National Roundup

New York
Mother calls man killed in police gunfight ‘a good son’
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — A man  killed in a gunfight with Rochester police officers  was “a good son, impeccable father, awesome brother and loyal friend,” his mother told the Democrat and Chronicle.

Timothy Flowers died Friday after firing a gunshot that tore through an officer’s uniform, narrowly missing his body, according to police. Authorities said Flowers was suspected of being involved in four shootings in the western New York city over a 24-hour period and was wanted for attempted murder and other charges.

Flowers’ mother, Telena Banks, told the Democrat and Chronicle she could not talk about the allegations against her son because she has not received any information from the police.

“Right now we’re just trying to handle our business, process what is going on and get some facts, because there are none,” she said.

A team of officers tracked Flowers for several hours, waiting for a moment to arrest him that wouldn’t endanger other people, according to police.

Police said that when officers confronted him, Flowers ran and then turned and fired a gun. Officers shot Flowers four or five times.

Flowers’ identity was not initially released by police. His mother said Flowers was the father of two daughters.

Rochester police have been under scrutiny over use of force since the March 2020 death of Daniel Prude, a Black man who died after officers put a mesh hood over his head and held him to the ground.

A grand jury rejected criminally negligent homicide charges against three officers.

Washington
Trial begins in 2019 fatal shooting on reservation
YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — A jury trial of a man accused of murdering a Toppenish woman begins Monday in U.S. District Court in Yakima.

Jordan Everett Stevens was charged with first-degree murder in the July 17, 2019, death of Alillia “Lala” Minthorn, 25, the Yakima Herald reported.

Minthorn was missing for nearly a month before her body was discovered in the hills north of Brownstown in a closed area of the Yakama reservation on May 29, 2019. She had been shot in the head.

The trial is in federal court because Minthorn and Stevens are Native American and the murder occurred on tribal land, where the FBI often assumes jurisdiction in violent crimes.

Witnesses showed investigators where Minthorn’s body was placed. A witness said she believed Minthorn was killed for talking to FBI agents about something Stevens and another witness had done, according to a trial brief.

Witnesses said they picked Minthorn up near a Toppenish homeless encampment known as The Compound on West First Avenue. From there, they drove to the closed area of the reservation where Minthorn was shot, one of the witnesses said.

Missouri
Jury selection begins in retrial of police officers
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jury selection has begun in the retrial of two former St. Louis police officers accused of attacking a Black undercover colleague during a 2017 protest.

Dustin Boone faces federal charges of deprivation of rights under the color of law. Christopher Myers is accused of destruction of evidence for allegedly damaging a phone belonging to the victim, Detective Luther Hall.

At the first trial in March, federal jurors acquitted Officer Stephen Korte of the civil rights charge. Myers also was acquitted of the civil rights charge. Jurors were unable to agree on a verdict on the remaining charges.

Federal prosecutors say Hall was mistaken for a protester during a September 2017 demonstration after the acquittal of Jason Stockley, a former officer accused of killing a Black suspect. Hall claimed he was beaten “like Rodney King” by his colleagues. His injuries required multiple surgeries.


Florida
Surgeon’s estate settles lawsuit over 2019 plane crash death
KOKOMO, Ind. (AP) — The estate of a Florida plastic surgeon who died in 2019 when his small plane crashed in a central Indiana farm field shortly after takeoff has settled its lawsuit with the city of Kokomo.

The estate of Daniel Greenwald will get a $700,000 payment — the maximum allowed under Indiana’s tort claim laws — through the city’s insurer, the Kokomo Tribune reported, citing court documents.

A Howard County judge approved the settlement on Tuesday.

Greenwald, 59, died in the October 2019 crash after an employee at the Kokomo Municipal Airport put the wrong fuel in the Tampa man’s twin-engine Piper Aerostar 603P, according to the lawsuit filed by his widow, Julie Greenwald, and Greenwald’s estate.

The plane, of which Greenwald was the sole occupant, should have been filled up with Avgas, but the complaint alleges the employee put in Jet A fuel instead.

In its formal response to the lawsuit, the city denied any wrongdoing.

A preliminary investigation report by the National Transportation Safety Board focused on the type of fuel the plane received before it took off from the airport, but it did not list a cause of the crash.

According to the report, several of the plane’s engine spark plugs sustained damage “consistent with detonation,” and it added that a clear liquid “consistent in color and order with that of Jet A fuel” was found in the fuel lines and manifolds of both of the plane’s engines.

Kokomo Mayor Tyler Moore called the incident “devastating” for the Greenwald family.

Tennessee
Hearings set for 2 Tennessee men charged in Capitol riot
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Two Tennessee men face hearings this week after their recent arrests on charges related to the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Federal prosecutors accuse Matthew Baggott and Stewart Parks of entering the building together. Both were charged with entering or remaining in a restricted building, disorderly conduct and violent entry on capitol grounds, The Tennessean reported.

Parks faces an additional charge of theft of government property. A criminal complaint said Parks allegedly walked out of the building with a handheld metal detector wand picked up from a table near an entrance.

The FBI arrested Baggott on May 30 in Murfreesboro while Parks was arrested Thursday in Columbia, prosecutors said.

A virtual hearing is scheduled before a federal judge in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday for Baggott and on Wednesday for Parks.

At least 13 others from Tennessee are charged in the investigation into the deadly riot.