Court Digest

North Carolina
Fugitive sex offender sentenced for not registering
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A New Jersey man who was a fugitive for nearly two years and who was captured in North Carolina has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for failure to register as a sex offender, according to a federal prosecutor.

According to court documents, Gregory Dennis Dayton, 49, pleaded guilty to charges in August. Michael F. Easley Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, made the announcement after the sentencing on Tuesday.

In 1998, Dayton was convicted of endangering the welfare of a child in New Jersey after impregnating a minor, according to a news release. Dayton’s sentence included a lifetime requirement to register as a sex offender, but after he last registered in New Jersey in September 2018, he fled the area, leading to an arrest warrant being issued in May 2019.

The U.S. Marshals Service Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force received the case on Nov. 16, 2020, and apprehended Dayton the next day, in Washington, North Carolina, where Dayton was living with a girlfriend and her minor daughter

Dayton was arrested on the federal charges in April 2021, the news release said.

Maryland
Man sentenced to life plus 10 years in murder case
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (AP) — A Maryland man has been sentenced to life in prison plus 10 years after he was found guilty in a fatal shooting in 2018, officials said.

According to a news release from the State’s Attorney Office in Prince George’s County, a jury heard evidence that Tavon Barnes, 20, used a semi-automatic handgun to kill Abdul Thomas, who was found in an apartment building stairwell suffering from a gunshot wound to his chest.

Witness testimony established that Barnes shot the victim during a drug transaction and fled the scene. Prosecutors also said DNA evidence confirmed that Barnes was at the scene. After the shooting, authorities said Barnes fled to New York where he was later arrested and extradited in January 2019.

While awaiting trial in jail, authorities say Barnes made several incriminating recorded telephone calls to intimidate eyewitnesses and prevent them from testifying. Charges were filed against Barnes in that case as well.

South Dakota
Father charged in killing of 8-week-old infant
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A Sioux Falls father on Tuesday was charged in the killing of his 8-week-old infant who authorities determined died from an apparent assault.

Prosecutors charged Dylan Castimore with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter in the baby’s death. Police Lt. Terrance Matia said Castimore has been arrested. It was not clear if he has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.

A coroner found the baby’s skull was fractured from an assault and he had a lacerated liver, according to court documents.

“The injuries were very extensive and it would shock most people,” Matia said at a news conference Tuesday.

Police officers responded Saturday to a 911 call from Castimore who said his infant was not breathing at his apartment in Sioux Falls, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reported. After the child died at a hospital, police began investigating his death.

According to court documents, Castimore told authorities that he had been feeding his son with a bottle when the baby’s eyes started to “gaze,” blood started to come from his nostril and he stopped breathing.

Castimore’s Facebook page contained a tribute to his son, saying, “Your daddy will never ever forget the times we had I will never forget your dimples and your ocean blue eyes.”

However, according to court documents, a police detective testified that video footage from a security camera contained audio of a baby crying followed by the sound of slapping or hitting as well as loud thuds. Police also found smears that appeared to be blood in Castimore’s apartment.

New Jersey
Man, age 85, gets 10 years prison for killing romantic rival
FREEHOLD, N.J. (AP) — An 85-year-old man who admitted using his SUV to purposely hit and kill a romantic rival three years ago has been sentenced to 10 years in state prison.

Johnny Westbrook of Asbury Park had pleaded guilty in July to aggravated manslaughter in the hit-and-run death of 63-year-old Daniel Rivera three years ago. Westbrook’s sentence was imposed Monday and made public Tuesday.

The incident occurred in December 2018, when Westbrook followed Rivera — his neighbor in an adjacent apartment building — to a nearby store.

Westbrook waited outside for several minutes and, when Rivera emerged from the business, Westbrook drove his SUV onto the sidewalk, ran over Rivera and dragged him several feet, according to Monmouth County prosecutors. He left the scene on foot and was later found at his apartment.

A month earlier, authorities say the two men got into a physical fight in the apartment building hallway, swinging canes at each other before Westbrook punched the victim in the nose.

Defense attorneys tried unsuccessfully to have Westbrook declared incompetent for trial, saying he had memory loss. A psychiatrist, though, testified that she believed Westbrook was faking or exaggerating any memory loss.

The Asbury Park Press has reported Westbrook previously served six years of a seven-year prison term in a February 2004 shooting in Neptune of a man who was having an affair with a 23-year-old woman to whom Westbrook had given an engagement ring.

Montana
Woman sentenced to psychiatric hospital for killing mother
GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) — A Great Falls woman who pleaded guilty to killing her mother in May 2017 has been sentenced to 40 years in the state psychiatric hospital.

Pamela Jean Courtnage was sentenced Monday to the custody of the Department of Public Health and Human Services and will be held at the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs, District Court Judge Elizabeth Best said.

Courtage, 49, pleaded guilty in September to mitigated deliberate homicide in the death of Katherine Courtnage of Big Sandy, the Great Falls Tribune reported.

Katherine Courtnage, 69, suffered blows to the head and her throat was cut while she was helping her daughter make repairs at her house, Cascade County prosecutors have said.

During her change of plea hearing, Courtnage said at the time of her mother’s death she believed her family had placed microchips inside her head in order to harm her. Courtnage has been diagnosed with a mental illness that causes her to have delusions, a state psychiatrist testified during the case.

Pamela Courtnage had previously been committed to the state hospital for psychiatric treatment, court records said.

Prosecutors did not make a sentencing recommendation, but defense attorney Matt McKittrick sought a 20-year commitment.

Illinois
Chicago-area man charged in alleged DUI crash that killed 3
WHEATON, Ill. (AP) — A suburban Chicago man has been charged in the October deaths of three people killed when he allegedly crashed his vehicle while drunk into another car at a speed over 120 mph (193 kilometers per hour), prosecutors said.

Brendan Wydajewski, 22, faces three felony counts of aggravated driving under the influence causing death, and misdemeanor counts of unlawful possession of a firearm and transportation or possession of open alcohol by a driver, the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office said Monday.

The Naperville man allegedly had a blood-alcohol level of .147 — well above the state’s limit of .08 — when his vehicle crashed into another car in Lisle on Oct. 30 while traveling at 122 mph (196.3 kph), prosecutors said.

The impact cut in half a car driven by Andrew Purtill, 46, of Aurora, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Wydajewski was injured but one of his two passengers, Geovanny Alvarez, 22, of Waukegan, died at the scene and the other passenger, Graciela Leanos, 21, of Shorewood, died later at a hospital.

Wydajewski was released Sunday from an area hospital, and a DuPage County judge set his bond Monday at $500,000, prosecutors said in a news release.

He faces firearm charges because officers allegedly found two handguns in his vehicle.

Online court records do not list an attorney for Wydajewski, and it was unclear Tuesday whether he has an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

His next court appearance is Jan. 11.

Massachusetts
Suspect in stabbing death of young mother pleads not guilty
LOWELL, Mass. (AP) — A young mother found dead in a Lowell home last week had been stabbed 58 times and had her neck fractured, prosecutors said Tuesday at the arraignment of her on-and-off boyfriend on a murder charge.

Leonard D. Robinson, 22 of Lowell, pleaded not guilty in connection with the death of Dejah Jenkins-Minus and was held without bail.

His attorney, George Murphy, said he had not received any discovery in the case and had no comment.

Jenkins-Minus, 22 of Boston, was found dead of “multiple sharp force injuries” by police conducting a well-being check last Friday, according to a statement from the office of Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan.

Authorities think the victim was killed on Thanksgiving Day.

Police went to the home at the request of Jenkins-Minus’ family to check on her and her 2-month-old daughter when they didn’t show up for a Thanksgiving gathering, prosecutors said.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. The baby was later found unharmed.

The suspect had been questioning whether they baby was his, prosecutors said in court.

Police also recovered a knife at the scene “that appears to be consistent with the murder weapon,” authorities said.


South Dakota
Man sentenced to 40 years in toddler’s starvation death
BROOKINGS, S.D. (AP) — A man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison in the 2019 starvation death of a toddler in Brookings County.

Robert Price, 30, earlier pleaded guilty to first-degree man­slaughter in an agreement with prosecutors. Price and Renae Fayant were charged in the death of Fayant’s niece, who was in their care.

Fayant was earlier sentenced to 75 years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree manslaughter. Prosecutors said Fayant was primarily responsible for the child.

The charges against the two say the girl was living in filthy conditions in a small area of the residence in Brookings and was deprived of food and water for an extended period of time.

 Brookings police responded to a call to the child’s home on July 31, 2019 where they found the girl was unresponsive and was described as “extremely thin appearing malnourished and dehydrated,” according to court documents.

The State’s Attorney Office acknowledged that Price’s sentencing Tuesday reflected his responsibility in the child’s death.