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Tag: murder

  • Suspect sought in Denver homicide, police say

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    Denver police said they are searching for a 26-year-old man suspected of murder in an early October killing.

    A judge issued a first-degree-murder arrest warrant for Gabriel Ortiz Trujillo, described as a 5-foot-6, 100-pound Latino man with brown eyes and brown hair, police said.

    Police said the killing happened about 9:25 p.m. Oct. 3 in the 8600 block of East Colfax Avenue.

    Officials didn’t specify which incident Trujillo is suspected in, but they previously reported a fatal stabbing near that area on that date.

    Paramedics took the unidentified stabbing victim to a hospital, where the man later died, police said in an Oct. 4 update. He will be identified by the medical examiner’s office.

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  • Suspect in Park Hill motorcycle club shooting convicted of manslaughter in Denver

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    A Denver man charged with murder in a deadly 2023 shooting at a Park Hill motorcycle club was found guilty on lesser charges this week and sentenced to six years in prison.

    Todd Lynn Washington, 42, was convicted of reckless endangerment in August, but the Denver jury could not reach a verdict on first-degree murder charges in the case.

    Washington’s second trial was held this month, and on Monday, a Denver jury ruled he was guilty of two lesser counts of manslaughter and not guilty on two counts of first-degree murder, court records show.

    He was sentenced to six years in the Colorado Department of Corrections by Denver District Court Judge Eric Johnson on Wednesday, with credit for nearly 2 years of time served while his case was ongoing.

    Washington was also sentenced to 240 days in jail for two counts of reckless endangerment, both misdemeanors.

    Washington’s attorney, Anna Geigle with the Denver law firm Geigle Morales, in a statement thanked the jury and court “for their professionalism and commitment to ensuring that justice was fairly administered.”

    “The subject matter of this case was profoundly serious, and we deeply appreciate the time and care each juror devoted to hearing the evidence and reaching a verdict,” Geigle said.

    In a statement, Denver District Attorney John Walsh said his office respects the jury’s decision and “are pleased that Todd Washington and Shon McPherson – who was sentenced in September to life in prison for his role in the murders — are being held accountable for their crimes.”

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  • Alleged Oakland Sureño gang members arrested in sweep; face charges for racketeering, murder

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    Nine alleged members of Oakland-based Sureño street gangs are facing racketeering charges in connection with murders and other related crimes, federal officials said Wednesday.

    The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California announced the indictments on the same day six of the suspects were arrested in coordinated law enforcement operations. Authorities arrested 24-year-old Marvin Bonilla, 24-year-old Edwin Cano-Marida, 31-year-old Walfer Mendoza-Mendoza, 24-year-old Mario Pablo-Matias, 31-year-old Raymundo Pablo-Matias and 28-year-old Carlos Ramiro-Mendoza.

    Law enforcement, including the FBI, on the scene of a sweep of alleged Sureño gang members in Oakland on Oct. 29, 2025.

    CBS


    Two other suspects, 28-year-old Cesar Rolando Lucas-Pablo and 41-year-old Jeronimo Pablo-Carrillo, were already in custody, officials said. The 9th suspect, identified as 25-year-old Gonzalo Pablo, remains at large.

    “Like people everywhere, the residents of Oakland deserve safe and peaceful neighborhoods, not ones filled with fear and senseless violence,” said United States Attorney Craig Missakian said in a statement. “My office will continue to partner with local and federal law enforcement to reclaim our streets from the gangs who threaten our residents.”

    “These individuals have caused lasting damage to our community for years,” said Assistant Chief James Beere of the Oakland Police Department. “Their violent actions, including shootings and homicides, have left families mourning and communities forever changed.”

    According to prosecutors, the suspects belonged to the Oakland Sureños, who are part of the larger Sureños street gang and are subordinate to and allied with the Mexican Mafia prison gang. Members are accused of committing more than a dozen criminal acts, including at least two murders and three attempted murders, along with shootings, firearms trafficking and narcotics trafficking.

    Prosecutors said the crimes included committing violence against people perceived as rivals of the Sureños, which led to innocent members of the public being injured or killed.

    In addition to the racketeering charges, which carry a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison, six of the suspects are facing additional sentencing factors that could lead to life in prison.

    Among those facing a potential life sentence include Gonzalez Pablo for his alleged role in a Nov. 2018 attempted murder, Lucas-Pablo, Pablo-Carillo and Ramiro-Mendoza for their alleged role a Jan. 5, 2019 murder, Ramiro-Mendoza and Pablo-Carillo for their alleged role in a Jan. 18, 2019 murder; along with Cano-Merida and Mario Pablo-Matias for their alleged role in an attempted murder in May 2021.

    Prosecutors said the suspects are scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday.

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    Tim Fang

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  • ‘It’s my fault’: Zebulon dad says he killed his 4 children in newly released 911 call

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    Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell said Tuesday that Wellington Delano Dickens III, who is charged with killing three of his children and a stepson, committed the crimes over a period of months. 

    Remains of the four children were found Monday in the trunk of a car at the Dickens home on Springtooth Drive in Zebulon. Dickens called 911 to report that he had killed the children. 

    Dickens, 38, is charged with four counts of murder.

    On Tuesday, Bizzell laid out the timeline of the deaths, which he said was based on investigation and interviews.

    Investigators have determined that Leah Dickens, 6, was killed first, sometime in May 2025. 

    Zoe Dickens, 9, was killed in August 2025.

    Wellington Dickens IV, was killed in late August or early September.

    Sean Brasfield, Dickens’ 18-year-old stepson, died last, sometime in September, Bizzell said.

    A 3-year-old child was found alive in the home. Dickens was arrested Monday and is being held without bond at the Johnston County jail.

    ‘I killed my children’: Zebulon father tells 911 dispatcher he killed his four children

    On Wednesday, the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office released the recording of Dickens’ 911 call.

    “I killed my children,” Dickens said. “It’s a lot to explain,
    but in a nutshell, it’s probably my fault … I’m not even going … It’s my fault.
    It’s bad.”

    He continued, “It just started as me over-disciplining.”

    A dispatcher asked Dickens how he killed his children.

    “I beat on them sometimes,” Dickens said. “They didn’t want
    to eat. I didn’t force them to eat. I’ve told them it was a punishment not to eat. I did a bunch
    of different little things.”

    He told the dispatcher that he did not use a knife or gun to kill the children. 

    “I’m trying to just do the right thing,” Dickens told the dispatcher. 

    Dickens told the dispatcher he was not carrying any weapons
    but did admit to having knives at his home.

    He said, “If you want me to … I’ll come outside in my underwear. I
    don’t know what you all need me to be. I’m willing to do whatever you need me
    to do. I’ve never had this in my life.”

    When the dispatcher asked Dickens he had drunk any alcohol or
    done any drugs, Dickens said he smoked and sipped champagne before making the call.

    “It wasn’t up to me. Like, I had … God influenced me. Like,
    that’s it,” Dickens said. “It wasn’t me ’cause I got nervous, and I didn’t do it
    when I was supposed and I was being a coward.”

    Dickens said the situation in his home had “spiraled.”

    “I just can’t take it [anymore],” Dickens said. “I never did
    this before. This stuff is crazy. And, I got my son, and I just feel guilty,
    guilty as hell.”

    The dispatcher informed Dickens there was a deputy outside
    his home.

    Investigators still trying to determine a motive

    Bizzell said investigators had yet to determine a motive for the deaths. He added, “As the sheriff, as a father and as a grandfather, I can stand here and say there is no reason for a father to murder his children.”

    Dickens was a widower caring for the five children. His wife, Stephanie Dickens, died at home on April 21, 2024, Bizzell said. She was 37.

    Deputies were called to the home on that night and found that Stephanie Dickens, who was pregnant at the time of her death, died from complications of a miscarriage. Dickens told authorities his wife had been bleeding excessively the night before her death, but that she refused to go to the hospital for medical treatment. 

    The couple had a history of refusing medical treatment, records show. 

    In 2016, WakeMed reported the family to the North Carolina Division of Social Services, claiming that Dickens and his wife refused medical care for their newborn baby girl against doctors’ orders and left the hospital. The couple and the baby girl did not return for a follow-up appointment, the documents show.

    According to the documents, WakeMed said the baby girl suffered from jaundice, a condition that could cause brain damage in newborns.

    When social workers showed up to Dickens’ home on Aug. 23, 2016, he refused to let them see the child. He refused to let social workers see the child on subsequent visits.

    Authorities eventually arrested Dickens, and he was jailed until he complied with a judge’s order. He told his wife to take their daughter to a clinic.

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  • Four NC children found dead in trunk of car identified; father tells 911 he killed them

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    A man was arrested in Johnston County Monday night for killing his four children.

    According to the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office, the 911 center received a call from 38-year-old Wellington Delano Dickens III, who told 911 operators that he killed his children. 

    The sheriff’s office announced Tuesday afternoon that Dickens is charged with four counts of murder. He is charged with one count of murder for each of the children listed below:

    • Leah Dickens, age 6
    • Zoe Dickens, age 9
    • Wellington Dickens, age 10
    • Sean Brasfield, his stepchild, age 18

    Johnston County deputies arrived at the house on Springtooth Drive in Zebulon and found Dickens, who told deputies his 3-year-old son was inside the house and alive.

    Dickens then informed them that four of his other children were dead inside the trunk of a car in the garage. 

    Authorities believe the four children have been dead since May 1.

    Wellington Delano Dickens III is charged with murder.

    The Wake County Public School System said the four children are not enrolled in the district.

    Deputies confirmed that the 3-year-old is alive. When they checked the car in the garage, they found human remains in the trunk. 

    Authorities removed a two-door Honda sedan from Wellington Dickens III’s home on Tuesday.

    The Johnston County Sheriff’s Office obtained a search warrant for the house and established that Dickens had killed his three biological children and an 18-year-old stepchild.

    The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation responded to the scene, which is near the Johnston County and Wake County line.

    The sheriff’s office said this is an ongoing investigation.

    Authorities removed a two-door Honda sedan from Wellington Dickens III’s home on Tuesday.

    Related: NC father charged with murder of 4 children had prior accusation of neglect or abuse of child

    Wellington Dickens III makes court appearance

    Dickens appeared in court on Tuesday afternoon. He will be assigned a public defender.

    A judge told Dickens in court on Tuesday that a first-degree murder charge carries a maximum sentence of life without parole or the death penalty if he is convicted.

    Authorities are holding Dickens at the Johnston County Jail without bond.

    On Tuesday, Johnston County District Attorney Jason Waller declined to comment on the case.

    Dickens is due back in court on Wednesday.

    Neighbors share their reactions

    WRAL News spoke with Chris Yingling and Fran Majkowski, who live near Dickens’ home.

    “I woke up this morning and
    looked out waiting for a package and saw all these cops, and was like, ‘Hey
    mom, something is happening,’” Yingling said.

    “I walk by that house almost every single day,” Majkowski said.

    WRAL News asked Yingling how he’s holding up.

    “It’s definitely a horrible thing to happen,” Yingling said.
    “I wouldn’t wish anything [like] this onto anybody.”

    Majkowski didn’t know Dickens or the rest of his family personally, but remembers when they moved into the house on Springtooth Drive.

    “I never saw a child outside playing,” Majkowski said. “I never saw him mowing a lawn.

    “The only time I ever saw them was the day they moved in and like I said … it was very … you just get the feeling someone is to themselves.”

    Debra Riley, who lives next door, said she and other neighbors are still trying to piece together what happened on Tuesday.

    “My heart just breaks for the children, and for the 3-year-old that’s left because he has no parents or siblings left,” Rily said. 

    Majkowski shared how the neighborhood reached out to Dickens in 2024 after his wife died.

    “This is a new neighborhood,” Majkowski  said. ” have been here for three years. Everyone else has been here a year and a half to two years. There was an outpouring of support.”

    Riley said Dickens “became more of a recluse” after his wife’s death.

    “You just never saw him outside as much. You never saw the children outside as much,” Riley said.

    Another neighbor, Sherry Burton, told WRAL News that she last saw Dickens about “a month ago,” and that he was acting strangly.

    “He seemed like his mind was somewhere else,” Burton said. 

    Burton also told WRAL News that her son smelled something “very, very strong,” coming from the house, to the point where her son almost vomitted from the smell.

    Great uncle says Dickens served in the military

    WRAL News also spoke with Charles Moore, who is Dickens’ great uncle.

    Moore said he last saw Dickens about a year ago and “he seemed fine.”

    Dickens is an Iraq War veteran, according to Moore. WRAL News is working to find out what branch of the military Dickens was in and his rank.

    “We know he had a little problem,” Moore said of Dickens.

    WRAL News asked Moore specifically what kind of problem.

    “He was in the service, and he had a problem ever since he came back, I think,” Moore said.

    Moore shared how he felt learning of the news on Tuesday.

    “Like anybody else I was just shocked,” Moore said. “You hear it, talk about it happening to other people. You just wouldn’t think it would happen to one of your own.”

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  • Grand Jury Indicts WA Man For Murder In Clackamas County – KXL

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    A Washington man has been arraigned on one count of murder in the first degree and one count of harassment for an attack that allegedly took place at the Clackamas County Jail. Credit: MGN

    CLACKAMAS COUNTY, OR – The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office reports that on October 28, 2025, Sapastian Year, 23, from Renton, Washington, was arraigned on one count of murder in the first degree and one count of harassment.  The arraignment came just days after Year was indicted by a Clackamas County Grand Jury.

    The murder charge is the result of an assault that occurred on October 18, 2025, inside the disciplinary housing area at the Clackamas County Jail. The victim, Reece Warren Richeson, 26, of Cedar Hills, was taken to a local hospital after the assault, and he died from his injuries the next day.  Year and Richeson had shared a cell since October 10, 2025.

    Year’s harassment charge is from a confrontation with a different inmate at the jail on October 9, 2025, prior to Year being housed with Richeson.  Richeson was moved to the disciplinary housing area on October 7, 2025.  Richeson was housed in the disciplinary housing area after unrelated misconduct classified as high on the jail’s misconduct severity scale.

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    Tim Lantz

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  • FBI Adds Charge Over Unborn Child in Birchmore Murder Case

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    Matthew Farwell, who was arrested by the FBI and charged with the murder Sandra Birchmore in Aug. 2024, is now charged with killing her unborn 8-to-10 week child

    Accused killer and former Massachusetts cop Matthew Farwell – who was arrested in Aug. 2024 for the murder of a 23-year-old pregnant woman he is also accused of grooming, a murder federal prosecutors say he then staged her death to look like a suicide – was hit with an additional charge connected to the death of her unborn 8 to 10-week-old boy.

    Farwell, multiple sources confirm, was not the father of the child, but believed that he was when he drove to her house in Canton, Massachusetts, on Feb. 1, 2021, and allegedly strangled her to death during a blizzard. According to the first indictment unsealed in the summer of 2024, which charged him, he then drove to a Boston area hospital to be there alongside his wife for the birth of the couple’s third child.

    In the lead-up to her brutal alleged murder, she was pestering Farwell, according to a federal complaint, “regarding her due date, ultrasounds, genetic testing, gender reveals, and doctor appointments.” Farwell, a married man whose third baby was due around the time Birchmore was excitedly telling everyone she was expecting and the detective was the father, wasn’t as excited and had texted her that he “wish she would die.”

    During a Nor’easter, Farwell had a change of heart. He texted Birchmore he “wanted to come by for a minute,” braving an ongoing blizzard that had created treacherous conditions, dumping a foot of snow on Boston’s south shore area. That night, Birchmore was captured on her apartment building’s security cameras coming in and out with an ice scraper. She texted Farwell at 9:10 p.m. that her door would be open. 

    Sandra Birchmore was a Stoughton Police Explorer at 12. In the program she met Matthew Farwell
    Credit: Birchmore family

    Farwell showed up four minutes later – wearing a COVID mask with a hoodie pulled tight over his head – and left twenty minutes later, driving directly to a Boston area hospital where his wife Michelle was giving birth to their third child, a boy. 

    Matthew Farwell’s wife gave birth to their third child just hours after he allegedly murdered Sandra Birchmore and is wearing the same clothes.
    Matthew Farwell’s wife gave birth to their third child just hours after he allegedly murdered Sandra Birchmore and is wearing the same clothes.
    Credit: Courtesy of The Case Podcast

    The six-foot-four detective, 38, was the last person to see her alive, and her body was found days later after Canton Police were asked to do a well-being check when Birchmore didn’t show up for work and couldn’t be reached. Yet, he was never seriously considered a suspect in her death despite multiple tips to the Norfolk County D.A.’s office about Farwell’s long history with Birchmore, who had been involved in a police mentoring program since she was a girl. 

    Scroll to continue reading

    It would take nearly four years, and an FBI investigation before Farwell would be arrested in Birchmore’s death, essentially charged with framing the young woman for her own murder. Federal prosecutors now say he used his “knowledge and experience as a law enforcement officer to stage her death to make it look like a suicide.”

    The case was thrust into the national spotlight with the trial of Karen Read, the woman acquitted this summer after going on trial for the murder of her boyfriend, Boston Police Officer John O’Keefe. Her Los Angeles attorney, Alan Jackson, said his client was framed by a corrupt state trooper assigned to the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office, the same investigators who determined Birchmore’s case was a suicide. A judge in Read’s trial earlier this year barred any mention of Birchmore’s investigation by her attorneys.

    Birchmore first met Farwell when she joined the Stoughton Police Explorers Academy at 12 years old. Farwell is accused of initiating a relationship with Birchmore when she was 15 and he was 26, which is considered statutory rape under Massachusetts law.

    The handling of both cases has become the focus of intense scrutiny. The lead investigator in Read’s case, Michael Proctor, was fired, and a trove of his text messages was recently uncovered. Last week, he ended his fight to be reinstated, leading Jackson to say Proctor’s withdrawal of his appeal was an act of “self-preservation.”

    “He learned investigators had recovered text messages from his private phone dating back years, and he wanted no part of what those messages would reveal,” Jackson said. “He didn’t accept accountability—it hunted him down.”

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    Michele McPhee

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  • Cold case detectives find new evidence in 32-year-old Alameda County killing

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    HAYWARD — Detectives with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office have uncovered new leads and reopened the case of a homicide that happened more than 30 years ago, the agency said.

    Modesto native Zachary Jackson 30, was found shot to death inside his home in an unincorporated part of Hayward on June 17, 1993.

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    Rick Hurd

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  • Goldsboro man arrested for alleged murder of 5-year-old boy, held without bond

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    Goldsboro police have arrested a man accused of killing a 5-year-old boy.

    Police said 30-year-old Kenneth Ray Robinson Jr. was arrested on Monday and faces possible murder charges.

    This comes as officers were called to UNC Health Wayne for reports of possible child abuse on Friday, Oct. 16. Police said the boy was transferred to ECU Health in Greenville for treatment and later died from his injuries.

    Police obtained a warrant for Robinson on Friday, Oct. 24.

    Officers said he is being held in Wayne County Jail without bond.

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  • Waldorf man found guilty of murdering his wife while she slept – WTOP News

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    A Waldorf, Maryland, man has been convicted of murder for shooting his wife in the back of the head while she slept on a December night in 2022, the Charles County State’s Attorney’s Office said.

    A Waldorf, Maryland, man has been convicted of first-degree murder for shooting his wife in the back of the head while she slept on a December night in 2022, the Charles County State’s Attorney’s Office announced Monday.

    After a four-day trial, a jury found 36-year-old Travis Edward Paschal Wood guilty of murdering his wife, Shawnda Nicole Wood, 32.

    According to prosecutors, Travis walked into the Charles County Sheriff’s Office on Dec. 9, 2022, to request a welfare check at his home. He told an investigator he had been suicidal the night before and asked for his lawyer, but didn’t provide any additional detail, prosecutors said in a news release Monday.

    When officers arrived at the home on Tawny Drive in Waldorf, they found a handgun and Shawnda lying dead in the couple’s bed. Investigators found Travis’ DNA on the gun.

    The sheriff’s office investigation determined the couple went to a hookah lounge and had drinks after putting their children to bed. They returned home around 2 a.m., where Shawnda confronted her husband about peeing on the floor outside the bathroom and told him he needed to be out of the house by the weekend.

    Later that night, while Shawnda slept, Travis shot her once in the back of the head, prosecutors said.

    The next morning, according to officials, Travis rounded up their three daughters and dropped them off at their grandmother’s house. There, he told his mother he had killed his wife. He eventually showed up at the police station.

    Travis was convicted of first-degree murder and the use of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence. He’s scheduled for sentencing on Jan. 8, 2026, and faces life in prison plus an additional 20 years.

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    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Thomas Robertson

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  • Journalist who covered drug cartels murdered in Mexico; message left next to body, reports say

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    A Mexican journalist who covered drug trafficking has been murdered, officials told AFP on Monday, the latest casualty in a country notoriously dangerous for reporters.

    The reporter, Miguel Angel Beltran, had previously worked in print media and was now covering crime-related issues on social media, according to local reports. 

    Beltran’s body was found on Saturday along a stretch of highway that connects the northwest state of Durango with Mazatlan, a resort hub in the neighboring state of Sinaloa, local press reported. Local media reported the journalist’s body was found wrapped in a blanket, with a message that read: “For spreading false accusations against the people of Durango.”

    His death was confirmed to AFP by the Durango state prosecutor’s office.

    Beltran had reported from TikTok accounts, under the handle Capo, and on Facebook, on the page La Gazzetta Durango, AFP confirmed.

    In one of his last posts, on October 22, Beltran reported on the arrest of a leader of a crime gang called Cabrera Sarabia, which operates in Durango and is a rival of the powerful Sinaloa and Jalisco Nueva Generacion cartels.

    Mexico is considered one of the most dangerous countries for journalists, with more than 150 media workers slain since 1994, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

    Beltran and other murdered journalists worked in areas where drug cartels were active, and they published their work in local media or on social media, generally in precarious employment conditions.

    Media workers are regularly targeted in Mexico, often in direct reprisal for their work covering topics like corruption and the country’s notoriously violent drug traffickers.

    A record number of journalists were killed worldwide in 2024, the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a report released earlier this year, including five in Mexico.

    Mexico had its deadliest year for journalists in 2022, with 13 killings, according to CPJ and Articulo 19, an organization promoting press freedom in Mexico. Since 2000, Articulo 19 has documented 174 murders and 31 disappearances of journalists in Mexico.

    All but a handful of media workers’ killings and abductions remain unsolved.

    “Impunity is the norm in crimes against the press,” the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a 2024 report on Mexico.

    A report by CPJ and Amnesty International showed in 2024 that Mexico fails in its efforts to provide state-sanctioned protection to members of the press.

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  • Man beat girlfriend to death, then tried to get help from family, FL officials say

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    A man has been convicted of killing his girlfriend in Pensacola, Florida, prosecutors said.

    A man has been convicted of killing his girlfriend in Pensacola, Florida, prosecutors said.

    Getty Images/iStockphoto

    A jury found a man guilty of second-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend, who died from what a Florida deputy described as a “lengthy beating,” based on her injuries, according to prosecutors.

    Prosecutors said Davarius James, 38, of Pensacola, killed Claudette Robinson at her Pensacola home, then tried contacting family and friends for help instead of calling 911 on Feb. 3.

    One of James’ family members called 911 later that afternoon, according to prosecutors. When Pensacola police officers got to the home, they found Robinson unresponsive on the floor, with bruises to her face and body as well as what looked like “rug-burn” across her face, an arrest report said. They also noticed blood on a pillow, according to the report.

    James, who was taken into custody about two hours later, told officers Robinson was injured from falling twice that morning, prosecutors said.

    But her cause of death was found to be “multiple blunt force trauma” and she had been strangled, a medical examiner testified at trial, the State’s Attorney’s Office for the First Judicial Circuit of Florida said in an Oct. 23 news release.

    She had injuries similar to if she had been injured in a car crash, the jury heard, according to prosecutors.

    James was convicted on Oct. 23, court records show. Now he faces up to life in prison.

    His defense attorney, Jeremy Early, did not immediately return McClatchy News’ request for comment Oct. 26.

    During the trial, Early said James “lost it” and that “he killed her,” the Pensacola News Journal reported.

    However, Early argued that James was not guilty of murder, telling jurors that the crime of manslaughter was more indicative of what happened, according to the newspaper. Prosecutors disagreed.

    “A manslaughter is where a person does an act, they lose it, and the person is dead and they didn’t mean to kill them, and it’s done in the heat of passion,” Early said, the newspaper reported.

    When Robinson died, she had broken ribs, a broken breastbone and bruises covering her body, according to prosecutors.

    A detective with the Pensacola Police Department testified that Google searches related to her death, including “how to determine if someone was dead, how long someone can live off CPR, and searches about how to tell if someone had been choked by the neck,” were found on her phone.

    When James was interviewed by law enforcement following his arrest, he said he had been dating Robinson for two years and had been living with her for around a year, according to the arrest report.

    He also mentioned they had been fighting “over family issues that arose because of Robinson’s diminished mental acuity” and that he was angry with Robinson, accusing her of giving away his personal belongings to family members, the arrest report says.

    Before Feb. 3, James had been arrested in connection with domestic violence against Robinson, the report says.

    Robinson told “law enforcement that she was afraid that James would kill her,” an Escambia County deputy wrote in the report.

    Disagreeing with Early’s assertion that James did not mean to kill Robinson, prosecutor Andrew McGraw said her injuries were intentional, according to the Pensacola News Journal.

    “Those are severe injuries and those are injuries that took a lot of force and a lot of determination to inflict,” McGraw said, the newspaper reported.

    James’ sentencing hearing is set for Nov. 5, according to prosecutors.

    If you are experiencing domestic violence and need someone to talk to, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline for support at 1-800-799-7233 or text “START” to 88788.

    Julia Marnin

    McClatchy DC

    Julia Marnin covers courts for McClatchy News, writing about criminal and civil affairs, including cases involving policing, corrections, civil liberties, fraud, and abuses of power. As a reporter on McClatchy’s National Real-Time Team, she’s also covered the COVID-19 pandemic and a variety of other topics since joining in 2021, following a fellowship with Newsweek. Born in Biloxi, Mississippi, she was raised in South Jersey and is now based in New York State.

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    Julia Marnin

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  • Closing the Cold Case of Robin Lawrence

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    Closing the Cold Case of Robin Lawrence – CBS News










































    Watch CBS News



    A gifted artist is murdered in her home. Her toddler is left at the crime scene to fend for herself. “48 Hours” correspondent Anne-Marie Green reports.

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  • Oregon City Man Arrested In Girlfriend’s Murder; Teen Son Also Charged, Second Son Sought – KXL

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    Photo via Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office

    OREGON CITY, Ore. — Detectives from the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office and the Oregon City Police Department have arrested an Oregon City man accused of killing his girlfriend earlier this year and disposing of her body in the Mount Hood National Forest.

    William Glen Blake, 56, was taken into custody Thursday, Oct. 23, on charges of second-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, unlawful use of a weapon, and tampering with evidence, according to a joint statement from the two agencies.

    Jennifer Ruth Stuart, via Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office

    Investigators believe Blake killed his girlfriend, Jennifer Ruth Stuart, on Aug. 15, 2025, during an argument at the couple’s home in the 600 block of Hilltop Lane in Oregon City. Stuart’s body was found more than two weeks later, on Sept. 1, in a remote area of the Mount Hood National Forest off Forest Service Road 45 near South Hillockburn Road in unincorporated Clackamas County.

    Two Sons Implicated

    Detectives also arrested Blake’s 15-year-old son, accusing him of helping to move Stuart’s remains after her death. The teen was taken to the Clackamas County Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center, where he faces charges of second-degree abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence.

    Authorities are still searching for Blake’s 17-year-old son, Austin Michael Blake, who they believe may be connected to the case. Investigators are also looking for a 2002 red and gray Chevy Avalanche pickup truck with Texas license plates TFN3197.

    Public Asked to Help Locate Teen, Vehicle

    Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Austin Blake or the Chevy Avalanche is urged to contact the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office Tip Line at 503-723-4949. Tips can also be submitted online via the “Submit A Tip” form on the sheriff’s office website or through the ClackCo Sheriff mobile app.
    Please reference case number CCSO 25-018448.

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    Jordan Vawter

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  • Three days before Christmas

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    Three days before Christmas – CBS News










































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    “48 Hours” Live to Tell: Two sisters who survive a deadly home invasion share their journey to hell and back.

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  • Crips member sentenced to 42 years for murder at Silver Spring wings joint, prosecutors say – WTOP News

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    A 35-year-old man who police said is a member of the Crips street gang was sentenced to 42 years in prison for the November 2023 murder of a man at a Silver Spring wings restaurant.

    Markus Dowdy was sentenced Friday, Oct. 24, 2025, to 42 years in prison. He is seen on surveillance footage from inside the America’s Best Wings in Silver Spring firing shots at a man in November 2023.(Courtesy Montgomery County Police Department)

    A 35-year-old man who police said is a member of the Crips street gang was sentenced Friday to 42 years in prison for the November 2023 murder of a man at a Silver Spring, Maryland, wings restaurant.

    Markus Dowdy, who has no known address, was convicted in February of second-degree murder and several other charges in the shooting death of 34-year-old Marvin Jefferson. Prosecutors said Dowdy was retaliating after Jefferson had punched him in the face the week prior.

    Another man standing outside the restaurant was hit in the head by a stray bullet, according to charging documents, but survived.

    The shooting happened just before 6 p.m. at the America’s Best Wings in the White Oak Shopping Center, near the corner of New Hampshire Avenue and Columbia Pike in Silver Spring.

    According to charging documents, Dowdy entered the restaurant, stared down Jefferson and began arguing with him. Eventually, Jefferson briefly stepped out of the restaurant, at which point Dowdy went to the back of the store and pulled out a handgun, charging documents state.

    When Jefferson came back inside, police said, Dowdy shot him multiple times, even as Jefferson tried to run away. One of the shots flew through the glass at the front of the restaurant and struck a man standing outside in the head, surveillance video shows.

    The video shows Jefferson crawling through the shattered restaurant door as shots continue to ring out. Footage also shows customers inside the restaurant and other shoppers outside at the bustling strip mall panic at the sound and sight of the gunshots.

    Then, Dowdy appears from the restaurant and stands over Jefferson, pistol whipping him in the face before leaving the scene, according to charging documents and the surveillance video.

    According to Montgomery County police, Dowdy has an extensive criminal history and was on supervised probation at the time of the shooting for a firearms violation and a conspiracy charge related to his participation in a corrupt criminal organization.

    Dowdy is a validated member of the Crips criminal street gang, investigators said.

    He was sentenced to 25 years on the second-degree murder charge, seven years for violating probation, five years for assault in the shooting of the man who survived, and five years for reckless endangerment.

    Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

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    Thomas Robertson

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  • Jade Janks and the Secret Photos

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    A woman discovers explicit photos of herself on her stepfather’s computer. Soon after, he’s found dead. Jade is a likely suspect, but did she do it? “48 Hours” correspondent Tracy Smith reports.

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  • The Pact

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    A 15-year-old boy goes to a dance and never returns. Teen killers keep a secret for 40 years – until one of them cracks. “48 Hours” correspondent Richard Schlesinger reports.

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  • Record-high 8 children killed in Colorado domestic violence incidents last year is ‘a wake-up call’

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    Eight children were killed in domestic violence incidents across Colorado in 2024 — the highest number since the state began tracking annual domestic violence deaths eight years ago, according to a report released Tuesday by the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board.

    The youngest child to die was 3-month-old Lesley Younghee Kim, who was found dead with her mortally injured mother in a Denver home in July 2024.

    The oldest were each 7. They include Jessi Hill, whose father killed her and her 3-year-old sister, Summer, before dying by suicide in January 2024, as well as 7-year-olds Dane Timms and Tristan Rael. The remaining children who died were toddlers: Xander Martinez-King, 1, Xena Martinez-King, 2, and Aaliyah Vargas-Reyes, 1.

    “It’s a wakeup call, I hope, for people in Colorado,” said Whitney Woods, executive director of the Rose Andom Center, which helped compile the board’s report. “This is a real problem.”

    Seventy-two people died in domestic violence incidents statewide in 2024. That’s up 24% from the 58 domestic violence deaths in 2023 but remains below pandemic-era peaks, when 94 people died in 2022 and 92 people died in 2021.

    The pandemic years also saw elevated numbers of children killed, with four children killed in 2021 and six in 2022. Across the other years, no more than three children died in any given year, the board’s reports show.

    Five of the eight children killed in 2024 died amid custody disputes between their parents, the report found.

    “These findings highlight custody litigation as a high-risk period for families experiencing domestic violence and point to the urgent need for stronger safeguards within family court proceedings,” the report concluded. The legislatively-mandated board, chaired by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, began tracking domestic violence statewide in 2017 and makes annual recommendations for policy changes aimed at preventing deaths.

    The fatality review board last year recommended that the state’s child and family investigators and parental responsibilities evaluators go through training on domestic violence, particularly around understanding the dynamics of domestic violence and how to evaluate the risk of lethality during the custody process. The Colorado Judicial Department is still developing such training, with work continuing in 2026, the report noted.

    “That is to my mind a call to action,” Weiser said. “And we are working with the court system on this right now — how do we make sure our family courts and the general system for addressing domestic violence provides protection, support, services, so that we don’t see these deaths happen?”

    The increase in domestic violence deaths came even as statewide homicides declined 17% to a five-year low. Roughly one in six homicide victims in Colorado in 2024 died during domestic violence incidents. Domestic violence victims account for 18% of all homicide victims statewide, the highest proportion in five years, the annual review found.

    “That is really alarming in this line of work, for us,” Woods said.

    The increase in domestic violence homicides amid the drop in overall homicides “suggests that while broader public safety interventions may be reducing general violence, they are not having the same impact on (domestic violence fatalities),” the report found.

    The increase also comes at a time when many organizations aimed at preventing domestic violence and supporting survivors are facing funding shortfalls and uncertainty, Woods noted.

    Among the 72 people killed in 2024, 38 were victims of domestic violence, 26 were perpetrators of domestic violence and eight — all of the children — were considered ‘collateral victims.’ The victims were overwhelmingly female and the perpetrators overwhelmingly male.

    Across all 72 deaths, guns were used 75% of the time. The second most common type of attack was asphyxiation, which was involved in 8% of all deaths, followed by a knife or sharp object, used in 7% of deaths.

    “Occasionally, people will make comments like, ‘If someone wants to kill someone they can kill them with a knife,’” Weiser said. “I think it’s fair to say access to firearms makes it far more likely that a domestic violence perpetrator will kill somebody.”

    Removing guns from a suspect when domestic violence begins can be an effective prevention strategy, Woods said.

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  • Man gets 40 years in prison for murder in Denver gas station shooting

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    An 18-year-old man took a deal and pleaded guilty to murder in a 2024 shooting at a west Denver gas station, according to court records.

    Ronnie Hernandez, who was 16 when he shot and killed 29-year-old Manuel Quintana in June 2024, was sentenced Monday to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder, according to Denver court records.

    Hernandez was charged as an adult, but his plea deal dropped five felonies from his case: first-degree murder after deliberation, first-degree murder with extreme indifference, attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault and illegal discharge of a firearm, court records show. Two violent crime sentence enhancers also were dismissed.

    Denver officers responded to the fatal shooting in the 500 block of North Sheridan Boulevard just before 6:30 p.m. June 8, 2024.

    When they arrived, they found Quintana with gunshot wounds, police said. Paramedics took Quintana to a hospital, where he died. A woman who was with Quintana also was shot but survived, according to the district attorney’s office.

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