Wednesday Crime Stories: Tots looked like ‘concentration camp survivors,’ ate paint off walls
Podcast
PLUS: Florida school shooting update
Missing
February 21, 2018
Exclusive: Dad pleads for return of missing boy, Lucas Hernandez, described as ‘shy and soft-spoken’
As the search for 5-year-old Kansas boy Lucas Hernandez reaches its fourth day, his father is speaking out, hoping to have his son home safe as soon as possible. “We miss and love him with all our hearts. We just want our baby boy home with us again safe,” Lucas’ dad told CrimeOnline. Lucas was …
Child Abuse
February 21, 2018
Victoria Martens murder suspect told police he had sex with brutally murdered child’s dead body: Report
The man accused of raping and killing a 10-year-old girl reportedly admitted to police that he had sexual contact with her after she had died. KOAT has obtained search warrants connected to the investigation of Victoria Marten’s August 2016 homicide. Three suspects — the girl’s mother Michelle Martens, her boyfriend Fabian Gonzalez, and Gonzalez’s cousin …
National
February 21, 2018
Evangelist Billy Graham, who reached millions, dies at 99
By RACHEL ZOLL, Associated Press MONTREAT, N.C. (AP) — The Rev. Billy Graham, who transformed American religious life through his preaching and activism, becoming a counselor to presidents and the most widely heard Christian evangelist in history, died Wednesday. He was 99. Graham, who long suffered from cancer, pneumonia and other ailments, died at his home …
Court
February 21, 2018
Watch LIVE: Day two of penalty phase for ‘Walmart monster’ Donald Smith begins, as he faces possible death for the rape, murder of Cherish Perrywinkle
Day two of the penalty phase for the man accused of kidnapping, beating, raping, and killing 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle resumes on Wednesday in a Duvall County, Florida, courtroom. He’s facing a sentence of either life in prison without parole or the death penalty, depending upon the jury’s unanimous decision. The first day of the penalty …
School Crimes
February 20, 2018
Parkland school announces plan to reopen over several days in wake of deadly shooting
The scene of one of America’s deadliest school shootings is scheduled to reopen in coming days, according to a statement from the Parkland, Florida, school. As Fox News reported, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School expects all classes to resume by Tuesday, nearly two weeks after a gunman opened fire, killing 17 students and faculty. Staff …
Juveniles
February 20, 2018
Teen poses as victim, sets friend up to be carjacked and robbed: Cops
A 17-year-old Texas girl was arrested on suspicion of arranging for her friend to be robbed and carjacked as she also pretended to be a victim. The Houston Chronicle reported that Susan Marie Mize, 17, and a 16-year-old boy were charged with felony aggravated robbery for a scheme that allegedly involved two boys carjacking and robbing …
Violent Crime
February 20, 2018
Hero JROTC cadet Peter Wang remembered in emotional ceremony days after he saved lives in Parkland shooting
Peter Wang, the 15-year-old JROTC member credited for saving lives during last week’s deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida, was buried in his uniform Tuesday, less than a week after he died holding the door open for escaping students. According to WTVJ, an emotional service was punctuated by the eulogies of several classmates whose lives …
Murder
February 20, 2018
Erica Parsons: Adoptive parents charged with murder, dismemberment of daughter they waited two years to report missing
The adoptive parents of a slain North Carolina girl have been indicted for her murder and dismemberment nearly seven years after her disappearance. The Charlotte Observer reported that nobody knows exactly when Erica Parsons died but authorities believe she was 12 or 13 when she vanished. On Monday, a Rowan County grand jury indicted her parents, Sandy …
Murder
February 20, 2018
Jehovah’s Witnesses’ rejection of model mom may have drove her to kill her family and dog in grisly murder-suicide, friends say
A Michigan mother who killed her two adult children and her husband before taking her own life in an apparent murder-suicide, possibly carried out the grisly act as she struggled with being shunned by Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Detroit Free Press reported that Lauren Stuart, 45, and her husband, Daniel, 71, had left the denomination five years earlier. …
Mass shooting
February 20, 2018
15-year-old shot 5 times protecting classmates from gunfire
“One of our own was a hero last week and needs our help”
Celebrity Justice
February 20, 2018
R. Kelly evicted from alleged ‘sex cult’ homes, owing over $30,000 in back rent
R&B singer R. Kelly has been locked out of two of his Atlanta-area rentals, according to court documents obtained by local reporters. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported Monday that SB Property Management Global, LLC, filed paperwork with the magistrate court of Fulton County on February 13 to evict the Grammy winner from two homes in …