State Roundup

Detroit
Man gets prison  in death of girl playing with rifle
DETROIT (AP) — A Detroit man who pleaded guilty to child abuse in the death of a 13-year-old girl who was shot while playing with a rifle in his home has been sentenced to prison.
Forty-five-year-old Ivan Berrien learned his punishment Tuesday for child abuse and a gun charge. WDIV-TV reports the sentence includes two to 10 years on the child abuse charge.
Berrien says he never intended for anyone to get hurt. He earlier was charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Cirla Bingham and Berrien’s 14-year-old son were playing in January with the rifle that police say wasn’t properly secured. It fired once, striking her in the head.
Three younger children also were in the home. Prosecutors say the children were left alone when Berrien left to pick up a pizza.

Port Huron
2 charged in girl’s death await key hearing June 25
PORT HURON, Mich. (AP) — The father and stepmother accused of murder, torture and abuse after two young girls were found malnourished and dehydrated are due back in court later this month for a key hearing.
Andrew and Hilery Maison appeared Tuesday in a Port Huron courtroom and a judge scheduled a hearing June 25 to determine if the case goes to trial.
Five-year-old Mackenzie was pronounced dead last month at a hospital. Prosecutors say her 3-year-old sister was released from the hospital and is recovering in foster care.
Hilery Maison has contested the charges. Her attorney, Michael Boucher, told the court he has received hundreds of pages of documents but still is awaiting an autopsy report.
Prosecutors say two other children, aged 10 and 1, are in foster care and appear to be healthy.

Southgate
Ex-convict charged in deaths of woman and son
SOUTHGATE, Mich. (AP) — An ex-convict who was living with a woman and her son in a suburban Detroit apartment was charged with killing them after he confessed and expressed no remorse, police said Monday.
The bodies of Courtney Durr, 28, and Sumari Das, 10, were found Sunday night at La Colonnade Apartments in Southgate.
Antoine Beck, 33, is accused of killing the pair and fleeing in Durr’s car. He was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, larceny and unlawful use of a car.
Beck, whose criminal record includes armed robbery and a decade in prison, is being held without bond. He doesn’t have an attorney yet who could be reached for comment.
Durr was found “with her hands bound and her throat slit, lying in the living room,” Southgate police detective Sgt. David Fobar told a judge.
Beck confessed and showed no remorse, Fobar said.
Kristy Durr, a sister of Courtney Durr, said her nephew celebrated a birthday in May.
“She didn’t judge people,” Durr said of her sister. “She was a real friendly person, treated people nice and kind. She was always the type of person to root for the underdog. She was getting herself together. She was really turning her life around.”

Grand Rapids
Man convicted of murder 25 years after fatal beating
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A jury that appeared deadlocked has changed course and convicted a man of murder in a fatal beating in Grand Rapids in 1990.
Jurors twice indicated they couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict Monday. But at the urging of Kent County Judge Mark Trusock, they tried again and convicted Aurelias Marshall. He faces a mandatory prison sentence of life without parole.
Joel Battaglia (Ba-TAL’-yuh) was 23 when he was robbed and fatally beaten after leaving Mulligan’s Pub, 25 years ago.
Prosecutors said the case was unsolved for years because Marshall had intimidated and threatened witnesses. A younger brother, Acey Marshall, turned out to be a key witness at trial.
Battaglia was a high school honors student who had planned to attend Aquinas College and become a teacher.

Marshall
Enbridge reaches 2nd deal over 2010 oil spill
MARSHALL, Mich. (AP) — A company responsible for a major oil spill in southwestern Michigan has reached an agreement with the federal government on environmental repairs, a month after a separate deal with the state.
The government said Monday that about $4 million will cover a variety of projects, including the restoration of 175 acres of oak savanna in Fort Custer State Recreation Area and wild rice beds along the Kalamazoo River.
The Enbridge Energy spill released more than 800,000 gallons of oil from a broken pipeline in 2010. It spoiled approximately 40 miles of the Kalamazoo River and Talmadge Creek. Five years later, state regulators say any remaining oil is minimal and at the bottom of the river or in the banks.