Page 22 - 4-10-15 Friday's Edition

National
Teen Shot In The Back By Police
Blue Bell
Maryland Father And 7 Children Found Dead
ZION, IL --A 17-year-old boy who was fatally shot in the back by a police officer had just stolen a handgun, accord- ing to the police department in question.
Justus Howell was gunned down by an officer in Zion, Illinois on Saturday af- ternoon after officers were called to reports of an argu- ment.
The chief of the Zion Police Department has now said that the argument was in fact a scuffle over a handgun - dur- ing which the firearm went off and Howell allegedly pointed it at another teenager.
Howell was allegedly struggling over a gun with Tramond Peet, 18, and started running when police showed up.
Peet told officers he met Howell with the intention of selling him the gun - but
Products Linked
JUSTUS HOWELL
Howell tried to snatch it without paying.
He then claimed the two tussled over the weapon, which was fired into the ground. At one point, he said, Howell was pointing it at him.
Peet told investigators that he let go of the gun when he heard sirens. He said Howell ran and that he heard officers shouting instructions, then opening fire.
An autopsy on Howell re- vealed that he was hit by two bullets, both from behind.
DALLAS – Some of the largest retailers in the country have decided to pull from their shelves Blue Bell Ice Cream made at an Oklahoma produc- tion plant that the company has temporarily closed.
Wal-Mart spokesman Brian Nick said Monday that the giant retailer along with Sam’s Club have pulled prod- ucts made at the plant in Bro- ken Arrow, Oklahoma. Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club con- tinue to sell Blue Bell products made at other plants.
Grocery store chain Kroger has taken the same step.
The dairy company based in Brenham, Texas, last month issued a recall after ice cream contaminated with listeriosis was linked to three deaths at a Kansas hospital.
The foodborne illness was tracked to a production line in Brenham and later to a second line in Broken Arrow.
Video Of Cop Threatening To Break Teen’s Legs Goes Viral
Hamza Jeylani was ar- rested for no reason.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN — A video has gone viral of a white police officer caught on a cell phone camera threatening to break the leg of a Somali teenager. Hamza Jeylani, who is 17 years old, said he feels he was racially profiled. Jey- lani, who was with three other teen friends, said he made a legal u-turn, but was pulled over anyways by the police de- partment. Then the verbal abuse began.
In the video, Officer Rod Webber can be heard saying, “Plain and simple, if you f___ with me, I’m going to break your leg before you get the chance to run. I’m being hon- est, I don’t screw around.”
Jeylani is then heard say- ing, “I never said I was going to run.” Then Webber replies, “I’m just giving you a heads up. Just trying to be officer friendly right now.”
“Can you tell me why I’m being arrested?” Jeylani then asks.
“Because I feel like arresting you,” Webber responds.
It turns out that they were being pulled over because the police suspected that their vehi- cle was stolen. All four teens were placed in handcuffs and waited close to an hour as po- lice searched the car and did background checks on the boys. After nothing was found, they were eventually let go.
Rodney Todd,
Tynijuiza Todd and Tykira Todd
PRINCESS ANNE, MD --- A 36-year-old Maryland fa- ther and his seven children were discovered dead Mon- day afternoon from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a generator they were using after the power com- pany had cut off their electric- ity, according to relatives.
The tragic incident took place in Princess Anne - a community of 3,260 in Som- erset County, Maryland.
Princess Anne police said that no foul play was sus- pected in the deaths.
Rodney Todd, Sr. and his seven children, boys, Cameron Todd, 13, and Zy- cheim Todd, 7; and girls Tynijuiza Todd, 15; Tykira Todd, 12; Tybree Todd, 10; Tyania Todd, 9; and Ty- bria Todd, 6.
Todd’s mother, Bonnie Edwards said, 'to keep his seven children warm, [Todd] bought a generator. It went
two of his
daughters,
To Tainted Plant
Sr. and
Wrongly Convicted Man Released From Death Row After 30 Years
CAMERON TODD
out and the carbon monoxide consumed them.'
According to Ac- cuWeather.com, on March 29 temperatures dropped overnight into the mid-20s, with highs in the 40s.
Edwards described her son as a loving, caring young man who set an example for his children. 'I don't know anyone his age who would have done what he did' for his children, she said.
'I was so proud to say he took care of seven kids.'
BIRMINGHAM AL — An- thony Ray Hinton, a 58- year-old Alabama man who spent half his life on death row, walked free this past Fri- day after prosecutors deter- mined he did not shoot two fast-food managers in the head during a robbery in 1985.
Hinton was quickly con- victed of killing a manager at a Mrs. Winner’s Chicken & Biscuits fast food restaurant, and an assistant manager at a Captain D’s, and was sen- tenced to death in 1987.
But the charges were dropped after modern ballis- tics tests proved that the bul- lets did not come from the .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver found in Hinton’s home or even from the same type of gun.
Hinton told reporters, “I shouldn’t have sat on death row for 30 years. All they had
ANTHONY RAY HINTON
to do was test the gun.” He said the state “had every in- tention of executing me for something I didn’t do.”
He refers to his case as a “miscarriage of justice, not only to me, but the victims’ family.” He told the family, “I will continue to pray for you as I have for 30 years.”
Meanwhile, Hinton’s long-time attorney, Bryan Stevenson, says that Hin- ton was convicted because he was poor. He added that for more than 16 years, the state refused his appeals to re-test the gun.
Louisiana School Board
President Defends Student’s
Right To Wear Tux To Prom
MONROE, LA --- The school board president in Louisiana has come to the de- fense of Claudetteia Love, a high school senior. It says that Love, a lesbian, can wear a tux to her prom if she wants to, Raw Story reports, despite the arbitrary rule by the school’s principal that girls must wear dresses and guys must wear tuxedos.
Love had planned to boy- cott her prom after, she says, she was told by Patrick Tay- lor, the principal at Carroll High School, that she would not be allowed to wear a tux because she is a girl.
Love took the issue to her mother, Geraldine Jack- son, who took up the issue with Taylor. According to Jackson, Taylor again reit- erated that Love would not be allowed to wear a tux, and shifted the onus onto the school’s teachers, who al- legedly felt uncomfortable with that kind of attire on girls.
CLAUDETTEIA LOVE
Taylor argued that the rule was about dress code and not meant to discriminate against Love because of her sexuality.
Word moved up the chain pretty quickly, and Rodney McFarland, the school board president of Monroe City, slammed the high school’s rule forbidding girls to wear tuxedos and said that he would be taking the matter up further with the school su- perintendent.
McFarland went on to mention that there is no statute or precedence that al- lows the school to make such a decision about attire based on a student’s gender.
PAGE 10-B FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2015