Texas
Suspect in1998 fatal campus shooting is extradited
McALLEN, Texas (AP) - A Mexican national suspected in a fatal 1998 shooting on a college campus in Texas has been extradited to face a capital murder charge.
McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez said Thursday that 39-year-old Roberto Ojeda Hernandez arrived in Texas on Wednesday. He was arrested in July in Reynosa, Mexico.
Ojeda Hernandez is being held on $2 million bond in the Hidalgo County jail. Court and jail records don't list an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
Ojeda Hernandez is suspected of opening fire as students registered for classes at the Pecan Campus of South Texas College on Jan. 13, 1998. The campus is in McAllen, about 300 miles (483 kilometers) southwest of Houston.
The shooting killed 32-year-old security guard Carlos Hernandez and wounded three students.
Rodriguez says police believe at least two other people were also involved in the shooting during an attempted robbery.
North Carolina
Appeals court keeps voter ID, tax cap ruling unenforceable
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A trial judge's ruling keeping two voter-approved amendments out of North Carolina's Constitution - one of them a photo voter identification requirement - will remain unenforceable while his decision is appealed by Republican lawmakers.
The state Court of Appeals had already granted a temporary delay of the February decision by Wake Superior Court Judge Bryan Collins. On Thursday, the appeals court extended the postponement of Collins' order until it rules on the substance of his decision.
Collins voided the voter ID amendment and another amendment lowering caps on income tax rates that were approved by voters in November. He agreed with state NAACP arguments that the 2018 legislature lacked authority to propose alterations to the constitution because districts from which many legislators were elected had been declared unlawful racial gerrymanders.
Illinois
Bank robber, 82, gets jail, home confinement
BENTON, Ill. (AP) - An 82-year-old man who says he was desperate when he robbed an Illinois bank has been sentenced to 10 weekends in jail.
Federal Judge Phil Gilbert told Arthur Bays that he's never seen a criminal as old as him. He says he struggled with a sentence Thursday.
Bays had a toy gun in his waistband when he demanded money from a teller at State Bank of Whittington in Benton last July. He got $12,500.
Bays told the judge that he was talked into buying a new car after learning that it would cost $2,000 to fix the air conditioning on his vehicle. After five payments, he says he was broke.
The Southern Illinoisan reports that the prosecutor sought a prison term. Besides weekends in jail, Bays will spend six months on home confinement.
Florida
Police: Man killed pregnant stepmom, called 911 at cemetery
EUSTIS, Fla. (AP) - Authorities in Florida say a 21-year-old man strangled his pregnant stepmother and called 911 from a cemetery to confess to killing her.
Police officers found Ian Anselmo in Sue Ellen Anselmo's SUV on March 13. The 39-year-old mother of six was bleeding and unconscious in the driver's seat, a cord wrapped taut around her neck.
Lake County charged Ian Anselmo in the assault of his stepmother, but offered no motive in a probable cause affidavit. The charges are likely to be upgraded because she later died.
His father, John Anselmo, tells the Orlando Sentinel "this whole thing seems so weird." In the 911 call, authorities say Ian Anselmo mentioned an argument. They offered few other details.
The Anselmos had separated a week before the slaying.
Pennsylvania
Relative of African dictator admits to counterfeiting money
PITTSBURGH (AP) - A son of missionaries who later married into the family of an African dictator has admitted to his role in an international counterfeiting operation.
Ryan Gustafson, an American married to the granddaughter of the late Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and counterfeiting counts Thursday in Pittsburgh. The Post-Gazette reports prosecutors say Gustafson's operation was uncovered after one of his confederates bought coffee in Pittsburgh with a fake $100 bill.
The U.S. Secret Service says Gustafson had originally been arrested in Uganda in 2014 when police there raided his residence and found fake money and other evidence linking him to a counterfeiting ring.
The 28-year-old Gustafson's plea deal calls for a sentence of about six years. His lawyer is arguing for Gustafson's release pending sentencing.
California
Jury awards $6M for baby's coffee burn at resort
SAN DIEGO (AP) - A federal jury has awarded nearly $6.5 million to the family of a 9-month-old girl who was burned by coffee at a Southern California resort.
The child suffered third-degree burns in May 2016 when she grabbed a carafe placed on a table at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa near San Diego.
The waiter testified at trial that he warned the nanny that the pot was hot. The hotel placed blame on the nanny for not properly supervising the children and on the parents for allowing the nanny to be responsible for three young kids.
But the jury found Omni 92.5 percent responsible for the incident and the nanny 7.5 percent.
Published: Mon, Mar 25, 2019
