Plea deal nearly reached with man charged with murdering man, burying remains

11-9-2013 California:

Prosecutors are close to reaching a plea deal with a defendant accused of killing his friend and burying the body in order to collect the man's Indian tribal reservation checks.

Prosecutor Ken Green said in court Wednesday that he and defendant Frank Jude Valles have come to terms on how many years Valles will serve, but are still working out the exact charges he'll plead to. Green said he believes they'll have an agreement by the next court hearing on Nov. 15.

Valles was open to the deal, Green said afterward, because he wanted a determinate sentence, not the potential 25 years to life he faced if convicted of murder. The prosecutor said he could not reveal the number of years agreed to until the plea deal is complete.

Valles, 46, was arrested in August 2012 after investigators dug up human remains in two Bakersfield locations. The remains were determined to be those of Alphonso John Hyde, who had lived with Valles and his wife, Consuelo.

Family members of Hyde said they hadn't heard from him in four years. They filed a missing persons report in early August 2012.

Sex offender killed by teenage niece

10-22-2013 Georgia:

Child charged with murder, held at youth detention center

A convicted sex offender was stabbed to death by her 14-year-old niece.

Monday night, paramedics found the body of 49-year-old Shirley Elaine Mack on the kitchen floor of her small brick home on Scott Store Road just north of Midville.

She appeared to have a single stab wound to her chest.

The child accused of killing Mack had been living in the house along with four younger children.

“It appears that they got into some kind of argument and the girl got a knife and stabbed (Mack),” Sheriff Greg Coursey said, noting a 911 call was received around 8:30 p.m.

Although the child’s name has not been released, the sheriff confirmed the 14-year-old is being held at a youth detention center in Sandersville. GBI Special Agent Pat Morgan told The True Citizen she is charged with murder and possession of a knife during the commission of a crime.

Woman Who Allegedly Beats Man To Death With Baseball Bat Is Charged

9-27-2013 Colorado:

A family is grappling with grief and confusion after a 42-year-old man was beaten to death with a baseball bat.

"My husband is the most loveable, caring person I know," Denzel Rainey's widow told sister station KCNC.

The woman arrested for the attack, however, allegedly told authorities she beat Rainey because she believed he sexually assaulted a child. She was formally charged Friday.

According to the arrest affidavit, 30-year-old Forsythia Owen told police she grabbed a bat and hunted Rainey down after a child said he had sexually abused her.

Rainey was found Sunday in an alley in the Denver suburb of Englewood. Owen allegedly told police she went to that alley because he slept there, and according to the affidavit detailed her attack on him by swinging her hands "back and forth...demonstrated how she struck Rainey over and over again."

Rainey suffered multiple injuries: skull fracture, six broken ribs, broken left hand and two broken arms.

Lisa Rainey told KCNC that her husband had been homeless due to struggles with alcohol.

“I just don’t know why, what caused her to do this on Denzel, and if Denzel did anything to provoke it,” Lisa Rainey said. “I need to know the answers for closure for me and closure for my kids.”

Neighbors told KCNC Rainey kept to himself and "never bothered anyone." One woman KCNC spoke with alleged that Owens was the troubled one.

“From my understanding of looking at her, you could tell she was on something,” Veronica Evans said. “That’s why my little sister and I would stay away from her.”

Man Shot By Officer Was Subject Of Rape Probe

10-18-2013 Texas:

A man shot to death Oct. 16 in Wishram by a The Dalles police officer has been identified by the Klickitat County prosecutor as Adrian Suarez, 22, a suspect in the rape of a minor.

#Suarez’ address is unknown, said The Dalles Police Chief Jay Waterbury, but investigation by The Dalles Police Department and Oregon State Police were able to determine that Suarez was residing in the Wishram area.

#The officer involved in the shooting was Detective Jamie Carrico, 42, a 17-year veteran of The Dalles police force, Waterbury said. Carrico had not been involved in any previous shootings. He was part of a multi-jurisdictional team who went to Wishram to question Suarz.

#In conjunction with Klickitat County sheriff’s deputies, the Oregon investigators went to a residence in the 200 block of East Main Street in Wishram to question Suarez. Identifying themselves as law enforcement officers, they told the subject to come to the door. As he approached the door, police observed that he was carrying a gun.

#The subject fled on foot out the back door of the residence and led The Dalles officers on a foot pursuit. About a block away, the subject was reported to have shot and wounded a The Dalles officer.

#The officer, reported to be a 17-year veteran of the force, returned fire, striking Suarez, reports indicated. Suarez was declared dead at the scene.

#The plain-clothes officer was released from Mid-Columbia Medical Center around noon Thursday.

#Plain clothes officers are not required to wear bulletproof vests under department policy, Waterbury noted, adding that the policy may be a topic of discussion in the future.

#Both The Dalles and Klickitat County law enforcement agencies are continuing their investigation of the alleged rape and shooting. ..Source.. by The Dallas Chronicle

Elmore Correctional Facility prisoner dies from injuries after altercation with another inmate

10-17-2013 Alabama:

A prisoner at Elmore Correctional Facility has died from injuries suffered in an altercation with another inmate.

Derrick Dennis, 34, died Tuesday at 2:55 p.m. at Jackson Hospital in Montgomery, according to Department of Corrections spokesman Brian Corbett. The altercation happened Saturday.
Dennis was serving a life sentence for rape, assault and burglary out of Jefferson County. He was sentenced on Jan. 10, 2006.

Inmate Christopher Smith is a suspect in the death. Smith, 29, is serving a 25-year sentence out of Mobile County for trafficking, possession of a controlled substance, and receiving stolen property.

The Department of Corrections’ Investigation and Intelligence Division is investigating the homicide. Elmore is a medium security prison with about 1,180 inmates.

The incident is at least the fourth inmate-on-inmate homicide in Alabama prisons since Oct. 1, 2012.

In August, an inmate at St. Clair Correctional Facility was stabbed to death by another inmate.

The Department of Corrections reported in its July statistical report that there had been two inmate on inmate homicides during since Oct. 1, 2012, one at Donaldson Correctional Facility and one at Bibb Correctional Facility. ..Source.. by CONUS TOC