National Roundup

California
Couple held in killing over pets

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Authorities say a California woman and her husband have been arrested in the death of a neighbor who was fatally stabbed in her driveway last week during an argument over pets.

The Fresno Bee reports (http://bit.ly/1spjEq8) that 27-year-old Laquandra Ligons was arrested Sunday at her Fresno home, just a few blocks from the crime scene. Her husband, 31-year-old Thurman Ligons, was arrested earlier at another home nearby.

Police Sgt. Dave Ramos says Laquandra Ligons was walking a dog with her two children, and Mary Lara believed the dog posed a threat to her cats.

Investigators believe Ligons stabbed the 56-year-old Lara multiple times before being picked up and driven away from the scene by her husband.

Ligons faces murder charges, while her husband will face accessory to murder charges.

Florida
Woman jailed after baby found in trunk of car

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - A 19-year-old South Florida woman faces child abuse charges after deputies say they found her 5-month-old child in her vehicle's trunk lying on a pair of hedge clippers and surrounded by dangerous objects including a gas can.

Broward Sheriff's deputies say they tried to pull over a vehicle on Tuesday but Breona Watkins kept driving. When she stopped, the deputy heard a baby crying in the trunk.

Deputies say Watkins told them she asked her 14-year-old passenger to slide the baby into the trunk through a back seat panel because she didn't want to get ticketed for not having a car seat.

Watkins remains jailed on $7,000 bail. It wasn't known whether she has a lawyer.

California
Man sentenced in Russian roulette death of friend

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - A Central California man has been sentenced to 40 years to life in prison for killing his friend while playing a version of Russian roulette.

The Fresno Bee reports 22-year-old Terrance Tyrone Lee pleaded for mercy Tuesday, telling a judge that he accidentally shot and killed his friend, 18-year-old high school student Marquis Sutton.

Lee was found guilty last month of second-degree murder.

At trial, Deputy District Attorney Stephanie Savrnoch said Sutton was playing video games with friends in an apartment when Lee pulled out a revolver and emptied all but one bullet.

Savrnoch says the chamber was empty the first time Lee pointed the gun at Sutton's chest and pulled the trigger.

But the second time, she says, Lee shot Sutton in the neck, killing him.

California
Teacher who talked of killer robots resigned

SAN DIEGO (AP) - A San Diego County teacher resigned after being investigated for talking in class about programming robots to shoot and kill students.

U-T San Diego reported Tuesday that Tuyet-Mai Thi Vo was allowed to resign last year and receive a $92,000 settlement instead of being fired.

Oceanside Unified School District officials investigated complaints that Vo said in 2012 that if robots were teachers, she would program them to shoot students when they misbehaved. The district report says the 48-year-old told her class she would program robots to kill all of the students.

The teacher maintains the allegations are untrue, and she has a positive recommendation letter from then-Superintendent Larry Perondi to vouch for her ongoing fitness for the classroom.

Officials say the prospect of a lengthy and costly state process to terminate the teacher contributed to the settlement.

Pennsylvania
Woman gets jail in tattoo of girl who spent night

CENTERVILLE, Pa. (AP) - A Pennsylvania woman has been sentenced to four months to two years in jail for helping the man she lived with tattoo a smiley face and a derogatory word on a 12-year-old girl who spent the night at their home.

The Meadville Tribune reports 30-year-old Melissa Becker, of Centerville, was sentenced Tuesday by a Crawford County judge. She'll also serve two years' probation.

She and 33-year-old Randall Charlton III have pleaded guilty to corruption of a minor and tattooing a minor for the incident on May 14. Charlton is scheduled for sentencing Oct. 9.

Crawford County prosecutors say Charlton and Becker didn't contact the girl's mother for permission to be tattooed. That's against the law in Pennsylvania.

The girl told police Charlton tattooed the smiley and the vulgar term for a woman on her left forearm.

Pennsylvania
Penn State wants judge to toss Paterno lawsuit

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - Penn State wants a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a son of late football coach Joe Paterno and another assistant coach who were fired two years ago.

Former assistants Jay Paterno and Bill Kenney sued in July contending they have been unfairly linked to the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal. They are seeking more than $1 million and a statement from the university saying they did nothing wrong related to Sandusky.

The Centre Daily Times reports the university response filed Tuesday says neither man was treated differently from several other assistants following Joe Paterno's dismissal. Several assistants were replaced when Bill O'Brien was hired to coach the team.

Sandusky was convicted of abusing several boys, some of them on campus.

Kansas
Federal Trade Commission sues bitcoin business

LEAWOOD, Kan. (AP) - The Federal Trade Commission alleges in a lawsuit that a Kansas bitcoin company bilked more than 20,000 customers out of up to $50 million.

The FTC alleges that the Leawood-based company, Butterfly Labs, told consumers that computers could generate bitcoins but didn't deliver the computers or sent worthless equipment.

The Kansas City Star reports that the FTC said Tuesday the federal court in Kansas City issued a temporary restraining order that shutdown the business.

The company said in a statement that it would fight the federal action and accused the government of wanting to shut down the company.

Bitcoins are a way to buy and sell some goods and services instead of using dollars or other government money.

Published: Thu, Sep 25, 2014