We usually don’t buy into these “the world is ending” theories. But we’ve seen way too much in these first few weeks of 2011 not too wonder if there might be any truth to those theories that civilization as we know it may come to an end in 2012. Flip through for some of the signs.
Asheley Jewell, the daughter of Kandi Burruss’s late ex-fiance , is still in critical condition in a Georgia hospital after being shot in the head last weekend . And her family is actively seeking the public’s help in figuring out why. Friends and relatives of Asheley Jewell, the 15-year-old wounded in an apparent road rage shooting, will hold a candlelight vigil Saturday near the site of the shooting. Jewell, a Stephenson High School sophomore, was shot in the head and remains in critical condition at Grady Memorial Hospital. Jewell is the daughter of the late A.J. Jewell, a “Real Housewives of Atlanta” personality who died in 2009 after a fist fight outside an Atlanta strip club. About 10:30 p.m. Saturday, Fulton County police said, two vehicles were traveling on Old National Highway near Jerome Road when one started chasing the other. Shots were fired and Jewell, a passenger in the car being chased, was struck. No one else was hurt. Jewell was rushed to Grady and underwent surgery. “Investigators are looking into every possible motive as well as attempting to gain surveillance video from surrounding businesses for a closer description of the perpetrators’ vehicle,” Fulton detective Melissa Parker said. Anyone with information on the incident is urged to call Crime Stoppers Atlanta at 404-577-8477. The vigil will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday at O’Reilly Auto Parts, 5549 Old National Highway in College Park. “The vigil is a step toward healing a family victimized by senseless violence,” said Jewell’s cousin, attorney Ebony Phillips. “It is also a call for justice in hopes that someone will come forward with invaluable information about this case. Although nothing can undo the events of March 5, 2011, the family is hopeful that justice will prevail.” Ashley “A.J.” Jewell died Oct. 2, 2009 after he and another man fought in the parking lot of the Body Tap, police said. A strip club employee was charged with voluntary manslaughter, but the charge was later dropped after it was determined Jewell died from a sickle cell crisis. We hope the person responsible for this random ridiculousness will do the right thing and turn him- or herself in. Source
Two Hundred and Thirty Years!! Domenique Wilson said nothing and showed no remorse before he was sentenced today by a Philadelphia judge for a series of brutal rapes in late 2008. Then again, he now has almost five centuries to think about it. Wilson, 25, a power forward for West Philadelphia High School’s basketball team in 2003 who went on to play for Lock Haven University, was sentenced to 84 to 230 years in prison by Common Pleas Court Judge Charles J. Cunningham III – on top of the 70 to 196 years he is serving for rapes at Lock Haven. Cunningham called Wilson a “serial rapist” and said he stacked the sentences to ensure “there is never a day when he is out.” In November, a Philadelphia Common Pleas Court jury found Wilson guilty of rape and related charges in two attacks in late 2008. By then, however, Wilson had already begun serving what is essentially a life prison term on rape and sexual assault convictions from attacks on three Lock Haven University women in February 2009. Wilson did not testify at his Philadelphia trial and so the jury did not know about the Clinton County cases. The city jury, however, had no difficulty convicting Wilson for the two attacks here in 2008. In the first, the jury found that Wilson forced his way into an apartment on Clinton Street in Center City on Oct. 22, 2008. He then raped and robbed a 25-year-old woman at knifepoint and tied up, robbed and assaulted her 29-year-old boyfriend, the victims told the jury. Wilson was also found guilty of forcing his way into a Spruce Street apartment on Dec. 19, 2008. The 24- and 22-year-old University of Pennsylvania female students told the jury that Wilson terrorized them with a gun and knife, covered their eyes, mouths and wrists with duct tape and repeatedly raped one. Wilson was not identified in the Philadelphia cases until after the Clarion County conviction when his DNA profile matched that of the rapist in the cases here. Later, prosecutors found an ATM security camera in West Philadelphia that showed Wilson using the victims’ bank cards to make multiple withdrawals of cash and the Philadelphia victims picked him out of a photo array. Wilson was arrested in April 2009 and charged with the assaults there. Authorities said Wilson’s motel room contained a mask, duct tape and other items the Philadelphia victims said he used in the assaults. Cunningham heard powerful statements from the Philadelphia victims in which they described how they remain traumatized by the attacks. Assistant District Attorney Mark Cipolletti called Wilson’s acts of “absolute brutality, depravity and coldness to all the victims.” Man, this is getting to be too much! We can’t even take it. Source
Jesus take the wheel on this one: A Valley teen has been arrested after being accused of plotting to kill her pregnant friend and steal her unborn baby. According to court documents, 18-year-old Kassandra Toruga was taken into custody on Thursday on attempted murder, arson and burglary charges. On Feb. 16, Toruga allegedly brought two butcher knives and a pair of scissors to the victim’s Maricopa home with the intent to kill the victim and perform a Caesarean section to remove her unborn baby. According to court paperwork, Toruga also brought diapers and clothes, and planned to pass the child off as her own. While in the home, Toruga also reportedly set fire to the victim’s closet, costing $1,000 in damage. Both women were treated for smoke inhalation following the incident at the victim’s home. Toruga allegedly admitted her intent to commit the crimes during an interview with an arson investigator. Court documents show mental illness may be to blame for Toruga’s alleged plot, as she suffers from schizophrenia. The victim has since given birth to the child and reportedly told authorities she is “extremely concerned” Toruga will return to her home and kidnap the child. Wow…this is some crazy isht right here!! Source
For the past eight months, Serena Williams has been fighting to get her body back on the right track. She spoke with the Today Show via satellite to give an update on what exactly she has been dealing with and also speaks on her return to tennis: She recalled that on Feb. 18, “I had a lot of swelling in my leg, which really is a tell-tale sign of an embolism, and I could not breathe.” She just thought she “wasn’t fit,” but went to the emergency room. Doctors at first,couldn’t find anything, she said. But then one ordered a CAT scan of her lungs. “That’s when they found several blood clots. They told me they had to check me in immediately or it wasn’t going to be a good result.” A week later, she walked the red carpets at Oscar parties. “I had been through so much. I really was kind of low on energy,” she said, but wanted to “do something to get my spirits up. I wasn’t doing so well mentally. … I was feeling terrible.” So she went out. And wound up in the hospital the next day, Feb. 28, because of a large hematoma in her stomach. A hematoma is a gathering of blood underneath the skin, Lauer explained. “I’m on blood thinner injections. I inject myself twice a day,” she said. “I apparently must have hit something, … so what started out as a golf ball ended up being the size of a grapefruit.” At the hospital she was told it couldn’t be drained; it had to be surgically removed. Did this all stem from her initial foot problem after stepping on glass last year? She said, “Yes, and not moving and doing as much as I normally do and flying back and forth a lot.” What are doctors telling her now? “I’m just taking it one day at a time. My lungs are fairly healthy and I’m on the road to recovering.” She said she’s still hoping to return to tennis this summer. “I want to come back and be able to do well.” A speedy but mostly a healthy recovery is what we wish for Serena Williams.
Wow on this one: Bears great Shaun Gayle admitted he had a sexual relationship with Marni Yang and that they had sex the night before the murder of his pregnant girlfriend Rhoni Reuter. The admission came during Gayle’s testimony in Yang’s murder trial in Waukegan on Tuesday. Yang is accused of killing Reuter and her unborn child to eliminate her romantic competition. The defense cross-examined Gayle on his relationship with another woman, Monica Kurowska. Gayle first told police he suspected Kurowska in the murder. He said he had an order of protection against her for a series of harassing letters and stalking. Gayle says he was questioned by Deerfield police for 10 hours after the murder. During opening statements on Friday, the defense warned that Yang was a victim too. Attorney William Hedrick told jurors there was no obsession or motive. He said that at the time of the slaying, Gayle was seeing 18 or 19 different women, and he called Yang’s purported confession to the crime a “festival of liars.” Damn, this isn’t a joke, but dude must’ve had that good “D” for these broads (18 or 19 though???) to be going crazy for him like that!!! R.I.P. to Rhoni Reuter and the baby… Source
Surprise, surprise a fat, sick, pervert camp counselor, SMH… This head counselor — perched comfortably on a child’s playset in a photo posted on a Brooklyn day camp’s Web site — was named by prosecutors yesterday as a sexual deviant. Joseph Passof, a retired New York City schoolteacher known by the nickname “Uncle Joe,” is accused of molesting a 5-year-old boy in a bathroom last summer, authorities said. The counselor was slapped with a slew of sex-abuse charges for the heinous July assault, in which he allegedly sneaked up behind his young victim and attacked him in front of a 4-year-old camper. “That’s Uncle Joe, bad person,” the young witness told investigators when he was shown a photograph of Passof, police sources said. This head counselor — perched comfortably on a child’s playset in a photo posted on a Brooklyn day camp’s Web site — was named by prosecutors yesterday as a sexual deviant. Joseph Passof, a retired New York City schoolteacher known by the nickname “Uncle Joe,” is accused of molesting a 5-year-old boy in a bathroom last summer, authorities said. The counselor was slapped with a slew of sex-abuse charges for the heinous July assault, in which he allegedly sneaked up behind his young victim and attacked him in front of a 4-year-old camper. “That’s Uncle Joe, bad person,” the young witness told investigators when he was shown a photograph of Passof, police sources said. Word? So you’re just gonna try to flip it on the kids and make it like they were on some suspect ish huh? Somebody lock this old a** man up somewhere where they can show him some “hospitality” Source
What the hell did you think was gonna happen dumba**! You don’t get to murder someone just because they hire you to. Jurors in the so-called “Harlem Kevorkian” trial have agreed that the stabbing death of a Long Island motivational speaker was a murder — and that the killer doesn’t get a break under the state’s “assisted suicide” exemption. The guilty verdict came four hours after deliberations began on the fate of hired-knife Kenneth Minor. Both prosecutors and the defense had agreed that debt-plagued victim Jeffrey Locker had cruised through Harlem’s streets two years ago, soliciting what he called “a Kevorkian.” Minor took the job — plunging a knife into Locker’s chest six or seven times as the two sat in Locker’s car on Paladino Avneue, and getting Locker’s ATM card and pin number as payment. Locker had staged the fatal “mugging” so that his family in Valley Stream could collect on some $17 million in insurance policies, both sides had agreed. But Minor downplayed his role in the stabbing, claiming that he merely helped hold brace the knife against Locker’s steering wheel as the distraught man thrust himself on it some half-dozen times. And while defense lawyer Daniel Gotlin argued that assisting a suicide is not an act of murder under state law, prosecutor Peter Casolaro counters that Minor was too active a participant in Locker’s death — and that you can’t stab someone to death just because they ask you to. Listen, we TOTALLY get it. You can’t just kill people, maybe this dude should have gotten a notarized letter of intent first, but damn. Source
This has gotta be tough on the kid. It isn’t like he sexually assualted someone or committed a crime, just a lil hanky-panky with his girlfriend. Sticking to principles appears to carry a steep cost for the nation’s third-ranked college basketball team. A day after Brigham Young University dismissed center Brandon Davies from the team for violating the school’s strict honor code, the No. 3-ranked Cougars were throttled Wednesday by unranked New Mexico. “The honor code really reflects who we are as a university. It defines us and it does make us different,” BYU spokeswoman Carrie Jenkins told CNN affiliate KSTU-TV. Davies, a 6-9 sophomore from Provo, was the team’s top rebounder and third-leading scorer. He received the Cougars’ Academic Excellence award last season, according to an online profile. BYU had been gunning for a high seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament, but the team’s fortunes took a tumble with Wednesday night’s 82-64 loss to New Mexico. University officials said Davies admitted violating the honor code at BYU, which is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon Church. The honor code requires all faculty, staff and students to: Be honest; Live a chaste and virtuous life; Obey the law and all campus policies; Use clean language; Respect others; Abstain from alcoholic beverages, tobacco, tea, coffee and substance abuse; Participate regularly in church services; Observe dress and grooming standards; Encourage others in their commitment to comply with the honor code. The code forbids homosexual behavior and bars members of the opposite sex from going beyond the lobby of the school’s single-sex dormitories. The dress and grooming standards forbid beards, tattoos and piercings for men and short or form-fitting clothes or bare feet in public for women. The university did not say which part of the code Davies violated, but it did say he had not committed a crime. Davies’ future as a student at BYU and his status for next season have yet to be determined. Ah c’mon give the kid a break! A lil poon-tang ain’t never hurt nobody (long as he wore a Jimmy!) Do you feel that BYU has a right to ask players not to have sex as a condition of playing for the team or going to the school??? Source
SMH…: PALMDALE — A 5-month old boy stabbed by his teenage father during a child abduction in Palmdale has died, authorities say. Palmdale Sheriff’s Station deputies responded to a report of a child abduction in Palmdale at about 11:00AM, Tuesday. An Amber Alert was issued for the child and his father, 17-year old Christopher Earl Glass, around 2:00 Tuesday afternoon. According to the alert, Glass picked up his 5-month-old son from a relative’s home earlier today and drove to the child’s mother’s home. The two argued, and Glass drove off with the boy still inside his white SUV. Glass then allegedly sent a text message to the mother, threatening to stab the boy. At about 3:30 p.m. deputies who were searching for the baby saw Glass driving in the area and began to follow him. The deputies saw the suspect motion in a manner that appeared as though he was stabbing the baby as he drove his car. Attempting to get him to stop, deputies went in pursuit of the suspect’s vehicle. During a short chase, Glass slammed his SUV into a structure at the Palmdale Metrolink station. Glass got out of the car and ran, and deputies chased him on foot. Other deputies ran to the suspect’s car, picked up the baby, and raced him to the hospital in their radio car. Unfortunately, the baby was pronounced dead at the hospital. Other deputies pursuing Glass shot and killed the teenager as he broke into a nearby home Glass died at the scene. What is going on in this world? Source