The US state of Texas executed a man for stabbing to death his ex-girlfriend, her young son and her mother, state prison authorities said.
Jose Villegas, 38, was put to death by lethal injection and pronounced dead at 7:04 pm local time (0004 GMT) in Huntsville, said Jason Clark, spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
It was the 17th US execution this year and the seventh in Texas, where an execution has occurred each week over the past five weeks.
A southeast Texas town with a history of racial unrest on Monday fired two white police officers recently captured on video slamming a black woman’s head into a countertop and wrestling her to the ground.
“The amount of force used was abominable,” the woman’s attorney, Cade Bernsen, told Yahoo News.
The incident was captured by security cameras at the Jasper, Texas, police headquarters.
Keyarika “Shea” Diggles, 25, was brought to the jail on May 5 for an unpaid fine, according to Bernsen. He said she was was on the phone with her mother trying to arrange to get the $100 owed when Officer Ricky Grissom cut off the call.
There’s no audio on the video, but Diggles and Grissom were apparently arguing when Officer Ryan Cunningham comes in behind Diggles and attempts to handcuff her. When she appears to raise her hand, Cunningham grabs Diggles by the hair and slams her head into a countertop. The officers wrestle Diggles to the ground before dragging her by her ankles into a jail cell.
“She got her hair pulled out, broke a tooth, braces got knocked off … it was brutal,” Bernsen said.
A cheerleader’s body has been found in Texas two years after she went missing. On April 26,NBC News reported that Hailey Darlene Dunn’s remains were found near Lake J.B. Thomas in Scurry County last month. There is still an investigation ongoing as authorities try to figure out what happened to the 13-year-old girl. According to, examiner.
The first woman scheduled to be executed in the U.S. since 2010 won a reprieve Tuesday, mere hours before she was scheduled to be taken to the Texas death chamber.
State District Judge Larry Mitchell, in Dallas, rescheduled Kimberly McCarthy’s punishment for April 3 so lawyers for the former nursing home therapist could have more time to pursue an appeal focused on whether her predominantly white jury was improperly selected on the basis of race. McCarthy is black.
According to Inquirer, Matthew McConaughey married his longtime girlfriend, Brazilian model Camila Alves, on Saturday evening, according to People magazine.
The couple tied the knot in a private ceremony in Texas before close friends and family, including their two young kids, with Alves taking the groom’s last name to become Camila McConaughey, the actor’s rep told the magazine.
McConaughey, 42, and Alves, 30, were engaged in December but kept the date of the wedding on his estate secret.
Named the “sexiest man alive” in 2005 by People McConaughey showed up at Cannes in May to promote his latest films “Paperboy” and “Mud.”
MATTHEW McMCONAUGHEY AND CAMILA ALVES photo credit inquirer
Source-Story & Media Credit: The Sideshow – Eric Pfeiffe
Posted: Thursday May 10, 2012 @ 10:30 p.m PST
According to Sideshow, 45-year-old Joseph Glynn Farley didn’t reinvent the wheel, but he certainly came up with a unique way to get arrested while cruising around on one.
Police detained the Southeast Texas man after he was discovered riding a unicycle naked across a bridge. In an understatement, Farley was arrested for allegedly distracting drivers and creating a hazard.
In the accompanying police video, a female dispatcher can be overheard saying that Farley is headed North “riding on a unicycle and is not wearing any clothes.” And don’t worry about viewing the video at work, the potentially offending aspects of Farley’s anatomy are blurred out.
He was charged with misdemeanor indecent exposure. His bond is reportedly set at $1,500.
Kemah police Chief Greg Rikard said even though Farley was not only nude but was repeatedly falling off his unicycle into traffic, he apparently was “not intoxicated or impaired” at the time.
Instead, Farley told police he simply liked the feeling of riding without his clothes.
Media Credit: Photo (Daily Mail) (usa.se.pl) / Video (INFO7.mx)
Posted: Friday April 27, 2012 @ 2:03 p.m. PST
A Mexican woman is pregnant with nine babies – six girls and three boys – the country’s main broadcaster Televisa reported on Thursday night.
The woman was identified as Karla Vanessa Perez of the northeastern state of Coahuila, which borders Texas. She is currently being treated at a hospital in the state capital Saltillo, the broadcaster said in the report.
Perez, whose age was not given, had fertility treatment leading to the multiple pregnancy, it said.
State-owned news agency Notimex also reported the pregnancy, saying Perez was due to give birth on May 20.
“It’s very early to think of names for the babies,” Perez told Notimex. “First I hope that everything goes well.”
The successful delivery of nonuplets would be one of the highest multiple births ever recorded.
In 2009, a woman in California gave birth to octuplets, sparking worldwide media attention.
Karla Vanessa Perez Pregnant With Nine Babies. Photo Credit: Daily MailKarla Vanessa Perez Husband Bernardo. Photo Credit: Daily Mail
Source & Story Credit: GMA – By GINA SUNSERI, KEVIN DOLAK and DEAN SCHABNER
Media Credit: Photo (NyDailyNews) (telegraph.co.uk) Video (YouTube TooLateToSave)
Posted: Wednesday April 18, 2012 @1:55 p.m. PST
A registered nurse arrested for gunning down and killing a new mother and snatching her 3-day-old baby in the parking lot of a Texas pediatrician’s office will face capital murder charges, according to the Montgomery County district attorney.
The newborn, Keegan Schuchardt, was found alive and well six hours after his 28-year-old mother Kayla Marie Golden was killed Tuesday, according to police. The suspect in the killing, Verna Deann McClain, a 30-year-old mother of three, is in police custody.
“She’s given a full statement to the detectives with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department,” the district attorney, Brett Ligon, said today on “Good Morning America.” “As part of the statement with that agency, in conjunction with the other evidence that we were able to obtain yesterday…we did charge her [McClain] in the early hours of this morning with capital murder.”
Golden was standing by her pickup truck outside the pediatrician’s office in Spring, Texas, around 2:40 p.m. when a car with a man and woman inside pulled up. There was reportedly an altercation, after which the woman got out and shot the mother repeatedly with what was believed to be a 9mm pistol, then took the baby and drove off.
“My baby, my baby!,” Golden reportedly screamed as her infant boy was taken from his car seat.
As the mother lay dying in the parking lot, a description of the getaway vehicle and occupants quickly went out as an Amber Alert. Golden later died at a local hospital.
Police were led to the Fawndale Apartments in Houston, where sources said a SWAT team entered a unit and found a woman inside speaking on the phone with another woman. Investigators were then able to track the woman on the other phone to a home in north Harris County, where baby Keegan was found.
“It’s unusual to get such a large swing of events, to go from the murder to the recovery of the child and have the suspect in custody all in a matter of few hours,” Ligon told “GMA.” Rarely do things work out like they do on TV but, in this case, I can’t say enough about law enforcement here in Montgomery County.”
An affidavit obtained by ABC News from the Montgomery County police states that McClain admitted to shooting Golden and taking the baby to her home in Texas’ Harris County.
According to the affidavit, McClain’s sister, Corina Jackson, had recently said that her sister would be adopting a baby soon. After she allegedly killed Golden and stole her newborn,
McClain stated to her sister that she now had the child. McClain has three children ages 16, 10 and 6.
“There were statements that were made by Ms. McClain that led us to believe this was an intentional act on her part, not that Ms. Golden was targeted specifically, but that this was part of a plan to kidnap a child,” Ligon said.
Witnesses said the mom fought to keep the baby from the kidnappers, but ended up in the parking lot with gunshot wounds.
“She was laying on the ground. She wasn’t moving for nothing,” witness Joshua Jesson told ABC station KTRK in Houston. “But then I saw a blue Lexus drive off in that direction.”
“The child was being put into the suspect vehicle and that’s when the mother tried to get into the car,” Lt. Dan Norris with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said. “The car sped away, knocking the lady to the ground.”
The female suspect, McClain, was described by witnesses at the scene as a black female carrying a small caliber pistol, possibly a 9mm.
Baby Keegan remains in custody of the state’s Child Protective Services while officials conduct a full background investigation on his father, Keith Schuchardt, before the newborn is returned to his care, according to Ligon.
“I expect them to be reunited this morning or sometime this afternoon,” he said. “Obviously for the father, Keith, it has been a roller coaster. You lose your wife one day but you’re able to recover your child, it’s an emotional swing not many people would be prepared for but I understand he’s holding up well.”
The suspect in the killing, Verna Deann McClain, a 30-year-old mother of three, is in police custody. Photot Credit: telegraph.co.ukNewborn Keegan Schuchardt, was found alive and well six hours after his 28-year-old mother Kayla Marie Golden was killed Tuesday, according to police. Photo Credit: NY Daily News
