A punch from nowhere, and Michael Daniels' rough life ends in a senseless beating

5-30-2013 New York:

With a cold Bud Ice in his plastic bag and change for the bus, Michael Daniels was good to go last Thursday night.

A two-block walk to the bus stop, a short ride across town to the North Side and he could call it a day. He had mowed his former landlord's lawn on West Brighton Avenue earlier, which had left him breathless.

Daniels never made it to the bus. He left that corner in an ambulance, beaten senseless by a group of youths, at least one of them appearing as young as 10 years old. Daniels died a day later.

Police have made no arrests and they say they don't know the attackers' motive. Daniels was not robbed.

The killing in front of Los Amigos Grocery has people in the neighborhood shaken.

Some have since come into the store and mentioned the May 23 ambush as a version of a street game called "knockout," in which an attacker tries to knock out an unsuspecting victim with one punch, said Joe Brown, the son of the store's owners, Ruben and Marjorie Colon.

In an old city neighborhood of rundown houses, churches, schools and storefront social service agencies, Los Amigos sells lottery tickets, cold drinks, chips, canned goods and household essentials.

Dead Corcoran inmate ID'd; cellmate suspected in killing

5-28-2013 California:

A Corcoran State Prison inmate whose death last week is being investigated as a homicide has been identified.

The dead inmate is Douglas Eugene Willard, 63, of Hemet in Riverside County, the Kings County Coroner's Office said Tuesday.

Willard was found unresponsive in his cell about 8:30 p.m. Thursday, prison officials said. He was taken to an outside hospital where he was pronounced dead at 9:16 p.m. His cellmate has been identified as the suspect, authorities said.

The cellmate, Allen Duane Queen, 48, is serving 259 years for several convictions from San Joaquin County, including attempted murder of a government officer, possession of a weapon by a prisoner, assault with a deadly weapon of a custody officer and making terrorist threats, authorities said.

Willard was serving a six-year sentence from Los Angeles County for lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14 and petty theft. He had served three previous prison terms. ..Source.. by The Fresno Bee

Grand jury to decide charge against man accused in sex offender's death

7-3-2013 Kentucky:

A grand jury will consider charges against a Winchester man accused of punching a sex offender, who died from his injuries Sunday.

In a hearing Wednesday, Judge Brandy O. Brown waived the case against Demetrious Morton, 35, to the grand jury despite a request from public defender Kyle Morris to reduce the initial charge against Morton. Morton was charged with manslaughter, but a family member insisted Wednesday the killing was accidental.

Morton is accused of punching David Bailey, 51, a sex offender who was not compliant with registration rules, on June 22 after Bailey talked to children in a car on Denny Avenue, police and court records say.

Bailey was told by someone in the house to leave the area after he stopped to talk to the children, police Sgt. Tom Beall testified Wednesday. Morton approached and started yelling.

When Bailey lifted his hands in a shrug of sorts, Morton punched him in the face once, Beall said.

Bailey fell, hitting his head on the pavement.

The base of Bailey's skull was fractured, and he died from bleeding on the brain at the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital, according to the results of an autopsy performed Monday. Morton and witnesses didn't know Bailey was a sex offender listed on the Kentucky State Police registry until after police started to investigate.

State police were unable to provide information Wednesday on the charges that landed Bailey on the sex offenders registry.

Morton told police he punched Bailey because Bailey was talking to the kids, Beall said. Morton also told police that Bailey had raised his hands in a threatening manner.

But witnesses at the scene said Bailey was walking away from the car when the confrontation occurred, Beall testified. Bailey was not aggressive in his arm and hand movements, the witnesses said.

The initial assault charge against Morton was changed to manslaughter after Bailey died. The Clark County grand jury will decide whether that charge stands.

Morton's bond was set at $150,000.

Brown cited a past charge as one of the reasons bond could not be lowered. Though a domestic assault conviction several years ago did not directly relate to the current case, she said, it did show a tendency for violence.

George Morton, Demetrious Morton's uncle, said Morton reacted after Bailey didn't step away from the car when someone in the house told him to. His nephew didn't mean to kill Bailey, Morton said.

"It was just an unfortunate accident," George Morton said. ..Source.. by Morgan Eads

Two dead after convicted sex offender goes on rampage in Mingo County

10-11-2012 West Virginia:

Police in Mingo County shot and killed a man Wednesday night after he threatened them with a claw hammer, which he had previously used to attack his roommate before running over him with a stolen pickup.

The roommate also was dead at the scene.

State Trooper D.M. Williamson said roommates Phillip Gilman, 43, and Alfred Curry, 73, got into a fight around 9 p.m. at their Elk Creek house, near Delbarton.

Williamson said he had no idea why Curry and Gilman were fighting. Neighbors told police Gilman, a registered sex offender convicted of rape in 2005, "had been acting crazy all day." They said he walked up and down the road all day, swinging a hammer and looking at the sky.

Gilman attacked Curry with that hammer Wednesday night. The older man got out of their home but collapsed outside. A passing motorist found him lying in the middle of the road.

Williamson said the woman saw Curry lying in the road, found out who he was and called his half-brother, Mingo County Commissioner Dave Baisden.

Baisden arrived a short time later in his county-owned Ford F250 pickup. When he jumped out of the truck to tend to his brother, Gilman got in the driver's seat and took off, running over Curry as he speeded down the road.

Homeless Kirby man arrested in death of host

6-20-2013 Texas:

Stephen Knutson was known for his generosity toward homeless people, but it was that kindness that also apparently led to his violent slaying earlier this month.

Knutson, 67 and a registered sex offender, met Levi Anderson Bonds at a church in Kirby and invited the homeless 35-year-old to stay with him in his trailer in the 5500 block of FM 78.

Less than a week later, as the two were watching a San Antonio Spurs-Miami Heat game, Bonds reportedly broke Knutson's neck and stabbed him multiple times before leaving him dead and nude in his bloody bed. According to Kirby police, Bonds then took Knutson's TV, his car and credit cards, which he used to fund a week-long spending spree.

Bonds was arrested Wednesday on one count of capital murder in connection with the death of Knutson. A judge set bail at $1 million.

“He was a wonderful guy, and he was committed to the work,” said Alamo United Methodist Church Pastor George Chambers. “He just always tried to help people. He had a rough life and a lot of problems earlier, and he was just trying to do what's right.”

Last week, a friend of Knutson's called police and asked them to check on Knutson, whom they hadn't seen for several days. At the trailer, officers saw a swarm of flies and smelled something foul. Fearing someone was injured inside, police broke into the trailer and found Knutson's decomposing body.

“A noticeable amount of blood was also present on the pillows, bed and carpet in the room as well,” according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

A couple of days later, police found Knutson's stolen car. The Texas Rangers got involved in the case and contacted the victim's banks, who had flagged several transactions they considered to be suspicious at Wal-Mart, Best Buy and numerous gas stations, the affidavit states.

Then, police said, Bonds' girlfriend and the mother of two of his children contacted officers and said she had information on Knutson's death. She had kicked Bonds out of her home in May, the affidavit states, but the two remained in contact. Earlier this month, he told her he was going to stay with a friend he'd met through church named “Steve.”

After Knutson's death, Bonds reportedly visited his girlfriend and told her he had “blacked out” and “snapped,” after Knutson caressed his hand, the affidavit states. He told his girlfriend that “the next thing (he) realized was that 'Steve' was beaten badly and 'blood was everywhere,'” according to the affidavit.

In the next days, the couple purchased diapers, beer, laptops and hotel rooms using the credit cards. The laptops, along with a TV taken from Knutson's home, were pawned for cash.

Kirby police Sgt. Michael Alonzo said the investigation is ongoing, and charges against the girlfriend might still be forthcoming. He added that the case is not being investigated as a hate crime but instead as a capital murder: “We believe there was some truth to (the claim of unwanted sexual advances), but we think there was more to it,” he said.

He added that Knutson had been a Kirby resident for several years, and although he was on the sex offender registry, police didn't have problems with him. According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, Knutson was convicted in 2002 of indecency with a child. The incident, which took place in 1999, involved an 8-year-old girl. ..Source.. by Eva Ruth Moravec

Suspect in 2009 beating confirmed dead

7-2-2013 Oklahoma:

Remains found last year are wanted man’s

Muskogee County sheriff’s investigators have closed the case on a man wanted for the brutal beating of his grandfather.

Skeletal remains found in December proved to be those of the suspect in the case, Timothy Curtis Peterson (33) of Oktaha, Sheriff Charles Pearson said. When and how Peterson died has not been determined, he said.

Peterson’s skull and several bones were found in December in a wooded area near Quinton in Pittsburg County on private property, according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

The remains were believed to have been there between two and five years. Peterson would be 34 if he were alive.

Peterson was wanted by the Muskogee County Sheriff’s Department for assault and by the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force for failing to register as a sex offender, Pearson said. A $2,500 reward had been offered for his arrest.

Sheriff: Man killed couple because husband was sex offender

Posted in Related Deaths

Vigilantes were members of Crew 41: Note article: "Killing Sex Offenders: The Apparent Hypocrisy of Crew 41"

7-24-2013 South Carolina:

JONESVILLE, SC (FOX Carolina) - Union County Sheriff David Taylor said two arrests were made in a double-homicide case after two people were found dead inside a Jonesville home Monday.

Taylor said a neighbor called 911 at about 8:40 p.m. and wanted deputies to check on the residents in a home on Furman L. Fendley Highway.

He identified the victims as Gretchen Parker, 51, and Charles Parker, 59, and said they lived in the home where they were found dead.