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Man Arrested And Charged With The Fatal Shooting Of 7-Year-Old Jazmine Barnes
Black Man Who Killed Burglar Trying To Break Into His Home Posts Bail
A New York man who was arrested in the stabbing and baseball bat beating death of a man who allegedly tried to break into his home has posted bail.
According to the New York Daily News, Tuesday, Joel Paul, 27, was arrested and charged with manslaughter after a grand jury indicted him for the death of Shamel Shavuo, 26.
Thursday, his lawyer, Paul Prestia confirmed he had posted the $20,000 bail set during a court hearing.
Authorities say the incident in question took place on July 30 at approximately 2:30 in the morning when Shavuo who was wanted by police, tried to force his way into Paul’s home in Queens. Paul and his younger brother man- aged to force the would-be in- truder back outside, but unfortunately things escalated from there.
Investigators say the two brothers repeatedly beat Shavuo with a baseball bat, and then stabbed him. He later died and although the brothers were initially questioned and released, earlier this week a grand jury indicted Paul, cit- ing there was intent to cause serious physical injury. His next court date is scheduled for Feb. 19, according to court records.
Paul is now being charged with first degree manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon but several of his neighbors have spoken up to say his actions were justified.
“You have every right to de- fend where you live, where your children sleep,” neighbor Elma Clarke told local sta- tion PIX11.
“If I don’t know someone and out of nowhere they try to break into my house, of course I’m going to defend myself,” agreed area resident Richie Chery.
“Clearly, Mr. Paul is not a threat to the community in any way,” Prestia said of his client. “He was home with his family minding his own busi- ness, just defending his home when this happened.”
3 Dead, 4 Injured
JAZMINE BARNES
A suspect was arrested and charged Saturday with capital murder over the fatal shooting of 7-year-old Jazmine Barnes, who was killed while riding in a car with her family in Houston a week ago in what police described as an unpro- voked attack.
Sheriff's officials named the suspect as Eric Black, Jr. and said that he was taken into custody after he was identified by a tip. Black admitted to being involved in the shooting, authorities said, and investiga- tors are continuing to look into evidence that could lead to other suspects being charged in the case.
Eric Black, Jr., 20, is charged with capital murder in the death of 7-year-old Jazmine Barnes.
The shooting took place early on the morning of Dec.
ERIC BLACK, JR.
30, as Jazmine's mother was driving the 7-year-old and her three sisters. Someone in an- other vehicle fired at the fam- ily, fatally injuring Jazmine and also wounding Jazmine's mother. The shooting set off a days-long search for the suspects, who police initially said were be- lieved to have been traveling in a red pickup truck.
Before the arrest on Satur- day, Jazmine's mother, La- Porsha Washington, had said that she thought it was possible the family had been the victim of a hate crime.
In a statement Saturday night, authorities said that in- vestigators do not believe Jazmine's family was the in- tended target of the shooting, and that they were possibly shot as a result of mistaken identity.
Wes Hamad was at Gable House Bowl with his 13-year-old niece and cousin late Friday night when he saw a “huge fight” break out.
The brawl, lasting about five minutes, blocked the en- trance and devolved into “complete chaos,” he said.
“I grabbed my niece and started running towards the far end of the bowling alley,” said Hamad, 29. “As we were running, we heard 15 shots.”
In the confusion, he no- ticed a woman weeping over a man. The victim, he said, was riddled with multiple gunshot wounds to his head and neck.
Three Los Angeles men in their 20s were killed and four more people were injured in the shooting. Investigators on Saturday were “doing their best to identify as quickly as possible” the suspect or sus- pects, said Torrance Police Sgt. Ronald Harris.
Information regarding a
possible motive, including whether the shooting was gang-related and whether the victims were specifically tar- geted, was not released. Har- ris also did not say how many times the victims were shot. There were no reports of bowling alley employees sus- taining any injuries, he said.
Harris did not release the type of gun the men were shot with. He did say officers ar- riving on scene treated those shot, including performing CPR and using a defibrillator. Firefighters also treated vic- tims. All of those shot were in the same area of of the bowl- ing alley.
In Torrance Bowling
Alley Shooting
Karate Instructor Saves Woman From Kidnapping In Charlotte
California Inmate
Takes Unlikely Path To
Freedom: Podcasting
A deranged man who at- tempted to force a Charlotte woman into a car was thwarted by a heroic Karate instructor on Thursday night.
According to Charlotte ABC-affiliate WSOC, about 9 p.m. on Thursday, Randall Ephraim, the lead instructor at the Bushiken Karate Char- lotte Dojo, was cleaning up the dojo when a woman rushed inside looking for help.
“There were still some kids in the dojo being picked up by parents and a couple of adult students cleaning up when a young lady came through our doors and stated that someone was trying to harm her,” Ephraim told CNN. “Shortly afterward, a big male entered the building. Not knowing what he wanted, I assumed he was inquiring about classes.”
“I asked how I could assist him and he stated that he was
there for the lady,” he added. “She insisted that she did not know him and tried to kidnap her.”
Ephraim said he asked the man – later identified as 47-year-old August Williams – to leave, but he said that he was not going any- where. Bad move.
“He then tried to force himself further into the dojo, aggressively pushing and swinging,” Ephraim said. “I then went into action defend- ing myself and got him out of the dojo. Once outside he at- tempted to attack again and was dealt with accordingly.”
Williams, who has been arrested multiple times for as- sault and drug offenses, was later taken into custody by po- lice. But not before he was taken to the hospital with in- juries from getting a lesson from Ephraim.
In California, inmates typ- ically are granted parole by doing good deeds or showing they have been rehabilitated by becoming pastors, drug counselors or youth advocates. For Walter “Earlonne” Woods, the path to freedom was podcasting.
Woods, 47, was recently released from San Quentin State Prison after California Gov. Jerry Brown com- muted his 31-years-to-life sen- tence for attempted armed robbery. Brown cited Woods’ leadership in helping other inmates and his work at “Ear Hustle,” a podcast he co- hosts and co-produces that documents everyday life inside the prison.
Woods has since been hired as a full-time producer for the often funny and at times heart-wrenching pod-
WALTER "EARLONNE" WOODS
cast, which has been a smash- ing success since its launch in 2017. The show’s roughly 30 episodes have been down- loaded 20 million times by fans all over the world.
Listeners have praised “Ear Hustle” online as “eye- opening” and “incredibly hu- manizing.” But for Woods, one of the most meaningful re- views came from the gover- nor’s office when they called with the good news.
PAGE 20 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2019