Children – Headline Smart

FedEx Driver Admits Killing 7-Year-Old After Barbie Delivery

Jurors in Fort Worth must now choose between a death sentence and life without parole for Tanner Horner. FORT WORTH, Texas — Tanner Horner pleaded guilty Tuesday to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping in the 2022 abduction and killing of 7-year-old Athena Strand, sending the Fort Worth trial straight to a penalty phase that will determine whether he is executed or sent to prison for life. The plea ended any question over who killed Athena, …

Chemistry Teacher Charged in Alleged Sex Case With Student

Prosecutors say Jason D. Howe, 26, had sexual intercourse with a student at his Runnemede apartment in March and was arrested April 3. SOMERDALE, N.J. — New Jersey authorities have charged a Sterling High School chemistry teacher and coach with sexual assault after investigators said he had sexual intercourse with a student at his Runnemede apartment in March, setting off a criminal case that has shaken a South Jersey school community. The case has drawn …

Student Accused of Watching Newborn Drown in Toilet

Investigators say phone evidence and court testimony deepened the case against Anne Mae Demegillo, who is scheduled to be arraigned April 21. BUNNELL, Fla. — A Flagler County grand jury has indicted Anne Mae Demegillo, a 20-year-old Palm Coast woman, on first-degree murder and two other charges after investigators said she gave birth at home in March and let her newborn drown in a toilet. The indictment raises the stakes in a case that began …

13-Year-Old Kills Teen After School Track Meet

Police say another boy was wounded as families and athletes were leaving a 20-school meet at a Ferguson campus. FERGUSON, Mo. — A 13-year-old boy has been charged in juvenile court after prosecutors said gunfire erupted at the end of a school track meet in Ferguson on March 31, killing 13-year-old LaJuan Swopes and wounding another boy in a crowded parking lot. The shooting turned a routine school event into a homicide case involving children …

3-Year-Old Mauled by Coyote as Parents Unload Car

Officials said the child is recovering after the bite, and wildlife officers later tied one coyote to multiple attacks in and around Carson. CARSON, Calif. — A 3-year-old boy is recovering after a coyote bit him twice in a Carson parking lot, an attack that alarmed his family and quickly became part of a broader wildlife investigation spanning several recent cases in the same area. The attack mattered beyond one frightening moment because state wildlife …

Parents Kept Starved 13-Year-Old Locked in Dog Kennel

Prosecutors say six children were removed after a February report, including a 13-year-old allegedly confined in a dog kennel. RALEIGH, N.C. — A Wake County couple is being held without bond after prosecutors said six children were removed from a southern Wake County home where one 13-year-old was allegedly kept in a dog kennel and found in what court records described as life-threatening condition. The case has drawn attention in central North Carolina because of …

Boy, 6, Fatally Shot After Father Nods Off

Police said Steven Lamont Phillips fell asleep after playing with the boy, then woke to a gunshot inside the family home on Qualynn Drive. NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Nashville man is charged with criminal homicide after police said his 6-year-old son suffered a gunshot wound to the head on March 28 inside a home where the father had fallen asleep with a .380 pistol in his pocket. The case quickly widened beyond a single state …

12-Year-Old Girl Dies After Brutal School Attack

Police said the arrest came more than six weeks after Khimberly Zavaleta suffered fatal head injuries following a campus confrontation at Reseda Charter High School. LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Los Angeles police arrested a juvenile Thursday on suspicion of murder in the death of 12-year-old Khimberly Zavaleta Chuquipa, a Reseda student whose family says she was struck in the head with a metal water bottle during a school confrontation on Feb. 17. The arrest moves …

7-Month-Old Fatally Shot in Stroller

Police say the infant was not the intended target, one suspect is in custody and another is being sought. BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A 7-month-old girl riding in a stroller with her parents in East Williamsburg was killed by a stray bullet Wednesday afternoon after a gunman on the back of a moped fired into a crowded street corner, police said. The shooting quickly became one of the city’s most closely watched homicide investigations because the …

Dad Lured Mom and 6-Year-Old to Deadly Ambush

Detectives said John Mbuyi lured Raissa Thatukila and their 6-year-old daughter, Nathy Mbuyi, to a Haltom City lot under the pretense of giving them money. HALTOM CITY, Texas — Police say a 30-year-old man lured the mother of his daughter and the 6-year-old girl to a stadium parking lot in Haltom City, then opened fire in what detectives later called a planned and targeted attack. The killings drew wide attention in North Texas because they …