Albert Cronkite

In Michigan, Jeffery Smerer admitted all charges in the shooting of three children at a Port Huron apartment. PORT HURON, Mich. — A Michigan father who admitted shooting three of his children now faces sentencing on 10 felony convictions, including open murder, after entering guilty pleas with no agreement to reduce his punishment. Jeffery Smerer, 45, is scheduled to be sentenced June 29 in St. Clair County Circuit Court. His May 26 plea covered the …

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Court records say the accused woman and her former partner still shared a home. HERMITAGE, Pa. — A fatal shooting outside a Lowe’s in northwestern Pennsylvania began with a recent breakup and a meeting in a parking lot, police said in court records. The accused woman, 32-year-old Taneesha Lynn Teague, had ended a relationship with her former girlfriend about a month before the shooting, but the two still lived together, according to reports on the …

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Edward Hayes was 10 months old when emergency crews found him unresponsive in Cañon City in 2023. CAÑON CITY, Colo. — The death of 10-month-old Edward Hayes, a baby found unresponsive in a Cañon City motel room, is again the center of a Colorado murder case against William Jacobs. Edward’s case returned to court after the Colorado Court of Appeals reversed a 2024 dismissal that had ended the prosecution. The ruling does not decide guilt. …

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Court documents describe an alleged fear of family reaction before the woman contacted authorities. GLASGOW, Ky. — A Kentucky man told his pregnant girlfriend they could not have a baby because his family would kill him, then secretly replaced her medication, police allege in court documents. The allegation against Abdulah Mohmand, 26, of Bowling Green, centers on motive as much as medication. Investigators say the woman reported that her prescription pills had been replaced with …

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Supporters have followed the case from searches and vigils to new forensic filings and a delayed 2026 trial date. MANASSAS PARK, Va. — Supporters of Mamta Kafle Bhatt are still waiting for answers nearly two years after the Virginia nurse and mother vanished and her husband was charged in her presumed death. The latest turn came through forensic testing, not a search recovery. A report filed in court says three human hairs, 13 human hair …

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In Massachusetts, Sean Brewer remains in custody while prosecutors review the fatal shooting of his wife, Jacklyn Berry. BOSTON, Mass. — A judge ordered Sean Brewer held after his arraignment in the fatal shooting of his wife, setting $100,000 bail and revoking bail in a separate pending criminal case. The bail rulings mean Brewer, 58, remains behind bars while the manslaughter case tied to Jacklyn Berry’s death heads toward a July 15 probable cause hearing. …

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Investigators said Li’Aziah Thomas was dead for hours before police reached her mother’s Pine Lane apartment. CHESTER, Pa. — Medical findings showing internal bleeding, organ lacerations and bruises across an 18-month-old girl’s body became the backbone of a Delaware County murder case that has now produced two long prison sentences. Li’Aziah Thomas died Jan. 20, 2021, from blunt-force trauma inside the Chester apartment where she lived with her mother, Kandie Meinhart, and Meinhart’s boyfriend, Maurice …

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James Richard Chelf II is being held without bond after the fatal shooting of his wife, Sandra Sue Chelf. YODER, Ind. — A murder case filed against a 79-year-old Allen County man is moving through court after police said his wife was found shot to death inside their mobile home. James Richard Chelf II was formally charged with murder after an initial hearing in Allen Superior Court 6, according to reports citing online court records. …

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The Eau Claire County case follows a prior Dunn County matter that ended with a mental disease or defect finding. EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — Michael Jon Hurlburt remains jailed on a $1 million cash bond as Eau Claire County prosecutors pursue a first-degree intentional homicide charge in the stabbing death of his mother. The charge accuses Hurlburt, 27, of killing Lisa Marie Bragg-Hurlburt, 56, on Friday, May 22, inside her apartment at Half Moon Lake …

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The deaths of Allie and Phoenix Novickis have left detectives focused on a family visit, a shotgun and unanswered questions. SARASOTA, Fla. — Nearly a month after a father was accused of killing his girlfriend, his young son and the family dog, Sarasota County investigators have released charges and a timeline but no motive. Nicholas Novickis, 34, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of animal cruelty in the May 23 …

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