National Roundup

Missouri
Dad accused of shaking his infant twins, killing 1
CUBA, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri father is charged with shaking his 3-month-old twin daughters, killing one of the girls and seriously injuring the other.

Twenty-eight-year-old Erick Ford was charged last week with child endangerment and two domestic assault counts. He’s being held on $465,000 bond. His attorney didn’t immediately return a phone message from The Associated Press.

Court records say one of the twins wasn’t breathing Sept. 13 when officers responded to a home in Cuba, Missouri, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) southwest of St. Louis. The child died at a hospital three days later.

The surviving twin later was treated for a brain bleed and skull fracture. Court records say Ford admitted to shaking both girls three different times. He said it happened when one baby woke the other up.

California
Mom arrested in crash that killed 2 daughters
PETALUMA, Calif. (AP) — The mother of two girls killed last year in Northern California when the car she was driving crashed and flipped into a Sonoma County river has been arrested in her daughters’ deaths, authorities said.

Alejandra Hernandez, 27, will appear in court Tuesday to seek a reduction on her $500,000 bail, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported.

Hernandez was arrested Friday and charged with two counts of vehicular manslaughter, felony child endangerment and driving with a suspended license.

The fatal crash happened in August when Hernandez was headed to Rohnert Park to take her daughters, 7-year-old Sayra Gonzalez and 9-year-old Delilah Gonzalez, to school.

It was unclear exactly what triggered her arrest. Brian Staebell, a spokesman for the District Attorney’s Office, said only that “the totality of her conduct while driving” resulted in the criminal charges.

Hernandez was driving a sedan when she lost control and went down a wooded embankment and into the Petaluma River, where the car overturned and sank.

A witness ran to help and found Hernandez, of Rohnert Park, on top of the car. Police officers and firefighters arrived within minutes and dove in to get the girls, still strapped upside down by their seat belts in the water-filled car, but could not free them in time. They were pronounced dead at a Petaluma hospital.

A week earlier, two young sisters, ages 4 and 6, died in a similar accident when the pickup their mother was driving crashed into the Russian River, also in Sonoma County.

Hernandez faces up to 11 years and four months in prison if convicted.

West Virginia
Man sentenced to 5-25 years in infant son’s death
GRAFTON, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia man has been sentenced to five to 25 years in prison in the death of his infant son.

Media report a judge sentenced Jeremy Shaffer, who did not admit guilt in the case but conceded there was enough evidence for a conviction on charges of child neglect resulting in death and child abuse resulting in serious injury. Originally, he had been charged with second-degree murder. His trial had been set to begin this week.

Authorities have said Shaffer is accused of placing the 16-week-old child face down on a couch and pushing him in a shaking/bouncing motion in 2015. Shaffer told police that the child was crying for over 10 minutes and wouldn’t stop.

The medical examiner ruled the infant’s cause of death a homicide as the result of cerebrospinal trauma.

Colorado
Deputy finds 3,100 pounds of pot in moving truck
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) — An arrest affidavit says a Colorado patrol deputy pulled over a white Penske moving truck when — from inside his own vehicle — he smelled marijuana.

The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reports a Mesa County sheriff’s deputy stopped the driver on a speeding violation Monday, only to find 3,100 pounds of pot.

A Mesa County prosecutor says the amount would retail at more than $1 million on the street.

Driver Sinh Chan Hoang and passenger Larry Tran, both of California, were arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

Public Defender Scott Troxell says he doesn’t know much about Hoang, who was unable to communicate with pre-trial services staff without an interpreter.

Both men’s bonds are set at $100,000 cash-only. They are due back in court Friday.

New Hampshire
TV news ­helicopter video allowed in ­trooper trial
NASHUA, N.H. (AP) — A judge has allowed the use of TV news helicopter video footage in the pending trial of a Massachusetts State Police trooper accused of beating a suspect in New Hampshire last year.

Joseph Flynn pleaded not guilty to simple assault charges in the arrest of Richard Simone Jr.

Prosecutors allege Flynn punched Simone as he was kneeling to surrender following a chase. Flynn’s lawyer said his client’s use of force was justified. The chase began in Holden, Massachusetts, after Simone refused to stop.

Prosecutors wanted to exclude some video of the pursuit, saying it was irrelevant and would appeal to a jury’s sympathy for Flynn. A judge disagreed Tuesday, but ruled to exclude some dash camera video from another trooper before the pursuit. He also excluded dash camera video from a civilian that briefly showed Simone’s truck.

Florida
Parents arrested after baby nearly dies of heroin overdose
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A Florida couple is facing felony charges after deputies say their 1-year-old girl nearly died from a heroin overdose.

Palm Beach County sheriff’s investigators say 38-year-old Charlie Hagan and 49-year-old Joseph Critelli are charged with child neglect.

The Palm Beach Post reports Tuesday the couple was arrested last week, two months after the overdose. The baby had been taken to the hospital in July and saved with a heroin antidote. Deputies say Hagan told them she had nearly died of an overdose a week earlier.

A relative had asked a judge for custody of the child two days after Hagen’s overdose but was denied. The state now has given custody to a relative.

Critelli and Hagen have been released on $3,000 bond each. Records don’t show if they have attorneys.