Page 20 - Florida Sentinel 5-28-19

National
Police Believe Maleah Davis Is Dead, Ask For Public’s Help
White Police Officer Captured On Video Restraining Black Child By Placing ‘Bag’ Over His Head
In a sit down interview with KHOU 11, Houston Po- lice Chief Art Acevedo un- veiled a harrowing update when it comes to the disap- pearance of four-year-old Maleah Davis.
“We already know and be- lieve that she is dead and we need to bring her home,” Chief Acevedo told the out- let.
Houston police are still searching for Maleah who has been missing for nearly three weeks.
During a Thursday press conference Acevedo echoed his sentiment from the inter- view and urged the public to help investigators. Police are offering a $10,000 reward to anyone who has pertinent in- formation regarding the case. Acevedo contends that Maleah’s stepfather De- rion Vence holds the key to lead investigators to her loca- tion. Vence was arrested and charged with tampering evi- dence in relation to the case, however according to Acevedo, Vence is not co- operating with investigators.
“I’m sure if he really wanted to, he could tell us ex- actly where to find that body. That’s just an opinion based on what I know so far,” Acevedo said.
MALEAH DAVIS
The young girl’s disap- pearance has captivated the nation surrounding her mys- terious disappearance on May 5. Vence originally claimed he was the victim of a kidnapping, along with Maleah and his infant son.
While the public has also condemned Maleah’s mother Brittany Bowens for leaving her daughter with her ex, Acevedo says neither of the parents are the focus of the investigation at this point.
“I really want to not focus on him, not on Ms. Davis’ mother,” Acevedo contin- ued. “A lot of people have moved on. The media has moved on. I’m glad that you have not moved on, and we’re not going to move on until we get the final justice here and until we bring this little girl home.”
Sacramento, California ac- tivists, and organizers are de- manding answers after a white Sacramento police officer handcuffed a 12-year-old Black boy and placed a spit sock hood over his head and face to restrain him.
Black Lives Matter-Sacra- mento posted the disturbing video on its Facebook page and is demanding transparency in this case and justice for the child—who stands approxi- mately 4’10, and weighs less than 100 pounds, according to Mark T. Harris, the attorney representing the family. The child was reportedly attending a carnival at the time of the in- cident and has not been identi- fied by name.
In an op-ed for the San Francisco Bayview, Harris called the incident “shocking, shameful, unconscionable, and intolerable.”
“The young victim was born with significant upper respira- tory complications and accord- ing to his mother and grandmother, suffered from breathing difficulties particu-
The 12-year-boy wsa calling for his mother and yelling that he couldn’t breathe.
larly when anxious,” Harris wrote. “It did not help the child’s respiratory condition that officers grasped his neck, placed him on the ground, handcuffed him with his hands behind his back, placed a knee in his back and forced his face into the asphalt.”
Outrage spread quickly on social media and the video of the violent incident quickly went viral—in part, due to the belief that the spit-sock hood was a plastic bag. A spit-sock,
which “catches and retains” vomit, saliva, and blood, is made from a somewhat breathable material and is typ- ically only used on suspects to protect police officers from bodily fluids.
According to Harris, in this case, it was just used to “shut [the child] up.”
“At the time this occurred, the child was pleading for offi- cers to ‘call my mom’ and telling officers that he ‘could not breathe!’” Harris wrote.
Florida Mom And Test Administrator Mysteriously
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The man accused of fatally shooting one person and wounding seven others at a Nashville church in 2017 testi- fied Wednesday that he can’t remember if he did it.
In a Nashville courtroom, a prosecutor repeatedly asked 27-year-old Emanuel Kidega Samson about his testimony that he had spotty- at-best memories of what hap- pened at Burnette Chapel Church of Christ, and the mo- ments before and after the shooting.
Samson testified that his mental health disorders have caused lapses in memory and constant shifts from feelings of ecstasy to thoughts of suicide, which he said he had the morning of the shooting. He said he’s on medication now in jail and his thoughts have “slowed down drastically.”
Samson said his memory kicks in at the tail end of the church shooting, when he shot himself in the chest during a tussle with a congregant who authorities say saved lives.
In turn, Nashville Deputy District Attorney Amy Hunter asked Samson if he chooses what he wants to re- member.
“So, you remember driving to the church. You remember being outside the church. You remember generally where you parked at the church,”
RBG.
“Dylann Roof is less than
nothing,” the note read, Hunter said. “The blood that 10 of your kind will shed is that of the color upon the RBG flag in terms of vengeance.” The note included an expletive and ended with a smiley face, Hunter said.
Samson said he can’t say whether or not he wrote the note.
But what he did say he re- members is writing what the defense described as a suicide note to his then-girlfriend that day.
“I’m terribly sorry for not living up to your expectations, my queen. It’s no secret that I never deserved you, so it’s just a bullet. Haha. Get it? LOL,” the note read in part, according to testimony.
“What I remember thinking and feeling those days, or that day in particular, is waking up and just wanting to end my life,” Samson said. “I was ex- tremely depressive and I felt kind of numb.”
The judge limited what could be said in front of jurors about Samson’s mental ill- nesses Wednesday. Hunter said a mental health defense couldn’t be considered because a doctor previously “wouldn’t make a diagnosis that would say that he was acting in a par- ticular way because of a men- tal health defense.”
Vanishes During Finals Week
Kameela Russell, a 41- year-old mother of two girls, has reportedly been missing for over a week.
Russell, works as a test chairperson at Miami Norland Senior High and was last seen on May 15 during finals week for the school.
Her family said she was last seen on Wednesday night when her car pulled into her aunt’s driveway to pick up her 6-year-old daughter.
“I looked out the window. I thought I saw Kameela’s car in the driveway,” her aunt, Donna Blyden told WSVN .
Blyden said, just seconds later the 2014 black Audi A6 was gone and her niece never picked up her daughter.
“I text her and I said, ‘Where are you?’ I said, ‘You were in the driveway just now, and now you’re not here. Where are you?’” said Blyden. “I didn’t get an answer.”
Police said there has been no trace of Russell since.
Detectives from the Miami Gardens Police Department
Kameela Russell, a 41-year- old mother of two girls, has re- portedly been missing for over a week.
are working with Miami-Dade Schools Police in the investiga- tion. Officials said they have not ruled out foul play.
Her family said, it’s not like her to vanish without contact- ing them.
“She’s got two girls, and they need to have their mom,” said Blyden.
Students at Miami Norland Senior High said they are wor- ried about Russell and can’t believe she’s been missing for so long. They hope she is found safe soon.
Emanuel Kidega Samson Hunter asked. “You remem-
ber somebody walking by you when you were sitting out by the church. ...You remember having the mask on. You re- member having a gun. But, conveniently, you don’t re- member shooting any of these people, or shooting at them. Is that right?”
“Yes, that’s right,” Samson replied.
Prosecutors have said they’re seeking life without pa- role for Samson, who faces a 43-count indictment, includ- ing a first-degree murder charge. The jury is expected to receive the case Thursday.
Samson, who used to at- tend the church, is black and the victims are white. Hunter has explained that a note in Samson’s car cited white su- premacist Dylann Roof’s massacre at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015. It also referred to the red, black and green Pan- African flag, sometimes called
Defendant Says He Doesn’t Recall If He Shot 8 At Church
PAGE 20 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND TUESDAY, MAY 28, 2019