Alabama
Man sentenced to life in teen girlfriend’s slaying
DECATUR, Ala. (AP) — A north Alabama man who pleaded guilty to killing his teen girlfriend, whose throat was slashed more than two years ago, was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Morgan County Circuit Judge Charles Elliott sentenced Bernandino Miguel Matias, 21, in the stabbing death of Tania Rico, 16, during a hearing Wednesday, the Decatur Daily reported.
Rico’s mother, Manuela Rico, said she was “very thankful” for the judge’s decision and prosecutors, who sought the life term.
“They all went above and beyond to make sure Tania got justice,” she said.
The victim would have been a high school senior this year. Matias was 19 when he killed her in October 2019 and pleaded guilty to murder in December.
Paul Holland, Matias’ lawyer, said it was too early to say whether he would appeal. A judge previously denied Matias youthful offender status, which could have resulted in a more lenient sentence.
Massachusetts
Fire captain gets jail time for sexually assaulting child
WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — A captain at a Massachusetts fire department who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a young girl over a period of years has been sent to jail for 2 1/2 years.
Walter K. Swenson Jr., 36, a 14-year veteran of the Millbury Fire Department, was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to six counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, The Telegram & Gazette reported.
Fire Chief Brian Gasco said the board that oversees the call department will meet soon and it is expected that Swenson will be fired.
Swenson has been on unpaid leave since his Dec. 3 arrest, after the 11-year-old girl told authorities he had touched her inappropriately for years.
Swenson initially faced 16 charges, but some were amended and some were dropped under a deal reached with the consent of the victim’s mother, prosecutors said.
Swenson’s lawyer, Hillary Fenton, told the judge that Swenson intends to seek treatment.
Missouri
Authorities: Woman decapitated 6-year-old son
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Kansas City woman who authorities said decapitated her 6-year-old son was charged Wednesday with first-degree murder, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s office said.
Tasha Haefs, 35, was charged after officers found her son dead at their east Kansas City home late Tuesday, according to a probable cause statement. It was not immediately known if Haefs had an attorney to speak on her behalf.
Police said in an affidavit for a search warrant that a woman called from the house and said the devil was trying to attack her before she hung up, local media reported.
The statement said responding officers saw blood on the front steps of the home and apparent blood and hair on the front door and a severed head near the home’s threshold. A woman inside refused to open the door.
After police were told other children lived in the house and had not been seen for several days, they forcibly entered the home. They found the boy’s body and saw Haefs with blood on her and knives and a screwdriver with apparent blood throughout the home, according to the affidavit.
No other children were found in the home. A decapitated dog was found in the basement.
During a police interview, Haefs identified the victim as her son and admitted that she killed him in a bathtub and decapitated him, according to the affidavit written by Detective Zakary Glidewell.
It was not immediately clear where the other children in the home were.
Haefs, who was also charged with armed criminal action, was being held in the Jackson County Jail on no bond.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said in a statement that the child’s gruesome death “takes our breath away.”
She said the death calls for law enforcement, public health, social services and all their partners to work to better protect Kansas City’s children.
“Let’s also focus, Kansas City, on the violence among us,” Peters Baker wrote. “It’s a challenge we can no longer ignore. We cannot become complacent with 180 or 170 or even 150 homicides per year and hundreds more shot but not killed. ... Going forward let’s keep a clear goal: Reduce our community’s violence and alert mental health professionals whenever we are aware of someone in need of intervention.”
Ohio
Jury seated to try doctor charged in hospital deaths
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A jury was seated Wednesday in the case of an Ohio doctor accused in multiple hospital deaths, with the long-awaited trial scheduled to begin next week.
William Husel is accused of ordering excessive painkillers for patients in the Columbus-area Mount Carmel Health System. He was indicted in cases involving at least 500 micrograms of the powerful painkiller fentanyl.
Prosecutors said ordering such dosages for a nonsurgical situation indicated an intent to end lives. Husel has pleaded not guilty and says he was providing comfort care for dying patients, not trying to kill them.
Jurors are expected to hear from at least 50 prosecution witnesses, likely medical experts, as well as additional defense witnesses, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
Husel, 46, was originally charged with 25 counts of murder. Last month a judge agreed to dismiss 11 of those counts against Husel at the prosecution’s request.
The 25 charges were brought in 2019 by a different prosecutor. Current Prosecutor Gary Tyack said in January 2021 that he favored dismissing some of the counts against Husel and proceeding with fewer cases.
Arizona
Couple pleads not guilty in death of boy at hotel
PHOENIX (AP) — A woman and her husband have pleaded not guilty to charges in the death of an 11-year-old boy last month.
Stephanie Davis, 51, and Thomas Desharnais, 33, had a court hearing Tuesday, reported Phoenix TV station ABC15.
Court records show the two have both been indicted on one count of first-degree homicide, nine counts of child abuse and one count of tampering with evidence.
Prosecutors say Davis is the grandmother of Chaskah Davis Smith, who died after he was found unresponsive at a Scottsdale hotel on Jan. 30.
Davis is accused of striking the boy in the head with a ratchet and failing to seek medical treatment for his injuries.
She remains jailed on a $3.5 million cash bond while Desharnais is being held on a $1.5 million cash bond.
The couple’s next scheduled court appearance is a March 29 pretrial conference.
South Carolina
Man gets life for 1976 cold case killing
WINNSBORO, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina man has been sentenced to life in prison for a killing that went unsolved for more than four decades until a DNA match helped investigators crack the case.
Charles Ugvine Coleman pleaded guilty to murder Tuesday in the March 1976 death of Elizabeth Ann Howell Wilson before his trial started at the Fairfield County Courthouse, The Herald of Rock Hill reported.
The 66-year-old was charged in October 2020. He entered an Alford plea, meaning he doesn’t admit guilt but accepts the punishment of a guilty plea because it’s likely he would be convicted, according to Sixth Circuit Solicitor Randy Newman.
A sexual assault charge was dismissed as part of the negotiated plea, according to Coleman’s lawyer, Public Defender William Frick.
Coleman could be eligible for parole in less than nine years because the court had to apply laws that were in place at the time of the crime, the lawyers said. State law in 1976 required that a person convicted of murder would become eligible for parole after 10 years in prison. Coleman received credit for 16 months in jail since his arrest, according to Frick.
Wilson, a 45-year-old from Chester, was found sexually assaulted, strangled and beaten to death after she left her shift at a textile plant, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division agents and prosecutors said.
Coleman was charged after DNA from a September 2020 conviction matched samples from the 1976 crime scene.
Massachusetts
2 students charged with assaulting transgender student
ATTLEBORO, Mass. (AP) — Two Massachusetts high school students have been charged with assaulting a transgender student from a rival school following a boys basketball game last week.
An 18-year-old senior at Foxborough High, was released with no bail with GPS monitoring after pleading not guilty Tuesday, The Sun Chronicle reported. The other suspect, a juvenile boy from Foxborough, was arraigned in Juvenile Court where the proceedings are closed.
Both were charged with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, assault and battery to intimidate, and a civil rights violation, authorities said.
The charges stem from an altercation in the parking lot of North Attleborough High on Feb. 8, that ended up with the transgender student from North Attleborough being taunted and assaulted, police said.
Prosecutors said the assault was unprovoked and the 18-year-old Foxborough student grabbed the transgender student by the shirt and slammed the person against a parked car, causing bruises and scratches.
But the suspect’s attorney, Paul Carlucci, said there are conflicting witness accounts, his client was subjected to name calling, and punched first by the transgender student.
Foxborough Superintendent Amy Berdos said in a statement that the incident “is contrary to everything that the Foxborough schools teach and believe in.”
Montana
Man sentenced in son’s shooting death
LIBBY, Mont. (AP) — A northwestern Montana man who shot and killed his adult son after years of being abused by him has been given a five-year sentence during which he will receive substance abuse and mental health treatment.
Scott Lee Kirkedahl, 58, of Trego was sentenced on Feb. 7 to 30 years with the Department of Corrections with 25 years suspended. District Court Judge Matthew Cuffe ordered Kirkedahl to enroll in the state’s Connections Corrections Program, The Western News reported.
Kirkedahl pleaded guilty to mitigated deliberate homicide on Dec. 20 for the April 2021 shooting death of Xennie Kirkedahl, 32, at Scott Kirkedahl’s house.
Prosecutors reached the plea agreement after learning that Kirkedahl suffered years of abuse at the hands of his son, and was beaten three to four times a week. Kirkedahl suffered traumatic brain injuries as a result of the beatings, defense attorney Scott Hilderman said.
Carl Kirkedahl, who was at the house at the time of the shooting, told investigators that his brother and nephew had argued on and off for about a week prior to the shooting.
Family members who appeared in court for the sentencing hearing said they supported the sentence.
