California
Woman touting ‘vampire face-lifts’ arrested
LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — A woman who advertised “vampire face-lifts” and other cosmetic procedures she wasn’t licensed to perform was arrested after a suspicious death at a Southern California beauty salon, police said Thursday.
Licensed massage therapist Sandra Gonzalez, 45, remained jailed on $10,000 bail Thursday night on suspicion of possessing a controlled substance. She was under investigation by homicide detectives with assistance from the California Medical Board and the Los Angeles County coroner’s office, Long Beach police said in a statement.
Hamilet Suarez, 36, was getting cosmetic injections Wednesday at Areli’s Barber Shop & Beauty Salon where Gonzalez rents a room when she went into cardiac arrest, police said. Paramedics arrived and took her to a hospital, where she was later declared dead.
Police would not immediately say what procedure Suarez was having done or what may have killed her.
“Until the report comes back from the coroner, we can’t determine if it was the procedure or if any drugs possibly administered caused her death,” police Sgt. Megan Zabel told the Long Beach Press-Telegram.
Investigators at the salon found medical equipment and controlled substances used for cosmetic procedures that Gonzalez was advertising but not licensed to perform, police said. They included “butt augmentation,” “lip augmentation,” and “vampire face-lifts,” where a gel-like substance derived from the patient’s own blood is injected to reduce wrinkles.
Gonzalez has been performing the procedures at the salon for about a month and may have been practicing previously elsewhere, police said. They urged any other patients to contact both police and their doctor.
California
‘Selfie’ photo leads to arrest of burglary suspect
CHULA VISTA, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say it was a “selfie” that led detectives to a suspect in the burglary of a Southern California church.
U-T San Diego reports that detectives found a phone at the Chula Vista crime scene, where a laptop, cash and watches were stolen.
On the phone was a photo the suspect had apparently snapped of himself.
Residents recognized the man in the photo, and police arrested 26-year-old Adam Howe on Tuesday.
A search of his belongings uncovered property believed to be stolen from the Hilltop Tabernacle Church.
Further investigation led to the arrest of two other people.
Police say they’ve now linked Howe to thefts at a nearby mobile home park after residents recognized his picture in media reports.
Texas
Mother given 30 years in prison in daughter’s death
ABILENE, Texas (AP) — A West Texas woman was sentenced to 30 years in prison Thursday for the starvation death of her 22-month-old daughter, who was found dead in her crib inside a squalid home while her father was on an Air Force deployment.
Tiffany Klapheke could have gotten life in prison after being found guilty Wednesday of injury to a child by malnutrition and dehydration in the 2012 death of her daughter, Tamryn.
The 23-year-old Klapheke did not testify at trial, but she has said her now ex-husband’s deployment left her too stressed to care for the couple’s three girls.
“I really wasn’t a good mom the past few days,” she told an Abilene police detective on Aug. 26, 2012, the day police found Tamryn dead at the family home. “I’ve been honest even though it makes me look horrible.”
A video of the interview was played at her trial.
“I don’t want you to take them away because I was lazy,” Klapheke told the detective.
Investigators told the jury about the stench of urine and feces that prevailed in the Klapheke home when they arrived. Prosecutors alleged that Klapheke’s two older daughters were not being fed.
According to the Abilene Reporter-News, prosecutor Joel Wilks said in his closing argument that Klapheke “turned her back,” adding: “She shuts the door and she leaves. She leaves that child in pain.”
Klapheke broke down in tears as the sentence was read, according to one of her attorneys, John Young. She will have to serve at least half of her sentence before she is eligible for parole.
Her attorneys argued during the trial that Klapheke’s upbringing made her an unfit parent, and that she had suffered sexual abuse in foster care after her mother gave her up. They said she suffered from reactive attachment disorder, which is usually found in children who cannot form healthy attachments with parents or caregivers because of past neglect or abuse.
“Tiffany never had a chance,” Young told The Associated Press in a phone interview after the sentence was handed down. “She was abused and abandoned and neglected from 5 years old. These things made it nearly impossible for her to ever function as an effective parent.”
The state has temporary conservatorship of her other children. Their father, Air Force airman Thomas Klapheke, was granted restrictive custody.
Pennsylvania
Defense: Toss out woman’s statements
SUNBURY, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania woman charged in the killing of a man allegedly lured to his death by a Craigslist ad wasn’t afforded an attorney despite repeated requests during two police interviews, the woman’s attorney said in a court filing.
The motion filed Monday asks a judge to toss out statements made by Miranda Barbour before she was charged along with her husband in the Nov. 11 killing in Sunbury, The Daily Item reported.
Northumberland County chief public defender Ed Greco also asks that Barbour, 19, be tried separately from her husband, 22-year-old Elytte Barbour. They are both charged with first-degree murder in the death of Troy LaFerrara.
Prosecutors allege Miranda Barbour met the Port Trevorton man on Craigslist and offered him companionship for a fee, then stabbed him in the front seat of her car while her husband held a cord around his neck from the back seat.
Greco also wants the trial moved or a jury to be brought in from another county because of extensive publicity about the case. Prosecutors, who are seeking the death penalty, want both tried together. The motions are to be argued Feb. 26.
Authorities allege that Elytte Barbour told investigators that they committed the crime because they wanted to kill someone together.
A judge has granted defense requests to have a forensic psychiatrist to evaluate both defendants.
