Jonathan James

On July 25, 2011 ten year old Jonathan James died from dehydration according to a medical examiner.

According to the reports, the boys’ father, Michael Ray James and his stepmother, Tina Alberson, both 42 years old, had punished the boy by not allowing him to drink any water because he stole some guitar strings from one of his siblings. Some reports say it was because he had wet his bed.

During an investigation of his death the detectives found out that Jonathan was not allowed to drink water for 5 days and died after collapsing and hitting his head on the floor. He was taken to a hospital where doctors were told that the boy was sick. The medical personal at the hospital were unable to revive Jonathan and he was pronounced dead.

Sue Shotwell, Jonathan’s grandmother said he had called her in late June to tell her he was afraid to live with his parents during a month long court-ordered custody visit. Also living in the home was Jonathan’s twin brother, Joseph, was not injured at all. Shotwell said her grandson had asked if he could go live with her instead. She said he told her, “I know I’m going to be in trouble while I’m there because I always am.” Shotwell said she had never heard that from him before.

Joseph told reporters that he wanted to help his brother but was worried he would face similar punishment. “I wanted to do something, but I couldn’t,” he said. “I couldn’t do nothing because I would get in trouble.”

Michael James and Tina Alberson

Michael Ray James and Tina Alberson were both arrested and charged with injury to a child causing bodily injury. Bodily injury? Are they serious? I would say it was more like causing death, not injury. If convicted  of the charges though which is a first degree felony, they will be facing a sentence of up to 99 years in prison. This won’t bring Jonathan back but it will get him some justice at least.

Jonathan was described by his grandmother as being an easy-going kid that never held a grudge. She said, “This kid, if you know Jonathan, he could forgive you for no matter what you did. You could ground him and he would say, ‘I love you, Mimi,’”

The death of this boy is so tragic. I’d like to see this father and stepmother treated this way so they could feel what this child was feeling. I know when I get thirsty I want something to drink and I don’t like it when I can’t find something within minutes. I can’t imagine going 5 days without water.

I do pray that this man doesn’t get his other children back with him. I’d hate to see a repeat of this happening to them as well. I will keep them all in my prayers. I pray God will watch over them.

Jan Barrett

Alizae Mosconi

Alizae Mosconi is just under 2 years old and has already experienced the fear of death in what I would call a very frightening way that most people would not have survived.

All because she hit a distant cousin with a ball, the cousin decided to teach Alizae a lesson by dangling the child outside an open window on the third floor of the apartment building they were in. Apparently the baby started to struggle and scream out for help and as she reached out she scratched 27 year old Terra Hill of East Liverpool, Ohio. That is when Hill said she accidentally dropped her the 21 ft down to the sidewalk.

Alizae which has been described as a remarkable little girl that is indeed a little fighter as well as she is feisty and lovable.

Dr. Jennifer Wolford from Children’s Hospital said the 23 month old suffered numerous facial fractures, a big fracture to her temporal bone and fractures around her ear and in the middle of her face. She said her face was very fractured and she also had two broken arms, has fluid in her lungs and a lacerated spleen which caused blood to flow into her abdominal cavity. The injuries have caused extensive bruising and swelling to Alizae’s head and face including black and blue and swollen eyes, a swollen nose and swollen lips. She had scrapes on her left side and bruises and scrapes on her legs and she still needed a breathing tube as of Thursday.

Dr. Wolford reported to the courts through a video testimony that Alizae’s brain does look normal right now but she has suffered one seizure as a recult of her injuries, but it is too soon to tell what kind of long term problems she might have. She said the child will probably need the help of plastic surgeons and will have to have consultations with neurologists.

Terra Hill

She seems to be determined not to let this stop her though. Her mother, 24 year old Beth Newman says that Alizae is doing great right now. She said she is talking and she even ate mashed potatoes, pudding and peas for her dinner Thursday.

Family members say she watches cartoons with her good eye and listens to music. SpongeBob SquarePants is her favorite cartoon. Her great-grandmother, 68 year old Donna Fisher said she has asked for pop and she wanted her shoes. Fisher said, “We can’t figure out why because she usually doesn’t want to wear them.”

She has improved so much that the Doctor’s at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburg, Pa. have upgraded her condition to fair and they have removed her from the Intensive Care Unit into a private room.

New Brighton police have arrested Hill and charged her with reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child. District Judge Tim Finn called the evidence in this case “graphic” and ordered all charges on Hill to be held to court. He also ordered that the $25,000 bond remain in place. “I’m saying a prayer for this child. Bless her,” said Finn.

I am saying a prayer for this child as well. I pray she continues to fight for her life and that one day she can conquer it and be able to live a full life. She has proven that she has the fight in her now. I just pray it stays with her. Bless her little heart.

Jan Barrett

Jessica Callaway

Alexandrea Kingsley actually had the guts to record her roommate blowing smoke into the woman’s baby’s face. Kingsley pretended to be sending a test message but in reality she was recording her with her cell phone.

Although the two women only knew each other a short time in Gilbert, Arizona, Kingsley said it didn’t take her long to figure out the woman’s behavior so she decided to record it, knowing she would need proof other than just her word. She said she had seen the woman hitting her child before.

The baby, Laura is only 10 months old. Kingsley said that Jessica Calloway, 21 would leave the baby in dirty diapers until there were so heavy they would fall off of her. “There’s time she yelled, ‘I wish I never had you, maybe I should just give you away, you’re such a mistake, I hate you, you piece of…”, said Kingsley about Calloway.

Kingsley said she saw Calloway blow marijuana smoke directly into the baby’s mouth and she said Calloway also gave the baby medication to make it fall asleep. The night Calloway was recorded she was really angry. You can hear Calloway yelling at the baby to shut up and then the baby screamed and she was hit on the leg and in the face.

Kingsley said she showed the video to her Dad and then they called the police. When she was arrested the excuse she gave according to court records she said she was having a bad day because she couldn’t find an outfit for her to wear that night on her night out.

Jessica Calloway has been charged with three counts of child abuse for allegedly blowing marijuana smoke in the baby’s face to get her to stop crying. She is also being charged for hitting her daughter in the face and yelling at her to shut the “f” up before she kicked her in the mouth.

I realize this mother is young but if she didn’t want this child why doesn’t she give it up for adoption instead of hitting the child. This baby didn’t ask to come into this world. She didn’t deserve to be so mistreated. It breaks my heart to hear about stories like this.

Someone needs to teach this woman how to be a mother. If she can’t treat this baby better they need to take her away so she will be safe. I do hope the authorities do right by this child to protect her. My prayers will be that God will see to it.

Jan Barrett

Cristina Ramirez

An Amber Alert was issued Tuesday for a 13 year old girl from Hollister, California. According to the San Benito County Sheriff’s Department, Cristina Martinez was kidnapped around 4 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.

Cristina was described as being Hispanic and she is 4 ft. tall and she weighs about 85 pounds. She has black hair and brown eyes. The last time she was seen she was wearing her school uniform with a white polo shirt and a blue skirt.

Cristina’s father, 34 year old Marcelino Ramirez, is suspected to have been the one that kidnapped his daughter. He is described as Hispanic that is about 5 ft 6 inches tall. He weighs about 150 pounds.

Apparently there is some major concern for this child because her father allegedly has a history of violence and sexually assaulted his daughter in the past according to Cristina’s mother.

Marcelino Ramirez

Ramirez was last seen driving a white Honda Odyssey with a California license plate number 3WAN638. The rear window of the car is tinted and it has a Coast Auto Insurance sticker on the back window.

The San Benito Sheriff’s Department is asking that if anyone sees Ramirez’s car or Marcelino or his daughter Cristina to please call them at 831-636-4101.

If what Cristina’s mother said about Marcelino is true this girl needs to be found soon before she is hurt. So if anyone sees them please call the authorities. You could save her life or at least save her from having to go through something a 13 year old girl shouldn’t have happen to her. I hope and pray she is found before it is too late. May God be with her.

Jan Barrett

UPDATE: The Amber Alert has been cancelled. A San Benito County sheriff’s dispatcher says that 13-year-old Cristina Ramirez was found unharmed.

5 ft. gator

I have to admit when I read this story I had to think of my husband Simon. He is a book reviewer and he loves to read. He seems to be able to read better while sitting outside in the natural light where he can see better. Luckily we have a nice front porch where he can go out on and sit and read peacefully.

It was his love of the front porch that made me think of him. A man from Merritt Island in Brevard County, Florida walked out on his front porch and got a huge surprise. There was a 5-foot alligator on the porch as though it was just there hanging out. I have to giggle when I think of what Simon would do if here were this man. I can just picture him coming back inside telling me, “Honey, you aren’t going to believe this, but there is an alligator on our porch!”

The man, identified as Ken Murray said the gator didn’t try to attack him or anything but it did open its mouth a few times.

Murray said he noticed his dogs outside had been barking but at first he just brushed it off thinking they could possibly just be barking at an armadillo or something like that. When they continued to bark he decided to check it out.

“My dogs were raising Cain and I came around the corner and looked and there’s a gator on my front porch,” said Murray.

A trapper came to the house and got the gator but he said it was going to have to be killed. Apparently the gator put up a fight when they were trying to catch it but it finally lost the battle.

Jan Barrett

LATEST FILM FROM THE PRODUCERS OF OUR IDIOT BROTHER & THE SITTER

(New York, NY) — August 22nd, 2011 — Johnny Knoxville and Patton Oswalt have signed on to co-star in Todd Rohal’s latest, an outlandish yet poignant comedy about a pair of battling brothers who attempt to honor their ailing father by taking a troop of boys on a last ditch camping trip that goes wildly wrong. The film marks the first time comedic foils Knoxville and Oswalt will be sharing the big screen. Joining the team for the ensemble comedy are Rob Riggle, Maura Tierney & Patrice O’Neal.

The still untitled film is written and will be directed by emerging comedic auteur Todd Rohal, hot on the heels of the Sundance success of his second feature film, THE CATECHISM CATACLYSM. The film, which is loosely based on Rohal’s experiences growing up, begins production this week.

The film is being financed by Marc Turtletaub’s and Peter Saraf’s Big Beach Films. Turtletaub, Saraf and Lisa Muskat are producing, David Gordon Green is executive producing, and Michael Clark and John Hodges will oversee production for Big Beach.

“Todd looks at the world through a different set of lenses than the rest of us, and yet his vision managers to be simultaneously unique and universal,” Saraf said. “I think that’s because his humor, while twisted at times, is fundamentally compassionate and truthful. The combination of Todd with this hilariously amazing cast is going to make for an exciting ride, and we’re tightening our seatbelts.”

After co-creating the massively successful “Jackass” franchise (which ultimately spawned three theatrical films) in 2000, Knoxville has starred in a number of feature films, including MEN IN BLACK II, LORDS OF DOGTOWN, THE DUKES OF HAZZARD, THE RINGER, WALKING TALL and John Waters’ A DIRTY SHAME. Knoxville’s production company, Dickhouse Productions, which he co-owned with Spike Jonze and Jeff Tremaine, has produced all iterations of “Jackass,” as well as the acclaimed documentaries THE WILD AND WONDERFUL WHITES OF WEST VIRGINIA and THE BIRTH OF BIG AIR.

Widely regarded as one of the best and most transgressive stand-up comedians of the last decade, Oswalt has released four hit comedy albums, the last of which, “My Weakness is Strong” in 2009, was nominated for a Grammy Award. Small roles in Paul Thomas Anderson’s MAGNOLIA, Milos Forman’s MAN ON THE MOON and Todd Phillips’ STARSKY & HUTCH led to Oswalt’s breakout leading roles as the voice of Remy in the hit Pixar film RATATOUILLE and Robert Siegel’s acclaimed Sundance drama BIG FAN, for which Oswalt received a Gotham Award nomination for Breakthrough performance. For the last three seasons, Oswalt starred on Showtime’s Emmy-nominated “The United States of Tara.” This Fall, he will appear in A VERY HAROLD & KUMAR 3D CHRISTMAS and Jason Reitman’s YOUNG ADULT with Charlize Theron and Patrick Wilson. His latest one-hour special “Finest Hour” debuts on Showtime on September 5th, with the CD/audio available September 20th on Comedy Central Records.

Big Beach is one of the leading indie film production companies. The Weinstein Company is releasing the Big Beach-produced OUR IDIOT BROTHER across the country on August 26th.

Todd Rohal, Johnny Knoxville and Patton Oswald are repped by CAA. Patton is managed by Generate and Knoxville is managed by 3 Arts.

ABOUT TODD ROHAL

Todd Rohal wrote and directed The Guatemalan Handshake in 2006, which he theatrically self-distributed around the world with a single 35mm print. He participated in the Sundance Institute’s Screenwriter’s lab in 2009 and has collaborated on music videos and DVD projects with filmmakers Cory McAbee, Jeff Krulik and the band Ola Podrida.

Todd’s latest film, THE CATECHISM CATCALYSM, an absurdist buddy movie about a disillusioned priest, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and is being released theatrically by IFC Films in October 2011.

Neil H. MacBride, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Janice K. Fedarcyk, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office; and Alex J. Turner, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, made the announcement.

“Mr. Shibin is alleged to be among the select few who are entrusted with one of the most important tasks in Somali piracy—ensuring a ship’s owners pay the maximum amount of ransom possible for the release of a hijacked vessel,” said U.S. Attorney MacBride. “The ransom paid for the Marida Marguerite capped a year where authorities estimate pirates received more than $100 million in ransom payments. The role he’s accused of fulfilling for pirates on the Marida Marguerite is the same role he allegedly intended to fill for the Quest. This case is aimed at the heart of the piracy business, striking at the small group of men who make receiving millions from piracy a reality.”

“During the seven-month ordeal, Mr. Shibin allegedly successfully negotiated a large ransom for the release of 22 crew aboard the Marida Marguerite,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Fedarcyk. “The negotiator has the most important job in the piracy business, extorting the most money possible for the ship and crew. As pirates operate during this period of instability in Somalia, the FBI will continue to apprehend all those involved, from Puntland villages to the Arabian Sea.”

Mohammad Saaili Shibin, aka “Khalif Ahmed Shibin,” aka “Shibin,” 50, of Somalia, was indicted on March 8, 2011, by a federal grand jury in Newport News, Va., in association with the alleged pirating of an American yacht, the S/V Quest, and taking hostage four U.S. citizens, who were ultimately killed before their release could be secured.

Today, Shibin was charged in a 15-count superseding indictment accusing him of serving as the ransom negotiator for conspirators who pirated the M/V Marida Marguerite, a German-owned vessel with a crew of 22 men who were held hostage off the coast of Somalia from May to December 2010. According to the indictment, Shibin spoke with the owners of the Marida Marguerite and successfully extracted a ransom payment for the vessel and its crew. The indictment states that Shibin received approximately $30,000 to $50,000 in U.S. currency as his share of the ransom payment.

Shibin was also charged with additional counts related to the attack on the Quest. A full list of the charges included in the superseding indictment and their penalties are provided below:

* Two counts of piracy under the law of nations, which each carry a mandatory penalty of life in prison.
* Two counts of conspiracy to commit hostage taking, which each carry a penalty of up to life in prison.
* Two counts of hostage taking, which each carry a penalty of up to life in prison.
* Two counts of conspiracy to commit violence against maritime navigation, which each carry a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
* Two counts of violence against maritime navigation, which each carry a mandatory penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
* Conspiracy to commit kidnapping, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
* Kidnapping, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
* Three counts of use, carry and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence, the first count of which carries a mandatory minimum 10 years and a maximum of life in prison, and the latter two counts of which carry mandatory consecutive life sentences.

This investigation was conducted by the FBI’s New York Field Office and Norfolk Field Office, with assistance from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. In addition, U.S. Attorney MacBride expressed his appreciation for the close coordination and cooperation of German judicial and police authorities in building the latest charges involving the Marida Marguerite.

The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin L. Hatch, Joseph E. DePadilla, and Brian J. Samuels from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia and Trial Attorney Paul Casey of the Counterterrorism Section in the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

The public is reminded that an indictment only contains charges and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney BHARARA said: “Mark Leitzsey engaged in predatory conduct so he could make money off the back of a minor whom he forced to submit to his will. Sex trafficking is an egregious offense, and targeting a minor makes it that much more reprehensible.”

According to the complaint, the underlying indictment, the superseding information, LEITZSEY’s plea allocution, and documents filed in connection with the sentencing:

Between 2009 and April 2010, LEITZSEY sold narcotics to NYPD undercover detectives on several occasions at his then-residence on Union Avenue in the Bronx, New York. During one such sale, LEITZSEY told a female undercover detective, “I run a brothel upstairs and need girls like you to work for me.”

Later, in June 2010, in a consensually recorded telephone conversation between LEITZSEY and an undercover detective (“Detective-1”), LEITZSEY agreed to provide several prostitutes for what he believed would be a bachelor party. The prostitutes were to perform commercial sex acts in exchange for approximately $200 each. LEITZSEY subsequently sent a text message to Detective-1 with a photograph of one of the prostitutes for the bachelor party.

On July 28, 2010, LEITZSEY and Detective-1 met in Queens, New York. During that meeting, which was consensually recorded by law enforcement, Detective-1 gave LEITZSEY several hundred dollars as a downpayment for the bachelor party, in exchange for which LEITZSEY again agreed to provide prostitutes, including a seventeen-year-old girl, who would perform commercial sex acts at the party. LEITZSEY then provided Detective-1 with a link to BoostHookt, a chatroom for Boost Mobile users, and told her to look under his username to see photographs of the girls whom LEITZSEY exploited as prostitutes. The bachelor party was ultimately scheduled for August 6, 2010.

After arriving at a hotel in New York, New York, with Victim-1 and another woman, LEITZSEY was arrested on August 6, 2010. Victim-1, who was 18 years old at the time, later explained to law enforcement that she met LEITZSEY when she was approximately 14 years old. She said that when she was approximately 16 years old and a minor, a fact about which LEITZSEY was aware, he caused her to engage in commercial sex acts in exchange for money on several occasions and kept some or all of the money she was paid. LEITZSEY used violence and threats of violence to force her to engage in a commercial sex act with one of his clients.

In addition to the prison term, Judge JONES sentenced LEITZSEY, 45, of Queens, New York, to five years of supervised release.

During the sentencing, Judge JONES said: “I agree with the government that the conduct was reprehensible, and that may be an understatement.”

Mr. BHARARA praised the work of the FBI and the NYPD.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Complex Frauds Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney AMANDA KRAMER is in charge of the prosecution.

* Southern District of New York (212) 637-2600

— filed under: Press Release

PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that MOHAMMAD YOUNIS pled guilty today in Manhattan federal court to operating an unlicensed money transfer business between the United States and Pakistan. One of the money transfers was used to fund the May 1, 2010, attempted car bombing in New York City’s Times Square by FAISAL SHAHZAD who is serving a life sentence in federal prison. YOUNIS pled guilty before U.S. District Judge JOHN F. KEENAN.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney PREET BHARARA stated: “This case should send a clear message that we will not leave a stone unturned in our investigations of terrorists and how they get the money to finance their plots. Mohammed Younis engaged in illegal activity that, although unbeknownst to him, facilitated the funding of a potentially lethal attack in New York City. He was apprehended by law enforcement and as a result, a possible funding stream for terror attacks is now a dry well.”

According to the indictment previously filed in this case, other court filings, and statements made during today’s guilty plea proceeding:

From January to May 2010, YOUNIS provided money transmitting services to individuals in the New York City area by assisting in the operation of a “hawala,” a type of informal value transfer system in which money does not physically cross international boundaries through the banking system. In the hawala system, funds are transferred by customers to a hawala operator, or “hawaladar,” in one country, and corresponding funds, less any fees, are disbursed to recipients in another country by hawaladar associates on that end.

On April 10, 2010, YOUNIS engaged in two separate hawala transactions with customers who traveled from Connecticut and New Jersey to meet with him in Long Island. In each of the transactions, YOUNIS provided thousands of dollars in cash to the individuals at the direction of a co-conspirator in Pakistan, but without knowledge of how the customers were planning to use the funds. At no time did YOUNIS have the license to operate a money transmitting business from either state or federal authorities.

One of the individuals to whom YOUNIS provided money was SHAHZAD, who, on June 21, 2010, pled guilty to a ten-count indictment charging him with crimes relating to his attempt to detonate a car bomb in Times Square on May 1, 2010. During the course of his plea allocution, SHAHZAD acknowledged receiving a cash payment in April 2010 in the United States to fund his preparations for the May 1, 2010, attempted bombing. According to SHAHZAD, the April cash payment was arranged in Pakistan by associates of the Tehrik-e-Taliban, the militant extremist group based in Pakistan that trained him to make and use explosive devices.

On September 15, 2010, YOUNIS was arrested at his Long Island residence by agents of the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force (“JTTF”).

* * *

YOUNIS, 45, of Long Island, New York, pled guilty to one count of conducting an unlicensed money transmitting business. He faces a maximum term of five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000 or double the gain or loss arising from his conduct. In addition, he agreed to forfeit $12,000 to the United States. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge KEENAN on November 30, 2011, at 3:15 p.m.

Mr. BHARARA praised the investigative efforts of the JTTF in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, especially those JTTF members from the FBI and the NYPD. He also expressed his gratitude to the trial attorneys with the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division.

This case is being handled by the Office’s Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys JEFFREY BROWN, JOHN P. CRONAN, BRENDAN R. MCGUIRE, and RANDALL W. JACKSON are in charge of the prosecution.

Chatman was last seen wearing dark blue hat, plaid shirt, black jacket, light blue jeans, and black shoes. Chatman also left a note threatening law enforcement and that he was willing to shoot anybody. Chatman is described as a black male, 5’7’’ to 5’9’’ tall, and 200 lbs. He is 54 years old and is known to frequent casinos. Chatman is believed to have several weapons and should be considered armed and extremely dangerous.

Chatman has also robbed the following two banks:

• Chase Bank located at 2438 Broadway, New York, NY, on June 18, 2011
• Chase Bank located at 2824-2826 Broadway, New York, NY, on July 27, 2011

“Chatman’s violent behavior is continuing to escalate and we’re enlisting the help of the public in locating this dangerous individual,” said Supervisory Special Agent Barbara Daly. “Chatman is known to carry several weapons and has no fear of using them.”

A significant reward is available for a tip that breaks the case. Anyone with information is asked to call the FBI immediately at 212-384-1000. Tipsters may remain anonymous.