Free Republic

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Shortly after holding a press conference this afternoon to say that authorities are not giving her the information she deserves about the shooting death of her 13-year-old son, Latonya Walker met with Jefferson County District Attorney Brandon Falls. Falls said Walker had not contacted him before she and community activist Frank Matthews held today's press conference. Falls said he met with her and Matthews today for 45 minutes. Normally, Falls said, the DA's office will not contact family members after a decision made not to file charges in a case. They never meet with family's of defendants...

Friends of downtown business owner Shannon Kathleen Collins mourned her loss Tuesday after police identified her as the victim of Monday's "unprovoked, random" stabbing. Longtime friend Timerie Gordon said those who knew Collins were "very angry and sad and trying to make sense of something that will never be sensible." Collins, 38, co-owner of Camouflage on Pacific Avenue, was walking back from a hairdresser's appointment when police say she was "savagely" attacked about 11:50 a.m. on the 300 block of Broadway. Minutes later, after a number of calls to 911, police arrested 43-year-old Charles Anthony Edwards III of San Francisco...

BIRMINGHAM, AL (WBRC) - Birmingham police say a 13-year-old robbery suspect was shot and killed by the person he tried to rob in Birmingham Friday night. The Jefferson County Coroner's Office confirms the teen's identity as Jaqures Cortez Walker of Birmingham. He was a 7th grade student at Martha Gaskin Middle School and the quarterback for the football team, according to a family member. BPD Sgt. Johnny Williams said the teen suspect approached a couple as they pulled into their home at the gated Skyview Condominiums in the 400 block of Skyview Drive around 11:10pm. Friday, April 27. Skyview Drive...

The mother of a 13-year-old boy fatally shot when police say he tried to rob a couple said she is in shock that her son is dead -- and even more so at the circumstances surrounding his death. "I don't want it put out like he was a bad person or a mean person, because he wasn't," Latonya Walker, 38, said Tuesday. "This is not him, not who he was. Anybody that knew Ja'Quares knows that." Birmingham police said Ja'Quares Cortez Walker was in a car that pulled into the parking lot of the gated Skyview Condominiums at 407 Skyview...

At least one man is in custody after a violent sexual assault that happened during a home invasion. Three men were inside a home on Orr Street when four armed men forced their way inside. The intruders taped the victims' mouths, noses, and eyes. Their wrists and ankles were bound with plastic ties. One of the victims was taken to one room, while the other two were taken to another. According to a police affidavit, they were beaten with a baseball bat and broom handle. All three of the men were sodomized and sexually assaulted with the weapons. The incident...

A 90-year-old man who was attacked in his home in March along with his 85-year-old wife died Friday morning, Tulsa police said. Bob and Nancy Strait were attacked in the 3300 block of East Virgin Street late March 13 or early the next day, police said. Bob Strait died in Coweta about 11 a.m., Officer Jason Willingham said. The Medical Examiner's Office will determine whether the death is a result of the injuries he sustained in the attack, Willingham said. If so, Tyrone Dale David Woodfork, 20, who was arrested March 15 in the attack, will be charged with an...

A woman walking her dog along the Spokane River Thursday morning was fatally stabbed in what appears to have been a random attack. The victim’s daughter identified the woman as 55-year-old Sharlotte McGill. McGill suffered multiple stab wounds to her upper body shortly after 8 a.m. in the area of 1800 E. South Riverton Avenue and was rushed to a local hospital, according to the Spokane Police Department. Police reported around 2 p.m. that she had died. Witnesses said the person seen running from the area was a black male in his early to mid-30s, wearing black pants and black...

At least when people are attacked by black mobs for being white it will be reported by the local media — provided the victims work for a newspaper. From Norfolk, Virginia: "Wave after wave of young men surged forward to take turns punching and kicking their victim. The victim’s friend, a young woman, tried to pull him back into his car. Attackers came after her, pulling her hair, punching her head and causing a bloody scratch to the surface of her eye. She called 911. A recording told her all lines were busy. She called again. Busy. On her third...

An annual carnival at Northland Mall in Southfield attracted hundreds of teens Saturday, but it quickly got out of control. More than a dozen people were arrested and police say the ugly incident may be gang related. A carnival brawl in the middle of the day, a swarm of flashing lights from the parking lot of Northland Mall down 8 Mile and beyond. For hours, no matter where you looked, you'd likely see a group of kids getting arrested. FOX 2 cameras were rolling when police surrounded one group of at least 8 teenaged boys. One by one, they were...

In an exclusive, off-camera interview, the mother of an attempted rape victim, a young mother shot in the back while walking with her baby, told us her daughter is still fighting for her life. She is in critical condition and still unable to breathe on her own. Under arrest for the vicious attack is 18-year-old Job Hughley. Police say before shooting this woman in the back, he raped two other women, one on April 4 and the other on April 10. The day before that, police believe he murdered Mike Cavanaugh in cold blood while he was taking a nap...

El Chico workers held in killing 2 robbed LR eatery, 2 helped plan, police say; co-worker shot LITTLE ROCK — Four restaurant employees face capital murder charges after they were arrested Monday in connection with a robbery the night before of a west Little Rock El Chico in which another employee was shot and killed.Kiywuan Perry, 23, of Little Rock; his brother Zeckeya Perry, 19, of North Little Rock; Quantez Dobbins, 19, of Little Rock; [and his girlfriend] Kenya Smith, 19, of Little Rock also face charges of aggravated robbery and theft in the holdup of the restaurant on Breckenridge...

A tip to Crimeline has led to the arrests of two men in a brutal beating that occurred a week ago in the Midway community east of Sanford. Julius Ricardo Bender, 18, and Yahaziel Isaac Israel, 19, face charges of attempted first-degree murder, burglary with assault or battery and armed burglary. The victim, a 50-year-old Winter Springs man whose name has not been released, is on life-support at Orlando Regional Medical Center.

Georgia State University police are looking for two men accused of beating a student from the college. “The whole right side of my face had to be reconstructed. I have four plates holding my face together,” said the student whose identity has been withheld for his safety. The victim told Channel 2’s Ryan Young that he’s even lost “some of the pieces of bone” around his eye during the March 1 incident that occurred around 7:30 p.m. at Decatur Street in southeast Atlanta . Video surveillance shows the student walking in a white shirt. Seconds later, two men are seen...

Julius Ricardo Bender, 18, and Yahaziel Isaac Israel, 19, face charges of attempted first-degree murder, burglary with assault or battery and armed burglary. The victim, a 50-year-old Winter Springs man, whose name has not been released, is on life-support at Orlando Regional MediCal Center.

7 Black Teens Accused of Hate Crime in Videotaped Attack on Latino Boy March 30, 2012 PALMDALE, Calif (KTLA) -- Seven black teenagers are facing assault and hate crime charges after allegedly attacking a Latino youth as he walked home from school. It happened around 4 p.m. March 14 near Cactus Middle School in the 3200 block of East Avenue R-8. According to investigators, the 15-year old victim was approached by a group of up to 10 male black teenagers who challenged him to a fight, said "The suspects surrounded the victim and began punching him while several other juveniles...

At least two people were killed and 11 others wounded in violence across Chicago overnight, most of the victims from just two shootings on the West and South sides, according to police. Suspects were being questioned in one of the shootings, the killing of a man near his home on the Far South Side, officials said.

HAMTRAMCK (WWJ) - Police in Hamtramck are looking for two women who they believe have been abducted. Investigators said 18-year-old Abreeya Brown and her friend, 21-year-old Ashley Conaway, were standing near Brown’s car outside of a home when they were reportedly thrown into the trunk of a car and kidnapped. It happened at around 10 p.m. Tuesday on Andrus Street, near Jos Campau and St. Aubin. “According to Brown’s father, he exchanged gunfire with two men from inside the home just prior to them abducting both the women,” Detective Prima Brennen told WWJ Newsradio 950′s Vickie Thomas. Police said when...

Police are seeking four men, three wearing black pants and black hoodies and another wearing a red shirt. Shortly before 1 a.m., Radford University sent a voicemail alert regarding a Tyler Avenue armed robbery that occurred last night. According to the alert, the robbery took place at 11:43 p.m. in the 500 block of Tyler Avenue. Police are seeking four men, three wearing black pants and black hoodies and another wearing a red shirt. The men were last seen running west away from campus, according to the alert. The Radford Police Department said Monday that the men allegedly knocked on...