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NEWS FROM ACROSS CALIFORNIA
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DEATH PENALTY VERDICT FOR MAN WHO MURDERED MOTHER, 3 GIRLS: LANCASTER  (AP) — A Los Angeles County jury says a man should die for the torture killings of a Lancaster woman and her three young daughters.

Jurors reached the verdict Tuesday in the case of Corey Lynn King, who was convicted last month of first-degree murder, torture and arson.

Prosecutors say 24-year-old King stabbed Sonya Harris and her 14-year-old daughter more than 50 times each in their home in 2008. He then stabbed, beat and stomped Harris’s 11-year-old daughter and strangled her 9-year-old girl.

Prosecutors say the motive for killing Harris was unclear, but the girls were slain because they were witnesses.

After the killings, King doused the bodies and home with gasoline and set it on fire.

 

SCHOOL LEADER CHARGED WITH DOG FIGHTING, CRUELTY: PALMDALE  (AP) — The assistant superintendent of a Southern California school district is facing felony dog fighting charges after more than a dozen pit bulls being kept in crates filled with urine and feces were allegedly discovered in her home.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday that 52-year-old Pauline Ruth Winbush and her boyfriend, Kevin Ray Williams, have been charged with multiple counts of dog fighting and animal cruelty, as well as one count of child abuse.

Winbush works at Palmdale Unified School District. Winbush has been placed on paid administrative leave while the district conducts its own investigation.

Animal control officers discovered a horse belonging to the couple roaming the streets on Oct. 29. Prosecutors say 19 pit bulls were later discovered in their Antelope Acres home. All were euthanized.

 

DEPUTY SHOOTS, KILLS NORTHERN CALIFORNIA MAN: PARADISE  (AP) — A deputy shot and killed a Northern California man after he allegedly attacked another deputy with a knife and grabbed his firearm.

Butte County Sheriff’s deputies received a call from 28-year-old Robert Battagilia’s mother Monday afternoon, stating she was fearful her son had broken into her home.

Authorities say Battagilia’s mother told deputies her son had threatened her in the past and was taken for a mental health evaluation Christmas Day.

When two deputies entered the home, investigators say, Battagilia charged at one of them with a knife. The deputy suffered a laceration to his neck. When he went to grab his firearm, Battagilia allegedly took it with his free hand.

The other deputy on scene shot Battagilia once. He was pronounced dead at the scene.