uMEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee man beat an infant to death after discovering that he wasn’t the child’s father, police said.
Jose Avila-Agurcia, 33, is charged with murder in the death of 4-month-old Alexander Lizondro-Chacon, Memphis police said.
News outlets cited an affidavit of complaint that says officers responded April 12 to a report of an unresponsive infant. The baby was taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead from blunt force trauma to the head.
The affidavit says Avila-Agurcia became a suspect after the child’s mother, Mercy Lizondro-Chacon, told investigators that Avila-Agurcia struck the baby multiple times in anger after learning he wasn’t the father.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Bryan D. Cox said Avila-Agurcia is an alias for Carlos Zuniga-Aviles, a Honduran national who has been deported five times. The agency has filed an immigration detainer pending resolution of the charge.
uCOURT: MAN’S CONVICTION OK DESPITE EX’S COUNSELOR ON JURY: SANDUSKY, Mich. (AP) — Can you get a fair trial if your ex-wife’s marriage counselor is on the jury? The Michigan appeals court says yes.
Jason Nelson was convicted of assault in Sanilac County in 2017. He says he didn’t realize until after the trial that one of the jurors was a marriage counselor who had met with him and his former wife four years earlier. Nelson says it was a stormy session with profanities.
The counselor said he remembered Nelson’s ex-wife, but he didn’t recall meeting Nelson. He told a judge that he acted fairly as a juror. The assault allegations against Nelson didn’t involve his ex-wife.
Nelson wants a new trial, but the appeals court ruled Tuesday that there’s “no evidence” that the counselor lacked impartiality as a juror.
uDAY CARE WORKERS CHARGED OVER VIDEO OF CHILD SCARED OF DOLL: MONTICELLO, Ky. (AP) — Two Kentucky day care workers face charges over an online video that shows one of them scaring a toddler with a doll.
WKYT-TV in Lexington reports Wendy’s Wonderland worker Tasha Cox is accused of filming Diana Willett waving a doll at a 2-year-old girl when Willett knew the child was afraid of dolls and small animals.
The video was shared on Facebook and shows the girl hiding under a table, crying and shoving the doll away as the singing caregiver waves it close. The caregiver later comments that the girl won’t stop crying.
Wayne County sheriff’s deputies say they learned of allegations Friday. Willett was arrested Monday and charged with criminal child abuse. Cox was arrested and charged with failure to report the abuse.
Cops: Florida man stabbed nephew for hogging bathroom
DELAND, Fla. (AP) — Authorities say a 72-year-old Florida man repeatedly stabbed his nephew because he was taking too long in the bathroom.
Volusia County Sheriff’s deputies and DeLand police arrived Tuesday to find the 29-year-old victim with wounds in his stomach and back.
Investigators said the victim lives in his vehicle in his father’s driveway and that his father allows him to use the bathroom. According to a report, he was about to get in the shower when his uncle Dan Johnson started banging on the bathroom door, complaining he’d been in for too long. The victim said he opened the door and was stabbed repeatedly with a knife. Johnson told investigators the victim had taken a step toward him.
The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports Johnson was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and is being held without bond.
The victim is expected to survive.
uFIREFIGHTER RECRUITMENT AD TOUTS ‘LOW PAY, COOL HELMET’: CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri county trying to recruit new firefighters is getting real with its sales pitch, saying in signs posted outside its stations that the job offers “Hard Labor, Odd Hours, Low Pay (and) Cool Helmet.”
KFVS-TV reports that the Scott County Rural Fire Protection District’s chief, Jeremy Perrien, says most advertisements are “kind of boring.” He says that’s why they “wanted to add some humor to it” and “try to catch people’s attention.” The fire district posted a picture of the help wanted message on its Facebook page this week.
Perrien says they’re short about 15 firefighters, and rarely have a full staff. The recruitment ad comes amid a shortage of volunteer firefighters in the Heartland.
uMAN WHO ALLEGEDLY HID OUT IN EX’S ATTIC FACES CHARGES: PITTSBURGH (AP) — A man who had allegedly been hiding out in the attic of his ex-girlfriend’s Pittsburgh home is facing burglary charges.
Authorities say the woman found 31-year-old Cary Cocuzzi in her bedroom Saturday. They say she had a protection from abuse order against him.
Cocuzzi allegedly grabbed the woman and put a hand over her mouth. But she pushed him away and ran outside screaming, spurring several neighbors to call 911.
Police searched the house and found Cocuzzi hiding. They say he told officers he was homeless and had been sneaking in and out of the house for about two weeks.
The woman told authorities she had noticed odd details around her home, such as finding a blanket on the floor where she had not left it.
uWOMAN KILLED WHEN SHE FALLS INTO MEAT GRINDER AT WORK: MUNCY, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say a woman was killed when she fell into a meat grinder at a processing plant in northern Pennsylvania.
It’s not clear what caused the accident at the Economy Locker Storage Company in Muncy.
The Lycoming County coroner’s office says 35-year-old Jill Greninger apparently fell around 11:30 a.m. Monday. Her body was found by a co-worker who heard strange noises coming from the commercial machine.
Authorities say Greninger may have been standing on a set of wheeled stairs prior to the fatal accident.
