murder

Nov 16 2012

Armed robberies, murder

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Authorities sought the public’s help today in their search for the “Western Bandit,” who is suspected of killing one person and committing a number of armed robberies over the past year.

The crimes have occurred in convenience stores and other businesses, generally between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m., along an eight-mile section of Western Avenue from Hollywood to South Los Angeles, Los Angeles police officials said.

Nov 8 2012

Judge denied defense plea for new trial

A gang member who gunned down a Los Angeles High School football standout near his Arlington Heights home because he was carrying a red Spider-Man backpack was sentenced to death last week.

Jurors recommended in May that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ronald H. Rose impose the death sentence on Pedro Espinoza, 23, who was convicted of first-degree murder for the March 2, 2008, shooting death of Jamiel Shaw Jr., 17.

Nov 2 2012

Dennis Tillet was 25

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Authorities today announced a $50,000 reward for information that helps solve the shooting death of a man gunned down in Hyde Park on the Fourth of July.

Dennis Tillet, 25, of Los Angeles was wounded about 10:30 p.m. that day at 48th Street and Second Avenue, the Los Angeles Police Department reported.

He died at a hospital.

Tillet was among of a group of people at the location when gunshots were fired, wounding him and two others, police said.

Nov 2 2012

Murder was carried out to further the activities of a criminal street gang

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—A gang member who gunned down a Los Angeles High School football standout because he was carrying a red Spider-Man backpack was sentenced to death today.

Jurors recommended in May that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ronald H. Rose impose the death sentence on Pedro Espinoza, 23, who was convicted of first-degree murder for the March 2, 2008, shooting death of Jamiel Shaw Jr., 17, near his home in the Arlington Heights area of Los Angeles.

Oct 29 2012

Anthony Wayne Smith

LANCASTER, Calif. — Former Raiders defensive end Anthony Wayne Smith pleaded not guilty today to murder charges stemming from four killings nearly a decade apart.

On Oct. 12, Lancaster Superior Court Judge Lisa Chung found sufficient evidence to require the 45-year-old ex-pro football player to proceed to trial in connection with the Nov. 10, 1999, slayings of Kevin and Ricky Nettles, the June 25, 2001, killing of Dennis Henderson and the Oct. 7, 2008, death of Maurilio Ponce.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.