News Roundup 11/06/19
Is Texas About to Execute an Innocent Man? Rodney Reed’s Family Demands Retrial Amid New Evidence
A man named Rodney Reed has been in jail for 20 years after being convicted for rape and mudrer, both crimes he says he did not commit. But since Reed’s trial, substantial evidence has emerged implicating Stites’s then-fiancé, a white police officer named Jimmy Fennell, who was later jailed on kidnapping and rape charges in another case. In a major development, a man who spent time in jail with Fennell signed an affidavit last month asserting that Fennell had admitted in prison that he had killed his fiancée because she was having an affair with a black man. This opens a whole line of inquiry that seems to give helpful insight into the case.
Woman Accused of Lying About Cancer to Scam GoFundMe and Facebook Donors Out of More Than $10k
A Chester County, Pennsylvania woman is accused of pretending to have cancer, impersonating a doctor and nurse and lying about her own father dying in an elaborate scheme to steal thousands of dollars from donors on GoFundMe and Facebook. Jessica Cornell Smith, 32, was arrested Monday and charged with theft by deception, false impression and receiving stolen property. Smith had recieved more than $10,000 in donations to help with "cancer" treatments. Smith also allegedly lied about her father's death in order to get a day off work.
Source: NBC
“Release My Mother”: A Yale Student Fights to Halt Deportation of His Mother with Stage IV Cancer
Tania Romero, an undocumented mother from Honduras and survivor of stage IV cancer, is fighting to remain in the United States with her four children. Two months ago, Romero was imprisoned by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the privately owned Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia, interrupting her life-saving medical treatments. In mid-August, Romero was pulled over for a minor traffic infraction and arrested for not having a driver’s license. Tania Romero’s attorney requested a stay of deportation on humanitarian grounds because of her fragile health, but it was denied in September. Her son, Cristian Padilla Romero, is organizing against her deportation, with a petition demanding his mother’s release with over 30,000 signatures.
Source: Democracy Now
Kansas City voters choose to remove Martin Luther King Jr.'s name from a historic street
Voters in Kansas City, Missouri, decided to remove Martin Luther King Jr.'s name from a historic boulevard that was renamed in January to honor the civil rights leader. In a special election Tuesday, the measure to change Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. back to The Paseo Boulevard received about 65% of the vote, according to figures released by the city's Board of Election Commissioners. The vote came after months of debate between groups intent on honoring King's legacy and some residents who didn't want to lose their neighborhood's identity. The Paseo, as many locals call it, is one of the oldest boulevards in the city and runs north to south through a predominantly African American section of the city. "We don't mind doing something to honor Dr. King, but we don't want you to take Paseo away from us to do it," said former City Councilwoman Alissia Canady, who represented much of the area until her term ended in August. She helped organize the Save The Paseo group, which collected almost 3,000 signatures to get the name change on Tuesday's ballot.
Source: CNN
A Fortnite superstar has been banned for life for cheating
Popular Fortnite YouTuber FaZe Jarvis has been issued a lifetime ban by the game's creators, Epic Games, following his public use of cheating hacks. In an apology video posted Sunday, Jarvis explained that he got the ban after using aimbots, a type of in-game cheat that allows players to automatically aim at opponents, greatly increasing shooting accuracy. In the video, which has over 6 million views, Jarvis gets visibly upset while admitting to cheating and apologizing to fans and Epic Games.
Source: CNN