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Indiana mother fights to stop deportation of special needs son

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Indiana mother fights to stop deportation of special needs son


FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WISH) — Rebekah Hubley is fighting to stop her adopted son with special needs from being deported back to Haiti.

Jonas Hubley, 17, is blind, has cerebral palsy, and suffers from seizures.

The Hubleys brought Jonas to the United States in 2008 on a medical visa and legally adopted him in Indiana in 2010. They’ve been taking care of him ever since.

The family told I-Team 8 they’ve been trying for years to finalize his citizenship so that he can get a Social Security number. That would allow him to get benefits to increase his quality of life.

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In the fall, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services told the family the last thing they needed to do was to send in a list of documents that included information proving he’s lived with them for more than two years. The family sent the federal agency officially stamped documents from his school district showing just that.

“All the way back to 2009, it shows what school he went to. It shows that he lived with us. Exactly what they wanted,” said Rebekah Hubley.

Several months later, as the holiday season began, Citizenship and Immigration Services told them they were denying his request to become a citizen.

“It said the reason for denial was that we did not prove we did not send in enough information to prove two-plus years physical custody because we only sent in the ’23-’24 school record. They only read the first page.”

“Yeah, it goes all the back; it has every single year and what school he went to all the back to 2009. It wasn’t like this was a 60- to 100-page document. All they had to do was turn the page,” Hubley said.

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The consequence of that denial was something out of a nightmare. “Then they said, ‘He’s going to be deported.’ Like, ‘He’s here unlawfully,’ and, ‘He’s got this window of opportunity to voluntarily leave,’ which is completely asinine,” Hubley said.

The Hubleys believe if he were deported, he would likely die in his home country of Haiti, which is a very dangerous place to live right now.

“A Level 4 travel warning from the U.S. They’ve closed our embassys down there. They’ve told all Americans to leave. I mean, it’s so dangerous,” Hubley said.

Jonas’s mom began fighting for him to stay. She wrote a letter to President Joe Biden. National media picked up the story and spread it far and wide. Someone came forward and paid for an attorney who petitioned immigration authorities to reopen the case, which is happening.

However, Friday is another deadline. “If they do not approve this by his birthday Jan. 14, then he will have to wait an additional five years for naturalization, which I don’t understand that whole process, but just knowing that he would have to wait five more years without benefits and everything: Hell, no.”

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On Monday afternoon, Jonas went through a medical examinations that the family will send overnight to immigrant authorities so they can potentially complete their case and allow Jonas to be a citizen; otherwise, he’ll technically be in the United States illegally.

Jonas’s mom told I-Team 8 that, no matter the outcome of her sons case, she will fight for immigration reform to prevent something like this from happening to another family.

“This is not a human error. This is a blatant disregard for human life, and I won’t accept it, and there has to be change, and I will shout till I lose my voice to say that change needs to happen. No family should ever have to go through this like we did,” Hubley said.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services declined to comment on Hubley’s case, instead, issuing a general statement.

Statement

“USCIS adjudicates each request for immigration benefits fairly, humanely, and efficiently on a case-by-case basis to determine if they meet all standards and eligibility criteria required under applicable laws, regulations, and policies, and the agency remains committed to promoting policies and procedures that break down barriers in the immigration system, increasing access to eligible immigration benefits, and upholding America’s promise as a nation of welcome and possibility with fairness, integrity, and respect for all we serve.”

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

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Jonas Hubley (Provided Photo/Rebekah Hubley)



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Man found dead in tanning bed at Planet Fitness days after he was reported missing

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Man found dead in tanning bed at Planet Fitness days after he was reported missing


A man was reportedly found dead inside a tanning bed at an Indiana Planet Fitness days after he was reporting missing by family.

Police are conducting a death investigation after a man who was reported missing on Friday was found dead in a tanning bed Monday morning at the south Indianapolis facility, NBC affiliate station WTHR reported.

In a statement to the publication, Planet Fitness said they were “deeply saddened by the passing of one of our members” and noted the owner of the franchise was working with authorities on the investigation.

“At Planet Fitness, we have robust operational brand protocols in place, as the safety and well-being of our members is our top priority,” Chief Corporate Affairs Officer McCall Gosselin told the publication. “We are working closely with our local franchisee to ensure they are upholding those brand protocols.”

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Witnesses told the station they noticed a foul smell in the building near the tanning rooms.

A sign on the door of the building noted that “tanning was currently unavailable,” WTHR reported.

Family told the station 39-year-old Derek Sink was identified as the man found in the bed, saying he went into a tanning bed on Friday and was found dead there Monday morning. They said he struggled with drugs and a needle was found in the room with him, though no cause of death has been released.

Relatives said Sink was wearing an ankle monitor at the time.

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Pacers News: Watch Former Top Draft Pick Dominate for Indiana Mad Ants

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Pacers News: Watch Former Top Draft Pick Dominate for Indiana Mad Ants


The Indiana Pacers’ G League affiliate squad, the Indiana Mad Ants (formerly the Fort Wayne Mad Ants), are off to a 1-1 start on their young 2024-25 regular season.

The club’s opening night roster included two Indiana legends, in two-time Big Ten All-Defensive Team Purdue guard Dakota Mathias and ex-Warsaw High School and Indiana Wesleyan combo guard Kyle Mangas.

But the biggest name, by far, suiting up for the Mad Ants is Jahlil Okafor.

Following a title-winning, one-and-done 2014-15 NCAA season with the Duke Blue Devils, the 6-foot-11 center was selected with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, still in the midst of their “process” teardown era, as navigated by beloved former general manager Sam Hinkie. In Philadelphia’s draft history, Okafor was the lottery selection in between 2014 draftee Joel Embiid, the eventual 2023 league MVP, and 2016 draftee Ben Simmons, who blossomed into a three-time All-Star before he became a semi-tantalizing, often-hurt expiring contract.

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Okafor never reached the heights of either of those comrades, although on paper he had the pedigree to potentially get there. The cousin of former 10-year NBA vet Emeka Okafor (who himself was the No. 2 pick in the 2004 NBA Draft), the younger Okafor was seen as a top prospect coming out of Mike Krzyzewski’s system. It never quite worked out, as his offensive game was stuck in the 2000s — full of back-to-basket moves but missing longer jumpers.

He never developed a reliable 3-point shot, but wasn’t the kind of rim-protecting big man who instilled fear in the hearts of opposing players. Essentially, he was in no man’s land, and some early meniscus trouble also hampered his development.

After an infamous departure from Philadelphia in 2017, Okafor played for the Brooklyn Nets, New Orleans Pelicans, and Detroit Pistons. He hasn’t suited up in an NBA game since 2021, but has played for the CBA’s Zhejiang Lions, the Mexico City Capitanes of the G League, Spanish club Casademont Zaragova, and Puerto Rican squad Capitanes de Arecibo.

Now, Okafor is making the most of his opportunity with the Mad Ants. In two contests with the Mad Ants, the 28-year-old is averaging 14.5 points on .684/.500/1.000 shooting splits (that 3-point rate is arriving on a fairly low 1.0 attempts and seems a bit fluky), 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 0.5 steals a night.

Okafor’s performance against the Cleveland Charge, NBAGL affiliate of the Cleveland Cavaliers, was especially appetizing.

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In that 122-114 Mad Ants win, Okafor scored 21 points on 10-of-16 field goal shooting (63 percent) and pulled down nine rebounds.

Mad Ants sixth man De’Vion Harmon led the club with 25 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the floor (1-of-4 from the 3-point line) and an immaculate 5-of-5 shooting from the foul line. All five starters (including Okafor) scored in double digits.

Combo forward Cameron McGriff was the team’s third 20-plus point scorer, with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor (4-of-8 from long range), along with nine rebounds and two assists.

More Pacers: Indiana Stars Rave About Bennedict Mathurin After Young Star Posts Ridiculous Stat Line

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Indiana man is found guilty of murder in the 2017 killings of 2 teenage girls

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Indiana man is found guilty of murder in the 2017 killings of 2 teenage girls


Officers escort Richard Allen out of the Carroll County courthouse following a hearing, Nov. 22, 2022, in Delphi, Ind.

Darron Cummings/AP


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Darron Cummings/AP

DELPHI, Ind. — A former drugstore worker in the small Indiana community of Delphi was found guilty of murder on Monday in the killings of two teenage girls who vanished during an afternoon hike.

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Jurors convicted Richard Allen of two counts of murder and two additional counts of murder while committing or attempting to commit kidnapping in the 2017 killings of Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty German, 14.

Allen wasn’t arrested for five more years, while the case drew outsized attention from true-crime enthusiasts. His trial followed repeated delays, a leak of evidence, the withdrawal of Allen’s public defenders and their reinstatement by the Indiana Supreme Court.

Reporters inside the courtroom said Allen, 52, showed no reaction as the verdict was delivered, but he looked back at his family at one point. Allen is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 20. He could face up to 130 years in prison.

Outside the courthouse, people on the sidewalk began to cheer as word of the verdict spread.

Indiana State Police spokesman Capt. Ron Galaviz told The Associated Press that the judge’s gag order remains in place and he believes it will until Allen is sentenced. Allen’s lawyers left the courthouse Monday without making statements.

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A special judge oversaw the case — Superior Court Judge Fran Gull who along with the jurors, came from northeastern Indiana’s Allen County. The seven women and five men were sequestered throughout the trial, which began Oct. 18 in the Carroll County seat of Delphi, the girls’ hometown of about 3,000 residents in northwest Indiana where Allen also lived and worked.

Carroll County Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland noted in his closing argument that Allen had repeatedly confessed to the killings — in person, on the phone and in writing. In one of the recordings he replayed for the jury, Allen could be heard telling his wife, “I did it. I killed Abby and Libby.”

McLeland also said Allen is the man seen following the teens in a grainy cell phone video recorded by one of the girls as they crossed an abandoned railroad trestle called the Monon High Bridge.

“Richard Allen is Bridge Guy,” McLeland told jurors. “He kidnapped them and later murdered them.”

McLeland said it was Allen’s voice that could be heard on the video telling the teens, ” Down the hill ″ after they crossed the bridge on Feb. 13, 2017. Their bodies were found the next day, their throats cut, in a nearby wooded area.

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An investigator testified that Allen told him and another officer that on the day the teens vanished, he was wearing a blue or black Carhartt jacket, jeans and a beanie — clothing similar to what the man recorded on the bridge wore.

McLeland said an unspent bullet found between the teens’ bodies “had been cycled through” Allen’s .40-caliber Sig Sauer handgun. An Indiana State Police firearms expert told the jury her analysis tied the round to Allen’s handgun.

But a firearms expert called by the defense questioned the analysis, and attorney Bradley Rozzi dismissed it as a “magic bullet,” saying investigators had made an “apples to oranges” comparison of the unspent round to one fired from Allen’s gun.

Allen was arrested in October 2022. He had become a suspect after a retired state government worker who volunteered to help police in the case found paperwork in September 2022 showing that Allen had contacted authorities two days after the girls’ bodies were found. That paperwork indicated that Allen had told an officer he had been on the hiking trail the afternoon the girls went missing, according to testimony.

Allen’s defense argued that his confessions are unreliable because he was facing a severe mental health crisis while under the pressure and stress of being locked up in isolation, watched 24 hours a day and taunted by people incarcerated with him. A psychiatrist called by the defense testified that months in solitary confinement could make a person delirious and psychotic.

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But Dr. Monica Wala, Allen’s psychologist at the Westville Correctional Facility, said Allen shared details of the crime in some of the confessions, including telling her he slashed the girls’ throats and put tree branches over their bodies. She wrote in a report that Allen told her he abandoned his plans to rape the teens when a van passed nearby. A man whose driveway passes under the Monon High Bridge testified that he was driving home from work in his van around that time.

That van, McLeland told jurors in his closing, was a detail “only the killer would know.”

During cross-examination, Wala acknowledged that she had followed Allen’s case with interest during her personal time even while treating him and that she was a fan of the true-crime genre.

Rozzi said in his closing arguments that Allen is innocent. He said no witness explicitly identified Allen as the man seen on the hiking trail or the bridge the afternoon the girls went missing. And he said no fingerprint, DNA or forensic evidence links Allen to the murder scene.

“He had every chance to run, but he did not because he didn’t do it,” Rozzi told the jurors.

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Allen’s lawyers had sought to argue before the trial that the girls were killed in a ritual sacrifice by members of a white nationalist group known as the Odinists who follow a pagan Norse religion, but the judge ruled against that, saying the defense “failed to produce admissible evidence” of such a connection.



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