Page 21 - Florida Sentinel 2-28-20

National
Mom, Daughter Plead Not Guilty To Slaying 5 Close Relatives
DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — A mother and her adult daugh- ter pleaded not guilty Tues- day to killing five of their close relatives, including three children, at an apart- ment outside Philadelphia.
Forty-six-year-old Shana Decree and her 20-year-old daughter Dominique De- cree sat side by side in court in suburban Bucks County and affirmed their pleas to charges of first-degree mur- der and conspiracy.
The pair barely spoke, ex- cept to respond to the judge’s
Shana Decree and her daughter Dominique Decree.
adults in what they said was a trashed apartment in early 2019 and soon after arrested Shana and Dominique Decree, charging them in the deaths. Authorities have said four of the victims were suffocated, while one was strangled.
Prosecutors confirmed Tuesday that they filed first- degree murder and conspir- acy charges against the pair and have until March 20 to decide on seeking the death penalty. A trial is set for June 8.
What remains unclear is a motive.
Deputy District Attorney Christopher Rees said after Tuesday’s hearing that he thinks it could become clearer during the proceed- ings.
“I feel like the questions are: Why did this happen? Why did this happen? Why did this happen? It’s the same question I have be- cause it does seem so hard to understand,” he said. “It’s such an unimaginable crime.”
questions about the charges and their pleas. At one point, sounds of crying emanated from the defendants’ table, and Dominique wiped her
eyes. Shana closed hers briefly as the judge read the names of the victims.
Authorities found the bod- ies of three children and two
Task Force of Physicists To Raise $50M To Encourage More Black Students
When you think of physi- cists you typically think of a white dude in a lab coat. My go-to is Professor Utonium, can’t even front. A task force of physicists has come to- gether to potentially change that perception.
NBC News reports that a task force backed by the American Institute of Physics has recommended a $50 mil- lion endowment be created to help black students break into the field of physics. The National Task Force to Ele- vate African American Repre- sentation in Undergraduate
Physics & Astronomy be- lieves that half of the endow- ment should go directly towards supporting students and the other half should be
donated to support depart- ments at historically black colleges.
In 2017, black students only made up about 4 percent of those who obtained bache- lor degrees in the field of physics. This is despite the field showing an unprece- dented level of growth over the past few years. The task force hopes to double the number of black graduates to 500 by the year 2030. This is not only to increase diversity in the field but to ensure that minority groups aren’t left out of emerging markets.
Anitra Gunn’s Boyfriend Charged With Murder
After being arrested last week, the boyfriend of Ani- tra Gunn has been charged with her murder. DeMar- cus Little has been charged with malice murder after Gunn disappeared on Valen- tine’s Day and was later found dead, CNN reports.
“During the investigation enough evidence was devel- oped that gave us probable cause to obtain an arrest war- rant (for murder),” Georgia Bureau of Investigation spe- cial agent Todd Crosby said.
Little had already been accused of slashing Gunn’s tires and breaking her win- dows in her apartment with a brick earlier this month.
Little’s father told The Macon Telegraph that his son is innocent and isn’t ca- pable of such a heinous crime.
“He’s a good son,” his father
ANITRA GUNN
Andre Little said. “He’s a sergeant in the United States Army, serving our country proudly. Never gotten in any trouble in his life...and he didn’t do this. He always loved Anitra. I pray that they find the killer ... But my son didn’t do it.”
Little was arrested after her disappearance as a per- son of interest.
Gunn, 23, was reported missing February 15 after her family had trouble reaching her. After five days of search- ing, her body was found by a task force about four and a half miles away from Fort Valley State University’s cam- pus where Gunn was a stu- dent. Her cause of death nor the condition her body was found it has been revealed.
“About 150 yards off the roadway he found a piece of the car or part of the car piece that we’ve been looking for. [We] found Ms. Gunn laying very close to part of that front bumper,” Peach County Sher- iff Terry Deese said during a news conference last week.
Gunn was last seen alive at Little’s aunt’s house. Little appeared in court on Friday in charges for the tire slashing and breaking of her windows.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2020 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 9-B