Georgia
Inmate used a gun to kill a prison kitchen worker before killing himself, officials say
GLENNVILLE, Ga. (AP) — An inmate used a gun to kill a kitchen worker at a Georgia prison early Sunday before fatally shooting himself, state officials said.
The Georgia Department of Corrections in a statement said it’s investigating the deaths at Smith State Prison in rural southeast Georgia. The agency provided few immediate details, including how the inmate obtained a firearm.
The agency’s statement said inmate Jaydrekus Hart fatally shot a food service worker in the prison’s kitchen at about 4:30 a.m. Sunday, then used the gun to kill himself.
“The weapon is in GDC custody at this time, and a complete and thorough investigation of what led up to this tragic incident will be carried out,” the statement said.
Agency spokeswoman Lori Benoit provided no further information when reached by phone. She said further details would be released when they become available.
The slain kitchen worker, 24-year-old Aureon Shavea Grace of Statesboro, had worked at the prison since January, according to the corrections department. She was employed by Aramark, a Philadelphia-based company that provides food service for prisons in Georgia and other U.S. states.
“We are heartbroken over the loss of our colleague and our hearts and prayers go out to her family,” Aramark spokesperson Debbie Albert said in an emailed statement. “This is a tragedy for all of us.”
Albert said the company was assisting Georgia prison officials in their investigation.
It’s the second killing of a staff member at Smith State Prison in less than a year. Correctional officer Robert Clark, 42, died last October after an inmate he was escorting attacked him from behind with a homemade weapon.
A state investigation into a sprawling contraband scheme inside the prison resulted in the arrest and firing of the prison’s warden, Brian Adams, in February 2023. He was charged with racketeering, bribery, making or writing false statements and violating his oath as a public officer.
Hart had been imprisoned since 2015 after being convicted in Carroll County of voluntary manslaughter and aggravated battery, according to online prison records. His earliest potential release date would have been in 2043.
Smith State Prison, which has capacity for 1,500 inmates, is a close-security prison that houses offenders considered violent or an escape risk.
Pennsylvania
Remains in former home of man convicted of killing wife identified as those of missing ex-girlfriend
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say human remains found in the former home of a man recently convicted in the slaying of his wife have been identified as those of his missing former girlfriend.
Cambria County Coroner Jeff Lees told reporters last week that the remains of Jilly Todaro were identified through body imaging by a forensic odontologist and anthropologist. Lees declined to go into detail about the cause of death but called it “homicidal violence.”
The remains were found buried in the basement of the former Johnstown home of 48-year-old Brian Giles a day after he was convicted in the death of Nancy Giles, who went missing in October 2018. Nancy Giles’ remains were found in May 2019 in a shallow grave near a trail on the Inclined Plane hillside in downtown Johnstown.
Todaro, Giles’ girlfriend after the disappearance of his wife, also lived at the home and disappeared in December 2020. District Attorney Greg Neugebauer told reporters that he expects charges to be filed in the near future in her death.
Brian Giles’ defense attorney, Timothy Burns, declined comment a week ago on the discovery of the remains before they had been identified. In the trial over Nancy Giles’ death, he had cited his client’s report of mental health struggles and called the convictions “disappointing,” saying the defense would explore its options. Brian Giles himself professed his innocence as he was led from the courtroom.
Neugebauer said the search of the residence a day after the verdict came after authorities “had for the first time very specific information relative to where a body would be located.”
“Obviously, when we went there, we expected it to be Jilly,” he said. He said she had been deceased “for quite a while,” and finding the remains in the manner they did had made the prosecution’s case “significantly stronger.”
Relatives of Todaro, who was 43 when she disappeared, were “very grateful” that she had been found and they could “start the healing and grieving process,” Lees said.
Assistant District Attorney Jessica Aurandt said she wished Todaro “could have seen, in her lifetime, the amount of people who rallied together, who made a lot of sacrifices to ensure that she was found and treated with the dignity that she deserved.
Kentucky
Biden’s Title IX rule blocked by judge in 6 additional states
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked the Biden administration’s new Title IX rule expanding protections for LGBTQ+ students in six additional states, dealing another setback for a policy that has been under legal attack by Republican attorneys general.
U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves referred to the regulation as “arbitrary in the truest sense of the word” in granting a preliminary injunction blocking it in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. His ruling comes days after a different federal judge temporarily blocked the new rule from taking effect in Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi and Montana.
The ruling Monday in Kentucky was applauded by the state’s GOP attorney general, Russell Coleman, who said the regulation would undermine equal opportunities for women.
“The judge’s order makes clear that the U.S. Department of Education’s attempt to redefine ‘sex’ to include ‘gender identity’ is unlawful and beyond the agency’s regulatory authority,” Coleman said in a statement.
The two cases are among at least seven backed by more than 20 Republican-led states fighting President Joe Biden’s rule. Set to take hold in August, the policy expands Title IX civil rights protections to LGBTQ+ students, expands the definition of sexual harassment at schools and colleges, and adds safeguards for victims.
In another lawsuit, the Education Department on Friday asked a federal judge in Missouri to deny a request for a preliminary injunction against the new rule. The lawsuit was filed last month by the Republican attorneys general from Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.
Inmate used a gun to kill a prison kitchen worker before killing himself, officials say
GLENNVILLE, Ga. (AP) — An inmate used a gun to kill a kitchen worker at a Georgia prison early Sunday before fatally shooting himself, state officials said.
The Georgia Department of Corrections in a statement said it’s investigating the deaths at Smith State Prison in rural southeast Georgia. The agency provided few immediate details, including how the inmate obtained a firearm.
The agency’s statement said inmate Jaydrekus Hart fatally shot a food service worker in the prison’s kitchen at about 4:30 a.m. Sunday, then used the gun to kill himself.
“The weapon is in GDC custody at this time, and a complete and thorough investigation of what led up to this tragic incident will be carried out,” the statement said.
Agency spokeswoman Lori Benoit provided no further information when reached by phone. She said further details would be released when they become available.
The slain kitchen worker, 24-year-old Aureon Shavea Grace of Statesboro, had worked at the prison since January, according to the corrections department. She was employed by Aramark, a Philadelphia-based company that provides food service for prisons in Georgia and other U.S. states.
“We are heartbroken over the loss of our colleague and our hearts and prayers go out to her family,” Aramark spokesperson Debbie Albert said in an emailed statement. “This is a tragedy for all of us.”
Albert said the company was assisting Georgia prison officials in their investigation.
It’s the second killing of a staff member at Smith State Prison in less than a year. Correctional officer Robert Clark, 42, died last October after an inmate he was escorting attacked him from behind with a homemade weapon.
A state investigation into a sprawling contraband scheme inside the prison resulted in the arrest and firing of the prison’s warden, Brian Adams, in February 2023. He was charged with racketeering, bribery, making or writing false statements and violating his oath as a public officer.
Hart had been imprisoned since 2015 after being convicted in Carroll County of voluntary manslaughter and aggravated battery, according to online prison records. His earliest potential release date would have been in 2043.
Smith State Prison, which has capacity for 1,500 inmates, is a close-security prison that houses offenders considered violent or an escape risk.
Pennsylvania
Remains in former home of man convicted of killing wife identified as those of missing ex-girlfriend
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say human remains found in the former home of a man recently convicted in the slaying of his wife have been identified as those of his missing former girlfriend.
Cambria County Coroner Jeff Lees told reporters last week that the remains of Jilly Todaro were identified through body imaging by a forensic odontologist and anthropologist. Lees declined to go into detail about the cause of death but called it “homicidal violence.”
The remains were found buried in the basement of the former Johnstown home of 48-year-old Brian Giles a day after he was convicted in the death of Nancy Giles, who went missing in October 2018. Nancy Giles’ remains were found in May 2019 in a shallow grave near a trail on the Inclined Plane hillside in downtown Johnstown.
Todaro, Giles’ girlfriend after the disappearance of his wife, also lived at the home and disappeared in December 2020. District Attorney Greg Neugebauer told reporters that he expects charges to be filed in the near future in her death.
Brian Giles’ defense attorney, Timothy Burns, declined comment a week ago on the discovery of the remains before they had been identified. In the trial over Nancy Giles’ death, he had cited his client’s report of mental health struggles and called the convictions “disappointing,” saying the defense would explore its options. Brian Giles himself professed his innocence as he was led from the courtroom.
Neugebauer said the search of the residence a day after the verdict came after authorities “had for the first time very specific information relative to where a body would be located.”
“Obviously, when we went there, we expected it to be Jilly,” he said. He said she had been deceased “for quite a while,” and finding the remains in the manner they did had made the prosecution’s case “significantly stronger.”
Relatives of Todaro, who was 43 when she disappeared, were “very grateful” that she had been found and they could “start the healing and grieving process,” Lees said.
Assistant District Attorney Jessica Aurandt said she wished Todaro “could have seen, in her lifetime, the amount of people who rallied together, who made a lot of sacrifices to ensure that she was found and treated with the dignity that she deserved.
Kentucky
Biden’s Title IX rule blocked by judge in 6 additional states
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A federal judge on Monday temporarily blocked the Biden administration’s new Title IX rule expanding protections for LGBTQ+ students in six additional states, dealing another setback for a policy that has been under legal attack by Republican attorneys general.
U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves referred to the regulation as “arbitrary in the truest sense of the word” in granting a preliminary injunction blocking it in Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. His ruling comes days after a different federal judge temporarily blocked the new rule from taking effect in Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi and Montana.
The ruling Monday in Kentucky was applauded by the state’s GOP attorney general, Russell Coleman, who said the regulation would undermine equal opportunities for women.
“The judge’s order makes clear that the U.S. Department of Education’s attempt to redefine ‘sex’ to include ‘gender identity’ is unlawful and beyond the agency’s regulatory authority,” Coleman said in a statement.
The two cases are among at least seven backed by more than 20 Republican-led states fighting President Joe Biden’s rule. Set to take hold in August, the policy expands Title IX civil rights protections to LGBTQ+ students, expands the definition of sexual harassment at schools and colleges, and adds safeguards for victims.
In another lawsuit, the Education Department on Friday asked a federal judge in Missouri to deny a request for a preliminary injunction against the new rule. The lawsuit was filed last month by the Republican attorneys general from Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.
