National Roundup

Ohio
911 calls reflect chaos from shooting at party
CINCINNATI (AP) — Recorded 911 calls reflect chaos and confusion after a deadly shooting at a gender reveal party in Ohio that caused the expectant mother to lose her baby.

WCPO-TV reports one caller told a dispatcher: “There’s a whole lot of people here shot.”

Colerain Township police say two gunmen opened fire Saturday night at a house party held to reveal the gender of a pregnant woman’s unborn child.

One woman died, and eight people were injured. The slain woman was identified as 22-year-old Autum Garrett, of Huntington, Indiana.

The injured included three young children and the expectant mother, who told local media she lost her baby after being shot in the leg.

A motive for the shooting wasn’t immediately clear.

The gunmen fled. No arrests have been made.

Florida
Authorities say toddler beaten to death for drinking milk from the jug
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Authorities say a 3-year-old Florida boy died after he was beaten with a plastic rod because he drank milk from a jug.

Orange County sheriff’s investigators say Xavier Mokarzel-Satchel was killed by his mother’s roommates, 58-year-old Callene Barton and 28-year-old Lakesha Lewis.

The Orlando Sentinel reported Monday that court records show Xavier’s mother, Brandi Mokarzel, was awakened Friday by Barton yelling at her son. Investigators say Lewis grabbed a plastic rod and repeatedly hit Xavier until the rod broke. They say Barton then grabbed the boy and threw him.

Xavier began to shake. Mokarzel called 911 but the boy died.

Barton and Lewis are charged with first-degree murder. Mokarzel is charged with child neglect for allegedly not reporting previous abuse by the women.

Florida
Man reports rhesus monkeys swarm property
OCALA, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man says he’s got a monkey problem.

News outlets report that Brian Pritchard of Ocala says troops of rhesus monkeys swarm his property two times a day to swipe food in a feeder meant for deer. Cameras he set up to photograph the deer instead captured pictures of dozens of monkeys. He has counted as many as 50 monkeys at a time.

Pritchard says the primates have eaten 250 pounds of food in recent days.

Officials say the monkeys probably came from Silver Springs State Park about 4 miles away. The park recently shut down two areas because of increased monkey presence. It’s estimated that 200 monkeys live in the park, but many are seen beyond its boundaries.

California
Jenners respond to lawsuit: Only 2 Tupac shirts sold
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The fashion label for Kendall and Kylie Jenner said Sunday it only sold two “vintage” T-shirts with late rapper Tupac Shakur’s image on them before pulling the items from stores.

The Kendall + Kylie brand released a statement in response to a copyright infringement lawsuit filed Friday by a commercial photographer who shot the images on the shirts. The lawsuit by commercial photographer Michael Miller accused the Jenner sisters of using two images of Shakur without his permission.

The label’s statement says the shirts with Shakur’s image were obtained from a company that had a valid license to sell them. The Kylie + Kendall brand superimposed images of the Jenner sisters or other designs over photos of musicians, including Shakur, Notorious B.I.G. and Ozzy Osbourne. It called Miller’s lawsuit baseless.

The shirts sold for $125 apiece, but they were they pulled from the marketplace after Osbourne’s wife, Sharon, and B.I.G’s mother complained and the label apologized.

Florida
Sentencing set in baseball player smuggling case
MIAMI (AP) — A September sentencing date has been set for a sports agent and a baseball trainer convicted in Miami of smuggling Cuban baseball players into the U.S.

Court records show a federal judge has set Sept. 29 for the sentencing of agent Bartolo Hernandez and trainer Julio Estrada, convicted by a jury in March after a six-week trial.

Prosecutors said Hernandez faces up to 15 years in prison and Estrada — convicted of more smuggling counts — faces a maximum of 35 years behind bars.

Trial evidence showed the pair ran an international operation to smuggle Cuban players in return for a cut of their lucrative baseball contracts, including Jose Abreu of the Chicago White Sox, Adeiny Hechavarria of the Tampa Bay Rays and Leonys Martin of the Seattle Mariners.

Texas
Police: Infant in car in chase after robbery
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Police in North Texas say a driver who led officers on a chase after a robbery brought along an unexpected passenger: his infant child.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that 19-year-old Quardrion Atkins and two other teenagers were arrested Saturday.

Police in Arlington say the three are accused of robbing an apartment Friday night and a home on Saturday, after which they led police on a short chase in an SUV. Authorities say Atkins’ child was in the vehicle.

Police say each of the three suspects will face two counts of aggravated robbery.

Arlington police spokeswoman Vanessa Harrison says Atkins will also be charged with endangering a child. The Arlington jail confirmed Atkins was in custody Sunday but said no defense attorney was listed in his records.

Iowa
Ex-Senate aide’s sex harassment lawsuit begins
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A trial has begun on the sexual harassment lawsuit by a former Iowa Senate Republican Caucus aide.

The trial opened Monday in Polk County District Court on the lawsuit filed in October 2014 by Kirsten Anderson. Anderson contends that she was fired from her job as caucus communications director because she complained that for years, she had been subjected to sexual harassment by male aides and lawmakers. She says that after she complained, her supervisors began nitpicking her work and eventually fired her.
Republican officials deny that she was harassed and say she was fired because of poor job performance.