Nov. 22 MISSISSIPPI: Minter found guilty of capital murder Larry Minter has been found guilty on 2 counts of capital murder in the deaths of Harond "Bucky" Levron and Christine Suber. Minter, 20, was found guilty on 2 counts of capital murder and robbery. He was found not guilty on the court of sexual battery. The 2nd phase of the trial, in which the jury will consider the death penalty, begins at 2 p.m. 10 witnesses are scheduled to testify in the 2nd hearing. After the verdict was read, a disturbance erupted in the courtroom and Judge Lisa Dodson closed the court. Gulfport police began taking people into custody to try to calm the situation. Minter's mother, Sandra Moore, came out of the courtroom and said that "anyone who is here for Larry is being asked to leave. "But first, I'm going to see my baby." But court officials have not ordered family members not to return for the 2 p.m. hearing. Shouts from Minter's family could be heard in the hallway and one man was escorted out of the courtroom by security. One man was handcuffed in the courthouse stairwell after being asked to leave. (source: Biloxi Sun Herald) ********************* Investigators: Reports Show Boy Purposely Starved To Death--Toxicology Reports Say Boy Had No Pre-Existing Condition Investigators said on Friday that they're building a very strong case in the starvation death of a 4-year-old Scott County boy. A test that came back from the county coroner on Friday showed that 4-year-old Austin Watkins had no poison or drugs in his system and no indication that he was sick. Another report found the boy had almost nothing in his stomach when he died. Investigators said it further bolsters their case that the boy was purposely starved to death. He weighed 19 pounds at the time of his death, which is the equivalent weight of a 1-year-old child. His grandmother, Janice Mowdy, and aunt, Stephanie Bell, are charged with his death. The coroner said he's learning more about how the boy died. "There was so little in the stomach and digestive system that you can't tell what, if anything, the boy might have eaten," Scott County coroner Joe Bradford said. More callers to the 16 WAPT Feedback Line said other family members should be held accountable. "Everyone is accountable -- the state, county, grandparents -- those that saw him, mom, aunt," an unidentified caller said. "If they came in contact and didn't make sure he had food, they should be held accountable." "I can't understand why nobody around there noticed something," said Linda from Brandon. "Where was he? Someone should have noticed. What happens when people turn their back can cost lives." Investigators checked into the boy's previous trips to area hospitals and said there is no indication those visits had anything to do with weight loss. Investigators said the coroner's results contradict statements from the grandmother and the aunt. They told investigators the child had been sick for a while, which they said is why he lost so much weight. However, as part of the investigation, the pathologist spoke to doctors at University Medical Center. The doctors reviewed medical records and determined that Austin had been taken to the hospital more than a year ago. "But there was nothing in those records that had to do with weight loss," Bradford said. Mowdy and Bell are being held without bond. Their case goes to a Grand Jury in January, and their charges could be upgraded to capital murder, which would give prosecutors the option of seeking a death penalty. Watkins died on Nov. 9 -- 6 days shy of his 5th birthday. (source: WAPT News) ALABAMA----female could face death penalty Bay County Mother Indicted in Baby Killing The Bay County Grand Jury indicted Stephanie Michelle Collins on a charge of 1st Degree Murder. 26-year-old Collins, of Fountain, was charged with the Nov. 2, 2008, death of her infant boy on the day of his birth. The indictment alleges death by asphyxiation. Police say she suffocated her newborn, wrapped him in a plastic bag, then put him in a trash can. Collins is being held in the Bay County jail, without bond. If convicted, she could face life in prison or the death penalty. Her arraignment will be set at a later date. (source: WTVY News) NORTH CAROLINA: Man gets death penalty in 2006 Winston-Salem murder In Winston-Salem, aForsyth County jury handed down the state's 1st death penalty sentence in over a year Friday in the case of a cab driver who was murdered in 2006. On Monday, it took a jury 2 hours to convict James Ray Little III, 22, in the Oct. 5, 2006 murder and robbery of Bira Gueye, 47, along Patrick Street in northwest Winston-Salem. Little was arrested within 24 hours of the murder and investigators were also able to connect him to the robbery of 2 men in Greenway Park minutes prior to Gueye's killing, according to a news release. In a trial that lasted 1 week, the jury found Little guilty of 1st-degree murder on Monday. After 5 hours of deliberations, Thursday and Friday, the jury returned the death penalty verdict just before noon. Gueye had been in the United States on a work visa from his native Senegal in West Africa and was working to support 16 people in his home town, according to the District Attorney's Office. The sentencing was the 1st death penalty in the state since Oct. 17, 2007, the District Attorney's Office said. (source: Greensboro News Record)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----MISS., ALA., N.C.
Rick Halperin Sun, 23 Nov 2008 18:27:49 -0600 (Central Standard Time)
