FORT WORTH, Texas
City to pay $750,000 in park drowning of 4
The families of three children and an adult who drowned last summer in a water park have agreed to a $750,000 settlement with the city.
The Fort Worth City Council and a judge must approve the settlement.
The plaintiffs originally sought $1 million from the city for each of the victims.
The four visitors to the park were part of Chicago church group. One girl slipped into the pool, and the others fell or jumped in to help, authorities have said.
Killed were Myron Dukes, 39; his daughter Lauren, 8; his son Christopher, 13; and Juanitrice Deadmon, 11, a family friend.
The water in the swirling pool, which was not meant for swimming, was deeper and the suction stronger than normal because the debris-clogged drain grate strained the pool pump, according to an engineering firm’s study done after the deaths.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.
Cops handcuff girl, 5, after school tantrum
A 5-year-old girl was handcuffed by police after she tore papers off a bulletin board and punched an assistant principal in kindergarten class, according to a video released by a lawyer for the child’s mother.
The 30-minute tape shows the child appearing to calm down before three officers pinned her arms behind her back and put on handcuffs as she screamed, “No!”
The camera was rolling March 14 as part of a classroom self-improvement exercise at Fairmount Park Elementary, attorney John Trevena said.
Trevena, who provided the tape to the media, said he got it from police.
“The image itself will be seared into people’s minds when you have three police officers bending a child over a table and forcibly handcuffing her,” said Trevena, who represents the girl’s mother, Inga Akins.
Police spokesman Bill Proffitt said an investigation into the matter would be completed in about two weeks and the findings would be made public.
CAMPBELL, Wis.
After standoff, police find body in freezer
A 15-hour standoff with a man suspected of shooting his neighbor ended Saturday when authorities coaxed him out of his house and made a grisly discovery: a body believed to be his mother’s stashed in his freezer.
Philip Schuth, 52, was being questioned while authorities continued to inspect his home.
No charges had been filed as of Saturday afternoon.
Authorities said Schuth told them about the body during the overnight standoff, which began when he allegedly opened fire on a neighbor.
An autopsy was being performed to determine a cause of death, police said.
Schuth shot his neighbor after the man confronted Schuth about Schuth’s striking the neighbor’s 8-year-old son in the head and stealing his bicycle.
The child’s father was treated at a hospital and released. His wife and child were not wounded.
NEW HAVEN, Conn.
Ruling: Serial killer cleared for execution
Serial killer Michael Ross was relieved after a judge ruled that he is mentally competent to abandon his death row appeals, removing a major hurdle to New England’s first execution in 45 years, his attorney said.
“He’s hopeful that this time around maybe this will put an end to the court proceedings, so he can spend some time to get mentally and emotionally prepared for May 11,” attorney T.R. Paulding said Friday.
Ross, 45, is scheduled to be die by lethal injection May 11. He has admitted killing and raping eight young women in Connecticut and New York in the early 1980s.
Ross fought off attempts by public defenders, death penalty opponents and his own family to stop his execution last year and came within hours of death in January.
