Daily Briefs

Officer pleads guilty to neglect of duty in car theft case


BENTON HARBOR, Mich. (AP) — A Benton Harbor police officer has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor neglect of duty.

The Berrien County prosecutor’s office says Tuesday that surveillance video showed 36-year-old Reginald Gee speaking to a person inside a car that had been reported stolen.

The Honda was reported stolen Sept. 12 in southwestern Michigan’s Bridgman. Gee was on patrol Sept. 14 when he came across the car in Benton Harbor and reported that it was unoccupied.

An investigation revealed that Gee and the person in the Honda knew one another.

Gee has been sentenced to fines and court costs of $535. Proceedings are being held regarding his employment with the police department.

 

17-year-old gets 40-100  years for murder of half-sister


GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A 17-year-old Grand Rapids-area youth has been sentenced to 40 to 100 years in prison in the strangulation death of his 18-year-old half-sister.

Seventeen-year-old Savon Schmus learned his sentence Monday after pleading guilty earlier this month Monday to murder in the death of McKenna Hilton. Her body was found Aug. 18, 2016, in a wooded area near Emerald Lake in Grand Rapids Township.

The victim’s mother, Stacey Hilton, addressed Schmus in court and said, “I hate you. I will never forgive you.”

WOOD-TV reports the father of the defendant and the victim, David Schmus, read a Bible verse from the book of Corinthians about the endurance of love and wept as the judge delivered the sentence.

Savon Schmus didn’t speak, but his attorney told the judge he is remorseful.

 

Interfaith Religious Freedom Conference


Detroit Mercy Law is partnering with the J. Reuben Clark Law Society Detroit Chapter and the Michigan Catholic Conference to host an Interfaith Religious Freedom Conference from 7-9 p.m. Nov. 7 at Ss. Peter and Paul Jesuit Church. The keynote speakers are the Most Reverend Allen H. Vigneron, Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit, and Elder Von G. Keetch, General Authority Seventy and Executive Director of the Public Affairs Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Other featured speakers are Elizabeth Clark, Associate Director for the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University Law School; Christopher Lund, Associate Professor at Wayne State University Law School; and Frank Ravitch, Professor and Walter H. Stowers Chair of Law and Religion at Michigan State University Law School. Although the event is free, complimentary parking will only be offered to ticketholders who register at irfc-conference.eventbrite.com.

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