Georgia
Man throws away, recovers lottery tickets for $10K
ROME, Ga. (AP) - A north Georgia man has recovered $10,000 worth of lottery tickets he had thrown away in the trash.
Multiple media outlets report that Cedric Jackson on Friday thought that he had narrowly missed winning a $5,000 jackpot on two lottery tickets.
Jackson, who lives in Rome, Georgia, says he asked a convenience store employee to throw the tickets away Saturday, but later that day realized his tickets had in fact been winners. Jackson returned to the store. After going through the store's trash can and dumpster in vain, Jackson left the store empty-handed.
It wasn't until later in the day that the employee, Ricky Singh, remembered he had thrown the tickets into a trash can inside an inner office. Singh called Jackson to tell him he'd found the winning tickets.
South Carolina
NFLer's father denied bond for murder attempt
ROCK HILL, S.C. (AP) - The father of Houston Texans defensive end Jadeveon Clowney has been denied bond after being charged with attempted murder in a shooting at a Rock Hill bar.
A lawyer asked for bond because David Morgan was hurt in the shooting Tuesday. Local media reported that police opposed the request because of the seriousness of the charges.
Morgan also was charged with possession of a weapon during a violent crime.
A police report said Morgan was removed from the bar for sitting on a stage. Police said he was seen later at the back of the property before firing several rounds at Braxton Homesley. Police say Homesley returned fire.
Officers picked up Morgan at Piedmont Medical Center. He was being treated for a gunshot wound to the shoulder.
Ohio
Drone drops drugs in prison yard, spurring inmate fight
MANSFIELD, Ohio (AP) - A drone dropped a package of drugs into a prison yard while inmates were outside, sparking a fight, prison officials said.
The package was dropped July 29 at the Mansfield Correctional Institution, about 65 miles southwest of Cleveland. It contained almost a quarter of an ounce of heroin, over 2 ounces of marijuana and more than 5 ounces of tobacco, JoEllen Smith, a spokeswoman for the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, told the Mansfield News Journal.
Smith said there have been other instances of drones breaching security and the agency is taking steps to increase awareness and improve drone detection.
According to the department, video footage showed the drone over recreation yards immediately before a fight began. An investigation determined the drone dropped a package intended for an inmate on the north recreation yard, and it was then thrown over a fence to the south recreation yard.
Two corrections officers called for assistance and ordered the inmates to stop fighting, according to the department. They used pepper spray to control the fight.
About 75 inmates in the north recreation yard and 130 on the south recreation yard were taken to the gyms, where they were strip-searched, run through a cell sensor and checked by a clinic. The nine people involved in the fight were placed in solitary confinement. No staff members or inmates were injured, the department said.
Last year, the Mansfield post of the Ohio Highway Patrol increased efforts to watch and catch criminals who throw contraband over prison fences.
Pennsylvania
Cops: Man killed ex, angry baby not named for him
PITTSBURGH (AP) - Pittsburgh police say a man upset that his ex-girlfriend wouldn't name their newborn son after him fatally stabbed her and beat her 72-year-old grandmother to death.
Twenty-five-year-old Cesar Mazza was awaiting arraignment Wednesday on two counts of criminal homicide and a charge of kidnapping.
Police say he took his 3-month-old son from foster care and dropped the baby off at his mother's house May 6. Police say the baby had blood on him and Mazza claimed his ex, 19-year-old Tionna Banks, had tried to stab him.
In reality, police say, they later found Mazza had stabbed Banks 15 times and killed her grandmother Valorie Crumpton.
Their bodies were found May 7. Mazza was taken into custody in New Jersey.
Court records don't list an attorney for Mazza.
Florida
'Ritualistic' killings may be tied to blue moon
PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) - Investigators in the Florida Panhandle are looking into the deaths of a woman and her two adult sons as a ritualistic killing that could be connected to the recent blue moon.
Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said they've identified a person of interest in the July 28 deaths of 77-year-old Voncile Smith, 49-year-old Richard Smith and 47-year-old John Smith.
"Initial research had led us to believe it was a ritualistic killing," Morgan said Tuesday.
Asked to elaborate, Morgan said, "The method of the murder - blunt force trauma ... positioning of the bodies - and our person of interest has some ties to a faith or religion that is indicative of that. The time of death on Tuesday also coincides with what's referred to as a blue moon, which occurs every three years."
All three victims were struck multiple times with a claw hammer and had their throats slit, and Richard Smith also had a gunshot to his right ear, Morgan said.
The bodies were discovered Friday in their Pensacola-area home. But investigators believe the Smiths were killed about 7 p.m. on July 28.
The blue moon, a rare second full moon in a single month, occurred on Friday, July 31, three days after the killings. The sheriff did not explain the discrepancy and his office did not return a telephone call seeking clarification.
Richard Smith was employed by the Department of Homeland Security and worked at Naval Air Station Pensacola, but officials with the Naval Criminal Investigative Services "have determined there are no issues involving ... national security elements," Morgan said.
Published: Thu, Aug 06, 2015
