Category: Crime and Punishment

Another Child Shot in Chicago – Do We Care Anymore?

Posted on by TL

From ABC 7 News in Chicago:

A teenage boy was shot and critically wounded Sunday afternoon in the city’s Roseland neighborhood.

The 14-year-old, identified by his family as Kionn Rogers, was shot in the chest in the Far South Side area at approximately 1:45 p.m. in the 10700-block of South Wentworth.

He reportedly is visiting from Springfield amd [sic] was riding his bike at the time of the shooting.

Riding on his bike at the time of the shooting.

Have we grown numb in Chicago to these reports? Seems they happen every day.

Are we ready to take a look at why these shootings happen? It’s not about "them," or "those people," after all. Somehow, it’s about us.

"They" are "us." "We" are "them."

How can we all get that? Understand that?

Rod “The Mouth” Blagojevich Decides Again To Not Testify When It Matters Most: At Trial (With Video)

Posted on by TL

Governor Rod Blagojevich did not testify in his own defense when the Illinois Senate put him on trial and eventually threw him out of office. The man who never passed up a camera or microphone while in office decided to refrain from testifying before the Illinois Senate, and then showed up to speak before that same Illinois Senate just before they tossed him out.

Now, after his lawyers promised he would testify and would set the record straight, Blago has decided to snub the court once again.

Rod Blagojevich, now former governor, will not testify in his own defense.

Why? The best we can gather comes from the Chicago Tribune:

A defiant Rod Blagojevich defended his decision Wednesday not to take the witness stand at his corruption trial by declaring the government had not only failed to present a strong case against him, but actually proved his innocence.

But like many things the former governor has said over the years, the choice was more complicated.

While his lawyers publicly backed Blagojevich’s view that he didn’t need to respond to the government’s case, sources said the defense team was worried the former governor could be headed toward a beating on the stand that would only undermine his case and weaken his standing with the jury.

I’m going with the beating-on-the-stand-would-undermine-his-case explanation. This is my favorite:

The sources said the former governor had difficulty wrapping words around the concepts he wanted to use to defend himself.

After all this time, the former governor was at a loss for words? After showing up on The View?

I don’t think so.

Smile! You’re Being Charged With Aggravated Battery!

Posted on by TL
Matthew W. Moustis

I’ve never seen such joy in a mug shot. And, the thing is, if the kid didn’t have such a wide grin on his face, I never would have taken notice.

Above is Matthew W. Moustis, and the photo is courtesy the Will County Sheriff’s Department. Mr. Moustis is being charged with aggravated assault.

From the Chicago Tribune:

A Mokena teen was in good condition today at a hospital, recovering from stab wounds allegedly inflicted by the son of the Will County board chairman during a dispute over a girl, authorities said.

Matthew W. Moustis, 17, of the 7500 block of West Windmill Drive in Frankfort Square is charged with two counts of aggravated battery in connection with the Wednesday night stabbing at a school parking lot on the 20900 block of South Frankfort Square Road, law enforcement officials said.

Will County sheriff’s police arrested Moustis around 11 p.m. Wednesday. He was in the Will County Adult Detention Facility this morning and was scheduled to appear at a 1:30 p.m. bond hearing, Will County State’s Attorney spokesman Charles Pelkie said.

Sheriff’s Police spokeswoman Kathy Hoffmeyer said deputies dispatched to the school parking lot found the injured 18-year-old man being treated by Frankfort Fire Protection District paramedics.

The teen told deputies he had been driving north on 80th Avenue when he realized Moustis was behind him in a larger vehicle, Hoffmeyer said. The man said he avoided attempts to force his vehicle off the road and pulled over in the school parking lot to confront Moustis, Hoffmeyer said.

Moustis is the son of Will County Board Chairman Jim Moustis, the Tribune reports.

Dying Chicago Teen: ‘Tell My Mom That I Love Her’

Posted on by TL

From the Chicago Tribune:

Jeremiah Sterling ran away from the gunman pursuing him through a yard near his home in the Far South Side’s West Pullman neighborhood, but the teen didn’t make it.

As he laying dying, shot at least seven times, he gave a friend one last request: "I want you to tell my mom that I love her."

Sterling, 16, who was identified by family members but whose identity has not been released by authorities, was shot about 3:40 p.m. today in alley in the 11500 block of South May Street, between Aberdeen and May streets, according to Chicago Police News Affairs.

The boy initially was in critical condition on the scene, and died soon after, said Dwyer, who did not have information about where the boy may have been taken for treatment. Family members said Sterling, who lived on the 11500 block of South May Street, was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

Police said he died of multiple gunshot wounds.

Sixteen years young.

Prosecutors: Chicago Ridge Suburban Woman Had Sex With Daughter’s Friends

Posted on by TL

Mom was allegedly busy, and mom’s daughter, well, she is probably beside herself.

From the Chicago Sun-Times

A woman employed by a southwest suburban village held parties at her home where she allegedly sexually assaulted four teenage boys while providing them with marijuana and alcohol, prosecutors allege.

Cathleen M. Miller, 40, of the 5800 block of West 109th Street in Chicago Ridge, is charged with three counts of criminal sexual assault and one count of criminal sexual abuse, according to Cook County State’s Attorney’s office spokesman Andy Conklin.

She was ordered held on $900,000 bond during a Tuesday hearing at the Bridgeview courthouse, he said.

Miller, who is employed as a secretary for the Chicago Ridge Village Hall, was arrested Monday following an investigation by police and the state’s attorney’s office, according to Chicago Ridge police.

Between Feb. 1 and June 1, Miller held parties at her home during which she provided teens with alcohol and marijuana, according to court records.

According to the report, mom allegedly had intercourse with two of the teens, oral sex with a third and fondled a fourth, according to prosecutors.

Ouch.

A Pot to Pee In – Ben Roethlisberger Accused of Public Urination?

Posted on by TL

Sometimes, a guy can’t catch a break.

Ben Roethlisberger needs positive headelines, soon.

Not like this, from USA Today:

Police in Dublin, Ohio, investigated a golf foursome that included Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger after a woman bordering the course alleged that a person in the group had urinated in public.

Dublin police spokesman David Ball told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that no charges or citations were issued and that Roethlisberger was not the person seen urinating.

"We received a call that said a member of the party urinated on private property," Ball told the paper. "We spoke to the golf course and they agreed to discuss this issue internally with their members."

Roethlisberger, a native of Findlay, Ohio, was suspended 6 games in April for violating the league’s personal-conduct policy. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell ordered Roethlisberger into a behavioral evaluation program and held open the potential for extending the ban if he wasn’t satisfied by Roethlisberger’s progress.

Double Yoy!

‘Barefoot Bandit’ Lucky He Was Caught Alive

Posted on by TL

Yes, the dude is young, and cute.

But he’s lucky to be alive. The games he was playing were all-too-real.

And cute doesn’t make a difference, at all.

From AOL News, Mom speaks:

More than two years on the run, Colton Harris-Moore, aka the "Barefoot Bandit," was finally captured in the Bahamas, taken into custody after a high-speed boat chase. The 19-year-old suspect with a huge Internet fan club was led away — shackled and shoeless.

"I’m glad it’s over and they brought him in safe," Harris-Moore’s mother, Pam Kohler, told AOL News following his arrest. "I was afraid he would get shot if it kept going."

Harris-Moore’s arrest came just before dawn in northern Eleuthera, The Associated Press reported.

Apparently, a boat captain realized something was wrong when he saw a boat take off at 2 a.m. Sunday with no lights. He and another resident alerted the Bahamian Police, and a chase ensued.

"As we approached him, he started saying things like, ‘I’m not going back to jail; I’m going to kill myself," Jordan Sackett, a Harbour Island resident who witnessed the ordeal, told WPTV News Channel 5.

Dude, you don’t need to do that. Serve your time. Life is wonderful. It’s all we have.

You’ll probably be out sooner than you think.

You’re lucky you were caught. Life is wonderful. It’s all we have.

Why Does Gary Montino, Convicted Felon, Get To Keep His Pension From Melrose Park?

Posted on by TL

Vito Scavo (left) and Gary Montino arrive at court in May.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Two crooked Melrose Park cops — the chief and his deputy — got convicted of the same crime.

One got his pension yanked this week.

But the other will keep on receiving more than $5,600 a month in benefits, in a highly unusual decision by the Melrose Park Police Pension Board.

Both former Police Chief Vito Scavo, 62, and his right-hand man, Deputy Chief Gary Montino, 54, were convicted of racketeering conspiracy in 2009 for their roles in a scheme to muscle local businesses into hiring the two security firms Scavo illegally ran out of the police department.

By law, a police officer can’t get a pension if he’s been convicted of a felony related to his job.

Scavo oversaw and profited from the two security firms which used on-duty police officers and police equipment for private jobs.

His deputy, Montino, was heavily involved in the day-to-day operations of the firms while working at the police department, according to government filings.

What an odd decision.

Look, this is a tough one to post. I have a great deal of respect for our men and women in blue.

But, really, why the split decision? To what extent were personal feelings an issue here?

Juror’s Hear Patti Blagojevich’s Potty Mouth

Posted on by TL
Blago

Patti On Tape: "Tell Them To Hold Up That F***ing Cubs S***. F*** them."

I don’t have a picture of Patti Blagojevich. Never met her.

Met the former Gov. several times. This picture comes from one of those meetings, taken in Matteson’s Lincoln Mall so many lifetimes ago, it seems now.

Actually believed in him once.

Yes, I was had, as were the many who voted for him.

In spite of the huge numbers who voted for him in Chicago’s South Suburbs, Blago the Press Guy only visited our area a few times.

This week, the jury hearing the trial of His Hairness got to hear Mrs. Blago talk smack, now on the record.

From Chicago’s CBS:

While Bob Greenlee, a onetime deputy governor for Rod Blagojevich, was on the stand Thursday, prosecutors played a tape of a phone conversation Greenlee had with Rod and Patti Blagojevich.

In that conversation, the three of them are discussing Chicago Tribune articles and editorials that had been critical of the governor and the Tribune Company’s attempts to sell Wrigley Field to the state as part of a pending sale of the Chicago Cubs.

Patti is heard saying, "Tell them to hold up that f***ing Cubs s***. F*** them, f*** them. Why should you do anything for those a**holes? Sam Zell. What kind of bulls*** is that."

Later, Patti is heard complaining about the Tribune’s editorial board.
"Just fire ’em … What would … William Randolph Hearst do, say, oh, I can’t interfere with my editorial board? … They’re hurting (the Tribune Company’s) business," Patti Blagojevich says.

Greenlee adds, "They’ve lost all impartiality."

Later, Rod is heard talking about asking his chief of staff, John Harris, to approach Tribune owner Sam Zell and tell him to "fire those f***ers."

Throughout the call, Greenlee repeatedly warns Blagojevich to be careful about how to approach the Tribune about the negative editorials about the governor, telling him it would be a "sensitive" issue to even just imply the editorial board should be fired.

At one point, Blagojevich asks, "What’s so sensitive about it?"

On the stand, Greenlee testified that he knew "it’s wrong to try to fire people over an editorial opinion."

I have no idea where this trial is going. It’s hard to keep up. The press is focusing on the profanity, sometimes over substance, I think. I hope the jury is hearing the substance. In spite of all the allegations, and some of our personal feelings, His Hairness deserves a fair trial. If convicted, it should be solid.

Of course, he only has himself to blame for the sideshow.

Man Charged with Murder in Death of Infant Daughter

Posted on by TL
Kejuan Hunt

Kejuan Hunt. (Photo: PFPD)

The sad news from eNews Park Forest:

A Park Forest man was charged with first degree murder Saturday in connection with the July 3 death of his 3-month-old daughter.

According to a press release issued by the Park Forest Police Department, on July 2, 2010, Park Forest Police and Fire Units responded to the 100 block of Hemlock Street regarding a report of a non-responsive infant. The child was revived and transported to St. James Hospital in Chicago Heights. The 3-month-old girl was later taken to Provena St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet.

On Saturday, July 3, the child, Nevaeh Hunt, age 3 months, was pronounced dead at 11:08 p.m., the release said.

An autopsy was performed by the Will County Coroner’s Office on Monday, July 5, and showed the child died as the result of head trauma, the release said. The coroner ruled the death a homicide, according to the release.

More here.

The story mentions the victim’s age several times. This one is hard to comprehend.

As always, our thoughts and prayers are with the family and the victim, little Nevaeh Hunt.