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Black gets life without parole in double murder of his white ex-wife and a white man
   Lindsay Rogers thinks of her cousin Christina Powell's "big and beautiful smile." For Mirella Masciarelli, her son, Mario Masciarelli, was "a wonderful gift," who loved Motocross racing and relished spending time with family. But Judge Joseph Cawley had nothing but scathing words for Aaron Powell, 40, before sentencing the Binghamton man Wednesday to the maximum penalty of life in state prison without the possibility of parole. He was sentenced for the murders of Christina Powell, 35, and Mario Masciarelli, 24, in the Town of Binghamton last year. "You are a cold-blooded killer," Cawley said. "In prison, I hope you and your soul, if you still have one, are tormented by the images of what you did." Aaron Powell was found guilty on July 24 of strangling his estranged wife, Christina Powell, with a white electrical cord, and beating her friend, Mario Masciarelli, to death with a baseball bat on March 22, 2013, at her Lisi Lane home. That Aaron Powell stalked both victims, beat to death a man he had never met and strangled the life out of the mother of his 5-year-old son, Sergio, was "nothing short of pure evil," Cawley said at Wednesday's sentencing. - (Black-on-white) |
It was on December 7, 1981, 75-year-old Anna Smith was found dead in her home in the 2500-block of West Fairmount Avenue. Baltimore City Police say she was found bound, gagged, and partially nude. Today police and prosecutors announced an arrest in the case, thanks to DNA evidence. Phillip Lee, who is now 54-years-old, is charged with first and second degree murder, plus other offenses. He was indicted this week and faces a preliminary hearing on Wednesday. Baltimore City State's Attorney Gregg Bernstein would not say where Lee was arrested, but note he was not incarcerated at the time of his arrest. Police say detectives in the Homicide Cold Case Squad were reviewing the case in 2005, and noted a trace of DNA left on a blanket at the scene. Bernstein said a preliminary match in the state's DNA database led detectives to Lee. - (Black-on-white)
EDWARDSVILLE — A Madison teenager Friday pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 20 years in prison for an armed robbery in which a victim was killed after refusing to give up a six-pack of beer. Brian Lee Taylor, 18, was 16 at the time of the shooting, but he was the oldest of the four suspects. Authorities believe he is not the one who fired the fatal shot. He pleaded guilty to a charge of armed robbery in exchange for a prosecution agreement to drop two counts of first-degree murder. Assistant State’s Attorney Crystal Uhe told the court the victim, Charles Weiss, had just come from a store and was approached by the four teens. He refused to give up anything, including the beer he had just purchased, so one of the four robbers shot and killed him. He was later found in the back yard of a nearby home. Just before he died he told police, “They tried to rob me.” The incident was on Nov. 8, 2012. All four of the teens were charged with first-degree murder. The 14-year-old, Mylan Newbern, believed to be the shooter, was charged with first-degree murder and armed robbery after he was certified to stand trial as an adult. The cases of all of Taylor’s co-defendants are pending. Weiss died of a single gunshot wound to the chest, but all four suspects were charged because they were acting together, and all three are accountable under the law for the crime, authorities said. “One of our citizens on Thursday was gunned down in cold blood. He had done nothing wrong but go to a store,” Granite City Police Chief Rich Miller said at the time. “It was a crime of opportunity for these thugs. They saw this man; they waited in the alley for him and shot him,” Miller said. 
At least one brute took several kicks at 
KANSAS CITY, MO - A man previously accused in a double murder is now a suspect in the Northland Motel 6 assaults and is a person of interest in a deadly south Kansas City crime spree that left three dead and two injured. Brandon B. Howell, 34, is in police custody and was the man arrested late Tuesday walking along Interstate 29 after a massive manhunt. Howell is suspected of assaulting three Motel 6 guests after ditching an SUV stolen from the scene where
LAWRENCEVILLE — SWAT officers persuaded a murder suspect to come out of the Lawrenceville home where he was barricaded with several small children Thursday. Gwinnett County Sheriff Butch Conway, meanwhile, took the opportunity to make a political statement. Sheriff’s office SWAT team members responded Thursday afternoon to a home at 311 Bedford Bay Lane in Lawrenceville, where Devon Jenkins — one of five suspects named in the Aug. 6 home invasion-murder of 
BIRMINGHAM, AL - A second person has been arrested for the murder of a 
University of Cincinnati students said they encountered scary moments after an early-morning robbery near campus. She, her boyfriend and another student said they were robbed inside their house on Warner Street in University Heights. We’re keeping the 23-year-old’s identity safe, as she was a victim of a sexual crime. She said the robber held her boyfriend at gunpoint outside and forced him inside the home where she was with another roommate. “He showed us the bullets in his gun, he's like, ‘I'm loaded, I'm ready to go. I will kill you,’” she said. She said her boyfriend was pistol-whipped and she was sexually assaulted in front of him. “I honestly thought he was going to rape me because he was saying that he wanted to take me with him. He's like, ‘I like you. I want to take you with me,’” the victim said. She said the assailant took hundreds of dollars of rent money and took her roommate’s TV, Wii gaming system and wallet. The victims said the robber then made them carry the items down the road to nearby Conklin Street. "His pupils were big. He was sweating. He was very jittery and everything, so he was definitely on something,” UC student 
WEST PALM BEACH — Prosecutors have dropped DUI manslaughter charges against a 22-year-old once accused of being high on marijuana during a 2013 Riviera Beach crash that killed five. Jabari Kemp still faces five counts of vehicular manslaughter, but prosecutors in a court filing made public Friday dropped the other charges after defense attorneys and the state’s own experts questioned the validity of Kemp’s blood test results. The change makes it harder for prosecutors to prove their case if they can’t show Kemp was impaired at the time of the crash. The decision marks another twist in the case surrounding the April 2013 deaths of five friends: 
A standout senior on the Minnesota State University, Moorhead, wrestling team allegedly raped an 18-year-old student in his dorm room while the assault was being video-recorded on his cellphone, according to charges. 
Details have begun to emerge about the man arrested for the murder of a great grandmother beheaded in her back garden. He was named locally as Nicholas Salvadore, a 25-year-old would-be cage fighter who is believed to be a Muslim convert, who had been living a few doors from 
DAYTON — The death penalty trial of Anthony L. Stargell Jr., accused of murdering Dayton businessman 
A man who was convicted of killing a Long Island police officer during a traffic stop and another motorist during his getaway was sentenced Friday to life in prison without parole. Darrell Fuller, 34, of Queens, was convicted in July of first- and second-degree murder. "Mr. Despicable, you will never see the light of day," Judge Jerald Carter told Fuller at the sentencing. "You will remain behind bars as you wait for the hell on the other side of the ledger." Prosecutors said Nassau County Police Officer 
Bartlesville police are investigating a double homicide early Thursday in the Oak Park section of the city. We're told 35-year old Steven Lee Adair stabbed to death his wife, 
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Columbus police SWAT officers arrested the male suspect in a 1996 rape case on Thursday. According to police, 47-year-old Leroy Davis is accused of grabbing a 34-year-old woman by the throat and forcing her into a residence in the 1200 block of Bryden Road on June 23, 1996. Detectives say Davis allegedly put a box cutter to the woman's throat and sexually assaulted her. The victim was treated at a local hospital and evidence was collected. The suspect's identity remained unknown for 18 years.
BOSTON – Boston police are looking for help from the public to identify a suspect wanted in connection with an attack on a Northeastern University student early Thursday morning. Surveillance cameras caught an image of a man around the time the student says she was grabbed around the neck in front of 572 Huntington Avenue then dragged to a nearby alley. Police say when she screamed the suspect ran off. 
HENRY COUNTY, Ga. - Authorities in Stockbridge are on the hunt for a man who they say exposed himself to a teenaged girl. Aubrey Hutchison says a man approached her inside a Henry County Walmart last week and flashed her. Security cameras captured the man on video, who escaped after Hutchinson and her mom ran to get security. Authorities say their suspect is a black male in his mid to late twenties. He has a thin mustache with a low haircut and a slim build. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Henry County Police Department. 
COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A split verdict has been reached for four men on trial in a beating that led to the death of a pedestrian in Cobb County. On Wednesday afternoon, jurors convicted Jekari Strozier, Antonio Pass and Johnathan Anthony of voluntary manslaughter and felony murder for the death of 
A Tampa man suspected of murder turned himself in to deputies today, more than a month after another man was shot to death at a house in Gibsonton. Clayton Adrian White, 23, is charged with first-degree murder in the July 16 shooting of 
PITTSBURGH — A 20-year-old Homewood man was sentenced Thursday to 39 to 78 years in prison for shooting a Pittsburgh police officer last year. Dante Bonner shot and wounded officer 
The last time Pittsburgh police Officer Christopher Kertis tangled with Adrian K. Williams during a middle-of-the-night traffic stop, the Beechview man sped off, ignoring a siren and flashing lights. That Nov. 11, 2012, incident ended peacefully, with Williams and two passengers in custody after drugs and a gun were tossed from the vehicle window. But the latest encounter early Monday morning between the same officer and suspect -- starting at the same place and triggered by the same reason -- ended with the 29-year-old felon shot dead on a street corner in Wilkinsburg after a chase. 
CUYAHOGA FALLS, OH - Jeffery Conrad, the prime suspect in the murder of his 40-year-old ex-girlfriend, was scheduled to be arraigned in Stow Muni Court Thursday morning; however, that had to be postponed until tomorrow due to Conrad's bizarre behavior. Conrad was refusing to leave his jail cell and was laughing at corrections officers. He was charged Wednesday with the stabbing death of 
LAKE CITY, Fla. - A Lake City man was arrested Monday night during a SWAT situation after he beat a pregnant woman, according to Lake City police. Police were called to the Windsong apartment complex just before 9:30 p.m. They said the victim told officers she was four months pregnant, and the father of the baby was 35-year-old Ronald Jones II, who police said struck her. Police said Jones punched her several times in the face and kicked her in the back of the head after she fell down to the ground, and then he fled the area. The woman was taken to a hospital. Police said Jones was hiding in another apartment at the complex and was armed with a handgun he got from his vehicle. Police said another woman, 26-year-old Shelby Lee and her 5-year-old daughter were in the apartment. Police said Jones knew the woman from social media and texting. Police said Lee was made aware of an arrest warrant for Jones, but failed to respond to law enforcement. The SWAT team eventually entered the home and arrested Jones. They later arrested Lee, saying she helped him in hiding from police.
CELINA -- Mercer County Sheriff Jeff Grey says a man and woman were arrested recently for public indecency at a public park. Grey said Anthony Siler, 44, and Lauren Hart, 30, were found in a vehicle about 10:33 p.m. at Bunge Park. According to Grey, the two were "engaged in inappropriate activity for a park." "Everyone was warned about inappropriate activity at the parks," Grey said. "We are serious about keeping our parks family-friendly. This activity is not going to be tolerated. You will go to jail." The sheriff said patrols of the parks occur when deputies have time to check them. 
NASHVILLE, TN - Metro police officers are looking for Javon Spivey, who has been charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and especially aggravated burglary in connection with Saturday morning's home invasion and shooting death in Antioch. Spivey, 24, is last known to have lived on Doubletree Lane. He is considered armed and dangerous. Anyone who sees Spivey or knows about his whereabouts is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 74-CRIME. Spivey is accused of killing 
A Detroit man was arraigned Wednesday in the slaying of his estranged wife even as the whereabouts of her two young children remained unclear. 
A Judge sentenced a St. Johns County career criminal to 20 years in prison for sexual battery and misdemeanor battery, according to the State Attorney’s Office. Curtis Leroy Williams, 43, raped a woman in October 2013 at a home on Smith Street in St. Augustine, according to his arrest report. Prosecutors said Williams attacked the unidentified woman after she walked with him to the home to retrieve a cellphone battery. Williams told investigators he had sex with the woman, but in exchange for two hits of crack cocaine. A jury convicted him in July.
Florida State is proceeding with a school investigation of Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback 
CHICAGO – A convicted murderer who took the lead in a federal lawsuit claiming a “sadistic culture of brutality and violence” in the Cook County Jail has been charged with
...as videos emerge of lovers partying with mom's cash weeks before she was murdered. From both the US and Indonesia, reports have emerged telling of Mrs von Weise-Mack’s troubled daughter, who is understood to have been adopted. 
A Joliet woman warned the cops they’d be sorry if they took off her handcuffs, police said, and then proceeded to show them she was right. When she was freed from her cuffs, Gloria Spiva, 54, of 1111 Magnolia Ave. allegedly flailed at police with her urine-soaked sweatpants and “flicked feces at officers” after spreading it on the walls. Spiva was in police custody following an early Saturday morning arrest on a charge of criminal damage to property. She allegedly broke two windows at a Cardinal Lane property owned by the Housing Authority of Joliet. After she was arrested, Spiva told an officer, “You bitch, go f—k yourself. Keep the cuffs on or you’re not going to like it,” police said.
MONTGOMERY, AL - The Montgomery County Sheriff's Department confirmed Tuesday that two more people were arrested in a fatal weekend shooting in the Waugh community. Kyrice Devontaie Mushat and Terry Lee Jackson Jr. are charged with capital murder. Marcus Lenard Sanders was arrested earlier and charged with capital murder and robbery in the first degree. Sheriff's deputies say the victim, 27-year-old 
A woman fought off a man who tried to rape her in the entryway of a building in Brooklyn, and now police say they’re looking for the attacker. The man approached the woman, 32, in the front of the building near Ralph Avenue and Bainbridge Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant at about 8 a.m. Sunday, police say. When he attacked, the woman fought him off. The man then allegedly took her cell phone and ran.
CHICAGO — A woman has been charged with kidnapping after she grabbed a two-year-old boy at O’Hare International Airport and tried to run away with him Tuesday afternoon. The boy was standing in the Lower Terminal 3 baggage area with his mother about 4:45 p.m. when
Brooklyn City Councilwoman Darlene Mealy stiffed her landlord out of
VERO BEACH — A South Florida woman is mourning the murder of her boyfriend who was killed in an unprovoked attack while biking from Maryland to Miami.
JACKSON, Miss. —Jackson police on Tuesday found the body of a 17-year-old girl who had been kidnapped last week. 
Marlon “Ice” Dixon is escorted to Kanawha County Magistrate Court from the Charleston Police Department to be arraigned on a first-degree murder charge. 
N.C. -- An Albemarle man was arrested over the weekend on multiple child sex charges. The Stanly County Sheriff's Office began investigating a reported sexual battery of a juvenile female on Saturday, August 23. The reported assault took place at a home in the Albemarle area, officials say. Benjamin Tyler Lennon, 35, of Albemarle, was developed as the suspect in the case. Authorities arrested Lennon on Saturday and charged him with two counts each of indecent liberties with a child and sexual battery.
A man busted in a slew of pellet-gun attacks on city joggers said he and a pal took bets on hitting targets, court documents show. “I bet him $20 he couldn’t hit the dog,” Edward Fall, 20, told cops about buddy Antwan Ross, who also was busted in the shootings. The pair were at Hudson River’s Pier 81 last week when 
Cee-Lo Green plead no contest earlier this week to charges stemming from a 2012 incident during which he allegedly gave a 33-year-old woman ecstasy without her consent during a dinner in Los Angeles. The woman says she woke up next to Green in bed, unsure of the previous night's events, but Green's lawyer argues that the two had "consensual relations." No sex charges were filed due to a lack of evidence, as per prosecutors. He was sentenced to three years probation and 45 days of community service.
A Davenport man has been accused of sexually abusing two victims while he served as their caretaker during Special Olympics in Ames in May, according to court documents. Tyshon VanBlue, 24, has been charged with five counts of third-degree sexual abuse. He was being held Friday at the Story County Jail on a $50,000 cash bond. The Scott County Department of Human Services reported to Iowa State University Police on June 3 that a sexual assault had occurred at Maple Hall, an ISU residence hall, on May 22 or 23. The victim said that VanBlue performed sex acts on two occasions in VanBlue's room, according to an affidavit.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A man accused of raping a woman in her apartment is now in police custody. Donald Gwin was already on probation for another sex crime when this latest attack happened Thursday morning. Police say Gwin was wearing a GPS tracker at the time a woman was attacked at the Country Squire Apartments. The woman said her attacker locked her inside her apartment, then raped and choked her at knife-point. She told police the suspect forced her to brush her teeth afterwards to get rid of the evidence. 
DAYTONA BEACH -- The search is on for an escaped prisoner in Volusia County. Just before 3 a.m. Saturday, Daytona Beach police responded to the Southside Inn in reference to an aggravated assault with a firearm. Police said they approached Dontavious Williams, who gave police a false name and was detained. While in custody, police said a large crowd approached, allowing Williams to separate from officers. He then fled on foot while handcuffed behind his back. Williams is now wanted for aggravated assault with a firearm and escape. Detectives said he is known to be armed with a firearm.
MURFREESBORO, TN - An elementary school principal was arrested for trying to buy crack cocaine in Murfreesboro. Murfreesboro detectives received information that Rockvale Elementary School Principal Donald "Donnie" Johnson had purchased crack cocaine multiple times and was going to buy more at a pharmacy on Cason Lane. Detective Shawn Jensen and other Vice Unit detectives said they observed Johnson at the pharmacy using an ATM to retrieve cash. Police said Johnson then met the alleged seller, Tiquista Robinson, in the parking lot of the business. Detectives witnessed a hand-to-hand transaction and stopped both Johnson and Robinson.
San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Ray McDonald was arrested early Sunday on felony domestic violence charges after officers responded to a home in an upscale neighborhood, San Jose police said. McDonald, 29, was released from jail after posting bail, Santa Clara County sheriff's Sgt. Kurt Stenderup said.
KANSAS CITY, MO - One man is dead after he was shot by Kansas City police early Sunday morning on the city's northeast side. Kansas City police identified the man as 28-year-old Eugene N. Turner III, of Kansas City. Police were called to the area of Independence and Myrtle avenues about 4:45 a.m. on a suspicious man possibly armed with a gun. Initially, police could not find anyone, but minutes later a foot chase began with Turner, and the shooting took place a block south at East Sixth Street and Myrtle Avenue. After the shooting, paramedics were called, but Turner died at the scene. Police said a handgun was found in close proximity to the suspect. Police said Turner fired several rounds at officers before being shot and killed. It is unknown why he was walking the streets carrying a gun, police said.
The family of a New Iberia man who allegedly shot himself to death while handcuffed in the back of a police cruiser strongly refuted a coroner's report Monday that the wound was self inflicted. Victor White III, 23, died March 3 after Iberia Parish sheriff's deputies responded to a report of an altercation involving White at a convenience store. 
PRINCE GEORGE COUNTY, Va. — A 51-year-old bicyclist remains in intensive care at VCU Medical Center after he was targeted in what a witness called a “knockout game-style” attack. The man was riding his bicycle on River Road near the Prince George County-Hopewell line at about 7:30 Sunday morning when a car came up from behind and slowed down, the bicyclist’s friend said. The friend, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, said someone in the car reached out and hit the bicyclist in the back with either his hand or an object. The bicyclist had time to yell for help before he veered off the road and collapsed. The bicyclist had suffered a massive heart attack.
HOUSTON - The Houston Police Department has arrested a man in connection with a 1995 homicide. 
A gang of black youths has been convicted of killing a 'kind and innocent' young man with the mental age of nine in a knife-point mugging caught on graphic CCTV film. 
A Knoxville, Tennessee, man is asking a judge to suppress evidence in a Painesville Township murder case, claiming his arrest was unlawful. Timothy Markel Gaston, 26, is accused of helping another man kill 23-year-old 
Two felons are being held in the Palm Beach County Jail without bond after they allegedly carjacked an 85-year-old woman and snatched her purse, causing her to sustain injuries, according to an arrest report. Minutes earlier, the two men attempted to carjack a tourist but were unsuccessful. Bernard R. Dixon of Riviera Beach and Garry Lormejuste, who has no fixed addresses, are each facing charges of robbery with a firearm and possession of a weapon by a felon. Riviera Beach Police met with a Massachusetts woman Wednesday morning who said two men had attempted to open her door while flashing a handgun. She had pulled over to look at her GPS when the men attempted to enter her car. The woman was able to speed away and call police. Both suspects fled the area toward a food store, where they allegedly carjacked the 
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - There was no sympathy from a judge for a 14-year-old boy accused of knocking down a grandmother and stealing her purse. The teenager, Gary Cox, was in juvenile court Saturday after his arrest this week. The question now is if he will face charges as an adult. Gary's grandmother was with him in court Saturday, saying her grandson is only 14 and should not be charged as an adult. The judge said that is up to the State Attorney's Office. 
