Author: Edward Campbell

A routine ballot collection stop took an unexpected turn Thursday afternoon when a Baltimore election contractor found himself near a police-involved shooting in Northeast Baltimore. Although the contractor escaped without injuries, his vehicle was damaged by gunfire, raising concerns about the risks faced by people working in the area during the incident. The shooting occurred near the Erdman Shopping Center, where the contractor was collecting ballots from a designated drop box ahead of the November 2026 general election. Baltimore City election officials confirmed that the contractor was an innocent bystander and had not been involved in the confrontation. They also…

A 12-year-old girl in South Carolina was hospitalized with severe malnutrition, fragile bones and a hip infection after her father raised concerns about her health. Investigators say the child also needed extensive dental care and had no documented school attendance after kindergarten. Her mother, Chiquitta Dawkins, 43, has been charged with unlawful conduct toward a child following an investigation by the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office. The case began to come into focus after the girl went into her father’s care in August. According to an incident report and arrest warrant, he noticed that she appeared unusually small for her age…

A Kentucky man will spend 35 years in prison after admitting his role in the 2020 killings of a young father and his 3-year-old daughter. The case, which involved an alleged plan to lure the father outside his home, took several years to reach its latest resolution after an earlier murder conviction was overturned. Kevon Lawless, 29, was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty to the murders of Brandon Waddles, 21, and Waddles’ daughter, Trinity Randolph, according to local reporting. The killings happened in Louisville on Aug. 14, 2020. Prosecutors said the attack grew out of a longstanding dispute between Lawless…

A late-night welfare check at a North Carolina home turned into a chaotic confrontation after officers reportedly discovered extensive damage, dangerous objects and four children who authorities say may have been at risk. Gabriel Antonio Santos-Funes, 35, and Maria Valladares, 33, were arrested following the Oct. 21 incident at their residence in Mecklenburg County. Investigators allege that the couple resisted arrest and assaulted officers responding to a neighbor’s report of disturbing activity inside the home. Both parents face four misdemeanor counts of child abuse, along with charges of resisting a public officer and assault on a government official. Valladares also…

A family dispute over inheritance money ended in tragedy in San Jose, California, where a 43-year-old man has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for killing his mother with fentanyl. Bradley Dexter pleaded no contest to first-degree murder in connection with the death of his 72-year-old mother, Kathleen Dexter, who was found dead at her home on June 6, 2023. Prosecutors said he put a fatal amount of fentanyl in her oat milk and wine during a period of conflict over money. The case took more than three years to reach its latest chapter. During that time,…

More than four years after two convenience store employees were found fatally shot inside a 7-Eleven in Newport News, Virginia, a 24-year-old man is facing federal charges tied to the deadly robbery. Jordan Isaiah Pierce is accused of killing 52-year-old Preyas Patel and 35-year-old Logan Edward Thomas during a June 15, 2022, robbery in which lottery tickets were stolen. Federal prosecutors allege that Pierce used a Draco pistol in the attack before fleeing with an accomplice. The case has also drawn attention to a second alleged robbery weeks later, when investigators say the same firearm was used during a holdup…

A 16-year-old girl’s ordinary morning wait for the school bus ended in tragedy after police say she was confronted by two teenagers and fatally shot when she refused to fight another girl. Dannady Greene, a student at Valley High School in Louisville, Kentucky, was waiting for her school bus on the morning of August 25, 2026, when the deadly encounter unfolded near Beech Street and Wyandotte Avenue. Investigators allege that the confrontation began when a vehicle carrying the two suspects approached the bus stop. What followed, according to witness accounts cited by police, was a dispute that quickly escalated into…

A Minnesota man who fatally struck a pedestrian with his work van and continued driving to a roofing job about two hours away has been sentenced to 360 days in jail, with the judge allowing him to serve the time at home under electronic monitoring. Jose Hernandez Pineda, 47, pleaded guilty to criminal vehicular homicide on August 17 in connection with the death of 31-year-old Abdul Bakr Jafar. The case stems from a September 26, 2025, hit-and-run in Maplewood, Minnesota, where Jafar was found dead along the side of a road during the early morning hours. Under the sentence, Hernandez…

A maintenance notice left beneath an apartment door became an unexpected clue in the death of a Minneapolis woman who had repeatedly contacted police about her boyfriend. For several days, the flyer remained untouched. When someone finally became concerned and requested a welfare check, officers discovered 47-year-old Allison Lussier dead inside her apartment. More than two years later, prosecutors have charged her former boyfriend, Charles Foss, 36, with second-degree murder and stalking. The charges have renewed scrutiny of how Minneapolis police handled Lussier’s earlier requests for help, including at least nine emergency calls involving Foss before her death. Investigators allege…

A Pennsylvania woman convicted in the death of her 5-year-old adopted son has been sentenced to decades in prison after prosecutors presented evidence of repeated abuse, disturbing text messages and a fatal brain injury that doctors said was catastrophic. Lauren Maloberti, 37, will serve between 31½ and 63 years in state prison following her conviction for third-degree murder in the death of Landon Maloberti. She was also convicted of two counts of aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children and conspiracy. The case centered on what happened to Landon while he was in the care of his adoptive family, along…