Memorial service set for slain 8-year-old girl

Memorial Services for Sandra Cantu have been set for today. My heart still goes out to her family. I cannot imagine what they must be going through right now.

I can only hope that seeing justice done will help to ease their pain, although it won't bring little Sandra back.

The woman accused of this heinous act deserves to die for it. It's just that simple:

"CNN) -- Eight-year-old Sandra Cantu will be remembered at a memorial service Thursday in the central California community where she lived and was later found dead.

The girl, who police say died at the hands of a Sunday school teacher, was last seen alive March 27 in the mobile home park where she lived with her family in Tracy, California. Police found her body April 6, stuffed into a suitcase and submerged in a pond at a dairy farm in the area.

Police arrested Melissa Huckaby, 28, and charged her with killing and raping Sandra, who was a friend of her 5-year-old daughter. She faces charges of murder, kidnapping, the performance of a lewd and lascivious act on a child under 14, and rape by instrument.

Huckaby, a Sunday school teacher at Clover Road Baptist Church, lived in the nearby mobile home park that Sandra's family lived in.

If convicted, Huckaby would face the death penalty or life in prison without parole, San Joaquin County District Attorney James Willett said this week.

The service for Sandra is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET at a high school in Tracy. " Source: CNN

Mom stages kidnapping to get money from ex, feds say

It seems that people will stoop to the lowest of lows in order to get money. Apparently Alejandra Arriaza heard that her ex-husband had come into a large sum of money, so she decide to stage the kidnapping of her and her 17 year-old son!

First of all, when so many things could go wrong with these types of setups, why would you risk the life of your child for a few bucks?

"MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- A mother and her teenage son are kidnapped. The kidnappers place a cell phone in the car of the boy's father so they can communicate their ransom demands. The son is burned with a blowtorch. The mother implores the father to pay the ransom.

A terrifying scenario, but one that the FBI and police say was all orchestrated by the mother to get some fast cash from her ex-husband.

The mother, Alejandra Arriaza, her boyfriend, Angel Ponce, and his nephew, Joel Boza, were charged Tuesday with federal kidnapping counts. If convicted, they could be sentenced to life in prison.

According to an FBI affidavit, all three have admitted their roles in the phony kidnapping." Source: CNN

Sandra Cantu, child found in submerged luggage may have been raped

In another development in the Sandra Cantu murder, authorities say that the child may have also been raped before being murdered:

"(CNN) -- A Sunday school teacher accused of killing a Tracy, California girl may also have raped the 8-year-old, authorities say.

Melissa Huckaby, expected to be arraigned Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET in the death of Sandra Cantu, will face additional charges, including rape, police told CNN.

"When she was booked, she was booked on charges of kidnapping and murder," Tracy Police Sgt. Tony Sheneman said on "Larry King Live" on Monday night. "And we're informed by the district attorney that she'll be charged with abduction, murder, rape with a foreign object and lewd and lascivious acts with a child."

Sandra's body was found April 6, stuffed into a suitcase and submerged in a pond at a dairy farm. Huckaby, also of Tracy, California, was arrested on April 10 after questioning by police.

Sandra was last seen alive March 27 in the mobile home park where she lived with her family -- the same mobile home park where Huckaby lives with her own 5-year-old daughter. The two children were close friends and played together frequently, police said." Source: CNN

Ark. Senate OKs ban on sale of toy guns that look real

I remember when I was a kid growing up in the Eighties, there never seemed to be an issue with kids playing with toy guns. Even the local convenience store sold those little cap guns. However, people have become increasingly concerned about kids playing with toy guns.

Most of the outcries are the result of accidental shootings involving kids shooting other kids. However, an increasing number of children have been shot by the police while yielding these toy guns.

Thanks to my friend, Sean, I've learned how Arkansas is attempting to do something about this:

"LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas' Senate has approved a ban on the sale of realistic-looking toy guns after stripping from the title the name of a West Memphis boy fatally shot by police.

By a 20-6 vote, the Senate approved the measure to prohibit the sale of play guns that are designed to look like the real thing. Sen. Tracy Steele, the bill's Senate sponsor, said the measure merely mirrors what's already in federal law.

The House had approved the measure, which was originally named the DeAunta Farrow Imitation Firearms Act, after the West Memphis boy who was fatally shot by a police officer who said the boy was holding a gun. But the bill's sponsor agreed to remove the boy's name from the bill after complaints from the family, who dispute police accounts that DeAunta was holding a toy weapon.

The boy was shot to death in 2007 and a civil lawsuit is pending." Source: KSMF

Sentencing a 14-year old to life without parole: Do you know who Quantel Lotts is?

Quantel Lotts is a 23 year-old man who was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole in the accidental killing of his stepbrother when he was only 14:

"Lotts, who was sentenced to life without parole when he was 14 years old -- one of the very few people in the world to get such a punishment. [...]

A group called Equal Justice is fighting to get Lotts' sentence changed, calling it a case of cruel and unusual punishment. Even Charles Manson gets a shot at parole, CNN notes." Source: Crime Scene Kansas City

First of all I cannot understand how on earth it could ever be justifiable to send a 14 year-old child to prison for the rest of his life with no parole!

This case is yet another example of how the justice system unfairly treats minorities. If Quantel was named Johnny, and didn't have dark skin, would he have seen the same fate? I think not!

I am glad that the group, Equal Justice is fighting on behalf of Quantel and other youth like him:

"Lotts is one of at least 73 U.S. inmates — most of them minorities — who were sentenced to spend the rest of their lives in prison for crimes committed when they were 13 or 14, according to the Equal Justice Initiative, a nonprofit organization in Alabama that defends indigent defendants and prisoners.

The 73 are just a fraction of the more than 2,000 offenders serving life sentences for crimes they committed as minors under the age of 18." Source: Broken Spectrum of the World-Delivered

Honors student leaves doctor's office, disappears

This may seem like a cold case, but if this were your family member, wouldn't you want people to care what happened?

Something definitely sounds fishy about this case where young Cleashindra Hall left her job at a doctor's home and was never seen again. Apparently the police did not immediately search the home of this doctor, leaving the possibility that valuable evidence could have been removed:

"NEW YORK (CNN) -- Cleashindra Hall was 18 and in the most exciting time of her life when she disappeared in May 1994, a week after her senior prom. Cleashindra Hall was two weeks shy of her high school graduation when she disappeared.

She had spent hours preparing for the prom, choosing the perfect dress and getting her hair and nails done. She was an honor roll student and would give the commencement speech at her high school graduation in two weeks. Hall wanted to be a pediatrician and was looking forward to attending Tennessee State University to study pre-medicine.

But all that came to an abrupt halt after 8:30 p.m. May 9, 1994, when she left her after-school job at the home office of Dr. Larry Amos in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. It was the last time she was seen.

She usually called home when finished work, and one of her parents would pick her up. She spoke to her mother on the phone just after 8 p.m. Her mother expected her to call again soon for a ride home. She never did.

Police urge anyone with more information regarding the whereabouts of Cleashindra Hall to call the tip line at 870-543-5111. More than $10,000 in reward money is offered." Source: CNN

Police to search Clover Road Baptist Church in Sandra Cantu's murder

We told you earlier that missing California 8-year-old, Sandra Cantu, was found dead in an irrigation pond. Now we learn that the home and church of a local pastor have been searched by the police:

"The Clover Road Baptist Church on West Clover Road is just down the street from where Sandra lived at the Orchard Estates Mobile Home Park in Tracy. The church was cordoned off by yellow police tape today as officers awaited a search warrant. No arrests have been made.

Police Sgt. Tony Sheneman said investigators planned to search the church in conjunction with a search of a residence in the mobile home park. Neighbors said the home being searched was that of the pastor." Source: SanFrancisco Chronicle

I am speechless at the latest turn of events in this case. Of course all suspects are innocent until found guilty, but to think that a pastor could have had something to do with this act is unfathomable!

UPDATE: 3 Revelus siblings side-by-side at funeral

We first brought you the tragic story of the Revelus family, last week. All three Revelus children (including Kirby Revelus, who murdered his two sisters) were laid to rest in a joint ceremony (video below).

It is unimaginable what this family must be going through right now. I am glad to see that the community has rallied around them. I truly hope that this tragedy will bring further awareness to mental illness:

"(NECN: Stephen Iandoli, Mattapan, Mass.) - The sole survivor of a rampage that left three of her siblings dead, little Sarafina Revelus, 9, was recently released from the hospital and limped into the Jubilee Christian Church Saturday to say goodbye.

In an extremely emotional final farewell, where one person had to be taken away by ambulance, more than a thousand friends, family and well-wishers packed the Mattapan Church to pay their final respect to 17-year-old Samantha and 5-year-old Bianca -- sisters taken way too early, but remembered for the impact they made in such a short time.

Kerby Revelus, 23, who killed his sisters in their Milton home last weekend before police shot and killed him, lay next to them at the funeral. The Revelus siblings will be laid to rest side-by-side.

"She's still the mother of all three," Revelus family spokesman Ernst Guerrier said. "There was absolutely no discussion of ever having two separate ceremonies. From the very beginning it was always going to be that three children were going to be buried together."

A trust fund has also been set up for the Revelus Children at Citizen's Bank. The family did extend an invitation to the funeral to the Milton PD. They did not attend. The Revelus family attorney said he believes that was probably out of respect for the family.

NECN's Stephen Iandoli reports." Source: NECN

direct link to video

LaHeather Wilson, mom whose 7-month-old son died after being left in car over night didn't call 9-1-1, high on Rx drugs

In our original article written by Janet Shan (reposted here), we told you how LaHeather Wilson allegedly left her 7-month-old son, Christian in his car seat over night (after picking him up from day care), which resulted in his death.

As the story unfolds, we now find that according to the affidavit, Wilson was high on the prescription drug, hydrocodone and didn't even call 9-1-1:

"CEDAR HILL - A woman whose infant died after being left overnight in a car made four telephone calls, none of them to 911, after she discovered her son's lifeless body, according to a police affidavit. A neighbor finally called the emergency number.

Cedar Hill police say LaHeather Wilson told them she 'blacked out' on Tuesday evening after taking Hydrocodone prescribed for a knee operation and drinking wine.

The affidavit says she awoke at 6:45 the next morning on the couch, only to discover her son's play pen empty. After a frantic search, she found 7-month-old Christian still strapped in the car seat in the back of her 1994 Plymouth Acclaim parked in front of the house[...]

Wilson said Tuesday afternoon, she took two pills before she picked up her three children from day care, then a third when she returned home. She brought the diaper bag inside from the car, but not the baby, according to the affidavit." Source: Fox News

As I stated in my original comments about this case, drugs and/or alcohol had to be involved. We have received an outpouring from readers claiming to know Wilson, who have stated that she was a good person and would never have done these things deliberately. On the other hand, one of our readers was so outraged that she called her a "wayward dog" for her actions.

I still stand by my original opinion of Laheather Wilson:

Barring mental illness, there is no way that a mother could forget her baby in the car overnight unless she was on drugs or something. Either way, she should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

And if an unfortunate incident (such as being beaten with a bag of nickels) befell her while in prison, I would have no objections.

This kind of thing disgusts me... Source: The Thomas Tribune

So what do you think? Considering that Laheather Wilson was high on prescription drugs, how does this change your opinion of this case?

UPDATE!!! Officer Robert Powell in Ryan Moats traffic stop case has resigned! Good riddance!

I am glad to see that the officer resigned. He does not deserve to represent the people of Dallas given his conduct in this case, and in previous cases:

DALLAS—The police officer who pulled out his gun and threatened an NFL player with jail instead of allowing him inside a hospital where his mother-in-law was dying resigned Wednesday. Officer Robert Powell had been placed on leave for the March 18 incident when he stopped Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats' SUV outside Baylor Regional Medical Center in suburban Plano after the vehicle rolled through a red light. Moats' wife, Tamishia, and other relatives were also in the car. [...]

Police said the ticket issued to Moats was dismissed. Police Chief Kunkle has apologized to the family over the incident, saying, "When we at the command staff reviewed the tape, we were embarrassed, disappointed."

Bob Gorsky, Powell's attorney, said his client felt it was "time to move on." He said Powell had no immediate employment plans but hopes to return to law enforcement.

"He wanted to keep his job very much, but he considered the toll this story was taking on his family and himself," Gorsky said. Source: Boston Globe

What do you think? Should Officer Powell have resigned?