South Florida jury convicts teen in girl's slaying

A jury on Wednesday found 16-year-old Teah Wimberly guilty of murdering her 15-year-old classmate.

Wimberly was 15, when she shot and killed her friend, Amanda Collette, in the hallways of Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Now she faces a possible life sentence.

During a 23-minute statement to police, Wimberly said she had been in a lesbian relationship with the victim, whom she was deeply in love with, and became upset when the girl broke up with her."I love her more than I love any human on earth," Wimberly said. "I can't believe I hurt her."

Wimberly's attorney, Larry S. Davis, says tragedies in the teen's early years are what brought her to this point. He says abandonment, sexual molestation and beatings in her childhood lead to a mental ilness.

Davis will try to have the teen confined to mental facility, instead of a prison.

The victim, an adorable ballet dancer, loved to text her friends and have fun on weekends. The smartest girl in her classes, she always knew the right thing to say. She was apart of a dance group called "Wreckless" and had danced at her friend's Sweet 16.

The murder occurred in November of 2008. The honor student was summoned to a vending machine by Wimberly.

After a confrontation, Wimberly fired a single shot, killing Collette with a bullet to the torso.

Shortly after the shooting, Wimberly fled to a nearby restaurant, where she dialed 911 and surrendered to police.

Police find body of missing Chicago girl

A 12-year-old girl who disappeared from her Chicago neighborhood was found dead in an alley on the city's south side, police said.

Jahmeshia Conner was last seen alive on the evening of November 15, when she aboarded a bus.

“I was just praying that it was not her,” said her mother, Birdie Lewis after getting a call from police about the discovery of a girl’s body.

Her worst fears were confirmed after she saw the collection of keyrings that police recovered from the body. She then was certain the body belonged to her daughter, a church choir member who loved to jump rope and who had recently made her school’s cheerleading squad.

The little girl's body was clothed police said, except for her socks and shoes. An autopsy revealed she had been strangled.

"She was a good child. She had excellent grades. She never ran away,'' said her aunt, Denise Lewis. "She never stayed out all night."

Young girl killed on Thanksgiving holiday in south Florida

Police are looking for a 35-year-old man who relatives say shot and killed five of his family members during a Thanksgiving dinner.

His youngest victim, 6-year-old MaKayla Sitton, is his cousin. The little girl was shot in her bed.
Makayla's father, Jim Sitton, owned the home in Jupiter, about 90 miles north of Miami.

"God packed a lot of sweetness into that little body," Mr Sitton said. "She's just our life. I don't know how we are ever going to recover."

The others killed were female relatives. 76-year-old Raymonde Joseph, the shooter's aunt, Carla Merhige and Lisa Knight, the shooter's 33-year-old twin sisters.

A fifth victim, Patrick Knight, was being treated at a hospital. He is the husband of Lisa Knight. Also injured was Clifford Gebara, who was grazed by a bullet.

Police have not yet discovered a motive for the massacre and say there was no altercation at the resident prior to the shooting.

The search for the shooter has expanded to Michigan, where police say Paul Michael Merhige once lived. He is believed to be driving a 4-door royal blue 2007 Toyota Camry with Florida license plate W42 7JT.

Sketch of boy's killer bears a striking resemblance to a man in jail

A 61-year-old man who was charged with the murder of a woman, has a striking resemblance to a sketch of a man wanted for the unsolved murder of 11-year-old Levi Frady.

Meredith Emerson's body was found in the same Dawson County forest as Levi Frady.

Investigator Vernon Keenan said, "There's no conclusion been made. There's no linkage that has been made."

Levi Frady was last seen alive on October 22, 1997. He was found shot to death the next day.

There was no molestation nor robbery, leaving investigators startled with no possible motive.

The suspect, Gary Michael Hilton, is also suspected in the murders of an elderly couple in North Carolina, as well as other murders in the state of Georgia, and in Florida.


Levi Frady's murder has no similarities to the other murders, except for the fact that Levi and Meredith were found in the same forest. Other circumstances proves the cases are unrelated.
The Frady family has a different view. They believe Gary Michael Hilton is the man in the skectch.

"The booking photo kind of caught my eye. It resembles the picture," said Justin Frady, Levi's cousin.

In slain girl's family 'Ashley lives forever'

Although six-year-old Ashley Mance was shot and killed ten years ago--she will live on forever.

The mixed race girl was an outgoing kid who loved to draw and sing. She had an identical twin, whom was much more quiet than she was.

Ashley's life came to a tragic end late one night in April of 1999. In a racist rage, Jessy Roten fired a single shot at the home of his inter-racial neighbors. Ashley was shot in her shoulder area.

Ashley's twin, Aleesha, was shot by the same bullet but survived. The girls lived with their mother, Yahaira Carrittini, in Clearwater, FL but had spent the weekend at the home of their father, Terry Mance, in St. Petesburg. They were supposed to return home that night, but in a decision she now regrets, their mother allowed them spend an extra night.

On the night of the shooting Terry Mance tried in vain to save his daughter's life by performing CPR. "It's like everytime I blowed inside of her I heard the sound of air as if the air immediately exited her body," he said.

The bullet hit an artery and the little girl bled to death in her father's arms.

"Aleesha passed out a few times," Mance said. "But she didn't lose as much blood as Ashley."
In the beginning, relatives accused Mance of killing his child. "Even her mother was bashing me," he said. "Everyone was asking how can two people get shot by the same bullet."

Many felt that the shooter had to be standing within close range of the girls to have shot both with a single bullet.

It was later revealed that the bullet did in fact come from the outside of the house, as there was a piercing in the wall.

A large number of townspeople--mostly strangers to Mance--attended her funeral. She wore a pink dress in her open casket.

Terry Mance feels the murder could have been prevented had cops done their jobs correctly, earlier that night. According to Mance, there was a shooting and police were summoned. When the police arrived they spoke to Jessy Roten, but left without searching him. An hour later the guy returned and shot at the house.

"Had he been a black man they would have searched him and all of his friends that were with him," said Mance. "Ashley might still be alive today if only they had taken him down the first time he was out there shooting."

Roten was raised by his father who is a member of the KKK in Texas. He had recently moved to Florida with his mother, who had a different view and was not racist.

A search of Jessy Roten's home revealed KKK signs and Neo-Nazi pictures. Police concluded that he targeted the Mance residence because of the inter-racial marriage: Terry is black and his wife Tracey is white.

That fatal act of hatred costed him his freedom. He will spend the rest of his life in prison.
"The night of the shooting we moved out and never went back," said Mance. "We literally left everything and moved with nothing."

The family still celebrates holidays and they visit Ashley's grave. A celebrity baseball game was held in her name, igniting a huge crowd of people, and the funds went to her mother.

Murdered Georgia boy deserve a law in his name

The murder of Christopher Barrios should carry an automatic death sentence. The 6-year-old was kidnapped, repeatedly raped and murdered by a trio of pedophiles in Brunswick, Georgia in March of 2007.

There should be no people called for jury duty, no court hearings and no appeals. All three defendants should be executed immediately.

Peggy Edenfield watched as her husband, and son, David and George Edenfield, molested the child, then strangled him to death.

No child regardless of looks should die the way Christopher Barrios did. But how could a person harm such an adorable little boy? His pictures reflect a kid that even the meanest person would want to hold and kiss.

Light skinned with big green eyes, he resembled a child super model. What degree of insanity could cause anyone to destroy such beauty and innocence?

This murder could have been prevented with stricter laws and sentences for sex offenders. Why was George Endenfield free to commit such crime?

The sex offender was in court just three days before the murder on a charge that he was living too close to a park. If residing near a park was a violation how is living near little Christopher not?

Nine-year-old Jessica Lunsford was abducted from her home and buried alive by John Couey, a sex offender whom lived within sight of her home.

John Couey had even worked at Jessica’s school. How could, in the most civilized country in the world, a sex offender work at a school?

When will official get tough on sex crimes against children? How many more kids must end up like Jessica and Christopher before something is done?

Are the lawmakers pedophiles themselves or is it because it’s not their child they don’t care? If a child is killed by a previous sex offender, the officials whom allowed that offender to be free should lose their job and/or be sued.

If the law doesn’t allow this, the law should be changed. Call it the Christopher Barrios law.

Missouri teen charged with killing young neighbor

A 15-year-old girl was indicted on a murder charge of a 9-year-old girl in Misouri. Alyssa Bustamante, is accused of stabbing and strangling Elizabeth Olten on Oct. 21.

Bustamante will stand trial as an adult. She is being held without bond in the Cole County jail. If convicted she could spend the rest of her life in prison.

Elizabeth disappeared on her way home from a friend’s house last month. Her body was found two days later in a wooded area, after Bustamante lead police to the location in Jefferson City, MO.

The Cole County Sheriff’s Department said Elizabeth was well concealed. Sheriff Greg White said previously that the two lived in the same area and were acquainted but not related.

Autopsy reveals N.C girl was raped and strangled

A small body found on Monday, in Sanford, North Carolina was identified as 5-year-old Shaniya Davis.

Shaniya was reported missing by her mother, Antoinette Davis, a week earlier. Davis said her daughter had disappeared from their mobile home in Fayetteville, 30 miles from where the body was found.

Surveillance videos taken from a hotel the day Shaniya was reported missing shows Shaniya in the company of a man, Mario Andrette McNeill.

Davis was “prostituting her child,” police spokeswoman Teresa Chance said after Davis’ arrest over the weekend.

Mcneill has been charged with kidnapping and Davis was charged with human trafficking.
Shaniya’s father made a tearful appeal before reporters. “It’s not the result I wanted, it’s not the result any father or family would want for their children,” he said. “But God has a greater calling for all of us.”

Cheyenne Lockhart, Shaniya’s half sister found it hard to believe that Davis had neglected Shaniya so horribly.

“She seemed like the sweetest woman,” Lockhart said. ”She didn’t come from much, but she had the sweetest voice, she had the sweetest personality, especially towards me. I would never think that she would do anything like that.”

Lockhart and Shaniya shared the same father.

Slain girl remembered 10 years later

Koesha Rodgers was born on March 11, 1988 in Kennett, Missouri. She was the oldest of four children, born to Sheryl Crowley. She was raised by her mother in Caruthersville, Missouri. It was there that the sweet, lovely little girl was raped and murdered.

Koesha was an average student at West Side Elementary School. She was as kind and shy as she was cheerful and adorable. Her cousin described her as a “mama’s baby”. The short, slim 11-year-old loved to watch cartoons.

Sometime on the night of August 22, 1999, Kevin Orlando Bess gained access to Koesha’s home. Koesha’s mother was not home when the vicious intruder entered the home. When she returned, she discovered Koesha was missing. Two months later, Koesha’s decomposed body was found in a tree line.

Nearly 1000 people attended Koesha’s funeral, where there was a closed casket. “My family hasn’t recovered from tragedy. We still don’t sleep at night, because she disappeared in the middle of the night,” her aunt Joyce said.

Bess had gone to the house earlier that day and asked to use the bathroom. Koesha let him in as usual, and then he left. He returned later that night and abducted the child.

When Koesha’s mother returned home that night she found door open and discovered her little girl missing. “Alot of people thought I had something to do with my baby’s murder but I didn’t. I cry when I think about it and they just don’t know how much it hurts,” she said.

Kevin Bess, who was found with Koesha’s blood on his clothes, was sentenced to life in prison for murder. Police say Bess had already been caught in an act of sexually assaulting a woman in a park in St.Louis.

Koesha is remembered as a smiling child whose favorite colors were pink, yellow and orange. She was deeply loved by her intelligent, respectful family. She wanted to become a teacher. Her favorite singer was Deborah Cox and her favorite movie was ‘Waiting to exhale’.

Chicago police baffled over unsolved murder of girl, 9

Young Mya Lyons should have never died the way she did. But perhaps her death could stir those in this countty, who continue to protect the guilty by keeping silent, into the kind of effective action that will see murderers identified, arrested and convicted.

Nine-year-old Mya Lyons was found stabbed and near death in an alley near her father’s home in Chicago, Illinois. She died the next morning at a hospital, on July 15, 2008.

The little girl was last seen in her father’s home at around 11 PM. Relatives say Mya would not have left the home on her own and many believe she knew her killer.

Police believe Mya was killed by a left handed person, as all of her the stab wounds were on her right side torso area.

The mindless slaughter of such innocent child defies understanding. What degree of depravity could possess an adult to attack a girl just barely beginning to have an appreciation of life herself? When it is recalled that this murder is unsolved, it leaves the public numb and angry, yearning for answers.

No declaration of outrage and anger; no statements from high officials; no demonstration can bring back the life of the Nine-year-old girl. Neither has it convinced witnesses to come forward.
Mya Lyons’ death turned into one of Chicago’s most notorious murder mysteries. Despite continuous, daily media coverage of the case, police had few leads. Someone, somewhere knows who the killer is, and they should not remain silent on this issue.

There is a cold hearted killer wandering around who could take another child.

Homicide investigators should not have to beg witnesses to help them catch these killers. Residents must become the eyes and ears of the police, where everyone has a role to play in helping to solve these horrible crimes. The police can only go by what information they receive. Information has to be provided for them to be able to follow leads.

We cannot fault the police for not solving crimes. We must condemn the ignorant murder witnesses who choose to hold secrets with these killers.

There is a reward of $10,000 for information leading to the arrest of Mya Lyons’ killer.