Daily Dispatch News

By Alicia Cruz The Black Urban Times Photo/memorytorch.net  The trial of the Fayetteville man accused of murdering and raping five-year-old Shaniya Davis in 2009 is underway after Superior Court Judge Jim Ammons ruled that 32-year-old Mario Andrette McNeil is capable of helping in his defense. Jurors heard opening statements before a packed courtroom in the McNeill murder trial held at the Cumberland County courthouse almost two weeks ago. Almost immediately, Ammons ceased the proceedings in order to ascertain the mental stability of McNeil and declare if he was able to assist in his own defense. Prior to the start of opening statements, Ammons ruled last Monday on a motion by McNeill's lawyers to prevent prosecutors from telling the jury that McNeill knew where Shaniya's body had been hidden. He said the state can tell jurors that McNeil's first two attorneys, Allen Rogers and Cory Brewer, told Fayetteville police where to find Shaniya's body, and may say those a...

By Alicia Cruz Associated Content Rapper Jay-Z announced last week that he would sell his stake in NBA team the Brooklyn Nets. After launching Roc Nation Sports, a sports management agency, Jay-Z (nee Shawn Carter) had to sell due to NBA rules against "double-dipping." According to the NBA rules, agents cannot have title to a team and represent an athlete. So in order for Carter to venture on with his sports management endeavor, he had to sell his stake in the Nets. Carter, who relocated the Brooklyn Nets to his hometown borough from neighboring New Jersey this season, is married to mega entertainer Beyonce Knowles-Carter. The dynamic duo have a beautiful daughter, Blue Ivy. See full article here

By Alicia Cruz Associated Content I know many of us have been called for jury duty and it can sometimes be a serious inconvenience, but once you're selected to sit on a trial, you're expected to take that duty seriously. A man in Oregon learned that lesson the hard way. A WCTI TV12 news article reported that the juror was jailed after the sitting judge noticed a "glow" reflecting the man's chest as the jurors were supposed to be watching a video, reported TV station KGW in Portland. The judge cleared the courtroom and excused all jurors except the cell phone user juror. His contemptuous conduct earned him two days in jail and while he admitted there was no excuse for his behavior, he said he felt his jail sentence was, "harsh." When a person's life or freedom lies in your hands and requires your undivided attention, you don't text or do anything else that diminishes your ability to fairly and accurately judge evidence. I say the punishment fit t...

  By Alicia Cruz The Black Urban Times WCNC North Carolina has reported that the 16-year-old Air Force Jr. ROTC student missing from Charlotte and found dead November 15 in Milton, Massachusetts may have been a stow-away inside an aircraft wheel well when he fell to his death as the plane descended towards the airport.  Phil Orlandella, director of communications at Logan International Airport confirmed for NewsChannel 36 that local police are investigating the possibility that Delvonte Tisdale may have fell from an aircraft, which would explain the horrific injuries to his body and the fact that he was found with no shirt or shoes. "We have been requested to look into that possibility," Orlandella said Tuesday. "It's something that theoretically can happen. It's a remote possibility." However, prosecutors have declined to co-sign the stowaway theory. Orlandella added that officials are cross-checking records of arriving flights heading to Runway...

By Alicia Cruz Senior writer Theblackurbantimes Feliz Cumpleanos! My, how time flies when it comes to children. Look who has graduated to "young lady" status. Yes, that's the daughter of late rapper, Notorious B.I.G. (aka Biggie Smalls). T’Yanna Wallace is Biggie's oldest child. She just celebrated her 16th birthday in pure style...just like her father would have wanted, I'm sure. T'Yanna was a mere toddler when her father was murdered as he sat in a vehicle in Los Angeles, California on March 9. 1997. Biggie, born Christopher Wallace , was gunned down while leaving a Vibe magazine party after the Soul Train Music Awards. His rise to success began during his short tenure as a crack dealer on the streets of New York. Thanks to producer, Sean "Puffy" Combs , Biggie left the lifestyle to hone his skills as a gifted rapper. On the night of the mysterious shooting, as hundreds left the party, Biggie's entourage rolled out of the parking g...

By Alicia Cruz nj.newsroom.cruz@gmail.com The New Jersey Newsroom A NEW LOVE In April of 2005, 36-year-old Monique Johnson , a matron at the Shelby County jail in Memphis, Tennessee, met Tony Hayes, a handsome young Memphis police officer while he was moonlighting as a security guard in her old apartment complex in East Memphis. The euphoria in their relationship began to fade as quickly as it started when Monique says that Tony began acting very jealous and possessive. She became suspicious of his behavior and began checking him out. She learned that Tony had not lied about how many times he had been divorced, but he was lying to her about his current marital status. Tony Hayes had married his third wife only three months prior to meeting Monique and was separated from that wife at the time he met Monique. Once learning from Tony’s current wife that they were, in fact, separated, Monique decided to continue seeing Tony, despite the reservations she had. For a few months, ...

By Alicia Cruz The Black Urban Times Camp Pendleton Murder suspect has profiles on sadomasochism websites; described sexual preferences and interests in asphyxiaphilia, electro-torture, rape SSgt Louis Perez S an Diego County officials still have not divulged a motive or much other information in the murder of Brittany Killgore, but during an arraignment hearing for Staff Sergeant Louis Ray Perez, a Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton, new details emerged. According to Deputy District Attorney Patrick Espinoza, Killgore sent a text to a friend on April 13,  the night she disappeared, that read, "Help." After that, Killgore was never heard from or seen again until April 17 when police found her body in Riverside County, California near Lake Skinner. How Killgore died and how she met Perez, who is married, remains a mystery. Killgore was married to Marine Lance Cpl. Cory Killgore, who was deployed to Afghanistan at the time of her murder. Reports say the 22-year-ol...

Beautiful, young military couple brutally murdered by husband's fellow Marines in October  By Mirna Alfonso and Peter Surowski Graphic details in the murder of Sgt. Janek Pawel Pietrzak, 24, and his 26-year-old wife, Quiana Faye Jenkins-Pietrzak are coming to light. On April 3 the first day of a two day preliminary hearing took place to determine if four Camp Pendleton Marines will be ordered to stand trial for the robbery-murders of the USMC sergeant and his wife, who was also sexually assaulted. The suspects, Pvt. Kevin Darnell Cox, 21, Lance Cpl. Emrys Justin John, 19, Lance Cpl. Tyrone Miller, 21, and Lance Cpl. Kesaun Sykes, 21 , sat surrounded by their attorneys watching the proceedings with faces like statues, without reaction or emotions. The four were stationed with Pietrzak at Camp Pendleton. Those who knew and loved the Pietrzak’s had a different reaction. During the hearing, Daniel DeLimon, a prosecutor with the district attorney, used a projector to show the ...

By Alicia Cruz nj.newsroom.cruz@gmail.com   Associated Content The father of 5-year-old Shaniya Davis, Bradley Lockhart, said Tuesday he partly blames himself for his daughter's death. "I believe every parent would blame themselves," Lockhart said, his lower lip trembling. "We all look within ourselves to see what we could have done different." Lockhart said he didn't know what he could have done differently, but he wishes he had known the extent of a reported Department of Social Services investigation into the home life of Shaniya's mother, Antoinette Davis.  "I feel if they would have known, they should have contacted me," he said. Shaniya had been staying with Davis when she went missing from the the Sleepy Hollow Mobile Home Park off Murchison Road on Nov. 10.  Shaniya Davis' mother, Antoinette Davis, and a Fayetteville man are charged in her disappearance and Davis faces charges that include prostitution. Mario Andrette M...

By Alicia Cruz  Associated Content nj.newsroom.cruz@gmail.com Despite several attempts by defense attorneys to delay the murder trial of Mario Andrette McNeil, now 32, Superior Court Judge Jim Ammons has ordered McNeil to be prepared for a February 2013 court date for his capital murder trial. McNeil is accused of murdering little Shaniya Davis more than three years ago in North Carolina. Antoinette Davis, Shaniya's mother, has also been charged in connection with her daughter's rape and murder. Shaniya was spending time with Davis, who gave birth to another child following her arrest, when she was allegedly kidnapped from Davis' trailer home in Fayetteville, NC and later found dead in a deserted area of Lee County. A subsequent autopsy ruled Shaniya’s cause of death as asphyxiation. She had also been raped. Ammons denied a requests Friday by McNeil's lawyers to delay the trial for 60 days, as well as a request to drop the possibility of the death penalty. Pro...

 Shaniya Davis Photo/memorytorch.net     By Alicia Cruz Yahoo Associated Content Antoinette Davis , the Cumberland County woman accused of selling her daughter into sexual slavery, is set to appear in court again on February 2 to face felony criminal charges in connection to the murder of her daughter, Shaniya Davis. The Black Urban Times learned Friday that D.W. Bray , the Fayetteville attorney representing Antoinette Davis plans to ask the court for a continuation at that February 2 appearance. "It will be continued," said law office employee Melissa. When asked for further comment, we were told, "that is all we can say about the case at this time." Antoinette Davis has been charged with felony human trafficking, felony child abuse and prostitution, resisting a public official and filing a false police report. Davis, who was pregnant at the time of her arrest, has been free on bond since her release from Central Women’s Prison in Raleigh, North Car...

By Alicia Cruz The Black Urban Times Originally posted 7/29/2010 The search for missing former NBA player Lorenzen Wright ended with the discovery of a body in a field in Memphis, Tennessee. Channel 3 news, Memphis, reported that a body found near Hacks Cross and Winchester appears to be that of Wright who had been missing since July 18 when he was last seen by ex-wife, Sherra Wright at her Collierville home. She told officials that Wright was planning to fly out of Memphis and return to his home in Atlanta when he suddenly disappeared. Channel 24 in Memphis reported that on July 19, at approximately 1:00 a.m., a Germantown dispatcher received a 911 call from Wright's cell phone. The dispatcher heard a garbled male voice utter an expletive, then at least 10 gunshots." A spokesperson in Germantown told WREG News Channel 3, "Germantown has turned over a 911 tape to the MPD in reference to the Lorenzen Wright case." Penny Hardaway, who also played for Memphi...