MOM SENTENCED AFTER LEAVING 13 MONTH OLD SON TO DIE IN CAR FOR HOURS

PEOPLE

 

Mom Sentenced for Leaving 13-Month-Old Son to Die in Car for Hours While She Went ‘Dumpster Diving’

“His death is heartbreaking and should never have happened," the attorney in a separate wrongful death lawsuit filed against the mother said

By Sean Neumann  Published on April 24, 2024 12:06PM EDT

 

An Alabama mother was sentenced to 20 years in prison this week in connection with the 2019 death of her 13-month-old son, who prosecutors said she abandoned in a hot car while going dumpster diving.

 

AL.com reported that Elizabeth Anne Case, 39, received her sentencing this week after pleading guilty to a manslaughter charge in March. The mother received four years in prison with 150 days credit for time already spent in jail.

 

Investigators said her toddler, Casen Case, was left alone in the car for roughly eight hours, the outlet reported. The mother was originally charged with capital murder, but those charges were dropped last August in place of reckless manslaughter and aggravated child abuse charges, AL.com previously reported.

 

The outlet reported the incident occurred the night of Oct. 4, 2019, when Case put her son in the front seat of her car and brought him along with her while she went dumpster diving around 9 or 10 p.m. local time, according to investigators. The mother returned home around 5:40 a.m. local time and went inside her home to sleep, leaving the toddler in the car overnight.

 

Local WHNT reported that Case did not return to check on the toddler until 1:30 p.m. the next afternoon when her grandmother began banging on her bedroom door asking where the boy was. Case and her grandmother then soon discovered her young son inside the car. Case took him into the house and put him in the shower while the grandmother called 911, according to the outlet.

 

Temperatures outside were about 97 degrees outside when the boy was discovered, AL.com reported.

 

In addition to Case’s criminal charges, Casen’s aunt also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Case and the state’s Department of Human Resources, according to WHNT, alleging the department didn’t take appropriate action in Casen’s situation and left him in his mother’s custody despite her being in and out of jail while she was pregnant.

 

“These workers are paid with our tax dollars to protect children like Casen and yet they did nothing,” attorney Tommy James said in a statement on the aunt’s behalf. “His death is heartbreaking and should never have happened.”

 

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages. 

NATURE NOTES: BIRDS, BIRDS, BIRDS

Heard a woodpecker while I was out in the backyard earlier this week.

Heard a raven outside my bathroom window Thursday morning.

Just as I went out my door today I heard a morning dove singing in the rain. 

Heard a loon early this morning. Mom has heard it four or five days in a row.

MOM ACCUSED OF KILLING 3 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER BY FORCING HER TO DRINK BLEACH, THEN BLAMING VOODOO SPELLS, FACING DEATH PENALTY

PEOPLE

 

Mom Accused of Killing 3-Year-Old by Forcing Her to Drink Bleach, Then Blaming ‘Voodoo’ Spell, May Face Death

Prosecutors in Florida filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty for Joanne Zephir, who is charged with murder

By Liam Quinn  Published on April 24, 2024 03:15PM EDT

 

Prosecutors in Florida are seeking the death penalty for a mother who allegedly confessed to killing one daughter and injuring another by forcing them to drink bleach.

 

The Ninth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office says in a release that it filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty for Joanne Zephir, 36.

 

Zephir was originally arrested in May 2022 after she was found unconscious in her car outside a church in Poinciana, Fla. In the backseat was her 3-year-old daughter, who was later pronounced dead at a hospital, according to police. Zephir’s 8-year-old daughter was found in the roadway.

 

Osceola County Sheriff Marcos R. Lopez said at the time that Zephir blamed the incident on a "voodoo spell."

 

Zephir was wanted on charges of attempted murder after allegedly stabbing her husband hours before the incident with her daughters, the state attorney’s office says.

 

The sheriff's office previously said Zephir called a family member several hours later and confessed to killing her younger daughter, adding that "the 8-year-old was also going to die, and then she would kill herself," Lopez said.

 

She also allegedly admitted to authorities that she made her kids drink bleach before strangling her 3-year-old.

 

A grand jury indicted Zephir in February on charges of first-degree murder with a weapon, attempted first-degree murder with a weapon and attempted felony murder with a weapon, prosecutors say.

 

It is not immediately clear if she has entered a plea in response to the indictment. 

UCLA MED SCHOOL'S MANDITORY STRUCTURAL RACISM AND HEALTH EQUITY COURSE TEACHES WEIGHT LOSS IS USELESS

Fox News

 

UCLA med school's mandatory 'Structural Racism and Health Equity' course teaches weight loss is 'useless'

UCLA has previously come under fire for pushing segregation exercises and prayers to a pagan god

By Lindsay Kornick Fox News

Published April 25, 2024 7:05am EDT

 

First-year medical students are required to learn that weight has little to do with health, according to a new report.

 

The Washington Free Beacon obtained a syllabus from the "Structural Racism and Health Equity" course at The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. The document includes required reading lists to prepare for classes regarding topics like "The Sickness of Policing & Incarceration," "Anti-Settler Colonialism/Indigenous Health" and "Environmental Racism & Justice."

 

Among the materials for the "Disability Justice" session include an article by Marquisele Mercedes, titled "No Health, No Care: The Big Fat Loophole in the Hippocratic Oath," which says "fatphobia is medicine’s status quo."

 

"It is proven that weight loss is a useless, hopeless endeavor. You are unlikely to lose weight in any permanent way and highly likely to open yourself to the myriad risks associated with weight cycling. The relationship between weight and health is also muddy," the essay reads.

 

The essay also insisted that "the concept of ob*sity is used to exact violence on fat people, and fat activists regard it as a slur."

 

The course describes Mercedes' essay as "Weaving together the medical and scientific literature with her personal experiences and positionality as a Black fat scholar-activist, she describes how weight came to be pathologized and medicalized in racialized terms and offers direct recommendations to healthcare providers and researchers for resisting entrenched fat oppression. Take note as you read of what resonates with your own experiences learning about weight and fatness within medicine, and what pieces of her concluding ‘fat ode to care’ most resonate with you."

 

Other materials in the syllabus include works on why "the border crisis is a myth" and how medicine must be used to dismantle racism.

 

The course objectives are to "Understand the concepts of race/racism, power, colonialism, patriarchy, and capitalism and their manifestations in the history of medical thought, education, practice, and research and shaping the healthcare system overall" and "Understand the impact both structural and social determinants have on the health of marginalized communities."

 

An assignment that was allegedly due in the past week also focused on the topic "Combating Incarceration, Housing Injustice, and Environmental Racism with Community Organizing-Community Health Impact."

 

Fox News Digital reached out to The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA for a comment but has yet to receive a response.

 

UCLA’s medical school has come under fire in the last few months over its "Health Equity" class for its assignments and controversial events.

 

Earlier this month, the UCLA Jewish Faculty Resilience Group spoke to several witnesses who testified that an invited lecturer "instructed students to touch the floor, 'mama earth with a fist' while she made a 'non-secular' prayer to ‘mama earth’ and our ‘ancestors.'"

 

The speaker also allegedly "instructed students to get out of their seats and stand upright with her for a closing prayer, once again to ‘mama earth’ and the ‘ancestors.’ Of those gathered, a handful of students who were visibly uncomfortable declined to participate, remaining seated throughout."

 

In January, the school was forced to cancel a class exercise that divided students into racial groups following a civil rights complaint.

 

"Recognizing the imperfect and problematic nature of our socially constructed racial categories, we ask that you identify the group in which you feel you are most perceived as in clinical spaces," the exercise reportedly said.

 

The "Structural Racism and Health Equity" class was established in 2020 as part of the school’s "anti-racist" curriculum shift in the wake of George Floyd’s death. 

WASHINGTON STATE MOTHER ACCUSED OF KILLING, STABBING 4 YEAR OLD SON 41 TIMES

Fox News

 

Washington mother accused of killing, stabbing 4-year-old son 41 times: report

A Washington state woman has been charged with the murder of her 4-year-old son

By Sarah Rumpf-Whitten Fox News

Published April 24, 2024 12:35am EDT

 

A Washington state mother was accused of savagely murdering her 4-year-old son by stabbing her young child 41 times, according to court documents obtained by Fox 13.

 

Janet Garcia, 27, was charged with first-degree murder on Friday in the death of her son, Ariel Garcia, in Everett, Washington in March 27.

 

Charging documents initially identified 16 "sharp force wounds," but an autopsy determined there were 41.

 

At Garcia's arraignment on Monday, prosecutors argued the number of stab wounds showed the attack against Ariel was "prolonged," the Everett Herald reported.

 

The autopsy said Ariel died of "homicidal violence."

 

Charging documents said that Garcia had relapsed on methamphetamine.

 

On March 27, Garcia's roommate discovered a bloodstain in their apartment and alerted local police.

 

Washington State Patrol issued an endangered missing person alert for Ariel in the early hours of March 28, several hours after he was last seen, and the Everett Police Department launched a regional search effort involving nearly 100 officers, agents and investigators from multiple jurisdictions, including the FBI.

 

The documents detail the discovery of Ariel's body with 41 stab wounds, near Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM).

 

Surveillance footage captured Garcia carrying a ‘toddler-sized object’ wrapped in a blanket.

 

Custody Battle:

 

Just days prior to the 4-year-old's brutal murder, his grandmother filed for "emergency minor guardianship," claiming that the child's mother had "a long history of alcohol and substance abuse that has gotten worse in the last few months."

 

According to court documents obtained by the station, Garcia and her mother, Ariel's grandmother, had been arguing over text over Garcia being unable to see her children.

 

The child's grandmother also filed for emergency custody of Garcia's other child, Ariel's 7-year-old half-brother, the same day Ariel was reported missing.

 

The charging documents said that during the investigation, family members said that they observed Garcia being "physically and verbally aggressive" towards her two young children.

 

When investigators spoke to the 7-year-old after his mother's arrest, he said that Garcia had been "hurting him a lot" and that she was "too aggressive with him," according to court documents.

 

The child alleged his mother choked him and dragged him down the stairs, and that his head hurt from her treatment.

 

Garcia remains in Snohomish County Jail, held on $3 million bail.

 

If convicted, she faces life in prison.

 

Fox News' Stepheny Price contributed to this report. 

SATIRE: HASBRO RELEASES NEW VERSION OF CLUE WHERE MRS. WHITE IS ALWAYS GUILTY

Babylon Bee

 

Hasbro Releases New Version Of Clue Where Mrs. White Is Always Guilty

ENTERTAINMENT

Apr 26, 2021 · BabylonBee.com

 

PAWTUCKET, RI - Hasbro has announced a new social justice-themed version of their popular game CLUE, in which Mrs. White will always be guilty. 

 

"We're thrilled to introduce this new version to the public," said Hasbro CEO Persiville Wadsworth. "All your favorite characters will be here-- Professor Plum, Mrs. Peacock, Miss Scarlet, Colonel Mustard-- except in this brand new anti-racist edition, Mrs. White will be guilty of the murder every single time!"

 

"It's never too early to teach your kids who's really to blame for all the evil in the world," he continued. 

 

The game will still be played traditionally, as any one of the characters may technically be the murderer. The twist will come at the end, with a powerful anti-racist speech read by each of the players from the game booklet, after which a deep discussion will ensue about why whiteness is the real enemy. 

 

Corporations, police departments, and elementary schools across the country are using the new game as a teaching tool. 

 

"Here at Hasbro, we're proud to be a part of the solution," said Wadsworth with a smile, while dusting off a candlestick.  

LOUISIANA MAN SENTENCED TO PHYSICAL CASTRATION AND 50 YEARS FOR RAPING 14 YEAR OLD GIRL

PEOPLE

 

La. Man Sentenced to Physical Castration, 50 Years for Raping 14-Year-Old Girl

Glenn Sullivan, Sr., 54, pleaded guilty to raping a teen multiple times, resulting in pregnancy, according to prosecutors

By KC Baker  Published on April 24, 2024 04:29PM EDT

 

A Louisiana man has been sentenced to 50 years in prison and will be physically castrated after pleading guilty to raping a 14-year-old girl, District Attorney Scott Perrilloux announced.

 

On April 17, Glenn Sullivan, Sr., 54, of Springfield, pleaded guilty to four counts of second-degree rape.

 

On Monday, Judge William Dykes sentenced Sullivan to 50 years in prison and mandated him to be physically castrated, which was part of his plea agreement with prosecutors, Perrilloux said in the statement.

 

"I want to say I've had three people ordered to be chemically castrated but, to my knowledge, this is the first physical castration to be ordered," Assistant District Attorney Brad Cascio, who prosecuted the case, said, WBRZ reports.

 

"I felt that this case was a strong enough case and warranted such action," Cascio said in the statement.

 

Later adding: “Sex crimes against juveniles are the most malicious crimes we prosecute. I intend on using every tool the legislature is willing to give us, including physical castration, to seek justice for the children in our community.”

 

In July 2022, the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office opened an investigation after a young woman told detectives that Sullivan had raped her multiple times when she was 14, according to the statement. The young teen later became pregnant "and a DNA test that was ordered during the course of the criminal investigation proved Sullivan had impregnated her,” the statement reads.

 

Detectives also learned that Sullivan had groomed the victim and used threats of violence against her and her family to prevent her from disclosing the rapes, according to the statement.

 

Men mandated by the courts to be castrated can choose chemical castration or the surgical removal of their testicles, which Sullivan chose, WBRZ reports.

 

Perrilloux commended LPSO Detective Ryan Bernard, Cascio and the young victim for coming forward to file the charges.

 

"So many of these types of cases go unreported because of fear,” he said. “The strength it must have taken for this young woman to tell the truth in the face of threats and adversity is truly incredible.” 

THE DANNY KAYE SHOW SEPTEMBER 30, 1964

Here is the audio from the September 30, 1964 episode of "The Danny Kaye Show."

It is neat that Ramblers are mentioned.

The sketch featuring guest Phil Silvers at the beginning is funny and the other one with Silvers is funny, too, and would be funnier of course if we had the video of this program.

Barbara McNair's singing was nice.

The film from Hong Kong and Kaye's rendition of the Japanese song at the end were cool, taking one back to a time when other cultures and places weren't as accessible as they are now.

Watch it here. 

TEACHER ALLEGEDLY RAPED TEEN DURING SCHOOL HOURS AND FORCED HER TO GET AN ABORTION AFTER IMPREGNATING HER

PEOPLE

 

Teacher Allegedly Raped Teen During School Hours and Forced Her into Abortion After Impregnating Her

The alleged victim accuses Shawn Thomas, 56, of raping her when she was 15, according to a lawsuit

By Samira Asma-Sadeque  Published on April 22, 2024 01:55PM EDT

 

A California teacher and high school coach has been arrested on accusations that he raped a female student multiple times between 2002 and 2003, and that the alleged assaults led to a pregnancy that ended when he forced her to have an abortion, according to police and a lawsuit filed by the alleged victim.

 

Shawn Thomas, 56, was arrested on March 22 by the San José Police Department Internet Crimes Against Children in San Jose, Calif., following an investigation that began on March 8 when the alleged victim reported the alleged assaults to authorities, SJPD said in a statement.

 

Thomas was booked into Santa Clara County Main Jail "for rape and sexual assault of a minor," according to the police statement. It's not clear if he has retained an attorney or entered pleas.

 

Nearly a month after Thomas' arrest, the alleged victim filed a lawsuit against  the Campbell Union High School District, according to a statement by her attorneys on Thursday.

 

The statement from the attorneys alleges the then-15-year-old was a freshman at Leigh High School in San Jose in the 2002-2003 school year. Thomas “allegedly began grooming her for his sexual advances, and sexually assaulting her numerous times including on school grounds,” according to the statement. The attorneys allege he carried out the alleged assaults in a "portable classroom" and in the storage room of the boys’ locker room, per the statement.

 

On one occasion, Thomas’ wife, who was the dean of Leigh High School at the time, allegedly almost caught Thomas abusing the teen, the lawsuit claims. The wife allegedly saw the two alone in his portable classroom after they “abruptly stopped having sex because they saw her approaching,” per the statement.

 

After allegedly getting the student pregnant, the statement from the accuser's attorneys claims Thomas made her get an abortion.

 

Thomas is a decorated coach and former athlete in the region and was inducted into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006, per the attorneys' statement. At the time of his arrest, he was working at Los Gatos High School in Los Gatos.

 

In an emailed statement, the Campbell Union High School District said they are "prepared to continue to cooperate with law enforcement throughout their investigation, and provide access to all necessary information."

 

"Our foremost commitment remains the safety and well-being of our students, families, and staff," reads a part of the statement, which notes that the current leadership was not in charge in 2003 but is "deeply concerned."

 

The statement from the accuser's attorneys says they believe there may be more possible victims and have urged anyone else with information to contact them at 408-289-1417.

 

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

 

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org. 

INTERESTING AUDIO: FIDDLING IN THE OTTAWA VALLY IV

The fourth and final tape of people playing fiddle music in the Ottawa valley featured what seemed to be an afternoon jam at a public venue. The musicians talked about the music and how they should play it. There was also talk of roast beef and potatoes, the price of something, someone injuring herself, somebody's work schedule, someone driving to Sault Ste. Marie, how old one person's grown children were, whether a woman and her husband should have Chinese food for supper, and the musicians wrapping up, talking about the weather and saying their goodbyes. 

SCHOOL DISTRICT SAYS STUDENTS HAD TO DEPICT MASS SHOOTING IN PUPPET SHOW

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

 

Students had to depict mass shooting in ‘disturbing’ puppet show, Texas district says

BY MIKE STUNSON

APRIL 22, 2024 8:42 AM

 

A high school substitute teacher was suspended following a “disturbing” puppet show assignment, a Texas school district says.

 

The Hays Consolidated Independent School District said the substitute theater arts teacher at Johnson High School was removed from the campus Friday, April 19, following concerns from students.

 

“Students report that the substitute assigned them to perform a puppet show in which at least one puppet had to be murdered,” the school district said in a news release. “Additionally, one group of students reports that their performance would have involved a mass shooting,”

 

The district said it has apologized to the students and parents “for any distress this has caused.”

 

The substitute teacher, who was not named, was hired by the district in January. District officials are investigating the incident and said the teacher may be permanently banned from its schools.

 

“Assigning or allowing this type of performance, if proved to have occurred, would be disturbing and unacceptable conduct for any educator in Hays CISD,” the district said.

 

Johnson High School is in Buda, about a 20-mile drive southwest of Austin. 

INTERESTING AUDIO: FIDDLING IN THE OTTAWA VALLEY III

Came across another tape of fiddle music in the Ottawa valley featuring many people talking in the background. I think it may have been recorded at a dance or something. At one point someone asked about the song that was just played.