Violent Crime News Archives

A South Carolina woman says the teen accused of killing his family last Saturday morning spent the hours afterward riding four-wheelers with her grandson. via ClipSyndicate

“He seemed very immature and just kind of isolated from other adult things”

A man is accused of killing his 65-year-old mother and 94-year-old grandmother in Sacramento, police said. via My58.com

News can happen anytime, anywhere. If you See It you can Snap It and then Send It to KLTV. via KLTV

“Many of us will need to return to that building in order to get some kind of closure.”

Plans to demolish the building where a gunman killed five Northern Illinois University students have been scrapped after the university community overwhelmingly opposed it, the school's president said Tuesday.

It was also apparent, however, that the community does not want Cole Hall to continue unaltered as an instructional facility, President John G. Peters said.

Officials collected thousands of opinions on Cole Hall's future through e-mail, open forums and meetings.

The building has remained empty since Valentine's Day, when gunman Steven Kazmierczak burst into a lecture hall and killed five students before turning the gun on himself. Read more

“Without that, I wouldn't be here today. I would be wasting away in prison.”

A Dallas man who spent more than 27 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit was freed Tuesday, after being incarcerated longer than any other wrongfully convicted U.S. inmate cleared by DNA testing.

James Lee Woodard stepped out of the courtroom and raised his arms to a throng of photographers. Supporters and other people gathered outside the court erupted in applause.

'No words can express what a tragic story yours is,' state District Judge Mark Stoltz told Woodard at a brief hearing before his release. Read more

An Alameda County jury has reached a verdict in the murder trial of Christopher Hollis, who stands accused of fatally shooting 19-year-old Meleia Willis-Starbuck, a Dartmouth College student who attended Berkeley High School with Hollis.

Willis-Starbuck was shot and killed near the intersection of College Avenue and Dwight Way in Berkeley in the early morning hours of July 17, 2005. The shooting occurred after Hollis, a 25-year-old Hayward man, and two other men responded to her call for help when she and several women friends were confronted by several University of California, Berkeley football players. Read more

“We were just cutting up and having fun all day”

COLUMBIA, S.C. - A teen accused of killing his family spent the hours after the slayings riding four-wheelers with a friend and buying steaks for dinner, the friend's grandmother said Tuesday. via KSTP-TV Minneapolis

Opening statements are expected in Wyandotte County District Court Tuesday morning in the trial of 20-year-old Robert Haberlein of Kansas City, Kan. via The Wichita Eagle

“It is a dangerous situation ...we believe he is still armed, and people should just keep their distance”

Murder victim Tracey Greenbury with her father Max about 15 years ago. Photo: Penny Stephens Latest related coverage Manhunt after mother shot dead Video Police hunt gunman who chased and shot dead a Frankston ... via The Age

“Food is a destination in and of itself to some people.”

Teenager could be up for death penalty A 19-year-old man charged with killing four of his family members could face the death penalty, the prosecutor handling the case said Monday. via Myrtle Beach Online

Prosecutors and defense attorneys have begun jury selection in the court-martial of an Army sergeant accused of killing a sobbing, severely wounded, unarmed Iraqi insurgent last summer. via WLOS

Oklahoma City police have identified a teenage girl who was shot and killed at an Oklahoma City park as 18-year-old Shonda Hamilton. via Times Record News

North West police have arrested a second fugitive wanted for the killings of the Lichtenburg farm couple, At and Katerina Deysel. via Independent Online

“We're certainly looking at (the possibility) it is domestic in nature at this time”

Cops say a woman strangled in her home was likely slain in a domestic dispute, her body found a little more than an hour after her husband perished in a fiery car crash east of the city. via CANOE

Friends of an 18-year-old charged with killing 4 members of his family say he is a polite, quiet teen. via WWUP-TV Cadillac

“I knew he couldn't be up to anything good.”

A Hawaii-based soldier accused of killing an unarmed Iraqi last year admitted shooting the man, but said he believed it was justified after the Iraqi tried to flee the backyard of a house the soldier's platoon ... via Jacksonville Daily Progress

“I don't believe a police department involved in a shooting should be responsible for the crime scene”

A coalition of civil rights advocates on Sunday urged changes in the handling of police misconduct and brutality complaints after the acquittal of three officers involved in the shooting death of an unarmed man on his wedding day.

They also called for a permanent state-level special prosecutor to investigate such cases.

'The verdict in the Sean Bell case proves it is almost impossible to successfully prosecute cases of police misconduct, especially in homicide cases,' said lawyer Norman Siegel, former head of the New York Civil Liberties Union. Read more

“One of my partners, Charlie Aronica, says, 'I wonder if that could be the same Dennis'”

When Lynn DeJac learned that her boyfriend had paid someone to follow her on a girls' night out, she knew what she had to do. via Baltimore Sun

“He altered all of our lives forever in one night.”

The wheels of justice may have turned slowly but, in the end, they steamrolled Duane Manzanares. via Pueblo Chieftain

A man who shot and killed a 13-year-old breaking into his mobile home has been indicted for murder in a case that could test a new law giving Texans more leeway to defend themselves with deadly force. via Houston Chronicle

Caught in the crossfire, an 18-month-old boy struck in a drive-by shooting. Tonight, the toddler is in critical condition and the suspect is still at large.

It happened on H Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenue in Modesto.

For the entire story click on the video player in the right hand corner of the page. Read more

A 20-year-old Fitchburg man was ordered held without bail after being accused of killing his ex-girlfriend's boyfriend with a gunshot through a living room window. via WWLP

“We are very pleased. We think there's a great deal of merit in the motion of a directed verdict”

A Macomb County Circuit Court judge said Friday that he will consider a motion to overturn the conviction of a man accused of killing his wife in their Clinton Township comic book store. via Detroit Free Press

“It appears that the firearm was a handgun and we are unable to say whether it was a revolver or a semi-automatic pistol”

A 36-YEAR-OLD father of four shot dead in an east Sydney bar fight was an inspiration and had a heart of gold, his grieving family say. via News.com.au

“But it was just a long time coming.”

A court-martial panel on Friday found a Hawaii-based soldier not guilty in the killing of an unarmed Iraqi during a raid on a suspected insurgent hideout last year. via Free Republic

Thirteen-year-old Antwuan D. Taylor sat behind the defendant’s table Friday in Wyandotte County Juvenile Court, possibly the youngest person in the county ever to face a first-degree murder charge.The ... via KansasCity.com

A man and woman suspected in a double murder in North Carolina have surrendered after a standoff with state police in front of a Norfolk mall. via WFMY 2 Greensboro

Three NYPD detectives have been acquitted of all counts in the 50-shot killing of an unarmed groom-to-be on his wedding day. via ClipSyndicate

A 52-year-old man has been charged with killing a Greenville man who was found dead earlier this year. via WPVI-TV Philadelphia

A man has been arrested after authorities say he killed the father and grandfather of his two stepchildren in front of the children, fled the scene and then holed up in someone's home for about nine hours ... via Valley Morning Star

The lawyer for a Hawaii-based soldier accused of killing an unarmed Iraqi last year says the defense won't contest that his client shot the man. via Seattle Post-Intelligencer

A 16-year-old boy is accused of plotting an attack on his high school, officials said Thursday, alleging that he discussed plans by e-mail with another person to carry out simultaneous 'Columbine-like mass murders' in two states on Sept. 11, 2008.

Authorities detained the teen Tuesday on an initial charge of intimidation, St. Joseph County prosecutor Michael Dvorak said Thursday. His office was preparing charges of conspiracy to commit murder after authorities found more than 100 knives at his home, Dvorak said. Read more

The trial of a Mason City man accused of killing his mother continues. Today a judge is ruling that Jordan Johnson must remain in the courtroom while the witnesses testify. via KIMT

The woman accused of killing her daughter's college roommate now faces formal murder charges. via Fort Wayne News Sentinel

“At some point an individual we have now identified as an off-duty Baltimore Police Officer draws a handgun and the uniformed officers at the scene draw their guns and at least one of them fired.”

A city police officer shot and killed a fellow, off-duty officer this morning during a fight outside a bar in Southeast Baltimore, a department spokesman said this morning. via The Baltimore Sun

A fourth man has been charged with murdering a private detective in 1987. Glenn Vian, 49, of Orchard Road, south Croydon, will go before magistrates accused of killing Daniel Morgan, 37, who was found with an ... via Hereford Times

“It's clear we don't have all the evidentiary exhibits yet”

Former Eureka Police Chief David Douglas and Lt. Tony Zanotti pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Humboldt County Superior Court to charges of involuntary manslaughter stemming from their decision-making roles in the ... via Times-Standard

Rapper Corey "C-Murder" Miller's latest request to leave the state while under house arrest pending retrial on a second-degree murder charge has been denied by a state judge. via KLFY-TV Lafayette

A man charged with murder who eluded a police dragnet in Hoquiam has been caught at a strip club in Parkland. via KOMOradio

Wednesday, April 23, 2008 WBAL Radio as reported by Steve Fermier and Associated Press Baltimore police have made an arrest in a fatal shooting near the campus of Morgan State University. via WBAL-AM Baltimore

Sixty-year-old Lester Bower of Arlington has been on Texas death row since 1984. via KVIA

A police detective says a truck driver from New York was robbed and fatally shot by a drug dealer as a woman watched. via WJXX

“The police will continue to vigorously investigate this matter”

A police officer arrested after a man claimed he was paid to kill the officer's wife was released from custody Tuesday and isn't facing charges, authorities said. via Newsday.com

“The older guys in the past looked out for the little ones. Now they're all locked up”

Nine people were killed in 36 shootings over the weekend in Chicago, reflecting what some community leaders say is a deadly breakdown in discipline among gang members after a crackdown over the past few years ... via CNN

“They felt Olga was just as big a part of the whole scheme as Helen Golay”

The deliberations got loud at one point, and a couple of holdouts delayed the final two verdicts. via Los Angeles Times

“The judge is reviewing the pleadings filed today and will address them prior to the hearings scheduled for this Thursday.”

Lawyers for a man charged with killing four people in a 2005 shooting spree that began inside a downtown Atlanta courthouse want the judge presiding over the case removed. via The Macon Telegraph

A 19-year-old Maine man who fatally shot himself when police surrounded him on a Connecticut highway Sunday had abducted his ex-girlfriend and killed her male friend earlier in the day, authorities said Monday. via Bangor Daily News

“He made a living by murder for hire. He was, in plain terms, a hit man”

A police sergeant was arrested after a man charged with two murders told investigators he was responsible for at least seven contract killings, including the shooting of the sergeant's wife, authorities said Monday.

In what Detroit Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings called an ambush, Sgt. David Cobb's wife, Rose Cobb, was shot Dec. 26 as she waited in the couple's van as he shopped at a pharmacy.

Cobb was arrested early Sunday morning at his home, Bully-Cummings said. The chief didn't offer any details about the arrest, and calls to the Wayne County jail went unanswered. Cobb was to be arraigned Tuesday. Read more

A 16-year-old boy was killed Sunday night in what investigators are calling a drive-by shooting, police said. via Contra Costa Times

Shortly after New Orleans police touted a decrease in the city's violence, at least six people have died in separate shootings. via KALB-TV Alexandria

“They (state police) informed me my nephew was shot and killed by Gregory Floyd, and they called him a good Samaritan. I accepted it at that time. I had no idea who he was, but now I know he is no good Samaritan”

Despite new charges against Gregory Floyd, the attorney general says there is no reason to revisit whether he should have been exonerated for his involvement in a fatal shooting last year. via New Hampshire Magazine

Torrance police say their officers have shot and killed a man with a gun outside his apartment. via KCBS-TV Los Angeles

“We were obviously disappointed that it was upheld”

The 80-year sentence will stand for a man convicted of conspiring to kill a deputy prosecutor while he was serving life in prison for the 1998 slayings of a woman and three children, the state appeals court has ... via WHAS-TV Louisville

A 16-year-old Philadelphia boy is charged in the shooting death of his 12-year-old brother.

Police initially thought the boys were playing with a gun and the younger brother accidentally shot himself March 9. But police Lt. Frank Vanore says an autopsy showed a gunshot wound that couldn't be self-inflicted.

He says police still believe the shooting was an accident, but it is now ruled to be a homicide.

The older brother was released Thursday after posting bail.

Police did not release his name because of his age. Read more

A Kane County judge has found an Aurora man guilty on two counts of murder in the shooting death of a 6-year-old boy.

Nicholas Contreras was killed in an eruption of gunfire as he slept at his grandmother's home in Aurora. Someone shot through a window, hitting the boy twice in the back.

The child's 1996 slaying remained an open case until late 2006, when police charged Elias Diaz with murder for allegedly acting as the driver in the shooting. Diaz pleaded not guilty.

Judge Timothy Sheldon found Diaz guilty on Friday. He hasn't been sentenced. Read more

“We have some very positive things going on. We are pulling murderers off the street more quickly than ever”

A day after police touted a slight decline in the number of murders in New Orleans, investigators were looking into four fresh killings.

Two people were killed Friday night, and two more on killed Saturday, police said.

Friday afternoon, Police Superintendent Warren Riley said there had been 54 killings from January through March, compared with 59 in the first quarter last year. Of those, 60 percent have been solved and 30 people arrested, eclipsing what he said was the 55 percent national average for clearing homicide cases. Read more

A 19-year-old Zion man was charged Friday with first-degree murder in the death of his infant daughter on Wednesday, police said.

Two 18-year-old males were shot and killed Friday night outside a church in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood, police said.

Police said that they were searching for the person who injured a 5-year-old girl in a drive-by shooting on Friday night.

Sinn Fin West Belfast MLA Jennifer McCann has said that the local community, all of the justice agencies and the criminal justice system must work together to send a clear message out that violent crimes will ...

“I don't have an issue with counsel personally”

It's been nearly three years since Joseph Edward Duncan III kidnapped two young siblings at their home after killing their parents and older brother. Shasta and Dylan Groene were whisked away to western Montana, where they were tortured, raped and Dylan was slain.

Now the man pleaded guilty to the crimes has told a federal judge he wants to fire his lawyers and represent himself at his sentencing hearing, which may mean more delays.

It also raises the possibility that Duncan could cross-examine witnesses _ perhaps including 11-year-old Shasta, the lone survivor of the May 2005 murder-kidnapping that wiped out her family. Read more

Associated Press - April 18, 2008 4:14 AM ET PHOENIX - Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas is expected to take the stand Friday in Phoenix's Serial Shooter case. via KVOA-TV Tucson

A judge has set a hearing for June to evaluate the mental competency of a man accused of killing two elderly Howard County residents. via KATV Little Rock

A judge has set $1 million cash bail for a Baraboo father accused of killing his 5-week-old twins. via WXOW

Marietta police say the 16-year-old shot and killed by officers carried a pellet gun that resembled a semiautomatic handgun. via WTLV

“He armed himself with some type of shank and used that to overcome the officer and then sexually batter her”

A female corrections officer was beaten and raped Thursday morning by an inmate in the law library on the fifth floor of the Duval County Jail, Sheriff John Rutherford announced. via Local6.com

Prosecutors in San Diego say they are dropping all charges against a woman accused of killing her Marine husband after new tests showed no traces of poison.

The San Diego County prosecutor's office asked a Superior Court judge Thursday to dismiss murder charges against Cynthia Sommer.

Sommer was granted a new trial after her conviction in January 2007 on first-degree murder. A judge ruled in November that she had received ineffective representation from her former attorney. She has remained in custody. Read more

“If you stand up, you appreciate you are charged with an extremely serious matter. "You'll be remanded, in the first instance to the 25th April at 9.45am, we will try to deal with that by video link.”

The mother of schoolboy Rhys Jones broke down in court today as she came face to face with the teenager accused of his murder. via Daily Mail

“We are quite confident we will be able to identify all individuals involved in this crime and hold them accountable”

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - A low-level Mafia member admitted Thursday that he shot and killed Springfield's regional mob boss in 2003 in exchange for $10,000 from the leader's rivals. via KAAL

Authorities say a Fort Lauderdale man tried to hire someone to kill a teen he met online and allegedly raped in 2005. via WJXX

“They lured him in the garage where they prepared a space to kill him”

A jury convicted an 18-year-old man Wednesday of killing another man, beheading him and setting fire to his body in what prosecutors called a thrill killing. via Inside Bay Area

An Anne Arundel County judge sentenced a Baltimore man to 20 years in prison for repeatedly raping a woman at a Linthicum light rail stop.

Forty-nine-year-old Eugene Waller entered an Alford plea on Friday. In an Alford plea, a defendant doesn't admit guilt but acknowledges that the state has enough evidence for a conviction.

Waller was charged in October with raping the woman at the Nursery Road station. She told police a man dragged her into the woods, held a weapon to her neck and raped her. Read more

“There certainly will continue to be support provided to all of our students here on the campus and, in particular, any witnesses to this tragedy.”

A police officer shot and killed a 17-year-old high school student today after authorities said the teenager clubbed the officer with a baseball bat on the crowded, urban campus. via Los Angeles Times

“I want to know why it happened”

The 18-year-old man charged with shooting his 14-year-old girlfriend in the basement of his mother's rowhouse earlier this week told police that the killing was 'a mistake,' police charging documents say.

Charles Jakes, of the 1900 block of N. Patterson Park Ave., was charged yesterday with first-degree murder, assault and handgun violations in connection with the slaying of Shawndreta Griffin, a police spokeswoman said. Police charging documents said the girl was shot in the head and found lying in bed. Read more

“It's like a big question mark. Should we be mourning all day, or should we try to do something normal?”

A day of mourning is under way at Virginia Tech, a year to the day after a student went on a rampage, killing 32 people. via News4Jax

“I woke up at about 6 o'clock to the sound of police sirens. "I looked out my bedroom window to see cop cars speeding up the road - all you could see was blue flashing lights. It was pretty scary.”

THE prime suspect in the shooting of Rhys Jones was last nightbeing questioned over the murder. via Daily Express

Jurors in Detroit have started deliberating the fate of an 18-year-old accused of killing a 26-year-old, then beheading him and torching the body. via 760 WJR

Spring training as we know it is threatened. Use this link to learn how to support the national pastime in our own backyard. via KVOA-TV Tucson

The NYPD said the boyfriend, Carlos Cruz, 36, of Southbridge, Mass., and his cousin, Devon Miller, 25, of the Bronx, are charged with murdering 18-year-old Chelsea Frazier. via AMNY

An Ohio prosecutor says a man accused of stabbing his wife to death and killing his four children in a house fire has hanged himself in his jail cell. via WHDH

“They didn't need this money. They weren't poor and destitute. .