State police investigate homicide at Auburn Correctional Facility

July 2017 New York:

Jul 18, 2017 Updated 5 hrs ago

State police are investigating the recent death of an inmate at Auburn Correctional Facility after a violent altercation last week.

The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision reported that inmate Daniel Wingate, 51, was pronounced dead Friday at an unspecified hospital outside the prison.

According to a press release Tuesday, New York State Police responded to the prison July 9 for a report of an inmate-on-inmate assault. Police said Wingate died July 14 as a result of injuries he received during an altercation with other inmates.

Cayuga County District Attorney Jon Budelmann said troopers are treating the case as a homicide after Wingate died at the hospital a few days after the incident. Budelmann described the case as "inmate-on-inmate violence."

Rochester-area convict dies after prison fight

New York:

AUBURN - Authorities said Tuesday that an investigation is underway into the death of a Rochester-area convict who was attacked in a New York state prison July 9.

The Citizen of Auburn reports that the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision reported that 51-year-old Daniel Wingate was pronounced dead last Friday at a hospital July 14.

Wingate was an inmate at the maximum-security Auburn Correctional Facility in Cayuga County. State prison officials said he was a repeat sex offender.

New York State Police said in a news release that troopers responded to the prison July 9 after an altercation between Wingate and other prisoners.

Cayuga County prosecutors said Wingate was attacked by another inmate and that state police are investigating his death as a homicide.

According to Syracuse.com, the Cayuga County coroner expects to determine the manner and cause of death in about two weeks.

Wingate, who would have turned 52 next month, was scheduled to be released in September, according to a state website about prisoners. He was imprisoned in Auburn in January 2013 after being convicted in Monroe County of first-degree sexual abuse and sentenced to five years in prison, it said. No details were available.

Prior to his most recent sentence, he was convicted of sex abuse and spent time in prison from 1995 to 2008, The Citizen said. According to the New York State Sex Offenders Registry, he was convicted Jan. 17, 1995, of abusing a 7-year-old girl in Monroe County on April 1, 1994. ..Source..

DA: Rap Pioneer Killed Man Because He Thought He Hit On Him and was Going to Rob Him; Homeless Man was a Sex Offender

August 2017 New York:

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York prosecutor said Thursday that a founding member of Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five stabbed a homeless man to death in Manhattan after he became enraged because he thought the man believed he was gay and was hitting on him, and he feared he would be robbed.

Rapper Kidd Creole — whose real name is Nathaniel Glover — was returned to jail without bail by Judge Phyllis Chu on Thursday after an initial appearance in a Manhattan criminal court on a second-degree murder charge.

Assistant District Attorney Mark Dahl said Glover, 57, a lyricist with the pioneering group, gave a detailed account of the street encounter in midtown shortly before midnight Tuesday that Dahl described to the judge, saying he wanted to demonstrate “the strength of the case.”

Defense lawyer Patrick Watts told the judge the evidence was “circumstantial” as his calm client stood alongside him, a tightly wound gray braid draped halfway down his back. Outside court, Watts declined comment.

An officer and 2 US Marshals injured in a shootout with a child molester

12-12-2016 New York:

On Monday, a detective of the NYPD and two US Marshals were wounded in a gun battle that started in Greenwich Village when the officers attempted to arrest a child molester. The accused, Charles Mozdir was killed in the gunfight.

The 32 year old accused was recently talked about on the CNN show called “The Hunt with John Walsh”, and had been accused of sexually assaulting a minor boy whom he was babysitting in Colorado. Mozdir was slapped with multiple charges including committing violent vulgar deeds on a minor.

The officers arrived at the Smoking Culture on the basis of a tipofffrom an informant,who told them that the accused was working at the smokeshop. Upon confirmation that the accused was alone, the detective came back with two Marshals to arrest him. According to William Bratton, the Police Commissioner, the officers who were fired at very close range by Mozdir immediately returned fire.

Man who killed rapist who was attacking his wife walks free after intervention by dead victim's family

9-8-2016 New York:

Family of would-be rapist writes letter to court asking for charges to be dropped against his killer

A man who killed a criminal who was attempting to rape his wife has been freed without charge, after a surprise intervention by the victim’s family.

Mamadou Diallo, a 61-year-old taxi driver, rushed to save his wife Nenegale after Earl Nash broke into their apartment in the Bronx district of New York City, before allegedly beating the intruder to death with a tire iron.

Security footage shown to the court in the Bronx captured Nash attempting to rape Mrs Diallo before her husband entered and chased the attacker into the building’s lift, where he administered the fatal beating.

However, a letter sent to the court by Nash’s relatives asked for the charges against Mr Diallo to be dropped, stating that the family did not want to see him go to prison for defending his wife.

Husband who killed wife’s would-be rapist: I didn’t want to do it

6-1-16 New York:

The Bronx cabby who killed a man for trying to rape his wife got a hero’s welcome at his building on Wednesday — and he said he simply had no other choice.

“I’m not a murderer,” Mamadou Diallo said outside his Claremont Village apartment as his neighbors cheered him on.

“I didn’t mean to kill anyone,” he agonized. “I feel bad. I called the police. They did not come fast enough.”

Diallo is facing assault and weapons charges — but no longer a manslaughter rap — for the fatal beating of Earl Nash, 43, on Monday night. But he is already innocent in the court of public opinion.

“That’s him! That’s Diallo!” residents exclaimed, as the 61-year-old cabby made his way to his car. “That guy’s a hero!”

But Diallo disagreed.

“I’m not a hero,” he said. “If anyone touches my family, I’m fighting for my family and myself, that’s it.”

1 inmate dead, 3 officers injured at Sullivan Correctional Facility

4-14-2015 New York:

FALLSBURG - An inmate died and three state corrections officers were injured Monday at Sullivan Correctional Facility, according to a spokesman for the corrections officers union.

Details of the incident are scarce, but State Police have confirmed they "responded to the facility Monday morning, following a report of an assault on staff."

One of the injured officers was taken to an urgent care center and two others were taken to Catskill Regional Medical Center in Harris, said James Miller, spokesman for the New York State Corrections Officers Police Benevolent Association. One of the officers taken to the hospital suffered a possible broken arm, and both had head injuries, he said.

The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision confirmed the death of the inmate, but would not comment on the involvement or condition of any corrections officers. A spokeswoman would only say that State Police are investigating the circumstances that led to the death of the inmate. That investigation is continuing, State Police said.

The inmate was identified as Karl Taylor, 52, who was serving 27½-to-55 years for sex crimes and aggravated harassment of an employee.

Victim or vigilante? Summations offer differing views of 'Lady Vengeance'

9-30-2009 New York:

QUEENS -- Either Brigitte Harris was trying to stop a sexually abusive "monster" when she strangled and mutilated her father, or she was a vigilante, seeking revenge with malicious intent.

The defense and prosecution offered those differing views to the jury at Ms. Harris' murder trial at state Supreme Court in Queens this morning. Jurors will now have to decide if Ms. Harris, 28, is guilty of second-degree murder -- a charge that carries a minimum sentence of 15 years to life in prison -- or a lesser charge of first- or second-degree manslaughter.

Both sides agree on one thing: Ms. Harris killed and dismembered her father, 55-year-old St. George resident Eric Goodridge, on July 28, 2007. He was found in her Far Rockaway apartment handcuffed and beaten, with his genitals cut off and a towel stuffed in his mouth.

In an emotional, hour-long summation, defense attorney Arthur Aidala told a captivated jury that Ms. Harris had no choice.

Dylan Lentini claims self-defense from sex attack in Wimbert slaying

12-11-2015 New York:

A 19-year-old Manhattan homeless man says he was fending off a sexual attack when he fatally stabbed a 66-year-old former teacher in West Nyack.

Dylan Lentini pleaded not guilty to murder and robbery charges during his arraignment Thursday in state Supreme Court in New City.

He is accused of killing Michael Wimbert on Dec. 1 at Wimbert's apartment at 68 Demarest Ave. in West Nyack, where he had been living for several days. Wimbert met his Lentini Nov. 27 through an advertisement for a roommate placed on Craigslist, Clarkstown police said.

Lentini was "the victim of an unwanted sexual attack and he defended himself," defense lawyer Walter Sakowski claimed after an arraignment on the indictment before Supreme Court Justice William Kelly at the Rockland Courthouse in New City. Sakowski is representing Lentini with fellow public defender Kenneth Murphy.

Fugitive pedophile who died in West Village gun battle was turned in by his boss who recognised him from crime show

8-4-2014 New York:

A fugitive pedophile who was gunned down in New York City in daylight was turned in by his boss who recognised him from a television crime show.

Charles Mozdir, 32, had been on the run since 2012, but thanks to the tip, authorities tracked him to a Greenwich Village smoke shop, sources told the New York Daily News.

Steve Zhik, who owns Smoking Culture on W. Fourth St., alerted cops that Mozdir was working as a salesman at his store after seeing an episode on CNN’s new series The Hunt about the wanted man last week, sources said.

But when NYPD Det. Mario Muniz and two U.S. Marshals arrived on Monday afternoon, Mozdir opened fired, wounding the three lawmen.

The sex offender who had been on the run for two years after skipping bail for molesting two boys under the age of seven in California was shot and killed in the dramatic shoot-out with federal marshals and police.

Zhik, 33, could not be reached for comment.

A woman Mozdir was seeing also saw the show and was so disgusted she decided to give him up.

Three officers shot, suspect killed in New York City

7-28-2014 New York:

NEW YORK - Three law enforcements officers were wounded during a shootout with a sexual assault suspect Monday afternoon in Manhattan, reports CBS New York. The suspect was also injured and has since died.

Two U.S. marshals and a member of the NYPD's fugitive task force were shot in New York City's West Village neighborhood around 1 p.m., according to the station. All three officers were taken to Bellevue Hospital for treatment and are in stable condition.

The station reports the suspect, Charles Mozdir, was shot during the altercation and later died. Mozdir was being sought for alleged sexual assault of a 7-year-old boy and possession of child pornography from June 2012.

The U.S. Marshals Service said the gunfire erupted as a fugitive apprehension task force was trying to arrest the suspect at a smoke shop in the city, according to CBS New York.

Ramapo rape suspect killed; Orange County man charged with murder

10-11-2013 New York:

A 35-year-old New Hempstead man accused of raping an underage female acquaintance was shot dead in Orange County on Friday. A neighbor has been charged with murder.

Norris Acosta-Sanchez, who had been on the run from Ramapo police since July when a warrant was issued for his arrest, was killed at 115 Old Plank Road, Sparrowbush. David Carlson, 42, who told police he was confronted on his property by Acosta-Sanchez, is accused of killing him, police said.

Carlson, who carried a 12-gauge shotgun, told Acosta-Sanchez that he was going to escort him to a neighbor’s house, where police would be called, officials said.

But at some point, Carlson fired two shots that missed Acosta-Sanchez and then two additional shots that proved fatal, police said.

Carlson, a union carpenter who lived at 99 Old Plank Road, notified authorities of the shooting about 9:30 a.m., Ramapo police said.

Police questioned Carlson after the shooting and charged him Friday with second-degree murder, a felony.

Carlson was to be arraigned Friday night.

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.