crime

ABC News
Medical examiner: Boys slain in Conn. murder-suicide each had multiple ...
Fox News
HARTFORD, Conn. – The state medical examiner's office says the two boys killed in a Connecticut murder-suicide each had multiple gunshot wounds. The examiner's office says the boys' grandmother, 47-year-old Debra Denison, died of a gunshot wound to ...
Double Murder-Suicide Again Brings Mental Health Issues to the ForefrontPatch.com
Grandma's murder of kids a mysteryCt Post
New details emerge in Conn. murder-suicideProvidence Eyewitness News

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Kirby: Crime prevention is priority No. 1
Fayetteville Observer
"Our citizens are kicking our butt with it at every single community watch meeting," Val Applewhite, the proactive city councilwoman, said at a recent retreat, where she and fellow council members identified crime prevention and public safety as a No ...

-- U.S. Speedskating began an investigation Friday into the report of a female skater accusing former Olympian and organization president Andy Gabel of sexual... AP http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-greenberg/

It is rare for the mainstream media to report on how murdering fathers gained access to their victims through the family courts. So reporter KIM MINUGH is to be commended for that.

But why won't we name the judge who was responsible for this travesty?

This isn't rocket science, people. Or crystal ball gazing. Most of the time, people behave pretty consistently with their track record. Dad PHILLIP HERNANDEZ was clearly bad news. But the fathers rights-friendly courts bent over backwards to accommodate his every wish. So now we have a child that was brutally slaughtered with a hatchet as a result. 

Once again, the courts ignored the pleas of a protective mother WHO KNEW THIS GUY, KNEW WHAT HE WAS CAPABLE OF. 

http://www.modbee.com/2013/03/01/2599966/man-accused-of-killing-9-year.html#.UTEbcvo4w3c.facebook

Friday, Mar. 01, 2013

Man accused of killing 9-year-old son with hatchet had custody despite record of violence

By Kim Minugh

Nine months out of prison, Phillip Hernandez wrote an impassioned plea to Sacramento's family court to let him try fatherhood. He described being a "fully and utterly changed" man with a desire to "correct past wrongs."

He talked about going to work and saving money and buying a home for himself and his boys, whom he hadn't seen in three years.

"Because ultimately, they are what matter, my view of life and what is important in it is family," he wrote to the court in July 2008, asking for visitation rights. "Please hear my plea and help me be there. … I want to give them what I didn't have – a father."

The words hardly sound like those of the man portrayed in earlier criminal court records as abusive of his wife, disobedient of the law and defiant of the court. And most starkly, they stand in contrast to the depiction of Hernandez by Sacramento police as a child killer.

Police allege that Hernandez used a hatchet to brutally attack his youngest son, 9-year-old Matthew Raymond Hernandez, as he slept on the couch of their South Natomas home Tuesday night. The violence was witnessed by the boy's great-grandmother, who made two hysterical 911 calls.

Officers arrived to find the fourth-grader dead and his 12-year-old brother, who was home at the time of the slaying, unharmed. Hernandez, 36, was arrested about a mile away.

He is scheduled to be arraigned today on one charge of murder.

Detectives, relatives and community members have sought answers in the aftermath of the attack, to no avail. Hernandez is being held in the Sacramento County Main Jail's psychiatric ward, but no one has alleged that he is mentally ill.

Criminal and family court records dating back to 2004 offer a troubling portrait of Hernandez. Three months after separating from his wife and the mother of his two children, Jessica Hernandez, he pleaded no contest to inflicting felony corporal injury upon her.

He was sentenced to 120 days in jail and five years of formal probation. According to Sacramento Superior Court records, the requirements of his probation included alcohol and drug rehabilitation; completion of a 52-week batterers' treatment program; and no contact with the victim.

In April 2005, the court revoked his probation at the urging of the Probation Department, records show. He consistently failed to attend his batterers' treatment program; he did not enroll in a rehab program and he did not make scheduled restitution payments, according to the records.

Hernandez was sent to the Sheriff's Work Project as a result, but he failed to show up to that, too, and a no-bail warrant was issued for his arrest. He then served 90 days of jail time, records show.

He violated the terms of his probation again in November 2005 when he was arrested in West Sacramento on suspicion of domestic violence, according to the court records. Shortly thereafter, the court again revoked his probation; he still had not completed a batterers' treatment program or drug rehab and he violated a court-imposed restraining order by contacting his ex-wife.

In that incident, he argued with Jessica Hernandez, forced his way into her doorway, bruised her arm and smashed her cellphone as she tried to call police, according to the West Sacramento police report filed in court.

Hernandez was sent to prison in July 2006, serving concurrent terms for the probation violation in Sacramento County and the domestic violence conviction in Yolo County. He was released in October 2007.

Public records and those provided by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation do not indicate any parole violations or other criminal charges since then. He was discharged from parole in November 2008.

It was July 31 of that year when he pleaded with the court to allow him access to his two boys. A family court judge issued a temporary order allowing him one visit a month, to which Jessica Hernandez immediately objected.

"He is a dangerous man and I am terrified to leave my sons in his care," she wrote.

They were sent to mediation and in January 2009 signed an agreement that gave custody to the boys' mother and some visitation rights to their father, according to records contained in the couple's divorce file.

That summer, Jessica Hernandez allowed the children to stay with their father "to try and make up for the time he had missed in their lives" and because "he was in a better financial position than me," she wrote in a later court document.

Meanwhile, Phillip Hernandez wrote to the court, charging that the boys' mother was "unstable" and not caring properly for them.

It was not immediately clear from the court file whether the boys ever returned to the physical custody of their mother. Last October, she wrote to the court saying her financial status and "quality of life" had improved and she wanted the boys to move out of state to join her.

"This is nothing personal toward their father," she wrote. "I am certain I could provide for them better for the time being."

But a judge ordered custody to Phillip Hernandez, with visitation for Jessica. The parties were scheduled to return to court in July for an update.

Meanwhile, their 12-year-old son is staying with family since his father's arrest.

New York Magazine
St. John's Hires Outside Counsel to Dig Into Cecilia Chang Corruption
New York Magazine
In the wake of new revelations (see "The Dean of Corruption") about the gifts Cecilia Chang, the St. John's administrator and fund-raiser who committed suicide in the midst of her trial for fraud, lavished on her supervisors, the university has tasked ...

A columnist for conservative site the National Review Online has written a piece suggesting female soldiers who have been raped struggle after they leave the... The Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/meredith-bennettsmith/

Hunterdon County Democrat - NJ.com
Rewards for being a Hunterdon Crime Stopper include cash
Hunterdon County Democrat - NJ.com
The nonprofit organization will function independently of the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office, Prosecutor Anthony P. Kearns III told an audience of law enforcement, politicians and members and officers of Crime Stoppers today, March 1. Its goal is ...
Crime Stoppers of Hunterdon County offers cash for anonymous tipsThe Express Times - LehighValleyLive.com

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We have a problem, you know, and it's only getting worse. It doesn't strike us equally -- it's a problem that mostly affects young men, minorities, and people without high school diplomas. Jason Silverstein http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jason-silverstein/

KSTP.com
Tipline established to aid Kira Trevino murder investigation
Minneapolis Star Tribune
St. Paul police investigators are asking for help in their investigation of Kira Trevino's murder, setting up a special tip line to help collect any information that might lead to her body, which has not been found. “We really need those answers to the ...
St. Paul Police Use Tip Line for Kira Trevino Murder InvestigationKSTP.com
Prosecutors outline murder case against Jeff TrevinoKARE
Husband of missing Mall of America manager charged with her murder after ...Daily Mail
CBS News -CBS Local -Minnesota Public Radio
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As the country braces itself for the increasingly likely possibility of getting hit with $85 billion in budget cuts this year, the decision to... The Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roque-planas/

What's more controversial than a hip-hop star beating his pop-star girlfriend so badly she can't sing at their Grammy gig that night? SVU portraying a barely-fictionalized version of their relationship, which ends with the guy killing the girl. Allison Leotta http://www.huffingtonpost.com/allison-leotta/

Los Angeles has started building a city park that will be smaller than some backyards, only one-fifth of an acre in size. No matter, explains the LA Times . The point isn't to celebrate the great outdoors, it's to force 33 registered sex offenders out of an apartment building in the...

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama is pardoning 17 people, largely for minor offenses. The White House announced the president's pardons Friday afternoon. Among the crimes... AP http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paige-lavender/

WXYZ
Kilpatrick corruption trial jury goes home for weekend, resumes deliberating ...
Detroit Free Press
The jury in ex-Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's public corruption trial has gone home for the weekend, wrapping up day nine of deliberations with no verdict. The panel of eight women and four men ended deliberations at about 4:30 p.m. today. The jury ...
Jurors in the Kilpatrick corruption trial resume deliberations on ThursdayWXYZ

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Pawt. man pleads not guilty to murder
Providence Eyewitness News
In Superior Court Friday morning, Johnson pleaded not guilty to murder, discharging a firearm during a crime of violence and carrying a pistol without a license. He will be held without bail. His next court date is not yet available. Copyright WPRI 12 ...

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It's official: Urooj Khan didn't die of natural causes. Cook County Medical Examiner Stephen Cina today ruled the lottery winner's death a homicide, saying he'd died of cyanide toxicity and confirming his initial diagnosis in January, CNN reports. But because there's no cyanide left in Khan's body, he was unable...

CTA Cameras Are Not Exactly A Crime Deterrent
Chicagoist
Chicago Transit Authority president Forest Claypool fired back at the Sun-Times this week in a letter to the editor after the newspaper published a piece indicating that despite thousands of cameras on train cars, platforms, busses and stations, crime ...

KSTP.com
Maplewood police arrest suspect in teen's murder
KARE
The suspect is being held at the Ramsey County Juvenile Detention Center on suspicion of 2nd degree murder. The Ramsey County Attorney's office is considering charges. (Copyright 2013 by KARE. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, ...
Arrest in murder of Maplewood teen Anna HurdFOX 9 News
Food Truck to Benefit North St. Paul Murder Victim on March 1Patch.com

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MILWAUKEE — A man who shot seven people before killing himself at a Wisconsin salon asked a taxi driver for advice on how to handle... AP http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-moye/

Do we care more when a male is the subject of exploitation? For example, viewers have been particularly outraged that Lil Poopy's shirt is lifted up by an older woman who grinds up against him while dancing. But this type of thing happens all the time with young female performers. Hilary Levey Friedman http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hilary-levey/