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Tag: Killing

  • Tamir Rice: Cleveland Police Kill 12-Year-Old Boy, City Says He Caused His Own Death

    Last year, 12-year-old Tamir Rice was shot and killed by a police officer outside a recreational center in Cleveland. It was later revealed that Rice was carrying a toy gun. Rice’s family filed a wrongful death suit against the city of Cleveland. Now, the city of Cleveland has responded to the suit saying that it was Rice’s own fault why he was shot and killed. The 41-page response says that Rice’s injuries “were directly and proximately caused by the failure of Plaintiffs’ decedent to exercise due care to avoid injury”.

    Rice’s family and their representatives have spoken out about the city’s response to their suit. “The Rice family maintains that Tamir was shot and killed unnecessarily by Cleveland police officers,” Rice family co-counsel Walter Madison said in a statement. “Their tactics that preceded his death and the subsequent victim blaming are examples of the institutionalized behavior that has beset the Cleveland Police Department. The Rice family’s lawsuit seeks to eliminate certain institutional behaviors and practices that have no place in our diverse community.”

    There are a lot of things that went wrong during the Tamir Rice shooting. One of them was that a witness called 911 to say that Rice was scaring people with his gun, mentioning that it was probably fake. However, this information wasn’t relayed to Officer Frank Gamback and Officer Timothy Loehmann, who shot Rice a mere two seconds after arriving at the scene.

    The police officers also failed to provide medical assistance, until an FBI agent arrived on the scene four minutes later. Rice was sent to the hospital, but he died the next day.

    A two-year investigation into the Cleveland Police Department revealed that they are guilty of using excessive force. It was also reported that Loehmann has a spotty history in law enforcement and that his previous employer, a small suburban police force, had complaints about Loehmann’s emotional state and his inability to manage stress.

  • Suzanne Basso Executed in Texas For 1998 Murder

    Suzanne Basso’s life came to a quiet end today, standing in stark contrast against the atrocities the woman and a few other people dealt to a mentally disabled man by the name of Louis “Buddy” Musso.

    Basso convinced Musso to live with her and then proceeded to take over his social security benefits. She then took out insurance policies for him, making herself the beneficiary. After all this, Basso and five other people brutally tortured Musso for days before finally killing him and dumping his body. Basso filed a missing person’s report shortly after the terrible incident, attempting to separate herself from the crime. Thankfully, this attempt was futile, and Basso was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to death.

    Since her arrest and incarceration in 1998, Basso has proved an interesting, if not disturbing case for the officials overseeing her punishment. Just a month ago, a Texas state judge upheld findings that Basso had a tendency to lie to authority figures and manipulate results on psychological tests. Basso’s court appearances often included her acting out in strange ways to garner attention and sympathy, such as speaking in the voice of a little girl or pretending to be deaf, blind, or otherwise disabled.

    Colleen Barnett, the former Harris County assistant district attorney who prosecuted Basso, was quoted on the topic as saying,”It was challenging, but I saw her for who she was. I was determined I was not going to let her get away with it.”

    After a last day appeal to the Supreme Court where Basso’s lawyers claimed that she was mentally unfit for execution ended in failure, with the judges rejecting the appeal just an hour before Basso was sentenced to die. As such, today, at 7:26 PM, Basso was declared dead, with the cause being lethal injection by the state. This makes Basso the 14th woman to ever be executed by the state in American history.

    Basso went quietly enough. When asked for a final statement, she said “No, sir,” with a tearful look in her eyes. She reportedly looked to a couple of friends positioned behind a window and “mouthed a brief word to them and nodded.” As the drug began to take hold, she began to snore deeply; the snoring slowed and eventually halted and, eleven minutes after the injection, she was declared dead.

    Image via this YouTube clip.

  • Elkhart Shooting At Martin’s Supermarket Leaves 3 Dead

    Elkhart police officers fatally shot a man suspected of killing two women at a Martin’s supermarket Wednesday night. The suspect identified as Shawn Walter Bair, age 22, is reported to have used a semi-automatic handgun to shoot 44-year-old Rachelle Godfread and 20-year-old Krystle Dikes at approximately 10 p.m.

    Bair who is from Elkhart, lived nearby and was well known at the store, said Indiana police officer Trent Smith. Before Bair shot the two women, he was seen using his cell phone and walking around the store for about 35 minutes.

    Police arrived shortly after the shooting and confronted the armed suspect, they then opened fire, killing him.

    “It was obvious he was going to the store with a mission. As far as how long he’d been thinking about this, whether a month or a year, we don’t know,” Smith said.

    Bair first opened fire on Dikes and then shot Godfread. He then turned his attention to the store manager, telling him to get down on his knees. When the police arrived, Bair became frenzied and the manager escaped. Police believe that had they not responded quickly, more people may have died.

    Bair’s motive for the shooting has not been established but the authorities are interviewing witnesses and studying surveillance videos.

    “We have not determined a motive,” Sgt. Smith said.

    However, there are claims that Bair may have had a past relationship with the 20-year-old victim, who at one time visited Bair’s home.

    Gov. Mike Pence released a statement Thursday, where he commended the police for their good work and bravery and sent condolences to the families of the victims.

    And the store posted a statement on its Facebook page, saying

    “Thank you to our community for your thoughts and prayers tonight. We will comment further when we can do so responsibly and appropriately.”

    Image via Youtube

  • Rich Kid DUI, Gets 10 Years Probation For 4 Deaths

    According to TIME, a 16-year-old in Keller, Texas was convicted of manslaughter after driving drunk and crashing into another vehicle that resulted in the death of four people. Because the kid is rich and suffers from “affluenza”, he wounded up getting 10 years of probation and mandatory psychological treatment.

    A·fflu·en·za

    [aa-floo-en-zah]

    noun

    1. In Layman’s terms: being so spoiled with wealth that you demand more, all while believing there are no consequences; the effects of greed.

    2. To be able to get away with murder because you’re wealthy.

    Affluenza is not (currently) recognized by the American Psychiatric Association; some psychologists assert that it doesn’t even exist.

    On the night of June 15, Ethan Couch and his seven teenage friends hopped in his Ford F-150 after they stole and drank some liquor from WalMart. With alcohol and Valium stirring in his system, Couch drove 70 miles per hour in a 40 mph zone; he ended up crashing his truck into a broken down vehicle parked on Burleson, Texas road, killing Breanna Mithcless, 24, the stopped vehicle’s driver, along with three others that were helping her. Two of Couch’s friends that were sitting in the truck bed suffered critical injuries.

    Couch admitted in court he was driving drunk, and testimony showed that his blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit (0.24 BAC).

    Couch’s legal team argued that the teenager’s lack of judgment was due to poor parenting.  Psychologist Dr. Gary Miller, who was assigned to Couch, said in the courtroom that: “The teen never learned to say that you’re sorry if you hurt someone.”

    ”If you hurt someone, you sent him money.” Miller added, saying that Couch’s “intellectual age” was that of an 18-year-old boy, but his “emotional age” was that of a 12-year-old.

    “He never learned that sometimes you don’t get your way,”

    “He had the cars and he had the money. He had freedoms that no young man would be able to handle.”

    According to Couch’s legal team, Couch suffers from affluenza – State District Judge Jean Boyd believed it; instead of the initial Texas sentencing guideline for fines up to $10,000 and between 2 and 20 years in the state penitentiary, on Tuesday, Couch got 10 years of probation. He was also assigned to a Southern California rehabilitation center, which costs $500,000 a year. His father said he’d pay for it. If Couch happens to mess up again, he could wind up in jail for 10 years, according to a statement from the Tarrant County District Attorney.

    Judge Boyd agreed that the therapy Couch needs for his affluenza wouldn’t be provided to him in prison.

    (image)

    Eric Boyles, the man who lost his wife and daughter Holly and Shelby due to the crash, said that Couch’s wealth bought him justice.

    “Ultimately today, I felt that money did prevail,” Boyles told the Star-Telegram after the sentencing.

    “If [he] had been any other youth, I feel like the circumstances would have been different.”

    According to the National Post, Jessie H. O’Neill, the granddaughter of Charles Erwin Wilson, a one-time president of General Motors, first popularized the world “affluenza” in 1997 with her book The Golden Ghetto: The Psychology of Affluence.

    No word yet on what new faux-medical terms can be used to tie in “sickness” with “poverty”, thus justifying an innate suffering due to socially economical disadvantages.

    Justice served?

    (Pictures via Heavy.com, YouTube)

  • 300LB Probation Officer Kills Jack Russell Terrier


     

    In one corner you have Antoine Jones; he’s a six-foot tall, 300lb probation officer armed with a handgun.

    In the other corner, you have Patches; she’s a two-year-old, 12lb Jack Russell Terrier.

    According to FOX 31, on Monday, October 7th, officers Antoine Jones and Ronnie Simmons visited Cherrie Shelton’s home at the Loblolly Mobile Home Park in Albany, Georgia to check on her son.

    When Jones knocked on the front door, an alerted Patches started barking, so he decided to step off the wooden deck and move towards the front lawn.

    Shelton then opened the front door to which Patches bolted through, running towards Jones. Though Shelton didn’t grab Patches, she told the officers that the dog wouldn’t bite – but before Patches could even reach Jones, he drew his weapon and shot one round into the dog’s chest.

    Jones wasn’t injured.

    “After being shot, Patches hid behind the house for 30 minutes fighting for her life,” Shelton told FOX 31.

    After Patches was shot, Shelton asked the large officer why he would shoot such a small dog, to which Jones said that he feared for his life.

    “He stated that he gave the dog verbal commands to get back, but the dog continued to come towards him in an aggressive manner so he fired one shot at the dog using his duty weapon,” recorded an Albany Police Department officer in the incident report.

    Animal Control arrived at the scene, offering medical aid for the dog, but Shelton refused, saying she did not have enough money for a veterinarian.

    Last Thursday afternoon on October 10th, FOX 31 received a statement from the Georgia Department of Corrections, which reads:

    On Oct. 7th, two Albany Probation Officers were conducting a field visit. During this time, an Albany Probation Officer was involved in an incident that required him to use use of force against an aggressive canine during a field visit. An incident report was filed and it was determined that the Probation Officer responded appropriately.

    On the Albany GA Police Department’s Facebook page (as well as the initial FOX 31 report), many Facebook users commented, expressing their disgust with Jones’ actions:

    There has been no report on whether or not the police will file charges, or if Shelton will sue.

    (Pictures via Albany GA Police Department’s Facebook page, WikiCommons)

  • Trayvon Martin Case Won’t Be Heard By Grand Jury

    Florida state appointed special prosecutor Angela Corey said Monday she will not take the Trayvon Martin shooting death before a grand jury. Under Florida law, only first-degree murder cases require the use of grand juries.

    Corey said her decision to skip the grand jury shouldn’t be considered a factor in determining whether charges will be filed against George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who has admitted to fatally shooting the unarmed Martin. The circumstances are whats in question here.

    “From the moment she was assigned, Ms. Corey noted she may not need a grand jury,” said a statement from Corey’s office.

    Zimmerman has claimed self-defense, and Florida’s self-defense law gives wide leeway to use deadly force and eliminates a person’s duty to retreat in the face of danger.

    “Corey’s decision means she doesn’t have to rely on potentially unpredictable jurors,” said David Hill, an Orlando criminal defense attorney. “Let’s give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe she knows there isn’t enough for first-degree murder but she wants to maintain control and charge him with something else,” Hill said. “What does she need a grand jury for? She cuts out the unpredictability of the grand jury. She goes where she feels she has more evidence.”

    This is of course all speculation from Corey. In reality there is a very good chance that no charges will surface from this investigation, no matter how much Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton try to inflame the situation with racial hate.

    (image)@_HesJustRandom
    James Levy     Us black people want to lock Up and throw away the key to the guy who killed Treyvon..but when our family member kill someone let them go 2?(image) 11 minutes ago via TweetDeck ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    (image)@nickandrews1
    Nick Andrews    Some journalism disgusts me. The only thing I know about Treyvon Martin is that he was black, liked Skittles and AZ iced tea. #DOYOURJOB(image) 2 minutes ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto