Nebraska
Woman sentenced for sex abuse of girls on drill team
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha woman found guilty of sexually assaulting much younger members of her dance team has been sentenced to decades in prison.
Court records show that Brittianee Bates, 24, was sentenced Thursday to 28 to 56 years in prison. She must serve 14 years before being eligible for parole.
Bates pleaded no contest earlier this year to two counts of first-degree sexual assault and one count each of third-degree sexual assault of a child and intentional child abuse.
Bates didn’t admit guilt with the plea, but acknowledged that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict her. In exchange for her pleas, four other felony counts were dropped.
Prosecutors said Bates sexually assaulted three girls who were on the same drill team as Bates and a fourth girl who went to a day care where Bates worked. The abuse dated back to 2015 and all of victims were younger than 13. Some were as young as 9.
Ohio
Mistrial declared in quadruple murder case as jury deadlocks
WEST CHESTER, Ohio (AP) — The murder trial of an Ohio man accused of fatally shooting four members of his family, including his wife, ended in a mistrial Friday after the jury said it could not reach a unanimous verdict.
The ruling came shortly after Butler County Common Pleas Court Judge Greg Howard had rejected a mistrial motion made by lawyers for Gurpreet Singh. They cited potential misconduct by two jurors who were reportedly arguing loudly with each other during deliberations and calling each other names.
After Howard rejected that request, he gave the jury a form to complete. It had two options: Continue deliberating or decide that further deliberations would not do any good. The jury chose the latter option a short time later.
Singh, 40, was facing four counts of aggravated murder in the deaths of his wife, her parents and her aunt in West Chester in April 2019. If convicted, he could have faced the death penalty.
When asked if the state would seek a new trial, Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser replied: “Yes, hell yes.” Singh’s lawyers did not immediately comment on the mistrial ruling.
A hearing on the case was scheduled for Nov. 1.
Defense lawyers had cited the lack of blood found on Singh’s clothing, arguing there were other suspects that authorities had not fully investigated. Prosecutors had said Singh was motivated by financial issues, an extramarital affair and hatred toward his father-in-law.
Illinois
Coach convicted of sexually abusing young ice skater
ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) — A jury found a northern Illinois ice skating coach guilty of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving a young skater.
The verdict against Eugene Heffron, 83, was announced Friday by the Winnebago County state’s attorney’s office. The girl was between the ages of 9 and 15 when the abuse occurred from 1999-2006.
She was among three former skaters who accused the longtime coach in Rockford of sexual misconduct in 2018. Illinois State Police conducted an investigation after reports that skaters were touched inappropriately during lessons, the Rockford Register Star reported that year.
Heffron is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 27, 2023. He faces between three and seven years in prison, according to prosecutors. He also could receive probation.
Trial dates involving two additional victims have not been set.
Heffron, a member of the U.S. ice dancing demonstration team at the 1968 Olympics in Grenoble, France, had taught figure skating for the Rockford Park District on and off since 1984 and helped put on ice shows, the Rockford Register Star reported. He also taught in the district’s Learn to Skate program and gave one-on-one instruction to skaters who had trained in the Rockford area.
Indiana
Man gets 8-year prison term for shooting 2 judges
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A man convicted of shooting two southern Indiana judges during a fight outside an Indianapolis fast food restaurant in 2019 was sentenced Friday to eight years in prison.
A Marion County judge sentenced Brandon Kaiser to 16 years, with eight years to be served in prison followed by six years of probation, the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office said.
A jury convicted Kaiser last month of aggravated battery, multiple battery-related charges and carrying a handgun without a license. He was acquitted on one count of battery resulting in moderate bodily injury.
Clark County Circuit judges Brad Jacobs and Andrew Adams were shot in the early morning hours of May 1, 2019. Another judge, Sabrina Bell of Crawford County, was with Jacobs and Adams when they were shot outside of a downtown Indianapolis White Castle restaurant.
Kaiser claimed he was acting in self-defense against the group of judges, who were in town for a conference, and court documents claimed Bell flipped off Kaiser and his nephew.
“This dispute should have never occurred and ultimately led to significant and lasting consequences for all involved,” Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears said in a statement.
Adams pleaded guilty to a battery charge in September 2019 and received a one-year suspended sentence.
The Indiana Commission of Judicial Qualifications filed disciplinary charges against the three judges involved. Jacobs and Bell were reinstated to the bench in December 2019 after serving 30-day suspensions. Adams served a 60-day suspension.
Bell resigned from the bench on July 15 after the Indiana Supreme Court suspended her when a special prosecutor filed felony charges against her related to a domestic dispute.
Washington
Man held without bail in 3-day spate of shootings
SEATTLE (AP) — A 31-year-old Seattle man is being held without bail in what police describe as a three-day spate of shootings that left the owner of one business dead, the owner of another in critical condition and the driver of a car wounded in the leg.
According to authorities, the suspect shot and critically injured the owner of an African import specialty store in Seattle’s Columbia City neighborhood on Monday. He demanded the businessman’s debit card and PIN, then shot him in the chest after he complied, police said in a probable cause statement filed in King County Superior Court.
The man also shot into a Tesla moving along Aurora Avenue in north Seattle less than 12 hours later, wounding the driver in the leg, police said, and on Tuesday he pulled his car alongside a woman’s vehicle and fired a round into her window. She suffered cuts from broken glass but her three children were uninjured.
On Wednesday, the man ambushed and killed D’Vonne Pickett Jr., the owner of The Postman, a package shipping store in the Central District, as Pickett arrived at the business, police said. The gunman was a former childhood friend who had been harassing Pickett online and via text messages; he also showed up at The Postman last month before employees told him to leave, the probable cause statement said.
Hundreds attended a vigil for Pickett on Thursday, spelling out his name in candles and placing long-stemmed roses at the spot where he collapsed, The Seattle Times reported.
Pickett’s mother, Nicky Chappell, said the man threatened to kill her son and had been harassing him and other family members for more than a year. Chappell vowed to attend every one of the man’s future court appearances.
The Associated Press is not naming the man because he has not yet been charged.
“This defendant is incredibly dangerous, perhaps the most dangerous defendant this court has seen recently,” Senior Deputy Prosecutor William Doyle told District Court Pro Tem Judge Tien Nguyen during a hearing Friday.
Investigators said surveillance video from the African specialty import store, the exterior cameras on the Tesla and Pickett’s killing linked the shootings. Detectives are also examining shell casings and other evidence.
Further, a relative of the suspect called 911 on Wednesday to report that he appeared to be having a psychotic episode and “may be traveling around Seattle shooting people,” the statement said.
“I find that the suspect’s clothing, stature, build, personal appearance and vehicle are consistent among the investigations,” Seattle Police Detective Matthew Atkinson wrote in the probable cause statement.
When the man was arrested Thursday at his South Seattle apartment, he was wearing the same shirt, shorts and shoes as seen in the videos, the statement says.
Indiana
No prison time for man who fatally shot daughter, 9
CROWN POINT, Ind. (AP) — A northwestern Indiana man who pleaded guilty to fatally shooting his 9-year-old daughter as he was talking to her two brothers about gun safety won’t serve any prison time for her 2017 death.
A Lake County judge sentenced Eric S. Hummel, 38, on Thursday to one year to be served in the county’s community corrections program while living at home, followed by 3 1/2 years of probation.
Judge Natalie Bokota accepted the Hobart man’s guilty plea to reckless homicide and neglect of a dependent charges in Olivia Hummel’s death, The (Northwest Indiana) Times reported.
Prosecutors had sought an 8 1/2-year prison sentence for Hummel, but Bokota she said she agreed with Hummel’s attorneys that incarcerating him would result in further trauma to his boys.
According to court records, Hummel said he was showing a handgun to his sons and telling them to never play with it “because it can kill someone” when he accidentally shot and killed his daughter.
Hummel told a 911 dispatcher he didn’t realize the gun was loaded when he pulled the trigger.
He admitted in his plea agreement that he was talking to his sons about gun safety in a bedroom of his Hobart home in June 2017, when he pointed a handgun at the boys and pulled the trigger.
The handgun did not expel a projectile at that point, but pulling the trigger caused the firing pin to become engaged, according to court records.
When Olivia joined her siblings and father in the bedroom, Hummel pointed the gun at her and pulled the trigger. She suffered a gunshot wound to her head and died at a hospital.
Maryland
Man sentenced for sex offense along Appalachian Trail
HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) — A Maryland man has entered an Alford plea to third-degree sex offense and distribution of methamphetamine in a case in which he was accused of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy while they camped along the Appalachian Trail.
Jason Henry Cochrane, 46, of Millersville, was sentenced Monday to eight years in prison, with all but the three years he has already served suspended, with three years of supervised probation, The Herald-Mail reported.
Under an Alford plea, a defendant doesn’t admit guilt, but acknowledges prosecutors have enough evidence for a conviction. As part of the plea deal, other charges including second-degree rape and sexual abuse of a minor, were dismissed. A victim/witness coordinator told the judge that the boy’s mother was satisfied with the deal.
Cochrane, who must register as a sex offender, may not have any contact with the victim or unsupervised contact with any minor.
In September 2019, Natural Resources Police were called to the Appalachian Trail for a suspected drug violation and found Cochrane and the boy in a tent, where they also found suspected crystal methamphetamine, according to charging documents. Cochrane, who appeared to be having spasms, was taken to a hospital, and the boy was interviewed by Child Protective Services.
