National Roundup

Connecticut
Mother charged in death of autistic teen
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut mother whose autistic teenage son died after being taken to a hospital with what authorities said was severe malnutrition has been charged with manslaughter.

Hartford police on Monday said they have obtained a warrant charging 33-year-old Katiria Tirado with first-degree manslaughter. She is expected to appear in court later Monday.

Tirado was first charged with cruelty to persons in connection with the death of 17-year-old Matthew Tirado.

Matthew was taken to the hospital in February after his mother called 911. He was 5 feet, 9 inches tall (1.75 meters) and weighed less than 90 pounds (41 kilograms). He also had cuts and bruises on his body.

In April, the medical examiner ruled the death a homicide.

Katiria Tirado remains jailed. Her public defender didn’t immediately return a call.

Pennsylvania
6th person charged in abuse of victim at costume parties
PERKASIE, Pa. (AP) — A 27-year-old Pennsylvania woman is the sixth person charged with sexually assaulting a boy who prosecutors previously said was targeted at parties where people wore animal costumes.

Paige Wren Tasker, of Mechanicsburg, is accused of sexually abusing the boy in 2015 at the Monroe County home of David Parker. The state attorney general says the boy was 14 when Tasker abused him, but didn’t say whether she also participated in the furry parties.

Parker, 57-year-old Kenneth Fenske, of Quakertown, and three others in Pennsylvania and Virginia have also been charged with abusing the boy as far back at 2009. Fenske’s attorney says his client is innocent; the others have yet to respond.

Tasker was charged Sunday and remains in the Monroe County jail. Online court records don’t list an attorney for her.

Massachusetts
Ex-boarding school priest pleads guilty to abusing teen boy
BOSTON (AP) — A former Episcopal priest who worked at an elite Rhode Island boarding school has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a student during trips to Boston in 1973.

Prosecutors say Howard White Jr., who was stripped of his priesthood by the Episcopal Church, received an 18-month sentence.

Prosecutors say the now 75-year-old White assaulted the boy during two overnight trips to Boston when the boy was 15 and 16, and White worked at St. George’s School in Middletown, Rhode Island.

White, of Bedford, Pennsylvania, was freed on personal recognizance after pleading not guilty in December.

White’s attorney tells The Boston Globe that he and prosecutors “came to an agreement on a plea and sentence that we thought was fair.”

The victim’s lawyer said his client was satisfied with the outcome.

Ohio
Prosecutor: Confederate flag T-shirt relevant
CINCINNATI (AP) — Prosecutors in Ohio say a T-shirt with a Confederate flag emblem worn by a white police officer under his uniform is relevant evidence for countering his claim that he feared for his life when he shot an unarmed black motorist.

Hamilton County prosecutors are opposing a defense bid to keep the shirt out of ex-University of Cincinnati Officer Ray Tensing’s murder retrial. The defense says the T-shirt isn’t relevant, but could prejudice the
jury.

Prosecutors say his undamaged clothing shows he was not being dragged when he shot Sam DuBose during a 2015 traffic stop.

A photo of the shirt was shown at Tensing’s first trial, which ended in a hung jury.

Judge Leslie Ghiz will check on other pretrial matters this week ahead of May 25 jury selection.

Ohio
Judges reject bid for appeal in terror plot
CINCINNATI (AP) — A federal appellate panel has dismissed an Ohio man’s bid to appeal his 30-year prison sentence for plotting to attack the U.S. Capitol.

The three Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges ruled recently that 22-year-old Christopher Cornell had waived his broad appeal rights when he pleaded guilty last year to three charges including attempted murder of U.S. officials and employees in support of the Islamic State group.

Court documents state Cornell had reserved the right to appeal for ineffective counsel or prosecutorial misconduct, but then contended that U.S. District Judge Sandra Beckwith had created ambiguity in court about the scope of his appeal waiver. The panel found no evidence Cornell had misunderstood when he pleaded guilty.

He was arrested in January 2015 after buying guns and ammunition.

Nevada
Police used stun gun, neck grab in fatal Strip arrest
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Authorities say an unarmed man has died after police officers used a stun gun and neck grab to subdue him during an arrest on the Las Vegas Strip.

Las Vegas police said the arrest happened about 1 a.m. Sunday, which began with the man approaching two uniformed officers inside The Venetian casino-hotel.

Police said he was acting erratic and claimed people were chasing him.

Officers were attempting to respond to him when the man ran off on foot into a secured area of the property toward a pickup truck. He reportedly tried to open the tailgate and then approached the door on the driver’s side.

Police said an officer then used a stun gun, which affected the man. But the neuromuscular incapacitation didn’t stop him from fighting against the officers trying to arrest him, police said. Venetian security guards also tried to help the officers.

The situation continued to escalate, prompting an officer to punch the man with a closed fist multiple times and then use an approved “Lateral Vascular Neck Restraint” control technique to subdue him, police said. The neck grab involves applying pressure to the side of the neck.

The man lost consciousness and died at a Las Vegas hospital trauma center a short time later. Police said they had attempted CPR on the scene.

The Clark County coroner’s office hasn’t released the man’s identity.

The Office of Internal Oversight and Constitutional Policing is investigating.