News: Brooklyn Teen Burns Classmate

(Long Island, N.Y.) A sixteen-year-old sophomore from Brooklyn’s Fort Hamilton High School in Bay Ridge was arrested for dumping hydrochloric acid on the face of her classmate. The incident occurred at a quarter to eleven on Wednesday morning as the bell rang to end the chemistry class they had together. The fifteen-year-old victim of this crime was a former friend of her attacker.

The feud between the girls had started weeks ago when the victim was accused of stealing her attacker’s twenty-two-year-old boyfriend. The man, a Staten Island resident of Egyptian decent, had broken up with the victim after dating her for a week. He allegedly confided in her attacker that she had been clingy and was stalking him. He told her to handle the situation by confronting her former friend, but says he did not expect her to take it to the level she did.

More bad blood between the girls was caused over an incident within their Junior R.O.T.C. squad group. The victim, who was the squad leader, reported her attacker for breaking the club’s no-makeup policy. The attacker was supposedly wearing nail polish, was known by classmates to freak out over little things, and added fuel to the fire by stealing the victim’s assigned seat during the previous class.

Prior to these events, the girls were friends; the victim had even attended her attacker’s sweet sixteen celebration. Both girls were honors students, athletes, and sophomores at Fort Hamilton High School. The victim was an immigrant from Kyrgyzstan.

On the day of the attack, the victim claimed to have witnessed her attacker smiling at her mischievously, and suspected that the girl was up to something. Moments later, she felt liquid hit her hair and face, and realized it came from the girl sitting behind her. She thought the substance was water until she turned to see the bottle/beaker of hydrochloric acid and felt the onset of the burning.

The attacker, dressed in her R.O.T.C. uniform allegedly swore in Russian as she doused her former friend. Luckily, the teacher was quick to respond by pouring water in the girl’s face as her attacker disappeared from the classroom with her belongings. Because the solution was only 10% acid, the victim was able to make a full recovery after getting rushed to the burn center at Staten Island Hospital.

To confuse matters, a fire alarm drill was conducted at the time of the incident. Police came to collect the sixteen-year-old attacker while the rest of the school marched outside for the safety procedure. The victim was lucky to have benefited from her fast-acting teacher and to have used her bangs as a shield from more serious damage.

The sixteen-year-old admitted to wanting to burn her victim’s eyes out. She spent a night in jail and was collected by her father after posting $7,500 bail. She faces first-degree, second-degree, and third-degree attempted assault, fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, unlawful possession of noxious material, and second-degree harassment charges. If convicted, she could face up to fifteen years in prison.

The fifteen-year-old honor student claims the friendship ended over rumors and lies. Her forty-two-year old parent claims that her daughter’s attacker was jealous of her success in the school’s gifted and talented program. The teenager from Bensonhurst was arrested about an hour after her crime and arraigned in Brooklyn Criminal Court.

An order of protection has been issued for the safety of the teenaged victim. It prohibits her attacker from contacting her and includes the exchange of text messages, emails, and phone calls. The victim was able to return to class and showed no sign of lasting effects while she attended her Junior R.O.T.C. meeting after school.

News: Long Island Charity Worker Faces Charges

(Long Island, N.Y.) A forty-five-year old office manager from Baldwin was arrested on Tuesday for stealing money from the charity that employed her. The name of the charity is Sustainable Long Island, a not-for-profit organization that deals with economic development, environmental health, and social equity on Long Island. Though it’s estimated that the woman spent about $130,000 of the charity’s funds, police say that the figure could reach $200,000 at the conclusion of their investigation.

The charity, which is a well-known organization out of Bethpage, has since terminated their former office manager. She had been working with the charity since ’05, and has been issued a warrant for making a bad check. The charity is considered an advocacy group that deals with “smart-growth” initiatives and “think-tank” issues.

The arraignment was last Wednesday at the First District Court in Hempstead. The defendant was represented by legal aid who was unable to comment on the status of their cases. Reports have stated that most of the money stolen from the charity has yet to be returned, and a statement on their website explains the following:

“Through the course of Sustainable Long Island’s regular audit preparations, the organization came across unauthorized expenditures by a staff member. Upon discovering these expenses, Sustainable Long Island immediately informed local authorities and terminated the employee. We are working cooperatively with the authorities and counsel to investigate and recover funds.”

Sustainable Long Island also deals with downtown revitalization and community redevelopment projects throughout Nassau and Suffolk Counties. It helps to promote affordable housing and proactive business endeavors while maintaining an environmentally-friendly policy. The unauthorized expenditures made by their former office manger date back at least six months to August of ’10.

The woman in question pleaded not guilty yesterday to grand larceny, identity theft, and scheming to defraud charges. Her bail was $10,000 cash on a $20,000 bond. She was allegedly racking up steep credit card bills and using the charity’s funds to pay them off.

Workers of the charity say they got suspicious during an internal auditing process. The variety of expenditures that were unaccounted for wound up being traced to their former office manager’s credit card expenses. Some of the charges she made were for her dog’s veterinarian bills and airfare for a vacation in the Caribbean where members of her family resided.

The former office manager was also caught spending the charity’s funds on bills for electronics. Authorities say the woman purchased an iPad, iPhone, and luxury television. It’s unclear why she thought such purchases would go unnoticed to coworkers and supervisors of the charity.

In addition to economic development work, Sustainable Long Island unites residents, students, businesses, government officials, civic and labor groups, and clergy in efforts to maintain the value of the community. It is a proponent for equal economic opportunity and employment for all of Long Island’s residents. Its staple includes “planning regionally and acting locally” to get such goals accomplished, and keeping residents involved with decisions that affect their communities. The charity is currently accepting donations and prospers off the motto: “Rethink. Rebuild. Renew.”

News: Drug and Hate Crimes on Long Island

(Long Island, N.Y.) A forty-four-year old man from Lindenhurst was accosted by police at Kennedy (JFK) airport on Monday. The man had been transporting roughly seven pounds of cocaine in a secret compartment of his suitcase. Police say that the search was done at random, but that the stash was easy to spot by the unusual thickness of the bottom part of his luggage.

The amount of cocaine found in the suitcase was estimated to be $160,000 at street value. The U.S. Customs and Border Protections Office was involved in the case, being that the man recently arrived from a flight out of the Dominican Republic. The man claimed to be coming from an enforcement exam.

According to a 2009 National Monitoring the Future Survey given to eighth graders, sophomores, and seniors, cocaine use is at its lowest since the 90’s. The survey also shows that marijuana still tops cocaine as the most popular form of illegal drug use. It is unsure how much serious time the man will face for his attempted smuggling.

A thirty-year-old man from Holbrook is trying to appeal his case for the attempted murder of two Mexican illegal immigrants. He was charged with twenty-five years for the crime that took place on September 17th 2000, in which he and an accomplice beat two men with a crowbar and shovel in an abandoned building in Farmingville. In the early morning hours, he lured the men from a 7-11 known for harboring immigrants awaiting work-contracts with the promise of work.

His accomplice had a knife and stabbed at least one of the men before they were able to make their escape. Luckily, they were rescued by a passerby on the Long Island Expressway while one of the men was bleeding profusely from his wounds. The accomplice turned himself in a month later.

The grounds for his attempt at an appeal is that he was forced by police to disrobe and expose multiple tattoos, which were of a white supremacist nature. Photos of his tattoos were later shown in court, and used as evidence supporting his targeting of Mexicans.

A tattoo on his upper neck, near his hairline read “ACAB” or “All Cops Are Bastards.” A second tattoo on his right upper arm read “FTW” or “Fuck the World,” and a third tattoo on his arm read “NYHC” or “New York Hate Corps/ Hard Core.” There were also multiple swastikas – including a Nazi swastika on his right upper chest – skinheads with “Doc Marten” boots, skulls, Vikings, and cartoon men depicted with large noses. He also had a drawing of a white fist and Celtic cross near the swastikas.

The accomplice was a twenty-year-old acquaintance who received fifteen years for his role in the crime. He claimed to be eating dinner with his family in Maspeth, Queens when he got a call from his friend to help out with noisy neighbors who were having a party. His family told him to stay out of it and let his friend contact police; he agreed until he decided to call back his friend at about 4am for the rendezvous.

He admitted to having been drinking heavily, using drugs, and taking LSD before speaking to his friend. He claimed that he was out of control after drinking, and that his anger gave him the desire to beat people up. His friend provided him with the opportunity, but he claimed to have stabbed the man in self-defense. He also claimed to have worn a gray suit, slicked his hair back for the crime, and later had his racially affiliated tattoos covered.

News: A Weekend of St. Patrick’s Day Parades

(Long Island, N.Y.) On Saturday, March 12th and Sunday, March 13th the towns of Bay Shore/Brightwaters and Huntington will host their annual St. Patrick’s Day parades. They are some of many Long Island towns that will have parades, all serving as impressive alternates to the parade in New York City. This weekend’s parades will give Long Islander’s a reason to stay local and enjoy the March festivities.

This Saturday at noon the Bay Shore/Brightwaters parade will begin at 9 North Clinton Avenue in Bay Shore. It will reach Saxon Avenue at 2pm sharp and travel west onto Main Street/Montauk Highway for 1.6 miles before reaching its destination of St. Patrick’s Church. The parade is run by the Annual Bay Shore/Brightwaters St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee and Annual Bay Shore/Brightwaters St. Patrick’s Day Parade Incorporated is considered a public charity currently accepting donations.

The event is always held on the second Saturday in March, and aspires to be the best parade on Long Island. Funds are raised to help the bands and organizations that march in the parade. The float contest and best pipes and drums band contests award winners with an array of trophies and cash prizes; contestants are judged by the reviewing stand at the church.

Some of the marching groups expected to participate in the event are bag pipe, brass, and fire department bands. Mummers from Philadelphia are expected to march, along with horses, clowns, and antique cars. More than fifteen additional floats and bands are also expected to attend.

Admittance to the parade is free, but those who wish to march must fill out a form and be approved by the committee. This year’s parade Grand Marshalls are Jack Finnerty Jr. and Charlie Hughes. A mass will be held at noon showcasing Hibernian Festival singers.

Huntington’s Ancient Order of Hibernians will hold their 77th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade the following day, Sunday March 13th at 2pm. It will begin just north of Huntington Station near Route 110 and travel along New York Avenue. After turning West on Main Street, it will finish at St. Patrick’s Church.

This event is Long Island’s oldest and largest St. Patrick’s Day parade, and is hosted by the Ancient Order of Hibernians who dress distinctively in gray morning tuxes. It is run completely by Huntington‘s AOH chapter which solicits to local businesses that sponsor the parade’s expenses. The influx of visitors and participating residents keep the local spots filled with patrons and customers, adding to the overall prosperity of the area.

The first event was held in the 1930s at the time of the country’s Great Depression. Finnegan’s and Valencia Tavern opened in nearby areas the day after prohibition ended to attract the Irish and Italian workers in the area. Both came together to celebrate the St. Patrick’s Day holiday on the second Sunday in March to coincide with the unofficial start of spring.

More than fifty thousand residents and former residents are expected to gather in Huntington Village to support the twenty-five bag pipe and marching bands, including the NYPD Emerald Society Pipe Band. Also participating are the marching bands from Huntington and Walt Whitman High Schools, twenty antique cars, and the Petri School of Irish Dancing’s step dancers.

Huntington‘s chapter of AOH organizes many charity events, provides scholarships, and is the lead donor to eight local parish food pantries. The National Ancient Order of Hibernians is an Irish-American Catholic organization that was founded in New York City in 1836. Its roots can be traced to Ireland, and its motto is that of “Friendship, Unity, and Christian Charity.”

News: Caregiver Sentenced for Death of Long Island Client

(Long Island, N.Y.) A forty-one-year-old employee of the Woods Services facility for care-dependent residents was sentenced on Monday to 2-5 years in prison. A judged ruled her responsible for involuntary manslaughter in the death of twenty-year-old Oceanside native Bryan Nevins. Nevins was heavily autistic and was trapped inside a minivan amidst ninety-seven degree temperatures during the peak of last year’s summer.

The aide on duty and responsible for Nevins was on her cell phone during calls that amounted to three hours of her eight-hour shift (7am-3pm). Thirty-four calls were made in addition to seventy-one text messages; 87 out of 189 minutes were spent talking to her boyfriend. The most devastating aspect of this negligence was the forty-minute phone call made to her boyfriend during the critical hour that could have saved Nevins’ life.

Nevins was trapped in the back of the company’s maroon Kia Sedona minivan for four hours before nurses scheduled to give him his medication noticed he was missing. It took an hour of searching before they discovered his body; the estimated temperature inside the vehicle was between 125-130 degrees Fahrenheit. Medical personnel claim that it would have only taken between sixty and ninety minutes for death to occur.

Prior to his tragic death, Nevins was escorted to the water park at Sesame Place with two aides and three other residents of Woods Services. The driver of the minivan was the woman charged in the crimes against him. She made a phone call to Woods Services at 11:10am to inform them that she’d be returning early because Nevins had been biting and scratching; this, authorities say, was the only work-related phone call.

Before returning they stopped at a McDonald’s for lunch, during which the aide was gone for twelve minutes to use her cell phone. Woods Services claimed to have a strict policy against cell phones for personal use, and claimed that the aide was reprimanded three times in the past for using her phone for reasons other than work. The residents at Woods Services are often behaviorally challenged, disabled, and intellectually compromised and require extreme care; some, like Nevins, have the mental capacity of a two-year-old.

Nevins was able to walk but was not verbal, and required the attention of staff at all times. The aid charged in this case claims she had not been assigned responsibility for his care and that she made sure the van was empty upon returning. Witnesses at the facility disagree, saying she was clearly assigned to be responsible for Nevins; many question why Woods Services didn’t keep better records of who was assigned to each client.

Nevins’ father is a former New York City Detective once given high-profile cases such as the Wendy’s Massacre. Nevins was a triplet, and his brother was also a resident of Woods Services. Nevins’ father says he must relive his son’s tragedy daily when his surviving son, who has the mental capacity of a five year old, asks about his brother. Nevins’ sister, who is not autistic, planned on working with special needs individuals and providing her brothers with home care. She visited her brothers weekly and claims to have suffered from PTSD following Nevins’ death.

Nevins lived at the facility since he was fourteen. Woods Services made the news less than a year prior to Nevins’ tragedy when a seventeen-year-old resident from Long Island was killed after he fled grounds and fell/jumped from an overpass. Reports also surfaced last year about an employee selling cocaine from the company’s parking lot. Though the company has been cleared of wrongdoing following investigation, these events have caused Nassau and Suffolk Counties to pull their eleven other residents from the facility.

News: Seals Take Long Island

(Long Island, N.Y.) Last week an adult harp seal came back to the Long Island Sound after making it all the way to the shores of Fairfield, Connecticut. It was monitored by the Fairfield Animal Control Center when it made an appearance near a country club in Sasco Beach. This is one of many seal sightings to happen recently in the Long Island and tri-state area.

Harp seals are gray with black faces and large black spots on their bodies. This particular seal, though healthy, was noted to have conjunctivitis in its right eye. Witnesses said the seal repeatedly came on and off the shore before managing to catch a large fish.

Frequently, seals that wash up on the shoreline are easily stressed, and are often sick or dying. Therefore, it’s important that they are not disturbed by people or their pets. The law requires beachgoers to stay a hundred feet away from these protected animals, which can be dangerous to pets (and vice versa) due to the transmittance of animal pathogens.

It’s not uncommon for seals to reach the shoreline of Connecticut in early Spring; an estimated 4-5 seals do so yearly. Though they usually stay close to Canada, at least six seals have been spotted in a week between the shores of Rhode Island and Connecticut. Some reasons for the heightened number of seal-spotting could be the presence of a food source, a boost in the seal population, or repeated sightings of the same seal.

Another instance of seal findings on Long Island occurred at Montauk State Park. An abandoned baby seal was spotted on February 12th with its umbilical cord still attached to its body. Unfortunately, the seal perished last week from an ongoing respiratory infection.

The baby seal, named “Ozzy”, was only thirty-five pounds and three feet long, and in desperate need of the nutrient value found naturally in its mother’s milk. Ozzy was transported from Montauk to the Long Island Research Facility headquarters in the Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation for safety. He was only a day or two old when a biologist took him into custody.

In addition to the respiratory infection, which was believed to be pneumonia, Ozzy may have suffered from multiple rib fractures. During his stay at Atlantis Aquarium a team of biologists administered antibiotics, fluids, and ground fish around the clock via a feeding tube. Despite constant monitoring of his blood levels, biologists were dismayed to find that Ozzy’s condition never improved.

Seal pups are usually born in February to mid-March in areas like Greenland and Newfoundland, and immediately begin to gorge on their mother’s milk. They gain about five pounds per day for about two weeks. Then they are separated from their mothers, left to fend for themselves, and can lose up to half of their body weight post-separation. Though the infant mortality rate for seals is very high at roughly 50%, adult male seals can weigh eight hundred pounds and grow six feet in length.

A three-hundred pound male “hoodie” seal was found at Salisbury Beach on Valentine’s Day and a similar-sized seal was recently found in Massachusetts. It stayed in the area for an entire day without moving much before returning to the sea. Experts say that the seal was not necessarily sick, but it’s often that seals display unusual behavior in the presence of humans; some seals are known to eat sand.

Seals aren’t normally defensive animals but they are capable of biting. Workers of local marine centers urge the public to call authorities or the Animal Control Center in the instance of seal findings. As for Ozzy, biologists plan on conducting an autopsy to see if he suffered any other unknown ailments before giving him a proper burial and alerting the four-hundred friends added to his Facebook page.

News: Bomb Threat in Long Island School

(Long Island, N.Y.) A bomb threat caused students of Garden City High School to be evacuated from school grounds. The students were moved to the nearby St. Paul’s school at roughly ten minutes after ten this morning. This is the second bomb scare to hit the school in less than two weeks.

The first threat, back on Tuesday, March 1st, caused a lockdown/lockout of the school between the hours of nine and eleven that morning. The Garden City Police Department was called to investigate the area and search the school for potential dangers. A full building check was made immediately following the notification.

Eventually, the threat was found to be not credible or specific enough to cause further alarm and the students resumed a normal day of classes. Nonetheless, emergency vehicles were alerted on standby in case there was reason for evacuation. Because there was no impending harm during the incident, many dubbed it a prime example for safety drill practice.

During the March 1st incident, students were held in their classrooms, which is what is called for in the state of a lockdown. A lockout, however, signifies that no one is allowed to enter or leave the building, including parents who wish to collect their children from school. Though there were no intruders, school personnel urge parents not to call the school for requests of information. Instead, they instruct parents to check their website for updates and the status of the school’s safety level.

The superintendent of the school district claimed to have been in touch with the police commissioner every thirty minutes on the morning of the March 1st incident. Though many parents complained about the decision not to evacuate over a week ago, the superintendent maintains that school districts must adhere to state issued guidelines concerning the standard procedures in the case of threats. The State Safety Guidelines are set up by the State Education Department, the State Police, the State Office of Homeland Security, and the State Emergency Management Office.

In today’s incident the threat was supposedly written inside the girl’s bathroom prior to the decision to evacuate students to St. Paul’s school on Rockaway Avenue. The superintendent emailed an alert to parents of the school district’s students. Once again, the Garden City Police Department was called to investigate and secure the area.

The Garden City Fire Department was also called this time to aid police in a building search. Though there were no reports of an intruder, damage, or injuries, the repetitive nature of the threat had authorities on heightened alert. Because the investigation is ongoing, there is information that school personnel and authorities cannot disclose to the public.

Luckily, the threat was once again deemed not credible, and students returned to a normal schedule a little past one in the afternoon to finish out their school day. Many parents and school staff appreciate the efforts made by the police and firefighters for the immediate action taken to ensure students’ safety. The Garden City Police Department, with new staff additions and department changes, is proud to be at its lowest rate of overtime in recent years.

News: Bizarre Accidents on Long Island

(Long Island, N.Y.) A minivan crashed into a home in North Bellport last Friday night when the driver lost control after experiencing diabetic shock. A fifteen-year-old boy named Mario Arriaza suffered a minor cut on his hand, after being struck by the vehicle while sitting on his couch. Earlier that day, he and his younger brother met their local congressman in celebration of his oath of citizenship.

Arriaza was watching television when the incident occurred at roughly a quarter to eight last Friday. The minivan entered his living room after crashing through his home on Tarpon Street in North Bellport. He later discovered that the vehicle was a 2005 Chrysler Town & Country minivan.

Initially, the van hit a Jeep parked in the driveway, while also colliding with an additional car. The Jeep was pushed into the living room upon contact, and two-by-fours fell from the ceiling onto the wall near the television. Arriaza was lucky to avoid the impact of their fall.

The fifteen-year-old’s parents were very proud of their son for his citizenship and ability to avoid danger. They claimed to have been on the verge of tears that day, while taking many pictures to celebrate the achievement. Though Arriaza wanted to go out with friends that weekend, they told him it would be safer to stay at home.

This story is almost as bizarre as the incident of drag racing that occurred in the wee hours of last Thursday morning. Two young drivers crashed their vehicles after being clocked doing 145mph on the Long Island Expressway. A twenty-year-old male was driving a 2005 Dodge Neon SRT with two other passengers when he crashed it into a Gulf gas station pump.

The twenty-one-year old driver crashed his yellow 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo into the fence of a Hooter’s restaurant in Islandia. There was another passenger in the vehicle and the Hooter’s was located across the street from the gas pump where the Dodge exploded. Both cars had been traveling westbound and exited by Exit 58 and Exit 61 in Holbrook when they attempted to evade a police cruiser.

Miraculously, only one of the passengers experienced a minor concussion. The driver of the Dodge was held on $75,000 cash bail, an attempt of the judge to set an example out of the recklessness of the crime. Family and friends of the driver allegedly stormed out of the courtroom in response to the steepness of the bail.

The officer that clocked the vehicles was a Suffolk County Deputy Sheriff and called for backup when he realized he stood no chance of catching up to the racers in a pursuit. Some of the charges against the drivers include: second degree reckless endangerment, illegal drag racing, fleeing a police car, reckless driving, criminal mischief, and speeding. Both drivers had their licenses suspended.

A surveillance video at the gas station where the Dodge ignited showed the vehicle bursting into flames just as a passenger was diving out of the car. The owner of the gas station claims that the passengers were lucky to be alive, because it was only a matter of seconds before the explosion totaled the vehicle. He says he saw one of the passengers jump out of the car, and when he went to help, was also forced to run from the flames.

Reports said that the drivers were acquaintances, and that no drugs or alcohol were found at the scene. A mother and daughter coming home from New York City that evening contacted emergency services while filming the bizarre event. This incident has Suffolk County officials reviewing legislation on racing in the hopes of creating stricter laws against it.

News: Celebrity Snake at Bronx Zoo

(Long Island, N.Y.) The votes were in today to name the Egyptian Cobra that escaped from its Bronx Zoo confinement over a week ago. The snake has gained widespread fame and received almost 1600 votes for the winning name of “Mia.” Mia, signifying Missing in Action, was the winner of an online naming contest held by the New York Daily News and Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs the Bronx Zoo.

About 60,000 people voted in the contest, and the winning name received twenty-seven percent of the vote. Five final names had been chosen from nearly 34,000 submissions. Mia is a female Egyptian Cobra that went missing for six days before being found coiled in a dark corner of the Bronx Zoo’s Reptile House. “Mia” was nominated over two-hundred times as a name for the young snake, who is only a couple of months old.

Mia was found alive and well, all twenty inches and three ounces of her. Zookeepers maintained that patience was the best tactic for her return, and closed the Bronx Zoo’s Reptile House as a precaution. Though Mia was known to fear open spaces and was kept in a non-public area of the exhibit, she is also poisonous and capable of killing a human in as little as to fifteen minutes.

In addition to patience, zoo workers kept the lights dim and the sound low in efforts to bate Mia’s return. They wanted to make the young snake feel comfortable enough to leave her hiding place. Also, rodent-scented woodchips, which are used as the bedding that mice and rats sleep on, were planted around the building. They predicted Mia would be found after she grew thirsty or hungry enough to venture for sustenance, and aimed to tempt her into hunting.

During the course of her disappearance, Mia acquired a Twitter account with more than 230,000 followers. The Twitter posts documented the snake’s imaginary travels around New York City, fantasizing over the kind of adventures she would have during her week of liberation. Mia was a topic of interest on late night comedy shows, and the subject of a joke made by Jimmy Kimmel. Before being found, a Facebook campaign was created, and received thousands of “Likes”, in order to get her to host Saturday Night Live.

New York City businesses cashed in on the up-and-coming serpentine celebrity by printing T-shirts and coffee mugs with cobra logos. In one instance, the infamous “I Love New York” emblem replaced the heart shape with the figure of a cobra. The national coverage of Mia’s story has brought a considerable amount of interest to the Bronx Zoo. Some reports stated that officials at the Bronx Zoo claimed to be thrilled with the influx of attention, but wished that they would have received it for other reasons. Zookeepers are still unsure how Mia escaped, but reports have claimed that it’s characteristic of snakes to have Houdini-like qualities.

In a more serious light, some reports have stated that the Egyptian Cobra family is responsible for roughly fifty-thousand human deaths each year. This kind of statistic makes zoo visitors thankful that the missing snake incident didn’t become a tragedy. A more severe instance of animal escape occurred in 2003 when the United States Department of Agriculture filed a court complaint against the Los Angeles Zoo for losing thirty-five animals in the span of five years.

Bronx Zoo visitors who want to see Mia should know that the Reptile House will be reopened on Saturday, April 9th, and some reports have claimed that Mia is expected to be put on display. Zoo workers have stated that Mia never left the building throughout her time missing, and are thankful that the cold temperatures gave her less incentive to leave the building.

News: Sentencing for Man Convicted of Killing a Long Island Speaker

(Long Island, N.Y.) The man convicted of murdering a Long Island motivational speaker will be sentenced on April 4th. At his trial, the jury took just five hours to come up with a guilty verdict. The murder charges came after the defense maintained that the defendant was only guilty of assisted suicide.

This case involved a fifty-two year old man named Jeffery Locker who lived with his wife and kids in Valley Stream. Locker was in the field of self-help publications, but ran into a heap of financial trouble and extreme debt following his association in a Ponzi scheme. To put an end to his woes, he allegedly searched the streets of East Harlem for a contract killer.

At the trial, the defense tried to portray Locker as a manipulator who persuaded his assailant to commit the crime by appealing to his sympathies. The defendant testified that he took pity on Locker for his troubles, and was compelled to assist in the staged suicide so that Locker’s family could collect on a multi-million dollar life insurance settlement. A second man supported the argument after stating he was also approached by Locker for the offer.

Prosecutors emphasized the line between assisted suicide and killing for the motive of collecting money. They maintained that the defendant’s actions couldn’t qualify for assisted suicide because the knife wounds suggested that Locker was stabbed at least seven times in his vehicle by a man in the passenger’s seat. The defense lawyer sang a different tune by referring to a pathologist’s testimony, which claimed it was possible for the defendant to hold the knife in place as Locker plunged into it.

The jury was reminded that the defendant was arrested while attempting to use Locker’s ATM card in an area close to the stabbing. As a result, the prosecutor labeled him as a “Grim reaper” who assisted in the death of Locker for the sole purpose of monetary game. The assistant district attorney portrayed the defendant as a hustler that was formerly guilty of drug charges and crimes.

Following the trial, the defense intended to appeal the case on the grounds that the judge had improperly instructed the jury. The defense lawyer stated that the judge allowed for an “affirmative defense” by telling members of the jury that assisted suicide can’t be used to defend a murder charge in cases where the defendant actively caused the death. The defense lawyer claimed to be confident that the verdict would be overturned.

Meanwhile, the prosecution illustrated the difference between giving a terminally ill patient a pill to cause death and stabbing a man several times in the chest. Prosecutors labeled Locker’s killer as “no angel of mercy.” The thirty-eight year old defendant could face up to life in prison during the sentencing.

The defendant’s wife was at the trial, but along with jury members, declined to comment on the outcome of the case. Locker’s wife and family did not receive an initial life insurance settlement due to a misrepresentation of his earnings on the application form. Prior to his death, he informed his wife that he was pulled over to fix a flat tire, while the defense claims this was all part of his elaborate plot.

This case involves two people who seemed to have put money above the value of human life. Because of Locker’s commitment to public speaking and his career-long function as a motivator, the defendant claims to have been lured by his motivational skills. Whether he’s a mimic Kevorkian or a murder-by-contract killer, he awaits uncertainty in what will be the ultimate factor in the outcome of his sentencing.