Page 20 - Florida Sentinel 11-12-19

National
Roommate, Boyfriend Arrested In Death Of Atlanta College Student Alexis Crawford
5-Year-Old Florida
Girl Disappears From
Her Bedroom;
Amber Alert Issued
Can you imagine going to your 5-year-old child’s bed- room in the morning to wake her up and she’s not there? Trust us, it’s not something you want to experience.
Unfortunately, it is some- thing that Brianna Williams just experienced. Her daughter, Taylor Rose Williams, was last seen in her family home in Brent- wood, Florida around mid- night Wednesday, according to WJXT.
Brianna Williams, woke up to find Taylor Rose miss- ing from her bedroom and the back door of their home un- locked, at which point she called authorities.
The missing child alert was
TAYLOR ROSE WILLIAMS
upgraded to an Amber Alert on Wednesday morning, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said on Twitter.
BARRON BRANTLY
The roommate of a Clark At- lanta University student whose body was found in a local park was being held without bail Sunday after her arrest on a murder charge – along with the roommate's boyfriend.
Alexis Crawford, 21, was reported missing Nov. 1, five days after she filed a police re- port accusing her roommate's boyfriend of what Atlanta Po-
ALEXIS CRAWFORD
lice Chief Erika Shields de-
scribed as "unwanted kissing and touching."
Crawford's roommate, Jordyn Jones, 21, and Jones' boyfriend, Barron Brantley, 21, face charges of malice murder. Malice murder involves deliberate intent and is punishable by death or by imprisonment for life with or without parole.
JORDYN JONES
A candlelight vigil honoring Crawford was scheduled for Sunday evening.
Shields said one of the sus- pects led investigators to the body on Friday. The medical examiner listed the cause of Crawford's death as asphyx- iation. Investigators were working to determine the mo- tive for the killing, Shields said.
Her Boyfriend Admitted Child
Father of Atatiana Jefferson, Black
Abuse But Didn't Go To Prison;
Woman Killed At Home By A White
She Spent 15 Years In Prison
Texas Police Officer, Has Died
For Not Reporting Him
Tondalao Hall was ar- rested after her boyfriend left her baby girl with broken ribs. She didn't hurt the child but still served 15 years over the abuse.
Hall, 35, was released Fri- day from the Mabel Bassett Correctional Center in McLoud, Oklahoma. She tear- fully hugged her children, her siblings and many friends who had been waiting for her.
"I'm blessed and I'm hum- bled," Hall told reporters out- side the prison.
In 2004, Hall and her then- boyfriend, Robert Braxton, were arrested on child abuse charges after she took two of her youngest children to the hospital. Her 3-month-old daughter had broken ribs and a broken femur, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma, which is representing Hall.
In 2006, after serving two years in county jail, Braxton pleaded guilty to two counts of abuse. He was sentenced but given probation and released
Marquis Jefferson, fa- ther of Atatiana Jefferson, a black woman fatally shot by a white police officer inside her Fort Worth, Texas, home last month, has died.
Family spokesperson, Bruce Carter, said that Jefferson suffered a heart attack and died around 6:30 p.m. Saturday night at the Methodist Charlton Medical Center in Dallas. He was 59- years-old.
Carter told KDFW that Jefferson had been battling chronic obstructive pul- monary disease and was under a lot of stress in the few weeks since his daugh- ter's death.
Atatiana Jefferson, 28, was Marquis Jefferson's only child.
She was killed on Oct. 12 while playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew. Fort Worth officer Aaron Dean, 34, fired fatally into her bedroom window while conducting a wellness check.
MARQUIS AND ATATIANA JEFFERSON
Tondalao Hall and her brother, Jeff Hall, couldn't hold the tears when she was released from a prison in McLoud, Oklahoma, on Fri- day.
from custody, online court records show.
Hall got a much harsher penalty.
She pleaded guilty to en- abling child abuse and was sentenced to a total of 30 years in prison, records show. Au- thorities said she failed to tell police about her boyfriend's abuse.
At a press conference last month, Fort Worth Police Lt. Brandon O'Neil said Dean never identified himself as police, sparking national out- rage and claims of excessive policing. Body camera footage released by the Fort Worth Police Department also appears to confirm that Dean did not identify him- self as police before he shot. Dean resigned before he could be fired in connection with the shooting. He was re- leased on a $200,000 bond after he was arrested and
charged with murder.
Marquis Jefferson
made headlines in the weeks following his daughter's death as he sought a tempo- rary restraining order to gain control over her funeral arrangements from his daughter's aunt. He said that he had been denied any in- volvement in the funeral planning and as his daugh- ter's sole legal heir, it was his duty to arrange it. A deal was eventually reached, and the funeral service took place Oct. 24.
PAGE 20 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2019