North Carolina
Teen accused of poisoning greens of grandmother
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Authorities say a North Carolina teenager tried to kill her grandmother by dumping insecticide and termite killer into a pot of collard greens.
Cumberland County District Attorney Billy West said Friday that 17-year-old Tyt’ana Lisa-Nicole Johnson of Fayetteville was charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder. A friend of the grandmother’s also ate the greens. Both were treated at a hospital and released.
The Fayetteville Observer quoted the grandmother, 51-year-old Gaylon Moody, as saying the teenager was angry because her cellphone was taken away. The paper reported that Johnson poisoned the greens while her grandmother was attending Easter services.
Johnson is being held in the county jail on $500,000 bail. Jail records didn’t indicate whether she had an attorney.
Under North Carolina criminal law, anyone 16 years and older is considered an adult.
New York
Mom wants baby back after sons’ scalding deaths
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — A woman whose two young sons died in a bathroom flooded with scalding water while she was in a drug-induced stupor is trying to get her infant daughter back from child welfare authorities, saying she’s turned her life around.
Luz Arroyo’s lawyer is asking a Westchester Family Court judge to return her 2-month-old daughter, named Spiritual, from foster care, The Journal News reported in a story published Sunday. The county Child Protective Services agency took the baby from Arroyo shortly after she was born.
Arroyo, 34, pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide in the July 2005 deaths of her sons, who were under 3. District Attorney Janet DiFiore called the case “a particularly horrific crime,” and it contributed to demands for better tracking of children in dangerous households.
Investigators say both boys, Elijah Santana and David Maldonado Jr., were inside a bathroom in the Yonkers apartment while Arroyo and her boyfriend were passed out in the living room. The bathroom door was damaged and difficult to open, and the youngsters fell unconscious as the room filled with steam. Burn patterns showed Elijah tried to stand on his tiptoes to avoid the hot water as it spilled out of the bathtub, prosecutors said.
Arroyo spent about two years in prison. Her then-boyfriend, David Maldonado, continues serving up to 15 years after pleading guilty to manslaughter.
Arroyo’s lawyer, David Sachs, told The Journal News “she is a completely different person than she was nine years ago.”
She was arrested on drug, prostitution and harassment charges after her release from prison, in 2009 and 2010, and successfully completed probation last month, according to the newspaper. Sachs said she hasn’t taken drugs in years and has been successful in voluntary psychological treatment.
“Ms. Arroyo’s complete reformation of every aspect of her life over the last several years is undeniable and should be viewed by our community as a success story,” he said in a statement.
At a court date Tuesday, Arroyo’s biweekly visits with Spiritual were increased to weekly visits.
California
Tech firm fires CEO convicted of domestic violence
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A wealthy Internet entrepreneur recently convicted of domestic violence has been terminated as CEO of a San Francisco online advertising company.
RadiumOne said in a statement that its board of directors decided Saturday night to fire CEO and Chairman Gurbaksh Chahal.
Chahal, 31, pleaded guilty earlier this month to battery and domestic-violence battery, both misdemeanor charges, in the August 2013 beating of his girlfriend.
The San Francisco District Attorney’s office charged Chahal with 45 felonies for allegedly punching and kicking his girlfriend more than 100 times and attempting to smother her with a pillow in his penthouse after he learned she had cheated on him with a man during a trip to Las Vegas, according to court documents.
The alleged attack was caught on home-surveillance footage, authorities said. Chahal initially pleaded not guilty to all charges and posted $1 million bail. He also hired noted attorney and former federal prosecutor Jim Lassart, who said prosecutors were blowing out of proportion an argument between Chahal and his girlfriend.
Chahal’s girlfriend then stopped cooperating with the investigation and asked prosecutors to drop the charges. But prosecutors said they would proceed even if she would not testify.
Earlier this month, a San Francisco judge ruled the surveillance video in Chahal’s home was unlawfully seized by police, despite prosecutors’ claims that they worried the video would have been erased.
After pleading guilty to the misdemeanors, Chahal was sentenced to three years’ probation and ordered to take domestic-violence classes and do community service. He will not serve any jail time.
On Friday, the Democratic National Committee said it had returned $20,000 donated by Chahal.
Before leading RadiumOne, Chahal founded and sold two Internet companies for more than $300 million.
His status as a wealthy entrepreneur landed him an appearance on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” a role on Fox TV’s “Secret Millionaire” series and a mention as one of America’s most eligible bachelors on the entertainment television program “Extra.”
RadiumOne said Chief Operating Officer Bill Lonergan will take over as CEO.
Montana
Homeowner fires on guest he saw as an intruder
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A Montana homeowner shot and wounded a 19-year-old houseguest in his garage after mistaking him for an intruder.
Billings Police Sgt. Pat Curry tells The Billings Gazette the 19-year-old was a family friend of the homeowner and was staying at the house while attending seminary school in Billings. The young man was in the garage making a phone call at about 11 p.m. Saturday when the homeowner mistook him for an intruder.
Curry says it appears the seminary student was shot in the chest. He says the injury did not appear to be life-threatening.
Officials did not identify the victim or the 50-year-old homeowner.
Curry says the homeowner probably won’t face charges.
