Baltimore teacher accused of using AI to create fake, racist recording of principal

Dazhon Darien arrested over fake recording of principal complaining about students and faculty members

A high school athletics director suspected of using artificial intelligence to create a fake, racist recording of a principal in Baltimore has been arrested by police.

Police arrested 31-year-old Dazhon Darien of Pikesville high school on Thursday after an investigation into an AI-generated recording which featured the duplicated voice of the school’s principal, Eric Eiswert. Officers allege that Eiswert was investigating Darien in connection with the potential mishandling of school funds when the latter man purportedly created the recording.

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Arizona woman pleads guilty to stealing parts of corpses and trying to sell them

Candace Chapman Scott of Little Rock, 37, worked at a mortuary and arranged to transport remains to buyers across state lines

A former mortuary worker in Arkansas has admitted to stealing parts of corpses and trying to sell them.

On Thursday, the US attorney for the eastern district of Arkansas announced that 37-year-old Candace Chapman Scott of Little Rock, Arkansas, had pleaded guilty to transporting stolen body parts across state lines and conspiring to commit mail fraud.

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Paramedic convicted over Elijah McClain killing sentenced to probation

Jeremy Cooper injected McClain, 23, with ketamine after police forcibly restrained him as he walked home in Denver in 2019

A former paramedic who injected Elijah McClain with ketamine avoided prison and was sentenced to probation on Friday after his homicide conviction in the Black man’s death, which helped fuel the 2020 racial injustice protests.

Jeremy Cooper faced up to three years in prison. He administered a dose of the sedative to McClain, 23, who had been forcibly restrained after police stopped him as he was walking home in a Denver suburb in 2019.

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US flight attendant indicted in attempt to record teen in airplane bathroom

Investigators say man concealed iPhone to record bathroom video of 14-year-old girl, who used her phone to document evidence

An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted on Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September. Authorities also alleged that Estes Carter Thompson III had four separate videos which showed girls using lavatories on an aircraft where he worked.

The 36-year-old Thompson of Charlotte, North Carolina, was indicted on one count of attempted sexual exploitation of children and one count of possession of images of child sexual abuse depicting a prepubescent minor.

In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453 or visit their website for more resources and to report child abuse or DM for help. For adult survivors of child abuse, help is available at ascasupport.org. In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International

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Suspected drunk driver crashes into Michigan birthday party, killing children

Brother and sister, ages five and eight, killed as woman drives 25ft into a building, sheriff says

A young brother and sister died and several people were injured, some of them seriously, when a vehicle driven by a suspected drunken driver crashed into a young child’s birthday party on Saturday at a boat club, according to a Michigan sheriff.

An eight-year-old girl and her five-year-old brother died at the scene, when a 66-year-old woman crashed 25ft into the building at about 3pm at the Swan Creek Boat Club in Berlin Township, about 30 miles (48km) south of Detroit, the Monroe county sheriff, Troy Goodnough, said.

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Mental competency hearing delayed for US priest charged with raping teen

Lawrence Hecker is charged with raping teenager after strangling him in 1975 in a New Orleans church

A mental competency hearing has been delayed again for a 92-year-old retired Catholic priest faced with charges of raping a teenager after strangling him unconscious in 1975 in a New Orleans church.

Lawrence Hecker’s trial on state charges of aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated crime against nature and theft has been delayed several times since January.

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Ford Bronco in 1994 slow-speed police chase of OJ Simpson up for sale

Simpson’s former agent and two friends of Al Cowlings – who drove the vehicle during the infamous chase – hope to fetch $1.5m

The current owners of the white Ford Bronco at the center of the infamous 1994 OJ Simpson police chase say they hope to sell the vehicle for at least $1.5m now that he has died.

Simpson’s former agent Michael Gilbert and two friends of Al Cowlings – the SUV’s original owner – said they would probably sell the vehicle amid burgeoning interest following Simpson’s death on 10 April, the collections website cllct first reported.

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Atlantic City mayor charged with abusing teenage daughter

Marty Small and his wife, a local school district superintendent, were charged with assaulting daughter ‘on multiple occasions’

The mayor of New Jersey’s Atlantic City, Marty Small, and his wife – the local school district superintendent – were charged on Monday with abusing and assaulting their teenage daughter on multiple occasions, including hitting her in the head with a broom and knocking her unconscious.

The Atlantic county prosecutor’s office said it filed charges of endangering the welfare of a child against both parents.

In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453 or visit their website for more resources and to report child abuse or DM for help. For adult survivors of child abuse, help is available at ascasupport.org. In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800; adult survivors can seek help at Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International

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Ex-US marine sentenced to nine years for California abortion clinic attack

Chance Brannon firebombed a Planned Parenthood clinic in 2022 and had plans to attack a power station and a Pride celebration

A former US marine was sentenced on Monday to nine years in prison for firebombing a southern California Planned Parenthood clinic in 2022, federal prosecutors said.

Chance Brannon, 24, pleaded guilty in November to four felony counts, including malicious destruction of property by fire as well as explosives and intentional damage to a reproductive health services facility.

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Conman who swindled $175m in ‘massive’ psychic fraud scheme sentenced to 10 years

Patrice Runner, 57, of Canada was convicted in June of multiple counts of defrauding ‘millions of older and vulnerable Americans’

A Canadian conman, who swindled more than US$175m (C$241m) from his North American victims through “a massive psychic mass-mailing fraud scheme” has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Patrice Runner, 57, who holds citizenship with both Canada and France, was convicted by a jury in June of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, eight counts of mail fraud, four counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He was found not guilty on four counts of mail fraud.

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Ohio man charged with murder over shooting of Black ride-share driver

William Brock, 81, who is white, was arrested after he fatally shot Lo-Letha Hall, 61, outside his home in South Charleston, Ohio

An Ohio man was charged with murder after shooting a Black ride-share driver in an unprovoked attack, following the most recent string of cases of Black Americans being shot while doing mundane things.

William Brock, 81, who is white, was arrested after he fatally shot Lo-Letha Hall, 61, outside his home in South Charleston, Ohio, about an hour outside Dayton, NBC News reported.

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Owners of Colorado funeral home where 190 bodies were found charged with Covid fraud

Jon and Carie Hallford accused of fraudulently obtaining nearly $900,000 in pandemic relief funds from US government

The couple who owned a Colorado funeral home – where 190 decaying bodies were discovered last year – have been indicted on federal charges for fraudulently obtaining nearly $900,000 in pandemic relief funds from the US government, according to court documents unsealed on Monday.

The new federal charges against Jon and Carie Hallford add to charges in Colorado state court for abusing corpses. The 15 fraud charges filed against each of the Hallfords carry potential penalties of 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines, according to the indictment.

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Murder of second world war veteran milkman in Florida solved after 50 years

Investigators say two people came forward after death of man who killed Hiram ‘Ross’ Grayam in 1968

More than five decades after a second world war veteran was killed while working as a milkman in Florida, investigators say they have solved the case thanks to two people who came forward after the killer died.

Hiram “Ross” Grayam was delivering milk in April 1968 and failed to return home after work. Deputies later found his body and his milk truck deep in the woods in the Vero Beach area, the Indian River county sheriff’s office said in a news release. He had been shot several times.

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Man arrested in Alabama bombing outside state attorney general’s office

Kyle Benjamin Douglas Calvert, 26, allegedly put stickers on state buildings with antifa, anti-police and anti-Ice sentiments

An Alabama man has been charged with detonating an explosive device outside the state attorney general’s office.

In a statement on Wednesday, the justice department announced that authorities had arrested 26-year-old Kyle Benjamin Douglas Calvert of Irondale on charges of malicious use of an explosive and possession of an unregistered destructive device.

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Missouri death row inmate executed despite widespread calls for clemency

Brian Dorsey, convicted of murdering his cousin and her husband, put to death amid efforts by many to have his sentence commuted

Brian Dorsey, who was convicted of murdering his cousin and her husband in 2006, was executed in Missouri’s Bonne Terre state prison Tuesday despite an extraordinary effort by corrections officials and his appeals judge to have his capital sentence commuted.

Prison officials confirmed that Dorsey had been put to death by lethal injection. They said he had been pronounced dead at 6.11pm.

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Woman sentenced to prison for stealing and selling Biden’s daughter’s diary

Aimee Harris of Florida sold Ashley Biden’s diary to conservative group Project Veritas in actions judge called ‘despicable’

A Florida woman was sentenced Tuesday to a month in prison and three months of home confinement for stealing and selling Joe Biden’s daughter’s diary four years ago to the conservative group Project Veritas.

Aimee Harris was sentenced in Manhattan federal court by Laura Taylor Swain, the judge who called the Palm Beach, Florida, woman’s actions “despicable”.

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New York appeals judge rejects Trump’s request to delay hush-money trial

Lawyers had argued trial should be postponed while they seek a change of venue to move it out of heavily Democratic Manhattan

A New York appeals court judge has rejected former President Donald Trump’s request to delay his 15 April hush-money criminal trial while he fights to move the case out of Manhattan.

The decision came Monday, a week before jury selection was set to start.

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Missouri death row inmate’s attorneys ask supreme court to block execution

Petition argues that Brian Dorsey is fully rehabilitated and that execution would violate eighth amendment

Attorneys for a Missouri death row inmate have asked the US supreme court to block an execution sentence from going ahead on Tuesday, following a petition for clemency from more than 70 correctional officers and a letter from the inmate’s appeals court judge.

The petition – a writ of certiorari – asks the court to spare Brian Dorsey’s life in favor of a life without parole sentence based on grounds that he is fully rehabilitated and therefore execution would be counter to the eighth amendment constitutional ban against punishments which serve no deterrent or rehabilitation purpose.

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Jonathan Majors sentenced to probation but no prison time for assaulting ex-girlfriend

Creed III star faced up to a year in prison after he was convicted of misdemeanor assault in December of 2023

Actor Jonathan Majors was sentenced to probation but avoided prison time Monday for assaulting his ex-girlfriend in a high-profile case that derailed the once-promising star’s career.

The 34-year-old star of Creed III and other films had faced up to a year behind bars after he was convicted of misdemeanor assault by a Manhattan jury in December.

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US victim wrongly locked up for years vindicated as identity thief pleads guilty

William Woods was sent to a mental institution because Matthew Keirans – who faces 32 years in prison – stole his name for decades

William Woods was homeless and living in Los Angeles when he learned that someone was racking up debt using his name.

But when he reported his concerns to the branch manager of a bank, he wound up spending nearly two years locked up, accused of identity theft himself. As he continued to insist he was Woods in a desperate effort to clear his name, he was even sent to a state mental hospital and drugged, court records show.

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