Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 14 december 2017
Mother who ‘blacked out’ during baby’s death gets 13 years

BELFAST, Maine (AP) — A she was convicted of man- been responsible for the tencing hearing. at Christmas.
woman who drank multiple slaughter in Waldo County baby’s injuries. The baby’s Hopkins apologized and The maximum sentence for
shots of liquor and smoked Superior Court. cause of death was listed thanked family and friends manslaughter is 30 years.
marijuana on the night of Hopkins initially told po- as blunt force head injuries. who stood behind her. “I After completing her 13-
her infant son’s death was lice she “blacked out” last Justice Robert Murray cited don’t know what else to year sentence, Hopkins will
ordered Wednesday to January and awoke to find her refusal to accept re- say,” she said. serve four years of proba-
serve 13 years in prison. her 7-week-old son, Jaxson, sponsibility and attempts to The judge allowed her to tion during which she will
A judge imposed the sen- cold and “beat to hell.” place blame on her sons, begin serving her sentence be required to submit to
tence on Miranda Hopkins, She told police one of her who are now living with on Dec. 26, so she could be random drug and alcohol
32, of Troy, a month after two autistic sons may have their father, during the sen- home with her ailing father testing.q

Addiction, mental illness complicate help for the homeless

By PHUONG LE thousands of people to live
Associated Press on the streets, a trend that
EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — This opioids have exacerbated.
is the lesson that the work- “These are expensive plac-
ing-class city of Everett has es to live. It’s expensive for
learned: It takes a commu- everybody. But the burden
nity to rescue the hardcore falls the hardest on people
homeless. with the biggest problems,”
It takes teams of outreach said Steve Berg, vice presi-
workers — building relation- dent for programs and
ships with men and women policy with the National Alli-
struggling with addiction ance to End Homelessness.
or untreated mental illness, In 2011, roughly one in
prodding them to get help. every five opioid-related
It takes police and other deaths in Washington state
agencies, working together took place in the city and
to provide for their needs. surrounding Snohomish
Everett, hard-hit by the opi- County. That was the peak,
oid epidemic, is trying an but heroin deaths remain
array of strategies to tackle high and deaths from syn-
homelessness, addiction, thetic opioids such as fen-
untreated mental illness tanyl are climbing.
and other problems on its The crisis had become so
streets. dire that Everett city offi-
For starters, the city put to- cials became among the
gether a team that would Everett Police officer Inci Yarkut, left, and embedded social worker Kaitlyn Dowd, right, make first to sue the manufac-
track the 25 most costly contact with a homeless man camping on private property in Everett, Wash. The number of turer of the painkiller Oxy-
unsheltered chronically homeless with a serious mental illness, substance use disorder or physical
and vulnerable cases, and disability has grown steadily in the Everett region - more than doubling since 2015 - and sending Contin in January. The law-
hover over each one indi- social workers out with police officers is one of the programs used by the city to try and deal with suit blames Purdue Pharma
vidually until he or she was the crisis. for an addiction crisis that
in treatment or housing. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren) has overwhelmed city re-
“It was when everything housing and sending social The number of unshel- The opioid epidemic, pov- sources and deepened its
else seems to have failed,” workers out with police of- tered chronically homeless erty, lack of unskilled jobs, homelessness problem.
said Hil Kaman, who left his ficers. — those who have been rising rents and a shortage While that case works
job prosecuting the home- The city of 110,000 people homeless for longer than a of affordable housing have through the court, out-
less about a year-and-a- north of Seattle and sur- year while struggling with a made it harder for those reach workers are fanning
half ago and took up the rounding Snohomish Coun- serious mental illness, sub- who fall into homelessness out to find people camp-
challenge of finding solu- ty saw a 65 percent jump in stance use disorder or phys- to get out. ing under the freeway or
tions as the city’s public people living outside in the ical disability — has grown The problem is not limited living in the woods and try
health and safety director. past two years — among steadily in the Everett re- to Everett. Up and down to connect them to ser-
Officials also are pushing the largest increases on the gion, more than doubling the West Coast, the high vices. Many of them initially
new permanent supportive West Coast in that time. since 2015. cost of housing has forced deflect treatment.q

All 4 Polish death metal band members released from jail

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — All The other three members of ton. Earlier they had been member in the bathroom the same show as Decapi-
four members of a Polish Decapitated - Michal Lyse- ordered to turn in their of the bus. tated in Spokane.
death metal band have jko, Rafal Piotrowski and passports. Band members were arrest- Marsh said in the docu-
been released from jail as Hubert Wiecek - were re- A trial originally sched- ed in Los Angeles County ments that he saw the vic-
they await trial on charges leased Nov. 22. uled for Dec. 18 has been after a show there on Sept. tim near the front of the
of raping a Washington All four were released on pushed to Jan. 16. 9 and were extradited to stage, where she was vio-
state woman. their own recognizance, According to court docu- Spokane. Defense attor- lently dancing.
Defense attorney Steve without bail. All have plead- ments, a woman was invit- neys have filed new court “She was smashing her
Graham said his client, ed not guilty to charges of ed onto the tour bus after documents in the case that hands, arms and body
Waclaw Kieltyka, was or- kidnapping and rape. the band’s show in Spo- included testimony from against the metal barri-
dered released on Monday The Spokesman-Review kane the night of Aug. 31. Andy Marsh, a member of cade between the audi-
by Spokane County Superi- says the judge ordered the The woman claims that she the band Thy Art is Murder. ence and the stage,” the
or Court Judge Julie McKay. men to remain in Washing- was raped by each band That band was playing at court documents said.q