Young Black Couple Murdered The Night Of Their Engagement Party Live On Via Youtube

Online Video Celebrates Nia And Michael

In memory of Nia Haqq and Michael Muchioki, an emotional Youtube clip is making its way across the Internet, demonstrating the Web's unlimited ability to intersect love, loss and technology. The New Jersey couple were senselessly murdered due to a robbery and carjacking on April 4, 2010 after leaving their engagement party. Watch the touching video after the jump.

The young soulmates were upwardly mobile college graduates, with Michael, 27, being a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, and Nia, 25, a Dean's List student who had just nabbed her dream job as an associate producer. Both were clearly ready to take on the world.

Our condolences go out to their families and loved ones.

To deal with the devastating pain, the couple's friends created a Facebook Fan Page and the viral tribute now pulling at the heartstrings of every person who briefly journeys into what was, and what might have been, lives full of possibility.

Each moment we breath is a gift folks. Unfortunately, it sometimes takes horrific tragedies like this to remind us all that we must cherish the short time have here on earth.

Nia and Michael's funerals were held separately last week, before later being buried side by side.

May they forever rest in peace.

Essence.com has additional details.

Latino Man's Justice 2008: Texas Grand Jury Clears White Man In Execution Of Burglers

The headline of this article could have been "White Man Cleared Of SHOOTING Burglars", but when you go outside and shoot two guys in the back with a shotgun who weren't even robbing you, but your neighbors house; then effectively that is an "execution."
Suburban White home owner Joe Horn, 61, was cleared of any criminal misdoings in the killing of suspected burglars, Hernando Riascos Torres, 38, and Diego Ortiz, 30,two unemployed illegal immigrants from Colombia.

This grand jury after all was a Texas Grand Jury and we know killing people of color in Texas is just a natural thing. And even though Torres was deported to Colombia in 1999 after a 1994 cocaine-related conviction. That is still no reason to soot someone in the back with a shotgun, because this grand jury has just made it open hunting season on people of people of color. But once again it's Texas and when has killing "brown" people gone out of style in Texas. All the crazy details are here in the AP story at the Sydney Morning Herald

Black Man's Justice 2008: Black Inmate Killed By Police In Jail Cell

In Upper Marlboro Maryland,the death of a 19-year-old found slumped in his cell a day after he was jailed on charges of running over and killing a police officer has been ruled a homicide, authorities said Monday.

The Maryland Medical Examiner ruled Monday that Ronnie White's death in Prince George's County Correctional Center the previous day was from asphyxiation and strangulation.

Maryland State Police and the FBI are investigating the death. The FBI is focusing on possible civil-rights violations.

White was charged with first-degree murder in the death Friday of 39-year-old Prince George's County Cpl. Richard Findley during a traffic stop.

A lawyer representing the family of Ronnie L. White, slain in his jail cell after being charged with killing a Prince George's County police officer, called on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and said White's death was an ominous indicator of serious misconduct inside the county detention system.

"This did not happen on some dark, abandoned, lonely road. This happened in broad daylight, in the custody of county officials," attorney Bobby G. Henry Jr. said at a news conference this morning. "Everyone who has someone or knows someone who is in the county correctional facility should have a problem with that."

Check out video from the article by Aaron C. Davis, Debbi Wilgoren and Rosalind S. Helderman Washington Post Staff Writers at washingtonpost.com

Was Jamiel Shaw, A Promising Black High School Football Player Gunned Down While His Mom Was Fighting In Iraq, "Net-Banging?"

It's not surprising that Jamiel Shaw Jr., the Southern California African American high school football star who was tragically gunned down on March 2 by an alleged Latino gang member, was a frequent MySpace user. What teen his age isn't on the ubiquitous social networking site.

Eerily speaking from the grave, however, Shaw's pictures and detailed postings may now be telling a different story. New information is shedding light on a case that has garnered national attention due to the circumstances and racial dynamic of this senseless murder. After the jump, the rest of the story.

Reportedly gunned down less than three blocks away from his home after a date, Jamiel Shaw had a bright future ahead of him. All the ingredients of a success story were right there. Top schools such as Stanford University were trying to recruit him. Last season, the 17-year-old football player earned both "Best Athlete of the Year" and "Most Valuable Player" honors at L.A. High School.

His mother, Army Sergeant Anita May Shaw, 43, was serving her second tour of duty in Iraq when she heard the devastating news about her baby. "They killed him while his mother is in Iraq, fighting, dodging bullets, and she gets a phone call saying her son is on the streets of L.A. dead ... for what?" said Jamiel Shaw, 47, the victim's father.

"He did everything we asked of him," added Shaw. "It's not right. We don't know what to do now. This is who we were living for."

But did his namesake, in fact, do "everything" to prevent his fate?

Police have previously deduced that Hispanic gang members asked Shaw if he belonged to a gang, and shot him even though he answered no. "This is brutal. It's a brutal, senseless act of violence," said LAPD Detective Frank Carillo at the time the incident initially occurred. "The victim was not a gang member, and unfortunately it's not uncommon in L.A. that we have some gang members approaching victims at random just to see if they are or are not [gang members] -- but to shoot him anyway? That's just disgusting."

What the divorced Shaw parents and police may have been completely oblivious to, however, was Jamiel's telling MySpace profile. It was allegedly there that his "other life" was an open book for anyone with a computer and a browser to see.

Butting Heads And Threatening To Expose Gang Affiliation, Prosecutor Taken Off Case

That the accused, Pedro Espinoza, is believed to be in the country illegally only compounds matters, particularly in light of the controversial Special Order 40, which prevents cops from asking the legal status of individuals in an effort to foster cooperation. Click to listen:

Now, many people suspect that Shaw was actually gunned down by the suspect in custody not because of his race, but because of his gangsta lifestyle promoted online without any regard.

The Jamiel Shaw that the media didn't know about proudly claimed membership in his neighborhood street gang Rollin 20's NHB (Neighborhood Bloods) on various MySpace pages. Brazenly posing for pictures, flashing gang signs and reportedly threatening violence against rival gangs including the crips and 18th Street gang (Ironically, the 18th Street gang is the set his alleged killer is from), Jamiel actually depicted dressed in red, which is the color of the Bloods.

According to Project Islamic HOPE' Najee Ali, Shaw was killed wearing several red colored items. The LA based civil rights activist belives this is a case of 'net-banging' in cyberspace, which can can be just as deadly despite the young man not being a hard core gang member, or even showing up in the gang database.

(Random guys posing as Blood gang members)

Was this a hate crime? The issue has become more blurred. Ali believes Jamiel was targeted because his murderer thought he was a rival gang member based on his red belt, wrist bands and Spiderman red backpack.

A coalition of Black and Latino community groups led by Ali is demanding that MySpace immediately, "ban all promotions of gang violence and gang culture by MySpace users, and is asking for community members nationwide to report objectionable comments and pictures that promote gangs."

A rally and press conference is scheduled Monday April 19 in Los Angeles to bring attention to this shocking twist. For more information, contact: Najee Ali (323) 350 1065.

Stay tuned as more details emerge from this incredible story.

Turns Out Diddy's Involvement In Tupac's Murder Was A Big Phat Lie!

White Prison Inmate James Sabatino
Dupes L.A. Times

News reports last week claiming that the 1994 shooting of Tupac Shakur in the lobby of a Manhattan recording studio was carried out by associates of Sean "Diddy" Combs and that the rap impresario knew of the plot beforehand was based largely on fabricated FBI reports.

Per The Smoking Gun, it appears the Los Angeles Times has been hoaxed by an imprisoned White con man and accomplished document forger, an audacious swindler who has created a fantasy world in which he managed hip-hop luminaries, conducted business with Combs, Shakur, Busta Rhymes, and The Notorious B.I.G., and even served as Combs's trusted emissary to Death Row Records boss Marion "Suge" Knight during the outset of hostilities in the bloody East Coast-West Coast rap feud.

James Sabatino, 31, has long sought to insinuate himself, after the fact, in a series of important hip-hop events, from Shakur's shooting to the murder of The Notorious B.I.G.. In fact, however, this cat was little more than a rap devotee, a wildly impulsive, overweight kid from Florida.

The Times relied on "FBI records recently obtained by The Times" and interviews with several unnamed sources in its reexamination of the November 30, 1994 shooting of Shakur at Quad Studios near Times Square. Included in the paper's online package was a PDF of two key FBI interview reports cited in the 2800-word story, which was six months in the making and written by veteran reporter Chuck Philips, who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1999 for his coverage of corruption in the entertainment industry.

In addition to the documents posted on the Times site, a third purported FBI interview report was included by Sabatino in court papers he filed four months ago in U.S. District Court in Miami. In that civil case, Sabatino is suing Combs for $16 million over an alleged soured business deal from nearly a decade ago. According to Sabatino's complaint, which he prepared and filed himself from the Allenwood federal penitentiary in White Deer, Pennsylvania, Combs stiffed him on a $175,000 payment for audio and video recordings Sabatino made in 1994 of The Notorious B.I.G. (real name: Christopher Wallace).

But those FBI reports, dubbed "302s" due to the numbered government form on which they are prepared, are nowhere to be found in the bureau's computerized Automated Case Support database, TSG has learned. The ACS system allows investigators to search various bureau indices to determine whether particular individuals, groups, or topics have been referred to in FBI "302" reports or various other bureau documents.

The suspect documents contain information supposedly provided to agents in the FBI's New York office by an unnamed "confidential source." The records, which Sabatino himself has distributed, conveniently contain black redaction marks covering up the name of the agent (or agents) who prepared the "302s" as well as the corresponding FBI case number. However, since the documents are filled with the names of individuals and corporations, they can be tracked within the FBI system by working backwards (by subjects as opposed to case number or agent name).

And while Sabatino claims to have been provided the FBI reports during the discovery phase of a 2002 criminal case, a federal law enforcement official involved in that successful prosecution told TSG that the probe was headed by Secret Service representatives and that the FBI had no role whatsoever in the case. The official added that, at the time, investigators "had no inkling" of Sabatino's supposed role in the rap music world and never saw investigative reports detailing his purported involvement with hip-hop's leading figures or its assorted bloody disputes.

Additionally, an examination of the three documents revealed that the bodies of the respective "302s" were actually created on a typewriter (the "frame" of the reports is consistent with an authentic "302" template). In some instances, you can see where one letter was typed on top of an existing character, a so-called overstrike. In an interview, Bruce Mouw, a former FBI supervisor who headed the bureau's pursuit of John Gotti, estimated that agents ceased using typewriters about 30 years ago.

Most telling, though, are the obvious similarities (type size, font, line spacing, individual character renderings) between the purported "302s" and certain court filings created by Sabatino while he has been incarcerated at Allenwood (he was transferred last May from a Florida prison to the high-security penitentiary in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains). As with all other Bureau of Prisons (BoP) facilities, Allenwood provides inmates with access to photocopying machines, office supplies, and typewriters, according to the BoP's 2008 Legal Resource Guide. Inmates, the guide states, are "permitted a reasonable amount of time...to conduct their own legal research and to prepare legal documents."

A comparison of the "302s" and Sabatino's own court filings shows that the authors of each set of documents share remarkably similar spelling deficiencies. For instance, the word "making" appears as "makeing" in both the "302s" and Sabatino's pro se court pleadings. Similarly, the authors also have difficulty with the word "during." It appears as "durring" in both sets of documents.

After a reporter provided Philips and Marc Duvoisin, the deputy managing editor who edited the Times story, an account of TSG's findings, Duvoisin said that the newspaper would launch its own investigation to determine if the FBI documents cited in its story are real.

The first mention of the existence of the purported "302s" came in filings Sabatino made late last year in a civil lawsuit against Combs. According to the convict, he received the explosive "302s" during "discovery, trial, and other proceedings" in a federal fraud prosecution brought against him in New York in August 2002. That case, though, never went to trial. Sabatino pleaded guilty to two felonies in August 2003 and was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison.

While he described the contents of four separate "302s" in his court papers, Sabatino attached only two of those reports to a November court motion. One of those documents was posted on the Times web site, along with another report that was referred to in Sabatino's filings, but not included as an exhibit. So, between Sabatino and the Times, three of the four purported FBI reports have been made public (those documents can be found here, here, and here). Details from the fourth supposed "302," dated July 1, 2002, are included in recent Sabatino court filings.

Notably, the convicted felon publicly filed the two "confidential" FBI records as exhibits to a motion seeking a court order barring Combs from distributing the documents to journalists. The bizarre motion surfaced six weeks after Sabatino filed his original October 4 complaint, which made no mention of "302s," Shakur, or any confidential FBI source. But that document does contain some of Sabatino's traditional flights from reality.

Along with claiming that he had been promised a "creative consultant" credit on Wallace's posthumous album "Born Again," Sabatino charged that Combs had delayed paying off his outstanding $175,000 debt because, in late-1998, "it was reported that the Los Angeles police had named [Sabatino] a 'person of interest' in the murder of Christopher Wallace," according to a December 6 court filing.

Of course, no news reports back this claim.

And then there's the small matter of Sabatino's whereabouts on March 9, 1997, when Wallace was gunned down while seated in a GMC Suburban outside the Peterson Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. While he enjoys repeating the "theory" that he mysteriously bailed on a planned meeting with the rapper that fateful night, Sabatino was actually 2400 miles away from the crime scene. He was imprisoned in Miami's Federal Detention Center, where he still had six months to serve on a two-year sentence for separate felony convictions.

It is not Bureau of Prisons policy to allow cross-country furloughs. Even to attend the Soul Train Music Awards.

In his lawsuit against Combs, Sabatino denied prior knowledge of the plot to ambush Shakur, but added that he "does not contest that he was present at Quad Studios" on the night of the shooting. However, in the reams of copy about the 1994 attack, Sabatino's name has never appeared anywhere. The first time a publication linked him to the Shakur ambush came last week in the Times, thanks to one of the FBI "302s" obtained by the country's fourth-largest newspaper.

The New York Police Department probe of the Quad Studios incident was headed by Detective Joseph Babnik, who worked robbery cases out of the Midtown North precinct. In an interview, Babnik, now retired, told TSG that Sabatino's name "does not ring a bell" and that he could not recall anyone with that surname being connected to the Shakur case. Asked if he would have recalled a rotund white teenager being present at Quad Studios that night, Babnik said yes, adding that the only white witnesses he recalled interviewing were employed in technical capacities at the recording studio.

Shakur, who never hesitated to point fingers at those he suspected of setting up the Quad Studios shooting, never once mentioned Sabatino's supposed role in the attack.

In a three-page "302" dated December 30, 2002, the FBI's supposed confidential source reported first meeting Shakur through Sabatino in late-1993. Sabatino, born October 24, 1976, would have been 16 or 17 at the time of the Shakur introduction. The source went on to report that in February 1994, the 17-year-old Sabatino was rebuffed by Shakur when the teenager spoke to the performer about a "business offer." In short order, Sabatino and an associate devised a plan to "set up" the disrespectful Shakur, whom they decided needed to be "dealt with."

The "302" purportedly describing the behind-the-scenes machinations leading up to Shakur's assault also includes a narrative flourish that somehow escaped prior investigative or journalistic excavation. As has been widely reported, after Shakur was shot in the lobby of the Seventh Avenue building, he stumbled into an elevator and headed upstairs. When the elevator doors opened on a floor where members of the Combs entourage were milling about, a bleeding Shakur exited. Sabatino, the FBI source claimed, responded by yelling, "Get that piece of shit out of here!" Though the agent who authored the report (you know, the one whose name was conveniently redacted) actually spelled the third word in that sentence "peice."

Coincidentally, an examination of Sabatino's court filings shows that he, too, has a pronounced difficulty spelling words with the i-e and e-i couplings. He and the unnamed FBI agent apparently never memorized the old "i before e except after c" mnemonic device.

Court records show that the teenage Sabatino was living with his father in Boynton Beach, Florida around the time of the November 1994 Shakur shooting. In fact, a 1999 profile ("Con Kid") of Sabatino in Miami New Times opens with a scene from early-November 1994 in Florida. Sabatino, then 18, is masquerading as a Sony Music executive and palling around backstage with Julio Iglesias at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts.

Another "302," which Sabatino included as a motion exhibit in his Combs lawsuit, quotes the FBI's confidential source as saying that they met Combs through Sabatino in late-1991. At the time, Sabatino would have been only 14 or 15. Amazingly, such precociousness on his part went unremarked upon (or unnoticed) by the entertainment press. And to think, just years earlier, music journalists were falling all over themselves to chronicle how Rick Rubin, a relative graybeard at 21, was co-founding Def Jam from his room at NYU's Weinstein dormitory.

In fact, according to a suspect December 30, 2002 FBI report, the confidential source said that Combs even enlisted Sabatino, 18 at the time, to serve as his envoy to "broker a 'peace agreement'" between Combs's firm, Bad Boy Entertainment, and Suge Knight's Death Row Records. Sabatino, apparently the James Baker of b-boys, was sent West because, the FBI source noted, Combs felt he "would hold a little influence over Knight due to Sabatino's father, Peter Sabatino, a/k/a Fat Pete, a member of the Colombo crime family and his relationship with a individual in Las Vegas (NFI)."

After meeting with Knight in California, Sabatino reportedly told the source that the "situation" was resolved, apparently due to the teenager's efforts. But when problems resurfaced later, "the source stated that Sabatino told him that it was all Combs fault and that Combs did not do what he said he would." Here, the negligent FBI agent authoring the report made the mistake of identifying the confidential source's gender through the careless use of the pronoun "him," thus narrowing the field of informant possibilities by half.

While hip-hop chroniclers have never recorded Sabatino's 1995 shuttle diplomacy on Combs's behalf, The New York Times Magazine did report in January 1996 that Combs sent Mustafa Farrakhan to speak with Knight (who refused to meet with the Bad Boy agent). Perhaps Death Row's boss just preferred negotiating with a 5' 5", 220-pound Italian-American kid rather than Nation of Islam head Louis Farrakhan's son.

The Times reported that Sabatino told Combs and Wallace beforehand about the plot to ambush Shakur at Quad Studios, and that talent manager Jimmy Rosemond, working with Sabatino, was an architect of the assault. Shakur was shot several times during the 1994 attack and was robbed of his jewelry, which reportedly included a $40,000 gold medallion. After the Times story was published, Combs and Rosemond issued statements attacking the paper's reporting and vehemently denied orchestrating the attack on Shakur or knowing about it ahead of time.

It appears that the real purpose of the suspect "302s" is to portray Sabatino as a feared hip-hop figure who muscled and conned rappers into deals. The entertainers were drawn to him "because he is a member of La Cosa Nostra" and such Mafia ties were "glamorized in the Hip Hop world," reported the confidential source. The documents Sabatino supposedly did not want disseminated--but which he himself filed publicly--conferred upon him the kind of rap world status that he has long coveted.

Sabatino has frequently claimed to have managed a number of leading hip-hop acts, including Notorious B.I.G., Lords of the Underground, and Heavy D and the Boyz. Du Kelly, a member of Lords of the Underground, described Sabatino as a "scam artist" who briefly tried to befriend the group's manager. Kelly said that he recalled Sabatino as a "short, Caucasian, little chubby fat guy" whose "father was supposed to be Mafia or something." Sabatino was "just a con artist who tried to get close to artists, but he was a nobody," said Kelly. He added that Sabatino also tried to get near the Wu-Tang Clan, "but I heard they beat him up."

Sabatino's convoluted and bizarre motion to gag Combs, of course, was immediately denied. Judge Stephen T. Brown ruled that the federal inmate's request was moot since the "allegedly confidential documents...are attached to this motion as exhibits." While the prodigious jailhouse litigant surely expected this defeat, he succeeded in drawing attention to the Combs lawsuit, the "302s," and, of course, himself.

But unlike Sabatino's own prior outlandish and unsupported claims about his entertainment industry resume (he once said he regularly consulted with music industry legend Clive Davis and even co-produced Combs's 1997 album "No Way Out"), the information about him in the "302s" came with the shiny imprimatur of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and its valuable confidential source, who, the documents noted, "is in a position to testify."

And now The Los Angeles Times has added to the myth, describing "promoter James Sabatino" as a Tupac Shakur antagonist who toured with The Notorious B.I.G. and "became a fixture in Combs's circle...helping him stage lavish parties and land corporate sponsorships."

While Sabatino's "302" gambit might seem inexplicable, especially for someone already in prison (he has a November 2012 release date), it appears fairly typical for a man who has spent most of his adult life behind bars and appears to have little impulse control.

The bizarre story continues...

The Sean Bell Murder Case Continues:50 Bullets On One Black Man's Wedding Day Have Many Still Asking Questions

Nicole Paultre Bell, the fiancée of slain police shooting victim Sean Bell, is on a journey to find the Truth.

The cavernous, wood-paneled Queens courtroom of the Sean Bell trial is packed. Even though proceedings are well into the third week for the New York detectives charged in shooting Sean-an unarmed Black man who died in a storm of 50 police bullets on what was supposed to have been his wedding day—the case has sustained vigilant attention.

The young man’s parents, William and Valerie Bell, listen intently to the witnesses called to the stand, along with a diverse mix of news reporters, local high school students, the Reverend Al Sharpton and other community activists.

Also in attendance, flanked by close relatives, is Bell’s fiancée. Dressed in a chic black suit, a tiny gold pin attached to her lapel reading “Sean Bell: See You Later,” Nicole Paultre Bell, 23, leans forward in her seat. As she listens to testimony from residents who recount being jolted awake by the sound of gunshots, and crime-scene detectives with ballistics evidence, her poise never breaks. Paultre Bell has made getting justice for her slain fiancé a full-time job, and she’s serious about her business.

During recess, at an Italian restaurant across from the Queens County Criminal Court, Paultre Bell sits up straight and speaks confidently about the trial and Sean Bell, her high school sweetheart and the father of her two young daughters.

Rapper Juvenile Was Father Of 4-Year-Old Killed By Black Georgia Teen Believed To Have Also Murdered His Mom & Sister

Tragedy Involving African-American Sheriff's Deputy Takes Interesting Twist

A 17-year-old Georgia boy has been charged with murder in the fatal shootings of his mother and her two little girls, one of whom was rap star Juvenile's 4-year-old daughter.

Anthony Tyrone Terrell Jr. was charged Friday in the deaths at the family home near Lawrenceville, where the bodies were found the night before, said police spokeswoman Illana Spellman.

She identified the victims as Gwinnett County Sheriff's Deputy Joy Deleston, 39, and her two daughters, Micaiah, 11, and Jelani, 4. The motive was still unclear.

Deleston brought a paternity lawsuit in 2004, claiming that the 32-year-old rap star Juvenile, whose real name is Terius Gray, was Jelani's father, Gwinnett County court records show.

The case was resolved in 2006 with both agreeing Juvenile was the father.

Terrell was taken to jail in neighboring DeKalb County to avoid any potential conflict because Deleston worked for Gwinnett County, Spellman said. He is being held without bail.

Because of his age, prosecutors cannot seek the death penalty against Terrell. A preliminary hearing will be set next week.

Neighbors said the family had moved in less than a year ago. They often saw Deleston in her squad car coming home from work and said having a deputy around was reassuring.

Jeff Beaird, who lives across the street, said he often saw Terrell in the driveway shooting hoops with his friends or washing his mother's patrol car but doesn't remember anything out of the ordinary.

"It's so shocking because you don't expect something like this to happen," Beaird said.

Juvenile has been arrested several times on charges ranging from failure to pay child support to resisting an officer in a scuffle at a Florida mall in 1999. Most of the charges have been dismissed. Right now, the successful Black rapper is said to be "shocked and devastated"

Hundreds of law enforcement people were on hand Sunday to pay tribute to deputy Deleston. A solemn procession began at the sheriff's headquarters and went to a private memorial service for Joy Deleston's family.

She will be buried in her hometown in South Carolina. Deleston and her two daughters -- Jelani and Micaiah were found dead in their Lawrenceville home Thursday and Anthony has confessed to killing his family. It remains unknown why he did it. [AP]

BLACK GEORGIA SHERIFF'S DEPUTY AND TWO DAUGHTERS BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN MURDERED BY HER 17-YEAR-OLD SON IN GEORGIA

What Would Make A Teen Kill His Entire Family?

Anthony Tyrone Terrell is charged with the shooting death of his mother, Joy Deleston, and his 4-year-old and 11-year-old sisters. Deleston was a Gwinnett County sheriff's deputy who worked the sex crimes unit.

A junior at Central Gwinnett High School, the 17-year-old was arrested Friday in the murder of his mother and his two sisters. Currently being held without bond, Terrell was charged with three counts of murder and three counts of aggravated assault.

A neighbor called police Thursday night when she heard gunshots and a bullet came through the wall of her house. Officers who responded realized the bullet came from the deputy's house at 415 Madison Chase Drive and saw the deputy's marked patrol vehicle in the driveway, said Gwinnett County police spokesman David Schiralli. When they investigated they found the bodies of the deputy and her daughters.

"They knew a deputy lived there, so they knocked at the door to see if everybody was all right," Schiralli said. "There was no answer, but lights were on. They opened the door a little bit to announce themselves. That's when they saw the 11-year-old." [AP]

BLACK OHIO COP CONVICTED OF KILLING PREGNANT WHITE GIRLFRIEND GETS SPARED DEATH PENALTY

Bobby Cutts Jr. Rightfully Gets 57 Years in Prison

Bobby Cutts Jr., 30, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for 57 years. He had faced a possible death sentence for murdering Jessie Davis and her unborn child, who was to be named Chloe.

"Bobby Cutts took my sister from me. You took a chunk out of my heart," Stephanie Davis said, reading from a letter she read for her cousin, Caylon Davis, Jessie's adopted brother, at a hearing before Stark County Common Pleas Judge Charles Brown Jr.

The African American former Ohio police officer was sentenced today after a jury voted to spare his life. Cutts, who appeared to choke up at times during his sentencing, did not speak. During a hearing earlier this week, he pleaded for his life, telling the jury in a quivering voice that he accepted responsibility for his crimes. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I'm asking you to spare my life," Cutts said.

Cutts cried on the witness stand during his trial as he said he accidentally killed Jessie Davis by elbowing her in the throat during an argument. He hid her body in a park, finally leading police to her body after a nine-day search that generated national attention.

A jury convicted Cutts of murder for Davis' death and of aggravated murder for the death of her fetus. Cutts told the jury that he swung his elbow at Davis during a confrontation in her bedroom when she refused to allow him to leave her home. The blow to her throat, which he testified happened after she bit his finger, knocked her back, killing her as their 2-year-old son, Blake, slept, he said.

Davis' sister, Whitney Davis, said Cutts' only regret was getting caught. "When I hear Blake cry, I hate you," she said at today's sentencing. "You have not lost someone. You got rid of someone who was an inconvenience for you" When police arrived at Davis' condo, they found Blake alone. Police said he told them, "Mommy's in the rug."

Cutts, who as a cop had emergency response training, said he performed CPR and then searched for rubbing alcohol to use as a smelling salt to revive the woman. When he couldn't find any, he said, he retrieved a bleach container and tried bleach, knocking the container over and spilling bleach on the floor. Davis did not respond.

"This can't be happening," Cutts recalled thinking as he wrapped her body in a comforter. "This is not real. This is a bad dream."

No brotha, it's a nightmare! For you, your family, Jesse's family, and your children. You actually got off easy and deserve to spend the rest of your life dealing the consequences of your own actions. Straight out! [CNN]

WTF??? Black Man Strangles And Burns Teenage Daughter To Death For Talking To A Boy Over The Internet!

Is This Some Stupid Ish Or What!!!

An African American man from the Bronx was recently arrested after strangling his 14-year-old daughter to death after catching her talking to a boy on the Internet…

The crazed New York building superintendent confessed last Saturday to strangling his own flesh and blood and dumping her unconscious into the basement furnace, police sources said.

The still-burning corpse of Anna Matias was pulled from the furnace that heats the Highbridge building’s boiler just after 11 a.m. Saturday, police and witnesses said.

An hour earlier, the victim’s father, Miguel Matias, called 911 to say he had strangled his daughter for using his computer to chat with a boy, the sources said.

Matias said he then stripped off her clothes, opened the manhole-size cover to the furnace and threw her body inside, they said.

The teen’s clothes remained scattered next to the boiler late Saturday as police searched the furnace for the rest of her charred remains. “It’s such a shock,” building resident Rosa Villavane said. “He was in my apartment just two days ago, and I never saw him mad.” [NY Daily News]

BLACK OHIO COP BOBBY CUTTS FOUND GUILTY OF MURDERING WHITE PREGNANT GIRLFRIEND JESSIE DAVIS

Yeah, He Did It!

An Ohio jury has found Bobby Cutts Jr., a former Canton police officer accused in the June 14 killing of his pregnant lover Jessie Marie Davis and their unborn child, guilty as charged.

After more than 20 hours of deliberations, the jury found Cutts guilty of a number of crimes including murder, aggravated burglary, child endangering and abuse of a corpse. He was found not guilty of the greater charge of aggravated murder, however.

Watch Video on CNN

The 30-year-old Cutts admitted killing the 26-year-old Davis, but insisted her death was an accident. However, prosecutors dismissed this as a calculated lie, saying he deliberately killed Davis to avoid paying child support, and then dumped her body in a nearby park.

Cutts now faces the possibility of either the death penalty or life in prison for his role in the murder of Davis. Our sister has additional details...

Ex-Cop Bobby Cutts Breaks Down On The Witness Stand In Murder Trial Of Pregnant White Girlfriend Jesse Davis

Black Ohio Cop Gives Tearful Testimony in Murder Trial

To the sound of loud gasps that echoed inside the Canton courtroom, Bobby Cutts Jr took the stand today and proceded to tell jurors on Monday between tearless sobs that he realized that his pregnant girlfriend was dead when he couldn't find her pulse after she suffered a blow to her throat.

"I didn't mean to hurt her," the African American former police officer said on the witness stand about Jessie Davis, who was nine months pregnant with his second child when she died last June.

Cutts, 30, testified that during an argument at her home, he pulled his arm away and threw his elbow back, landing on her throat. Davis fell down, Cutts said. Cutts was at Davis' home to pick up their 2-year-old son and was rushing her so he could leave. Davis grabbed him and told him he couldn't leave, which is when he said he pulled his arm away and struck her.

After several attempts to revive Davis with CPR, Cutts said he went to their 2-year-old child's room to get bleach to try to bring her to because he thought she was just knocked out. "I got the bleach and took it back to the room and tried to put it under her nose," Cutts said, adding that it didn't work. "She wasn't responding, I tapped her and she was dead," Cutts said.

He then decided to leave the home and take Davis with him. Cutts said he loaded her body in a comforter into the bed of his truck and called Myisha Ferrell, a friend, for help. "I decided to leave, I didn't know what to think," Cutts said. "How in the hell am I going to explain this?" Cutts said.

Cutts, continuing to cry on the stand with tissues in his hands, said he was thinking at the time "this is not real, this is not real, it could not be happening. This is a bad dream."

Cutts could receive the death penalty if convicted of killing Davis.

A medical examiner testified last week that the rate of decomposition from nine days of exposure in the summer heat made it impossible to determine how Davis died. The move for Cutts to take the stand surprised the courtroom, causing a gasp when lead defense attorney Fernando Mack called his client to the stand.

Prosecutors say Cutts went to her home late last summer, strangled her, then wrapped her body in a comforter, put it in the back of his truck and dumped it in a field of tall grass. And they didn't hold back in cross-examining who they believe is a callous, cold-blooded murderer now looking to escape the very justice he once upheld.

Defense attorneys told the jury during opening statements that no such evidence existed and prosecutors warned that common sense, not DNA evidence, would determine the case.

Prosecutors are relying on eyewitness testimony and circumstantial evidence in their attempt to prove that Cutts killed Davis, who was pregnant with his daughter.

Summit County Medical Examiner Lisa Kohler told jurors that it was possible Davis was strangled but she could not make a definitive ruling. She ruled Davis' manner of death as unspecified homicidal violence.

The case's key witness, Cutts' longtime friend Ferrell, testified that Cutts demonstrated to her that he choked Davis with his arm.Defense attorneys have not challenged Ferrell's testimony that she witnessed Cutts dumping the body in a park about 20 miles from Davis' northeast Ohio home.

Jurors also heard from another of Cutts' friends, Richard Mitchell, who said Cutts threatened to kill Davis and throw her body into the woods about a month before she disappeared. Mitchell added that he believed Cutts was joking.

Several of Cutts' former lovers, all of whom are white, testified that Cutts had never been violent with them and was a good father. Ex-wife Kelly Schaub, also white, testified that she believed Davis, who once left her underwear in Schaub's makeup drawer, was trying to destroy her marriage.

Prosecutors have said Cutts was feeling the pressure of his crumbling marriage, financial debt and supporting several children.

Black Ohio Police Officer Bobby Cutts Now On Trial, Accused Of Killing His Pregnant White Girlfriend Jesse Davis

MURDERER?

A crumbling marriage. Debts. Child support payments. Two pregnant White girlfriends. Bobby Cutts Jr. was a brotha under pressure. According to the prosecution, that pressure led to this former Canton, Ohio police officer choking 26-year-old Jessie M. Davis to death last June in an outrageous case that led to explosive racial discussions about Black men, white women, and the complete breakdown of human decency.

“We are here because of physical pressure,” Hartnett told a Stark County jury as Cutts’ trial began yesterday. “The physical pressure he exerted around the neck of Jessie Davis for the several minutes that it took for him to snuff the life from her and her unborn child.”

Then Cutts dumped her body in Hampton Hills Metro Park in Summit County and tried to lie his way out of trouble before directing investigators to her rotting body after a nine-day search, Hartnett said. The defense says there’s no proof that Cutts committed crimes that could result in a death sentence.

Prosecutors want to talk about Cutts the womanizer. The liar. The cheater. They want to show the pictures of Davis’ decomposed body. They want to talk about how Cutts knew where her body was and how Blake, the young son of Cutts and Davis, was left home alone for a day and a half.

Five witnesses took the stand Monday. The testimony centered on June 15, the day Davis’ mother, Patty Porter, reported her missing. Porter, her daughter Audrey Davis, Jessie’s neighbor and two sheriff’s deputies recounted the condition of Jessie’s Lake Township duplex.
The unlocked back door. Jessie’s 2-year-old son left alone, his diaper reeking. Her purse dumped on the floor. The comforter missing from her bed. The toppled stand and lamp. The open bottle of bleach and stained carpet.

When Stark County Sheriff’s Sgt. Eric Weisburn arrived at the house, Cutts was already there. Audrey had called him. He was still dressed in his Canton police uniform and had helped another deputy search the trunk of Jessie’s car. Weisburn taped two interviews with Cutts that day. The investigator also talked to Blake.

As Weisburn and the 2-year-old colored with crayons, Blake repeated three phrases: “Mommy’s crying. Mommy’s in the rug. Mommy broke the table,” Weisburn recalled. Later, Blake looked out the window and saw his father. “Daddy’s mad,” Blake said.

Weisburn asked why. The boy didn’t give a reason. He went back to coloring. Speaking to Cutts, Weisburn asked for a timeline of the last few days. When had he last talked to Jessie?
Cutts said they spoke on the phone on the night of June 13, after he played a softball game, according to a tape of the interview. She was supposed to take Blake by his house the next morning. After the softball game, Cutts said he went to a bar, then home. The next morning he picked up Ferrell, who was going to baby-sit Blake, and took her to his house. Jessie never came by.

When he called her at 7:11 a.m. on June 14, the cell phone went straight to voice mail. He left a message asking why she hadn’t told him she wouldn’t be dropping Blake off, he told Weisburn, according to the tape. Later that morning, Cutts went to GlenOak High where he helped coach football. He went to the bank regarding a loan. He picked up his daughter, went to Wal-Mart and did some mulching. That evening he coached a summer league basketball game. Then he took a nap and worked the night shift.

What was his relationship with Jessie Davis? Weisburn asked. Their relationship went back about four years. They had a son together. Cutts said he wasn’t sure if the child Davis was carrying was his. She had been involved with two other guys, he told Weisburn on the tape.

As for his marriage, he and Kelly were separated. Their relationship went off and on. They argued about money and the amount of time he spent working. Kelly had talked about getting a dissolution. “Things don’t always work out,” Cutts said. How did his wife feel about Blake? Weisburn asked. She treated him like part of the family, Cutts said.

What was the future for him and Jessie? “As long as we’re both parents to Blake, that’s the most important thing,” Cutts replied on the tape. After the second interview, Weisburn went to Cutts’ Plain Township house to have a look around.

Other witnesses, including Ferrell, corroborated Cutts’ timeline. Meanwhile, tips piled up with the sheriff’s office. People called about finding cell phones, diapers, comforters, unusual smells in vacant houses. Deputies dug up at least two dogs putrefying in shallow graves. But as investigators started collecting phone records for Cutts, Davis and Ferrell, Weisburn said he started seeing discrepancies in Cutts’ story.

The trial is to continue this morning with testimony about those phone records, and Myisha L. Ferrell, who prosecutors say witnessed Cutts dump Davis’ body, will take the stand. For updates, go to the Cutts Trial Blog.

South Carolina Black High School Cheerleader And Student Leader Murdered By Husband & Wife

This Is Some Crazy Ish!!!

An African-American football player at Wingate University in North Carolina and his wife were charged in the vicious stabbing death of his ex, a Black high school cheerleader in South Carolina.

Pernell Clayton Thompson, 20, and Yolanda Dee Thompson, 19, were being held Monday at the Union County jail, accused of killing 16-year-old Marisha Jeter, authorities said. Jeter was the junior class president, a cheerleader and honor roll student at Union County High School. Police said Thompson's wife did not like him maintaining contact with Jeter. The Thompsons were married in the summer and have a child together.

Jeter was reported missing Thursday night and her body was discovered under a bridge two days later. Her car was found torched in another county. Jeter's body was discovered by an art student who was taking photographs at the bridge in Lockhart, which is about 10 miles northeast of rural Union.

Cell phone text messages showed Jeter agreed on Thursday night to meet Thompson. "The boy and his wife killed her in the back parking lot of a YMCA," Union Public Safety Department Chief Sam White said. "He stabbed her in the neck and they loaded her in the car and took her to Lockhart."

Jeter's bright pink 1994 Toyota Celica was driven into a neighboring county and set on fire, authorities said.

A junior at Wingate, Thompson was placed on interim suspension Monday.Thompson had 22catches for 286 yards and three touchdowns last season. "Everyone's in shock at this point," Wingate football coach Joe Reich said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victim. It's just a senseless tragedy." [Source]

Sean Taylor Murder Arrest Made, They Knew Him But Not Like You Think!

We now have the names and ages of the killers of Sean Taylor. I guess in the fairness of justice I should say the "alleged" killers or "suspects".

The individuals are young, Black (sigh!) and yes, they knew Sean and different members of the Taylor family. But not the way many of you think it happened. It wasn't a "hit", a contract killing like many had rumored.

What threw you conspiracy folks off was the fact that all the evidence led us to say that the individuals knew Sean. And yes you were right.

But you "wanna be' CSI-ers" needed to put the amateurism of the first home invasion/burglary, the one where Sean and his fiance found a knife on the bed from a previous break in. You also didn't put the Goldilocks twist to all of this; Sean and family were not suppose to be in the Florida house at this time. They normally would have been up in DC where Redskin Team doctors could keep and eye on his mending knee. Tailors came down to the Florida house to see a specialist. So like in Goldilocks (Dreadlocks in my house), the Tailor Florida house was suppose to be empty.

The bullet hit Sean in the leg near his groin area. Many, including you Sports Commentator Stephen A. Smith of ESPN, said that Sean was the mark of a vendetta and someone trying to make a point. Well after reading how old these guys were, you'll see these guys were inexperienced and just bad shots. There is an AP reporter, Lisa Orkin Emanuels, on the scene and reports the following.

The family of slain Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor will get little comfort from the arrest of four suspects, a family friend said, particularly since it appears the killing happened because of greed."They targeted him for his wealth," said Richard Sharpstein, Taylor's former attorney. "It makes his death even more pathetic, unnecessary and just actually disgusting."

Police arrested four people Friday in connection with Taylor's shooting death, saying they went to the home intent on committing a burglary, not killing.

The suspects didn't expect Taylor to be there, said Miami-Dade County police Director Robert Parker, but the Redskins safety was recuperating from a knee injury and had returned from Washington. When Taylor surprised them, he was shot.

"They were certainly not looking to go there and kill anyone," Parker said. "They were expecting a residence that was not occupied. So murder or shooting someone was not their initial motive."

Police spokeswoman Linda O'Brien identified the suspects as: Venjah K. Hunte, 20; Eric Rivera Jr., 17; Jason Scott Mitchell, 19; and Charles Kendrick Lee Wardlow, 18. O'Brien said the charges for each had not yet been determined, but "we are talking murder and burglary."

Authorities had more than one confession, but Parker would not elaborate.

The four were arrested Friday in southwest Florida, about 100 miles from Miami. They will be booked into the Lee County Jail and eventually will be returned to Miami, O'Brien said. She did not have any information on when they would appear in court, their hometowns or if they had attorneys.

Sharpstein had not spoken with Taylor's family regarding Friday's arrests, but said he doubted they provided any comfort.

"I know they are just saddened and appalled. The fact that they arrested his killer is no comfort to them," he said. "It probably inflames them more, because it tells them people were trying to steal from him.

"They are murderers. They should be treated like murderers and put in the Miami River and floated away."

The 24-year-old Pro Bowl safety died Tuesday, one day after being shot at his home in an affluent Miami suburb during what officials said appeared to be an attempted burglary.

Police have been investigating a possible link to a Nov. 17 break-in at Taylor's home, during which they said someone pried open a front window, rifled through drawers and left a kitchen knife on a bed.

"We're looking into whether or not one or more of the individuals had been at the residence before," Parker said.

The Miami Herald reported on its Web site that Mitchell and Wardlow had connections to Taylor. Mitchell cut Taylor's lawn and did other chores at the house, Mitchell's twin brother, Scottie, told the paper. Taylor's sister, Sasha Johnson, dates Wardlow's older cousin Christopher, and Scottie Mitchell told the paper the couple invited Jason Mitchell to Johnson's birthday party within the past two months.

A woman who identified herself as Jason Mitchell's mother told the Naples Daily News her son was at a birthday party at Sean Taylor's home a couple months ago. She also said her son was at home all week and last weekend.

"I don't know where he's at, I don't know why he's being held," she told the Naples paper. "No parent should see this happen to their child."

O'Brien would not confirm the reports when contacted by The Associated Press.

Taylor and longtime girlfriend, Jackie Garcia, were awakened early Monday by loud noises at Taylor's home in an affluent Miami suburb. Taylor grabbed a machete he keeps in the bedroom for protection, Sharpstein said. Someone broke through the bedroom door and fired two shots, one missing and one hitting Taylor in the upper leg. Neither the couple's 18-month-old daughter, also named Jackie, nor Garcia were injured.

The bullet damaged the femoral artery in Taylor's leg, causing significant blood loss. Taylor never regained consciousness and died a little more than 24 hours later.

A public viewing for Taylor is scheduled Sunday in Miami, and the entire Redskins organization plans to fly to Florida to attend Monday's funeral at Pharmed Arena at Florida International University.

The Redskins also announced that fans attending Sunday's game will receive a towel with Taylor's No. 21 jersey on it, and his name will be displayed prominently in an end zone.

Redskins owner Dan Snyder said the team will contribute a minimum of $500,000 to a fund to benefit Taylor's daughter, and he released a statement late Friday acknowledging the arrests.

"This is another step, but not a conclusion, in a very personal and painful tragedy," he said. "I also want to thank everyone who has joined us in mourning the loss of Sean. People from all over the world contacted the Redskins to share our grief and offer their prayers for Sean and his family. We will never forget the courage his family, especially Jackie, Pete and Donna, have shown. Their composure has been a source of strength for us all."
______

Associated Press Writer Brian Skoloff in West Palm Beach, Damian Grass in Miami, and AP Sports Writer Joseph White in Ashburn, Va., contributed to this report.

Murder Of Redskins Baller Sean Taylor: Possible Suspects In Custody Include Teens & A Man In His 20's

(Taylor with the biracial baby girl who'll never know her father)

BREAKING NEWS: The Miami Herald is reporting that police have detained at least three people in the Fort Myers area for questioning in the death of Washington Redskins football star Sean Taylor.

A law enforcement official in Lee County confirmed the men from the Fort Myers area were in custody, but requested anonymity because the investigation is being handled by Miami-Dade County police.

The Miami Herald, which first reported the development on its Web site, said investigators believe three suspects learned of Taylor’s house through someone who unwittingly set up the burglary by bragging about his wealth. The suspects include two teenagers and a man in his 20s, all from the Fort Myers area, the paper reported.

Is Talylor's Death A Sad Reminder For Us All?

Richard Sharpstein, a former Taylor lawyer and family friend, said: “It looks like the police are pursuing extremely good leads. It appears that the burglary was exactly as I’ve always stated, not random, that Sean’s house was targeted.” Evidence at Taylor’s home indicated one or more intruders barged into the house early Monday in an attempted burglary, Miami-Dade police director Robert Parker said Wednesday. After a confrontation inside the home, Taylor was shot once in the upper leg and died early Tuesday after losing a tremendous amount of blood.

Taylor’s family has scheduled a funeral service for 11 a.m. Monday at Pharmed Arena at Florida International University in Miami.

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U of M's Taylor Bradford, A Black Defensive Lineman And Kappa From Nashville, Is Murdered On Campus

Classes Canceled And Campus On Lockdown With Killer Reportedly Still At Large

Taylor Bradford, a 21-year-old defensive lineman from Nashville who had just transferred to the University of Memphis in 2006, was pronounced dead late Sunday evening after being shot in what authorities are saying was no random attack. Bradford is believed to have driven his Lincoln after being hit before colliding with a tree near Zach Curlin. According to police, no witnesses have come forward so far.

Right after the incident, students stood in sweatshirts, hugging and some crying outside Carpenter Complex and in Central parking lot, confused about what was going on. "I'm just concerned that I don't know anything," said biology major Krista King.

Several football players were among the many who assembled in the parking lot. As Bradford's car was being towed away, they stood in a line across from the stoplight with somber faces. Gionni Carr, Student Government Association president, urged the administration to cancel classes Monday. "School will be shut down, if I have my way, in his memory. I would like to have some sort of mass assembly so we can all talk about this…we are in a situation where no one feels safe. I don't feel safe."

Nicknamed "Booger" among friends and family, Bradford had stopped by all the sorority houses with the president of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Will Terrell, and another Nupe to encourage all the sororities to participate in an up-coming fraternity event in order to promote diversity. Being so close to the murder, the African American sorority women living in the Carpenter Townhouses expressed uneasiness about the safety on campus.

"As a young woman who lives in the new sorority houses, I'm concerned about the safety not only of residents, but for all students here on campus because of the amount of crime that has recently occurred," said communications major, Molly Phinney.

"Taylor was my brother," Terrell said speaking by phone from the hospital. "We will miss him dearly. He will be remembered. He loved to play football. He loved his family, he loved his friends and he loved Kappa. He was always full of innovation and ideas. If you were around him, you were going to have a good time."

Attention Black Men In Pennsylvania: Leading Your Own Community As Fathers And Role Models Is No Longer An Option!

Some In Philly Not Sold On Call for 10,000 to Curb Violence, But Many Plegde To Man Up!

A few brothas on the corner of 16th and Page in North Philadelphia say they know what their neighborhood needs to stem the violence that has killed 306 people citywide so far this year, and that does not include putting 10,000 men on the street, as some black community leaders have proposed.

But others supported the initiative, saying it might help them feel better about coming out of their homes at night or allowing their children to play outside. “It does make a lot of sense,” said Cora Crawford, a 36-year-old single mother of five who lives on nearby Susquehanna Avenue. “Kids in this area are horrible. They need a positive role model in their life.”

The plan to put 10,000 men on the streets for an initial period of 90 days starting late this year is the latest effort by Philadelphia’s black community to curb violence that drove homicides to a nine-year high of 406 in 2006. Groups of volunteers will be stationed on drug corners and other trouble spots in a bid to stop the shootings and other crimes that have given Philadelphia the highest homicide rate among the nation’s 10 largest cities. They will not be armed, will not have powers of arrest, and will be identified only by armbands or hats during their three-hour shifts. They will be trained in conflict resolution, and are intended to be peacekeepers and mentors rather than law enforcers. Each patrol, however, will include a police officer.

Organizers, including Black Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson and the music producer Kenny Gamble, say they are open to volunteers of any ethnicity but are appealing mostly to African-Americans because some 85 percent of Philadelphia’s shooting victims are black.

Critics say the plan will fail to meet its recruitment goals, partly because it is too closely identified with the police, who will be responsible for selecting the areas to patrol and who are distrusted in many neighborhoods. But Bilal Qayyum, a co-founder of the antiviolence group Men United for a Better Philadelphia and a member of the organizing committee, described the response since the plan was announced Sept. 10 as “tremendous.” He predicted more than 10,000 volunteers would come forward when it starts on Oct. 21.

Near 16th and Page, Tyrone Dodson, 60, expressed hope that the plan would work. Like several others, Mr. Dodson said he planned to sign up because he believed it would deter the shootings outside his apartment almost every night. “It would stop them,” he said. “They don’t want no witnesses.”

New York Times

On A Sad Note, Body Of Chicago Native Nailah Franklin Is Found

A body found Thursday near a suburban Chicago forest preserve is that of Nailah Franklin, a 28-year-old pharmaceutical sales representative missing for more than a week.

Nailah Franklin's uncle, Jon Merrill, and family friend and spokesman, Andrew Holmes, told WFLD-TV that authorities have confirmed the body is Franklin's.

Franklin's family gathered Thursday near where Calumet City Police Chief Russell Larson said officers discovered a woman's unclothed body. Chicago Police spokeswoman Monique Bond said the body was discovered about 4:46 a.m. Franklin's car had been found Friday night near an abandoned building in nearby Hammond, Ind. She recently had filed a police report about threatening phone calls she received from a man she dated briefly. Chicago police on Monday said they had interviewed someone Franklin dated, but have not named a suspect in her disappearance.

The sales representative for Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly was reported missing Sept. 19 after she didn't show up for a work meeting. Since then, family members and volunteers have papered the city with fliers and taken out a newspaper ad seeking the public's help. The family also has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to her whereabouts.

Source