Albert Cronkite, Author at DR News - News, Retirement, Finance

Estranged husband storms Florida woman’s home after failed bid to win her back and kills her for dating other men

The cross-county search ended at a Titusville pond after officers found a vehicle connected to the fatal shooting of Jacqueline Reyes. TITUSVILLE, Fla. — An automated camera alert helped turn a homicide search in Daytona Beach into a police pursuit in Titusville on July 27, allowing officers to locate a gray sedan connected to a man wanted in his estranged wife’s killing before the vehicle crashed into a pond at Sand Point Park. The search …

Mom and boyfriend skipped hospital after 1-year-old suffered fatal scalding in bath as he suffered for a day before death

Both caregivers were initially charged with murder, but the case ended with second-degree murder for Sergio Mena and manslaughter for Samantha Garver. SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — When prosecutors charged Samantha Garver and Sergio Mena after the 2023 death of Garver’s 1-year-old son, both faced murder allegations. Nearly three years later, the case ended differently: Mena was convicted of second-degree murder, while Garver was convicted of voluntary manslaughter. The difference between the first charging document and …

Woman stabs longtime boyfriend to death then tells cops she would repeat it

Police arrested Connie Jo Frank after she came back to the Moorhead home where Willard DeGroat had been fatally stabbed. MOORHEAD, Minn. — Connie Jo Frank left the home where Willard DeGroat had been stabbed, hid nearby and then walked back while police were still investigating. Nearly two years later, that sequence has ended with Frank convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Her return to the north Moorhead residence on …

Ex-boyfriend recorded himself assaulting teen basketball star before strangling her in pool house

The agreement resolved the Madeline Bills murder case without a capital trial and included a waiver of Cook’s appeal rights. NORMAN, Okla. — A Cleveland County murder prosecution that once placed Chace Cook at risk of execution ended instead with a negotiated guilty plea, a life-without-parole sentence and no future jury trial over the April 2023 killing of Moore High School senior Madeline Bills. The July 28, 2026, disposition represents the final turn in a …

Wisconsin man allegedly stabbed his own mother and dumped cat litter on her then tried to burn away the crime scene

Investigators say medical findings showed the victim died before three fires were deliberately started inside her New London apartment. NEW LONDON, Wis. — The central timeline in a Wisconsin homicide case rests on what investigators say the victim’s body did not contain: soot in her lungs or carbon monoxide in her blood, findings authorities say show she was already dead before several fires were set around her apartment. That sequence is a key part of …

Wife allegedly delivers gun after her husband clashes with man whose wife he was flirting with

Berry Russell Jr. has spoken publicly since his arrest, while the verified record still leaves key questions about the fatal encounter unresolved. OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — A month after Myron Cooper was fatally shot following a confrontation outside an Oklahoma City hotel, the man accused in his death resurfaced in a local newspaper interview, renewing attention on a case whose publicly available record still contains competing accounts, unanswered questions and even a disputed date entry. …

Dad fatally injures 5-day-old newborn son during mother’s hospital stay

Jah’Shawn Martin lived five days, while the criminal case over his death continued for more than two years before a negotiated conviction. PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Jah’Shawn Martin’s mother said she had only about 12 hours with her newborn outside the hospital before illness sent her back for treatment. While she was hospitalized, her 5-day-old son suffered fatal injuries at home, beginning a criminal case that ended in July with the child’s father sentenced to 11 …

Nightclub cover charge feud ends with Texas man killing his girlfriend’s father

The San Antonio case began with a cover-charge argument and ended with a no-contest plea on the morning of trial. SAN ANTONIO, Texas — What began as a disagreement over a nightclub cover charge ended outside a taco restaurant with Christopher Paul Fuentes dead, his daughter running for safety and Franco Xavier Summers facing a murder case that would last nearly two years. That case reached its final trial-court resolution Tuesday when Summers, 34, pleaded …

Oregon woman allegedly shoots husband then flees as daughter describes devastating illness

Neighbors described a couple facing serious health problems before Walter Peca died, while court records now outline a far different police investigation. KEIZER, Ore. — Before Walter Peca’s death became a homicide case, neighbors knew a quieter story: a 59-year-old man whose health had declined, a wife they remembered as kind and a household that appeared to be dealing with serious illness largely outside public view. That neighborhood picture changed abruptly in July and changed …

Nevada mom said she panicked after surprise birth then put newborn in dumpster because she didn’t want more kids

Investigators reconstructed an early-morning birth and abandonment before Taylour Sierra Dickinson abandoned her planned trial and entered a no-contest plea. RENO, Nev. — Taylour Sierra Dickinson told investigators she did not know she was pregnant, panicked after unexpectedly giving birth and hoped someone would find the newborn she placed in a dumpster. More than a year later, those disputed circumstances will not be tested before a jury because Dickinson has pleaded no contest to attempted …