Maryland
Prosecutor: Teen bought gun online, friend helped build it
ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) — The teen charged with shooting a fellow student at a Maryland high school last week told authorities he bought parts for the 9 mm ghost gun online and assembled it with a friend, a prosecutor said in court Monday.
Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office Juvenile Court Division Chief Carlotta Woodward told the judge at a bond hearing for Steven Alston Jr., 17, that the 15-year-old victim critically wounded in the shooting at Magruder High School on Friday is fighting for his life, news outlets reported.
Alston is charged as an adult with attempted second-degree murder, felony assault and weapons offenses. The judge ordered Alston held without bond Monday and granted a request that he be held at a juvenile facility.
An 11th grader, Alston brought the gun to school because he knew there would be a conflict that day and went to a boys bathroom on Friday afternoon with the loaded gun in his waistband, Woodward said. Alston pointed it at the victim’s head and when the victim pushed the gun away, he was shot in the pelvis area, she said.
After the shooting, Alston went to a classroom with other students and was found with the magazine with nine bullets in his sock, Woodward said.
Later in the day, Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones said, investigators learned that other students who had been in the bathroom tweeted about the shooting, identifying the suspect and the victim, instead of calling 911 or alerting staff that a classmate had been shot. The wounded student wasn’t found until a security sweep during the change in classes, he said.
Authorities identified the gun used as a ghost gun, an untraceable weapon that’s usually sold in pieces. Five such guns have been recovered at county schools this academic year, State’s Attorney John McCarthy said.
Citing Alston’s lack of criminal history, attorney Lucy Larkins asked the judge to allow the teen to be released to home detention so he could take classes virtually.
“I know he is committed to continuing his studies,” Larkins said. The judge denied the request.
Iowa
Man convicted of killing wife, burning her body
WATERLOO, Iowa (AP) — A Waterloo man was convicted on Monday of killing his wife and burning her body near a cemetery.
Jurors deliberated only a few hours before finding Fredrick Williams, 31, guilty of first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse to conceal a crime in the death of 40-year-old Lakisha Owens, The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported.
Black Hawk County Attorney Brian Williams said Fredrick Williams abused his wife before she disappeared on Jan. 20, 2018.
Her parents and co-workers reported her missing after she didn’t show up for work and Fredrick Williams didn’t show any concern because he knew she wasn’t missing, the prosecutor said during closing arguments.
Owen’s body was found burned in a wooded area behind Garden of Memories on Jan. 26, 2018, while Fredrick Williams was Minnesota.
An autopsy determined she died of asphyxia.
Fredrick Williams didn’t testify at the trial but told police he hadn’t seen Owens since she kicked him out of their apartment.
Defense attorney Steve Drahozal said the state didn’t have any direct evidence linking Fredrick Williams to the slaying.
His sentencing date has not been set.
Missouri
Woman sentenced in death of snake breeder husband
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A woman convicted of killing her husband at his snake breeding business in central Missouri was sentenced Monday to 16 years in prison.
Boone County Judge Kevin Crane sentenced Lynlee Renick to 13 years for second-degree murder and three years for armed criminal action in the June 2017 death of her husband, Ben Renick, who bred rare and exotic snakes at his business in New Florence.
During the trial in December, prosecutors had sought a life sentence but the jury recommended the two lesser sentences. Crane could not exceed the jury’s recommendation but ruled the two sentences would run consecutively, KOMU-TV reported.
Lynlee Renick’s attorney on Monday asked for a sentence of 10 years, arguing that the murder was not premeditated.
One of Renick’s former boyfriend’s, Michael Humphrey, was convicted of first-degree murder in Benjamin Renick’s death and was sentenced earlier this month to life in prison.
Connecticut
Former victim advocate pleads guilty to child porn charge
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A man who worked as a victim advocate in the Connecticut state court system pleaded guilty Monday to a federal child pornography charge.
Robert Eccleston, 58, of Canton, pleaded via video conference to one count of distributing child pornography. He faces a mandatory minimum of five years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for April 19.
Eccleston was identified by the FBI in 2020 as someone sharing child porn to groups on the social media site “Kik.” He served as an administrator of one of those groups and required prospective members to send him videos of child sexual abuse for group access, prosecutors said.
He distributed numerous pornographic images and videos of children in these Kik groups, including images and videos depicting the sexual abuse of toddlers and prepubescent children, prosecutors said.
Eccleston was arrested on Dec. 11, 2020, and has been in federal custody since. At the time of the offenses, he was working as a victim services advocate for the Hartford Superior Court, prosecutors said.
The state Office of the Victim Advocate did not immediately return messages left Monday seeking comment.
Prosecutors said the arrest was part of the Justice Department’s Project Safe Childhood Initiative, which aims to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation.
Missouri
Man who stuffed wife’s body in freezer sentenced to 25 years
MARSHFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri man who pleaded guilty to stuffing his wife’s body in a freezer more than six years ago has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Larry Dinwiddie, 59, of Marshfield, was sentenced Monday after he pleaded guilty in November to second-degree murder in the death of Cynthia Dinwiddie, television station KYTV reported.
In exchange for his plea, prosecutors dropped a count of abandoning a corpse. Investigators have said they found the body of his wife, Cynthia, locked in a freezer in an abandoned storage unit in November 2019 and that her body had been there since 2015.
Investigators have said her death resulted from domestic violence. Dinwiddie admitted to killing his wife with a hammer during an argument, according to court records. He never reported her missing.
Arizona
Teen pleads guilty in terrorism case
SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. (AP) — A 14-year-old boy suspected of building pipe bombs in his Douglas home will serve at least 18 months in a juvenile detention facility.
The Sierra Vista Herald reported Monday that the teen pleaded guilty to one count each of promoting terrorism and possession of a prohibited weapon.
Cochise County Deputy Attorney Doyle Johnstun said a disposition of his case indicates he will go to the Arizona Department of Juvenile Corrections.
The teen won’t stay there beyond his 18th birthday. In an email, Johnstun said his release date will be up to the corrections department.
The boy was arrested in May 2021 after authorities found a pipe bomb and preparation for a second in a back room of the home he shares with his mother and older brother.
He was already on the FBI’s radar because of terrorism-related social media posts.
Prosecutors wanted him tried as an adult. His attorney, Xochitl Orozco, argued his client should be tried as a juvenile because of his age, autism and other mental issues.
Indiana
Family of suspect in high school stabbing seeks home detention
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) — The family of a 15-year-old boy who allegedly stabbed a classmate in a South Bend high school’s restroom want him placed on home detention while he awaits trial.
St. Joseph prosecutors argued during a Monday court hearing that the teen should remain in juvenile detention for now due to the severity of the allegations in the Jan. 11 stabbing at Adams High School.
“This is an extraordinarily violent offense,” said deputy prosecutor Elizabeth McGrath.
St. Joseph Probate Court Magistrate Graham Polando will decide whether the boy, who is charged as a juvenile with armed robbery, two counts of battery and bringing a weapon onto school property, will stay in custody throughout the proceedings, the South Bend Tribune reported.
Officials said the boy stole THC vape cartridges and money from a classmate at knifepoint before stabbing the male victim.
The victim’s uncle told reporters Monday that his 16-year-old nephew was hospitalized for four days after the stabbing. He said his nephew is still bruised and has a black eye, but is lucky he’s alive.
The suspect’s mother and his attorney asked Polando on Monday to let the teen come home under around-the-clock supervision and GPS monitoring.
“I know my son, he’s not a bad kid,” the boy’s mother said.
Defense attorney Michael Wandling said the suspect has no prior criminal record, and is looking to seek treatment.
The teen’s next court hearing is status hearing set for Feb. 7.
Illinois
Substitute teacher charged with groping himself in class
CHICAGO (AP) — A substitute teacher has been charged with three counts of sexual exploitation of a child after he allegedly touched himself inappropriately in front of students in a Chicago elementary school classroom.
James Ruml, 29, of Chicago, turned himself in last week and appeared in court Saturday, when a judge prohibited him from having contact with anyone under the age of 18 while the case is pending.
According to Cook County prosecutors, Ruml, while substitute teaching in a writing class at Walt Disney Magnet School in the Uptown neighborhood on Chicago’s North Side on Nov. 16, “leaned back in his chair, stretched his legs wide open and began touching his genital area,” as three 11-year-old students watched, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Prosecutors, who said Ruml didn’t take any clothes off, allegedly walked to a corner of the classroom where he continued touching himself. He posted bond Saturday and is scheduled to return to court Feb. 3.
Ruml’s attorney, Joseph Cavanaugh, said that Ruml has been a substitute teacher in the Chicago Public Schools district for three years. Cavanaugh noted that there are no allegations that Ruml exposed himself to the students or tried to touch them.
Students reported the alleged incident to a teacher and the 1,500-student school notified police as well as parents in November. The school’s Principal Paul Ruskis said in a note to parents that the alleged incident happened on the substitute teacher’s first day at the school.
