TexasA judge this morning ordered that one of two Spring men accused in the vicious beating and sexual assault of a teenager be held without bail as the victim continues fighting for his life.
The 16-year-old victim, who was sodomized with a piece of rigid plastic pipe and was cut on the chest with a knife during a party at a Spring home last weekend, remains in extremely critical condition at Memorial Hermann Hospital.
He suffered major damage to his internal organs and more than likely will not survive, prosecutors said.
More details about the gruesome assault surfaced today as one of the suspects, David Henry Tuck, 18, appeared in court to answer a charge of aggravated sexual assault.
Although Tuck's bail originally was set at $20,000, state District Judge Michael McSpadden ordered him held without bond.
The other suspect, Keith Robert Turner, 17, also charged with aggravated sexual assault, is being held on $100,000 bond. His probable-cause hearing will be held in McSpadden's court once his case is transferred from another court.
Detectives believe the victim was attacked during the party about 11:30 p.m. Saturday after he tried to kiss a 12-year-old girl who lives at the residence. It is unclear whether any adults were present.
The injured boy was left in the backyard, near death, for more than 10 hours before anyone called for medical help, said Lt. John Denholm of the Harris County sheriff's homicide division.
During this morning's hearing, prosecutor Mike Trent told the judge that Tuck, of the 3400 block of Nutwood, was wearing steel-toed boots when he attacked the victim and kicked him in the head.
Tuck and others are accused of dragging the victim into the back yard and shoving a PVC pipe into his rectum, Trent said. Tuck is accused of then kicking the pipe with his boots, the prosecutor said.
"I don't mean just a little bit," Trent told McSpadden. "He kicked it in and shoved it so far in that he has caused major internal injuries and organ damage."
The suspects also are accused of pouring bleach on the boy, although Trent could not say specifically which one is believed to have done that. Sheriff's detectives said the bleach was used in an attempt to destroy evidence.
The victim, who is Hispanic, also was subjected to slurs during the attack, investigators said. The two suspects are anglo.
TexasSAN ANTONIO - A citizen's complaint about two women living in a cluttered vehicle with two crying children â?? one of them emaciated â?? led to the filing of child abuse charges against the babies' young mother and grandmother, police said Tuesday.
The children were in protective care while the women remained in the Bexar County Jail after their arrest Monday, police said.
The mother, Heather Evink, 18, of Bellmead, and grandmother, Sheila Evink, 40, of Meridian, were charged with assault with serious bodily injury to a child and endangering a child.
Bail was set at $45,000 for the mother. It was set at $50,375 for the grandmother because of an unspecified pending warrant against her, police said.
Their Ford Bronco, which was crammed with possessions, was found parked near an area used as a day-labor pickup point, police said.
"It looked like they were living in there and there were children in there crying," police spokesman Sandy Gutierrez said.
A newborn girl and 1-year-old boy were found in the vehicle.
The girl was hospitalized for malnutrition, and the boy was placed in the care of Child Protective Services, Gutierrez noted.
"The 6-week-old baby ... at the time of birth weighed 6 pounds, 2 ounces, and when found weighed in at 4 pounds," she said.
IllinoisA 14-year-old girl was attacked Tuesday morning by a man with a hammer as she walked to school on the Southwest Side, Chicago Police said.
Police on Wednesday released a sketch of the man they say went after Deeyana Williams as she walked to school in the 6900 block of South Campbell.
Just before 9 a.m., the eighth-grader was on her way to McKay Elementary when a man walked toward her, the girl told Fox News. The two passed, then she felt him approach from behind, she said.
"I felt him, like, getting close behind me, so that's what made me turn my head ... and that's when he hit me," the girl said.
She reportedly ran to a friend's home, where she discovered she had been injured.
The girl's mother was notified, and she met her daughter at the hospital, where the girl's head injuries were closed.
Police described her attacker as black, with a dark complexion, 5 feet 11 to 6 feet 1, weighing 150 to 160 pounds. He has an afro and a scraggly beard. He wore a light blue jacket with white patches, blue pants and dark shoes. Anyone with information is asked to call Wentworth Area detectives at (312) 747-8380.
MichiganLAKE TOWNSHIP -- Huron County Assistant Prosecutor Stephen Allen described an agonizing struggle to a group of Detroit middle school students.
"I've got a case where this person was driving a vehicle down the road," he told the class in early April. "He crossed over the center line and struck an elderly lady on the side of the road, in her driveway. He dragged her a few feet, bailed out of the vehicle and took off. He killed her. What should you do to him?"
The class was unanimous: "Lock him up and throw away the keys."
"One more thing," Allen said. "The driver was 9 years old and he was driving a golf cart."
The students went silent.
What should be done about the boy? Or his parents? Or the owner of the golf cart?
MichiganWAYNE, Mich. (AP) â?? Three teens accused of beating a man to death in the middle of an intersection during a robbery that netted only $3 have been charged with murder, authorities said.
Christopher Ryan Copeland, 17, William O'Leary Tedders, 17, and his brother Carlos Tedders, 16, all of Wayne, were arraigned Wednesday.
Not guilty pleas were entered for the teens, who were ordered held pending a May 2 preliminary examination, the court said. They were charged as adults.
If convicted, they face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Steven Dingman, of Wayne, was walking Monday night when he was approached by the teens, police Detective Sgt. Daniel Juras said.
"They tried to talk him into going behind a house. ... He refused, probably because he knew something was fishy, and they just started beating him up there right in the middle of the intersection.
"After the assault, he was knocked unconscious and they went through his pockets, and they stole a whole $3."
WisconsinAPPLETON, Wisconsin (AP) -- A man raising his 18-month-old daughter alone tried to sell the little girl for $7,000 so he could make improvements to his house, police said Friday.
The man from Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin, tried to sell his daughter to a Grand Chute couple, who helped authorities in the investigation, Grand Chute police Chief Ed Kopp said.
"He was having difficulties raising the child alone and wanted to use the money for some home remodeling," Kopp said.
Danny Vu, 37, was charged Friday with unauthorized adoption placement, a felony that carries up to six years in prison.
The daughter showed no signs of physical abuse, Kopp said. Brown County officials will probably place her in temporary foster care.
MarylandDISTRICT HEIGHTS, Md. -- Prince George's County police said a 12-year-old was arrested in the deaths of two people Sunday morning in District Heights.
The victims, a 9-year-old boy and a 31-year-old woman, were found in the 3700 block of Donnell Drive.
Investigators believe the killing was not random, and that it was the result of a domestic dispute.
Police are still trying to sort out the relationships among the victims and the suspect.
I may have the proposed location of my super villain stronghold all backwards. According to this National Geographic article Hawaii has a volcano that has "weird features include a swirling vortex, a host of strange animals, and a fearsome zone of toxic waters dubbed the Moat of Death". That's a super villains dream. The secret agents and various do-gooders will have a hell of a time trying to get in.
