in June 2020, proposing an $800 million project in northern Illinois that would require about 100 operational employees once complete.

The expansion brings the total project cost to more than $1 billion, Meta said in a statement.

“We are thrilled to be expanding our presence in Illinois," said Darcy Nothnagle, director of community and economic development for Meta. “The city of DeKalb and the state of Illinois have been great partners from the beginning, and we look forward to a continued strong and fruitful partnership for years to come.”

Paul Borek, executive director of the DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation, said more than 1,200 construction workers have been at work on the site — “a boon to Illinois."

DeKalb officials and the company also touted Meta's grant program available to schools or nonprofits where it runs data centers, which will launch in DeKalb County this fall.

The county's school district Superintendent Minerva Garcia-Sanchez said it will create opportunities for local students.

"We look forward to the future as we transform from being known as an agricultural community to one of the leading technological centers in the nation and we look forward to our future endeavors," Garcia-Sanchez said.

Monday 25 April 2022

Melissa Lucio's execution delayed by Texas appeals court

A Texas appeals court on Monday delayed the execution of Melissa Lucio amid growing doubts about whether she fatally beat her 2-year-old daughter

26 April 2022, 04:53

5 min read

HOUSTON -- A Texas appeals court on Monday delayed the execution of Melissa Lucio amid growing doubts about whether she fatally beat her 2-year-old daughter in a case that has garnered the support of lawmakers, celebrities and even some jurors who sentenced her to death.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted a request by Lucio’s lawyers for a stay of execution so a lower court can review her claims that new evidence would exonerate her.

Lucio had been set for lethal injection Wednesday for the 2007 death of her daughter Mariah in Harlingen, a city of about 75,000 in Texas’ southern tip.

Prosecutors have maintained that the girl was the victim of abuse and noted that her body was covered in bruises. Lucio's lawyers say Mariah died from injuries she sustained in a fall down a steep staircase several days before she died.

“I am grateful the court has given me the chance to live and prove my innocence," Lucio said in a statement provided by her lawyers. “Mariah is in my heart today and always. I am grateful to have more days to be a mother to my children and a grandmother to my grandchildren. I will use my time to help bring them to Christ. I am deeply grateful to everyone who prayed for me and spoke out on my behalf.”

Lucio's mother, Esperanza Treviño, tearfully thanked all of her daughter's supporters, saying, “Thank God for the miracle."

Lucio was first told her execution had been delayed in a phone call with state Rep. Jeff Leach, a Republican who has helped lead a bipartisan effort to halt her execution, said Vanessa Potkin, one of Lucio’s attorneys who is with the Innocence Project.

“She sobbed. She was just overwhelmed," said Potkin.

In a statement, Leach said he was grateful the appeals court had “pushed the pause button on her execution, saving the state of Texas from the irreversible blunder of potentially killing an innocent citizen."

The execution stay was announced minutes before the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles had been set to consider Lucio's clemency application to either commute her death sentence or grant her a 120-day reprieve. The paroles board did not review her clemency petition because of the execution stay. If the case were to come back before the board in the future, Lucio's lawyers would have to file a new petition.

Lucio’s attorneys say her capital murder conviction was based on an unreliable and coerced confession that was the result of relentless questioning and her long history of being sexually, physically and emotionally abused. They say Lucio wasn’t allowed to present evidence questioning the validity of her confession.

Her lawyers also contend that unscientific and false evidence misled jurors into believing Mariah’s injuries could have been caused only by abuse and not by medical complications from a severe fall.

“It would have shocked the public’s conscience for Melissa to be put to death based on false and incomplete medical evidence for a crime that never even happened," said Potkin. "All of the new evidence of her innocence has never before been considered by any court. The court’s stay allows us to continue fighting alongside Melissa to overturn her wrongful conviction."

Cameron County District Attorney Luis Saenz, whose office prosecuted the case, said in a statement he expected the execution to be delayed because various legal issues remain unresolved.

“I welcome the opportunity to prosecute this case in the courtroom: where witnesses testify under oath, where witnesses may be cross-examined, where evidence is governed by the rules of evidence and criminal procedure ... That is our criminal jurisprudence system, and it is working," said Saenz, who was not in office when Lucio was tried in 2008.

During a sometimes contentious Texas House committee hearing on Lucio’s case this month, Saenz had said he disagreed with Lucio’s lawyers’ claims that new evidence would exonerate her. Prosecutors say Lucio had a history of drug abuse and at times had lost custody of some of her 14 children.

In its three-page order, the appeals court asked that the trial court in Brownsville that handled Lucio’s case review four claims her lawyers have made: whether prosecutors used false evidence to convict her; whether previously unavailable scientific evidence would have prevented her conviction; whether she is actually innocent; and whether prosecutors suppressed evidence that would have been favorable to her defense.

It was not immediately known when the lower court would begin reviewing her case. Tivon Schardl, one of Lucio's lawyers, said they hope to convince the trial judge to recommend a new trial. If such a recommendation is made, that would then be sent to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which would make the final decision on a new trial.

More than half the members of the Texas Legislature had asked that her execution be halted. A bipartisan group of state lawmakers traveled this month to Gatesville, where the state houses female death row inmates, and prayed with Lucio.

One of those lawmakers, El Paso Democratic state Rep. Joe Moody, tweeted that he was relieved for Lucio. “A stay confirms what we’ve said all along: Melissa Lucio shouldn’t be on death row," he wrote.

Five of the 12 jurors who sentenced Lucio and one alternate juror have questioned their decision and asked that she get a new trial.

Lucio’s cause also has the backing of faith leaders and celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, and it was featured on HBO’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.”

Michigan chief IDs officer who fatally shot Patrick Lyoya

Grand Rapids, Michigan, police have identified Christopher Schurr as the officer who killed Patrick Lyoya three weeks ago

26 April 2022, 09:43

5 min read

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- The Michigan police officer who killed Patrick Lyoya with a shot to the head has been with the Grand Rapids department for seven years, after starring as a pole vaulter at a small college and marrying his longtime girlfriend during a church mission trip to Africa.

Christopher Schurr’s name had been circulating since his face was seen in videos of the April 4 confrontation with Lyoya, a Black man. But his identity wasn’t publicly acknowledged until Monday when the police chief changed course and released it, three days after passionate demands at the funeral of the 26-year-old native of Congo.

Chief Eric Winstrom said he was acting “in the interest of transparency, to reduce ongoing speculation, and to avoid any further confusion," though no other information about Schurr's service with the department was released.

Lyoya, who was unarmed, was face down on the ground when he was shot in the back of the head, moments after a traffic stop in Michigan's second-largest city. Schurr was on top of him and can be heard on video demanding that he take his hand off the white officer’s Taser.

A forensic pathologist who conducted an autopsy at the family’s request said the gun was pressed to Lyoya’s head when he was shot.

The Associated Press left a phone message Monday seeking comment from Schurr, who remains off the job while state police investigate the shooting. The AP reached out to him several times over the past week, including knocking at the door of his suburban home. There was no answer.

Schurr, 31, grew up in Byron Center, just south of Grand Rapids, and joined the police in 2015 after attending Siena Heights University in Adrian, Michigan, where he studied accounting and was a star pole vaulter.

He won an NAIA national championship with a vault clearing 17 feet, ¾ inches and, as a junior, the university’s scholar-athlete award, according to Siena Heights' alumni magazine.

Schurr was active in his church when he was younger, taking missionary trips for Corinth Reformed Church in Byron Center, according to a 2014 story in Vaulter Magazine, a publication dedicated to the sport.

Schurr said he was getting married that year, and couldn’t afford to have a wedding celebration and take a separate trip to Kisi, Kenya, to build homes, so he decided to get married there.

“We’re going to do a wedding their style,” Schurr told the magazine. “I have an African outfit already and my fiancee will pick out some fabric and she’ll make a Kenyan-style dress.”

A Twitter account with his name that appears to belong to the officer follows a few national track and field athletes, including a pole vaulter. There are no Tweets associated with the account. A Facebook page with Schurr's name appears to have been taken down.

A college teammate, Ryan Hopson, said Schurr was mild-mannered and quiet in college, friendly and quick with a smile.

“He always had a good vibe,” Hopson said. “I can’t say nothing bad about him. I really can’t. ... I was shocked to see it was him, but I don’t know what it’s like to be a cop and have my life on the line."

Lyoya's family wants Schurr fired and charged. Prosecutor Chris Becker said he's waiting for the state police report.

“I want to do the right thing. But I realize even if I do the right thing, there is a segment of the population that is not going to be happy,” Becker told MLive.com.

The police department's decision to reveal Schurr's name was a reversal. After the release of video of the shooting, Winstrom insisted he would withhold the officer’s name unless he was charged with a crime. It was described as a long-standing practice that applied to the public as well as city employees.

But Lyoya's family and Black leaders, including the Rev. Al Sharpton, repeatedly pressed for it, including at Lyoya's funeral, which drew 1,000 people Friday.

“We want his name!” Sharpton shouted, saying authorities cannot set a precedent of withholding the names of officers who kill people unless the officer is charged.

Ven Johnson, an attorney for the family, said it’s important that Lyoya’s parents now know Schurr's name, though he scoffed at the police chief citing “transparency.”

“It’s not transparent when you hide something for three weeks. It’s quite the opposite,” Johnson said. “It’s cops taking care of the cops instead of treating it like a normal investigation.”

After Lyoya's funeral, Grand Rapids City Manager Mark Washington acknowledged the demand for the officer's name and said he would discuss the matter with Winstrom and city employment officials.

Grand Rapids, population about 200,000, is in western Michigan, 160 miles (257.5 kilometers) west of Detroit.

Man who damaged LGBTQ streetscape must write essay on Pulse

A man convicted of burning tire marks across a gay-pride streetscape in South Florida last summer must write a 25-page essay on the deadly 2016 shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando

26 April 2022, 01:52

2 min read

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. -- A man convicted of burning tire marks across a gay-pride streetscape in South Florida while participating in a rally for former President Donald Trump last summer must write a 25-page essay on the deadly 2016 shooting at a gay nightclub in the state.

A Palm Beach County circuit judge ordered Alexander Jerich, 20, of Lake Worth, to write the essay during a Thursday hearing, according to court records. The essay about the 49 people killed during the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando is due at a June 8 sentencing hearing for Jerich.

Jerich previously pleaded guilty to felony criminal mischief and misdemeanor reckless driving. Prosecutors are asking for 30 days in jail, community service and five years of probation, while defense attorneys argue for only community service and three years of probation.

Jerich joined a convoy of about 30 vehicles last June om Delray Beach to celebrate Trump's birthday, officials said. A video that quickly went viral showed a white pickup truck adorned with a Trump flag and registered to Jerich's father burning tire marks into a rainbow design painted on the road at an intersection.

Officials said the design had been unveiled just a day earlier to celebrate Pride Month, which is meant to promote LGBTQ rights.

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