Page 24 - Florida Sentinel 1-29-16 Edition

National
Mother Of 2 Fatally Shot Because She Said ‘No’
Indiana City Councilman Sworn Into Office While In Jail On Murder Charge
EAST CHICAGO, IN -- Nor- mally, when someone is sworn in as a city councilman, he takes the oath of office in City Hall.
Re-elected East Chicago, Ind., Councilman Robert Battle, however, was sworn in for a second term from inside a county jail.
The Washington Post re- ports that Battle is facing multiple felony charges, in- cluding murder, in the killing of a man during a drug deal. Battle has insisted (and pleaded) that he is not guilty. Still, the situation puts his party, the Democratic Party, in a rather tight spot.
There is nothing that can be done under Indiana law, unless Battle himself resigns, admits to the charges or is found guilty in court. His trial is expected to start in August.
As it stands, Battle has the right to keep his seat and his $42,365 salary. The unusual situation, could be attributed to party dominance and indif-
Robert Battle is in jail on drug and murder charges.
ference on the part of voters. Battle was actually unop- posed in his bid for his council seat, winning with a mere 308 votes in a city of approximately 30,000 people, according to the report.
The politician didn't even vote for himself because he didn't request his absentee ballot and he was in jail at the time.
Mentally Ill Inmate Whose Skin Was Scalded Off In Florida Prison Ruled ‘Accidental’
DADE CORRECTIONAL, FLORIDA -- Mothers with children in Florida prisons have been seeking help for their sons and daughters for years due to abusive treat- ment. Now after years of abuse, the policies and politics of the prison system is under a microscope.
The death of a mentally ill inmate who begged for his life as his skin was scalded from his body in a locked shower stall has been ruled accidental, according to reports.
According to the Miami Herald, the death of Darren Rainey, 50, in 2012 was at- tributed to complications stemming from schizophre- nia, heart disease and “con- finement” in the shower where he was placed as pun- ishment for defecating in his cell and then refusing to clean it up.
A recently released autopsy report from the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office states that Rainey was shoved into a narrow shower stall with the scalding water turned on full blast, eventually leading to his death.
Two hours after being placed in the stall, his lifeless body was found face up with his skin burned so badly that it had shriveled away from his body — a condition medical examiners call “slippage.”
After being removed from the shower, staff administered CPR.
According to an inmate working as an orderly in the prison, Rainey could be heard screaming, “I can’t take it no more, I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”
Although Rainey’s death occurred almost four years ago, Florida state officials only received the autopsy report last week in a case that had previously been described as “accidental.”
The Dade Correctional In- stitution has been under in- vestigation for over a year by the Herald; looking into alle- gations that prisoners in the state facility have been men- tally, physically or sexually abused for years.
Darren Rainey was placed in a shower stall for 2 hours being scalded with hot water until he died.
Confronted with the autopsy report, the Florida Depart- ment of Corrections issued a statement on Friday saying the agency will “remain com- mitted” to working with inves- tigators in the Rainey case.
“The Florida Department of Corrections has not yet re- ceived a copy of the medical examiner’s report. Upon our receipt and evaluation of this report, the department will act swiftly in initiating all appro- priate investigations and in- ternal reviews,” said spokesman McKinley Lewis.
According to court records, Rainey was serving a 2-year sentence for cocaine posses- sion at the time of his death.
While there were other showers closer to his cell, fel- low prisoners believe Rainey was taken to the specific shower, with the controls in a separate room, so he could be punished by scalding. “Obviously his life was of no value because he was a black, poor, mentally disabled, a Muslim prisoner,” Harold Hempstead, the inmate who heard his screams from a cell beneath a shower, told the Herald.
In addition to a state review of the facility to determine whether correctional officers will stand trial for manslaugh- ter in the death of the inmate, the federal government is also conducting its own investiga- tion into Rainey’s death.
Janese Talton-Jackson, top, was fatally shot by Charles McK- inney.
Walt Disney World Sued By Tech Workers Replaced By Immigrants
PITTSBURGH, PA --- A mother of two was fatally shot by a man she rejected at a local Pittsburgh bar.
According to reports, Janese Talton-Jackson, 29, was shot early Friday morning after she declined to speak to 41-year-old Charles McKin- ney. Talton-Jackson was leaving Cliff’s Bar when she first encountered McKinney. The mother and college student refused to take the man’s num- ber before leaving. He then fol- lowed her outside and shot her in the chest. She was pro- nounced dead at the scene.
Police told reporters they heard gunfire around 1:50 a.m, but encountered McKinney shortly after during a routine traffic stop. “Police were talking with McKinney when they re- ceived a dispatch that a woman had been shot in the area. Ac- cording to police, McKinney sped off when he heard this,” the site reports. He crashed into an unoccupied parked ve- hicle shortly thereafter. Two police officers discharged their weapons during the chase.
McKinney was treated for a gunshot wound and charged with homicide, two counts of aggravated assault, firearms without a license, fleeing or at- tempting to elude police, two counts of possession with in- tent to deliver, two counts of recklessly endangering another person, and reckless driving.
Walt Disney World
It’s a small world after all, when it comes to hiring. Walt Disney World has been sued. The lawsuit accuses the enter- tainment giant of purposely seeking out immigrant work- ers to replace Americans em- ployees.
The lawsuit, filed in Tampa Monday by two former tech- nology employees at Walt Dis- ney World, accuses Disney and two outsourcing companies of colluding to break the law and replace workers with cheaper immigrant labor.
Sarasota attorney Sara Blackwell is representing both Leo Perraro and Dena Moore. Blackwell says her clients were among 250 tech workers laid off by Disney last year. She says Disney, HCL and Cognizant are abusing visas meant to fill specialty oc-
cupations.
Disney said in a statement
that the lawsuits are based on an unsustainable legal theory and are a misrepresentation of the facts.
Moore says after she was laid off, she applied for more than 150 other jobs at Disney. She didn't get a single one. Perraro is 42 and Moore is 50 years old and both said they're worried they'll have a tough time reinventing them- selves after years working for Disney.
They claim Disney even made them train their replace- ments before handing them a pink slip.
As for those 250 laid off? Disney says 95 were placed in other jobs and several left vol- untarily.
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