Child Found Beaten, Starved in Closet; Mom Arrested

APPLE VALLEY -- A mother and her teenage roommate have been arrested after authorities say they found her 5-year-old son 'weak and emaciated' inside a closet.

Officers say the child was living at a house in the 21000 block of Pahute Road along with 9 other children, 3 adults and a teenage boy.

An anonymous tipster called a child abuse hot line this week and reported that a young child was being held hostage and denied food and water in a house.

Deputies say the child had bruises and lacerations all over his body and immediately asked arriving deputies for water.

The victim was transported by ambulance to St. Mary's Hospital and later to Loma Linda University Children's Hospital for treatment. He's being treated for burns, bruises, cuts and malnutrition.

Deputies say the child's mother, 31-year-old Desiree Gonzales, and the 16-year-old male roommate had been beating, burning and depriving the child of food and water.

The suspects were displaying symptoms of being under the influence of suspected methamphetamine and were also identified as having Los Angeles area gang affiliations, deputies said.

The other 9 children were removed from the home by Children and Family Services. The victim was the only child that belonged to Gonzales.

Gonzales was arrested and booked into the West Valley Detention Center on charges of Child Abuse/Torture.

The 16-year old was arrested and booked into Juvenile Hall on the same charges. It's believed he may be Gonzales' boyfriend.

The other two adults in the house were not charged.

The investigation is on-going.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to contact Detectives Bessinger or Goddard at (909) 387-3615.

Prosecutor May Pursue Death Penalty in Kansas Killings

(CNN) -- A district attorney Friday considered seeking the death penalty for a man charged with killing a toddler and three others at a Kansas City, Kansas-area home.

Adrian Burks, 37, has been charged with four counts of first-degree premeditated murder, but prosecutors are now considering capital murder charges that could result in the death penalty if Burks is convicted, Wyandotte County District Attorney Jerome Gorman said.

Gorman said it could be a week before prosecutors decide whether to file new charges.

Among the victims Burks is accused of killing is a mother and her 3-year-old daughter, police said.

Peggy Castleberry, 41, and her daughter, Juanita Castleberry-Bess, were found shot Monday in a rural Kansas City-area home along with homeowner James Warren, 66, and Amanda Remmers, 21, police said in a statement.

Burks is being held in the Wyandotte County, Kansas, jail with bail set at $2 million.

Police apprehended Burks on Tuesday after a two-state car chase that began in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and ended in a crash in Kansas City, Kansas, Gorman said.

Along with the premeditated murder charges, Burks also has been charged with felony fleeing and eluding.

Police first suspected Burks after they discovered he had a relationship with one of the victims, Gorman said. Authorities didn't elaborate on what the relationship entailed and who it involved.

Earlier Monday, before the slayings, one of the slaying victims saw Burks attack a man, Gorman said. Burks eventually was charged with aggravated battery in connection with the attack.

Hours after the initial crime, prosecutors allege that Burks then went to the home of the four victims and killed them after he had a domestic dispute with one of them.

"As far as a motive, obviously, domestic violence is the driving factor in this case," Gorman said Thursday.

He said he was at a loss for a motive for the child's slaying.

"Why a 3-year-old? ... One, we haven't got that far in that case, and two, I suppose when we get to that point, I still don't think we're going to have a satisfactory answer to why a 3-year-old was killed."

At the time of the killings, Burks was out of jail on pretrial release in a separate case, Gorman said. Prosecutors in Johnson County, Kansas, had charged him with criminal threat and battery over an April incident.

Murder Suspect Charged in Earlier Attack

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – The man police called a suspect in Monday’s quadruple homicide in KCK has been charged with aggravated battery for an alleged attack that happened just hours before the killings.

Wyandotte County Court records show Adrian Burks, 37, of Kansas City, Kan., was in custody of charges of aggravated battery. He was being held Wednesday on $2 million bond and had not been charged in the quadruple homicide.

Authorities tell NBC Action News the aggravated battery is related to the murders, discovered Monday in the 5200 block of Muncie, but is a separate incident. The victim of the alleged battery was not one of the four people killed, according to an anonymous source.

Burks was arrested Tuesday after leading police on a chase from Kansas City, Mo., into Kansas City, Kan.

KCK Police said Tuesday they considered him a suspect in the quadruple homicide.

Police identified the victims Wednesday as James A. Warren, 66; Amanda J. Remmers, 21; Peggy Castleberry, 41; and Juanita D. Castelberry-Bess, 3. The four -- all residents of Kansas City, Kan. -- died from multiple gunshot wounds, Wyandotte County Coroner Allen Hancock said Wednesday.

Burks was to make his first court appearance for the aggravated battery charge Wednesday at 1:15 p.m.

Separately, Burks was charged in April in Johnson County, Kan., in a domestic violence case. He faces one felony count of criminal threat and a misdemeanor count of battery. The complaint in that case states on April 17, 2009, Burks battered and threatened harm to a different woman in Roeland Park, Kan.

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Tuesday, June 23, 2009
3 Adults, Child Found Dead In Kansas City Home

3 Adults, Child Found Dead In Kansas City Home

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Four people, including a child, were found dead at a residence Monday afternoon, officials said.

Police said an anonymous tip led them to the house in the 5200 block of Muncie Drive.

"When they arrived, they found three adults and one juvenile deceased. Right now, cause of death is unknown," Officer Mike Golden said.

"Everybody is hurt right now, because our loved ones have been murdered. Not passed on -- murdered. Lives taken. Everybody is hurt right now. We're trying to deal with it," said Shenia Gutto, who said she was a relative of the victims.

Police have not released the names of the victims.

Conviction Overturned in HIV-Related Case

KTKA-Friday, the Kansas Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Robert William Richardson.

In November, 2007, a Lyon County judge found the then-30-year-old man guilty of knowingly exposing two women who weren't aware he was infected with the virus.

He had been previously convicted on four counts of exposing three women to HIV in Douglas County.

In its ruling Friday, the state Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a statute making it a crime to knowingly infect someone with a life-threatening communicable disease if intent to do so is proven. In a statement, the court said it had "determined that intent to infect two women with the virus was not proven at trial."

The court's decision read, in part, "the record reveals that, at trial, the State failed to prove circumstances

from which a rational factfinder could reasonably infer that the defendant had the specific intent

to expose either M.K. or E.Z. to HIV. Instead, the State has asked us to infer or presume the

requisite circumstantial evidence of specific intent from other circumstances or inferences. Such

a presumption upon a presumption is insufficient to carry the State's burden. Accordingly, we

find the evidence was insufficient to support the convictions and reverse in both cases."

Kelsey Smith Act Signed Into Law

TOPEKA, Kan. – Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson signed a bill Thursday that will make it easier for law enforcement to get cell phone “ping” information from service providers.

Rep. Rob Olson (R-Olathe) introduced the measure after learning about the frustration Kelsey Smith’s family and law enforcement experienced when trying to get Kelsey’s wireless carrier to provide location information about her cell phone.

Kelsey, 18, was killed in May 2007 after she was abducted from an Overland Park Target store near her home. Authorities eventually used the ping information to determine where her cell phone had traveled in the hours after her disappearance and found her body in a wooded area of Longview Lake four days after her disappearance.

Edwin R. Hall, of Olathe, has since pleaded guilty to her abduction, rape and murder and is serving a life sentence in a Kansas penitentiary.

“It took four days to get the wireless provider to release Kelsey’s cell phone location information,” Olson said. “This act will ensure no other family will go through the agony of waiting that the Smiths did.”

The Kelsey Smith Act requires wireless telecommunications companies to release the location information of a missing person’s cell phone in a timely manner to law enforcement in emergency situations.

“When a loved one is abducted – time is of the essence,” Olson said. “Law enforcement officers respond quickly because they know the window of opportunity to find that missing person closes quickly. The Kelsey Smith Act gives investigators a tool that will help them in their response and that will save lives.”

The new law also directs the Kansas Bureau of Investigation to oversee the collection of the contact information for all wireless telecommunications carriers doing business in Kansas and then to disburse that information to public safety answering points (PSAPs or 911 call centers) on a quarterly basis or anytime a change in the information occurs.

Olson said he has been contacted by legislators from a number of other states who are considering similar legislation.

“It is gratifying that other states understand the importance the assistance the Kelsey Smith Act provides investigators in finding missing loved ones quickly and safely,” Olson said.

Missey and Greg Smith, Kelsey’s parents, testified before both the House Energy and Utilities and Senate Utilities Committee in support of the bill.

“I want to thank the Smiths for their unwavering support of the Kelsey Smith Act. Their willingness to share their heartbreaking story helped convince lawmakers to vote for the bill. They are a true inspiration,” Olson said. “I also want to thank the Kansas Legislature and Gov. Parkinson for their overwhelming support of this important legislation.”

The Smiths have said in the past that even if the new law would have been in place when Kelsey was murdered, it would not have saved her life.

Man Charged in Slaying of Kansas Abortion Doctor

(CNN) -- A 51-year-old man was in a Kansas jail Monday, charged with first-degree murder in the killing of a physician whose women's clinic frequently took center stage in the debate over abortion, authorities said.

Dr. George Tiller was shot and killed while serving as an usher at his Wichita, Kansas, church Sunday morning, according to police. Tiller was one of the few U.S. physicians who still performed late-term abortions and had survived a 1993 shooting outside his clinic.

Scott Roeder from the Kansas City, Kansas, area is being held without bond in the Sedgwick County Adult Detention Facility, according to the sheriff's office Web site. He is also charged with two counts of aggravated assault.

"This is a tragedy for the Tiller family. We feel so badly about that," Clarence Roeder, Scott's uncle, said in a statement provided to CNN affiliate KMBC. "That Scott would murder the doctor in the Lutheran Church. We are also Lutherans, and it adds a double touch of sadness and irony."

Roeder is expected to appear in court early this week, law enforcement officials said.

The attack drew condemnation from Tiller supporters, from some of those who tried to shut down his practice and from President Obama, who had urged Americans to seek "common ground" on the divisive issue just two weeks ago.

"However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence," Obama said in a statement issued by the White House.

The shooting prompted U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to direct federal marshals to "offer protection to other appropriate people and facilities around the nation," according to a statement from the Department of Justice.

Tiller was killed shortly after 10 a.m. Sunday. Police found him lying dead in the foyer of Reformation Lutheran Church, where he had been serving as an usher.

Witnesses provided a description of the gunman's car and a license plate number, said Wichita police spokesman Gordon Bassham. Police stopped a blue Ford Taurus matching the description about three hours later in Gardner, about 30 miles southwest of Kansas City, and arrested the driver.

"Other than the description the Wichita Police Department put out, we wouldn't have paid any particular attention to him. He was following all traffic laws and everything," said Lt. Mike Pfhannestiel of the Johnson County Sheriff's Office. "We didn't find a weapon on him. We did not have a weapon on him."

"We think we have the right person arrested," said Wichita police Detective Tom Stoltz. "We will investigate this suspect to the Nth degree -- his history, his family, his associates -- and we are just in the beginning stages of that."

Though the investigation is still under way, he said, "At this time we feel this is an act of an isolated individual."

Tiller had practiced medicine for nearly 40 years, said Peter Brownlie, president of the Kansas City-based regional Planned Parenthood office.

The doctor and his staff had been picketed for years, with some activists distributing leaflets around his neighborhood, Brownlie said. His clinic suffered serious damage from a bomb in the mid-1990s, and he was shot through both arms in 1993 by an anti-abortion activist who is now in federal prison.

In a written statement issued through Tiller's lawyers, his family -- his wife, four children and 10 grandchildren -- said their loss "is also a loss for the city of Wichita and women across America."

No motive for the killing was immediately known. If Tiller's killing stemmed from his work, he would be the fourth U.S. physician killed over abortion since 1993. Leading anti-abortion groups condemned his shooting, emphasizing that they wanted to shut down Tiller's practice by legal means.

During the 1990s, three doctors who performed abortions were slain in high-profile cases.

In 1998, a sniper killed Dr. Barnett Slepian in his Amherst, New York, home. Anti-abortion activist James Kopp was later arrested in France and is serving life in prison.

In 1994, Dr. John Bayard Britton and a volunteer escort were shot and killed outside an abortion clinic in Pensacola, Florida. Paul Hill, a former minister, was convicted in the killings and executed in 2003.

And in 1993, another doctor, David Gunn, was shot to death outside another Pensacola clinic. His killer, Michael Griffin, is serving a life sentence.

In addition, a nurse at a Birmingham, Alabama, clinic was maimed and an off-duty police officer was killed in a 1998 bombing by Eric Rudolph, who included abortion among his list of anti-government grievances.

Rudolph admitted to that attack and three other bombings -- including the 1996 attack on the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia -- and is serving life in prison.

5 People Found Shot In Kansas City Kansas Street

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Police in Kansas City, Kan., are looking for a gunman who shot five people.

Officers said someone opened fire on a group of people at Central Avenue and Valley Street just before 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

Witnesses who heard the shots told police they came outside to find the victims lying in the street.

Two victims were treated at the scene while paramedics took three to the hospital with minor injuries.

Police said the shooter was in a green Chevrolet Suburban.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the Crime Stoppers TIPS Hot Line at 816-474-TIPS (8477), text TIP452 plus a message to CRIMES (274637) or submit a tip online at kccrimestoppers.com.

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