National Roundup

Oklahoma
Police: Tulsa mom stabbed eldest daughter up to 70 times
TULSA, Okla. (AP) — A Tulsa mother stabbed her eldest daughter 50 to 70 times, struck her head with a pickaxe then set their home on fire, before fleeing the scene with the youngest of her three daughters, according to police.

Taheerah Ahmad, 39, was arrested in downtown Tulsa Tuesday afternoon.

Authorities accuse her of attacking her 11-year-old daughter Monday night and fleeing with her 8-year-old daughter. The younger daughter, who authorities initially said was 7, was found safe with her mother.
Ahmad was being held Wednesday on complaints of arson, child abuse and assault and battery with the intent to kill. She was jailed without bond.

The 11-year-old girl remained in critical condition.

According to an arrest report, Ahmad told investigators she was upset with her children “because of the way they were reading and looking at her.” Police said Ahmad bound and gagged her three daughters, then attacked the eldest. Police have not said what the girls were reading.

The 8-year-old girl helped her 9-year-old sister escape, and the middle child ran to a neighbor for help, police said. When officers arrived, they found the 11-year-old girl in the burning home and Ahmad and the youngest child missing.

The arrest report said the eldest girl fought back while Ahmad was restraining her three daughters, which prompted Ahmad to stab her an estimated “50 to 70 times.” The report said Ahmad also struck the girl over the head several times with a pickaxe before setting the house on fire.

The 11-year-old had dozens of stab wounds to the torso along with puncture wounds to her legs, neck, hands and face, according to the report.

The report said Ahmad wanted to burn down the residence to “further ensure that (the 11-year-old) was dead.”

Video from Tulsa television station KOTV that captures Ahmad’s arrest shows her youngest daughter, wearing a dress and a brightly colored hat, playing in their SUV as officers led Ahmad away in handcuffs.

Ahmad declined to comment to reporters later Tuesday as officers transported her to jail.

Tulsa Police Sgt. Shane Tuell said Ahmad may never have been arrested if two women hadn’t spotted Ahmad’s vehicle in downtown Tulsa. One of the women, Emily Wilson, told the Tulsa World that she and a friend decided to call the police after seeing the 8-year-old girl inside the vehicle.


Ohio
Judge: State can’t cut off ­convicted killer’s dreadlocks
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that Ohio can’t force a convicted killer to cut off his dreadlocks, calling it a violation of religious rights.

U.S. District Judge Patricia Gaughan (gon) sided with inmate Deon Glenn, who says his faith of Rastafarianism requires him to wear his hair in dreadlocks.

The judge said Monday that Ohio’s blanket policy against dreadlocks violates the law because it doesn’t permit a religious exemption. She also said the state didn’t prove Glenn’s hair couldn’t be searched for contraband or is a safety risk.

The judge said her ruling applied only to Glenn, and other similar complaints should be analyzed individually.

The Ohio prisons system declined to comment.

The 29-year-old Glenn is serving 15 years to life on a murder charge.


Minnesota
Family sues police over stun gun death of mentally ill man
MILWAUKEE (AP) — The family of a mentally ill man who died after Milwaukee-area police officers used a stun gun on him has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Village of West Milwaukee.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports the family of 22-year-old Adam Trammell alleges police violated his constitutional rights by using excessive and deadly force during the May 2017 encounter. The family seeks unspecified money damages.

The officers were called to Trammell’s apartment by a neighbor who said Trammell was having a mental breakdown and threatening to hurt himself. The officers found Trammell in the shower and used their stun guns after he failed to respond to commands. Prosecutors later cleared the officers of wrongdoing.

Alabama
Fake doctor who worked in 4 states sent to prison
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A federal judge has sentenced a woman described as a fake doctor who worked in four states to more than six years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Madeline Hughes Haikala imposed the sentence Tuesday on 61-year-old Isabel Kesari Gervais.

Authorities say Gervais described herself as a naturopathic doctor but wasn’t licensed. A statement from prosecutors says she claimed to use naturopathic medicine to cure illnesses including cancer.

Gervais pleaded guilty last year to defrauding patients at a clinic in suburban Birmingham, Alabama.

In her plea agreement she acknowledged operating multiple offices over 15 years in Montgomery, Alabama; Springdale, Arkansas; metro Atlanta; and Leawood, Kansas.

Investigators determined Gervais moved frequently and used aliases including Rose Starr and Debra Lynn Goodman to avoid detection. She had been in Hoover, Alabama, since 2015.

Kentucky
Lawyer ­confirmed to 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky lawyer who is a partner in a Cincinnati law firm has been confirmed to be a judge for the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said John B. Nalbandian was confirmed by the Senate on Tuesday. The White House said Nalbandian has practiced with Taft Stettinius & Hollister since 2000 and is the firm’s lead appellate lawyer. He previously practiced for five years in the appellate section of a law firm in Washington.

McConnell said in a news release that Nalbandian was appointed in 2007 to be a special justice on the Kentucky Supreme Court and later sat on the selection panel for magistrate judges in the state’s Eastern District.

The Sixth Circuit handles cases from Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee.