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Virginia
Biden death sentence commutation ‘reprehensible,' says Virginia victim's father
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden announced Monday he’s commuting the sentences of 37 out of 40 federal death row inmates, reclassifying their sentences to life without the possibility of parole.
“Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, grieve for the victims of their despicable acts, and ache for all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable loss,” Biden said in a statement released pre-dawn on Monday, “but guided by my conscience and my experience as a public defender, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Vice President, and now President, I am more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level.”
While many cheered the move – one Biden defended as in keeping with his administration’s moratorium on federal executions — a local family whose daughter’s killer was among those granted clemency called the decision “reprehensible.”
Speaking to News4 Monday, Paul White said he has waited years for Thomas Hager to be put to death for the brutal slaying of Barbara White.
He learned Sunday from the U.S. Attorney’s office that now won’t happen.
“It’s a disappointment and a loss of confidence in the government to do something like this,” he said, adding the decision “reopens old wounds.”
White said his 19-year-old daughter had fallen into the wrong crowd but was getting her life together when the young mother was murdered in an Alexandria apartment in November 1993.
At the time of the killing, Hager – a local drug dealer with a violent history – was reportedly in hiding and nervous that White, who was friends with his girlfriend, would reveal his location.
“She had visited a friend and saw something she shouldn’t have seen,” Paul White recounted to News4.
That’s why prosecutors say Hager and two others beat, electrocuted, repeatedly stabbed and drowned Barbara in a bathtub. The killers left her 13-month-old daughter with her mother’s body, along with jars of opened baby food for the toddler.
It was Paul White who found them both.
“There’s a constant void,” he told News4.
Hager was convicted in federal court 14 years after White’s murder and was sentenced to death. The jury determined the murder was “especially heinous, cruel or depraved.” Hager has been on federal death row ever since.
Reached by phone, his mother declined to discuss Biden’s decision with News4. His original trial lawyer says he was surprised, but pleased, by the decision.
White’s father said the news was especially hard to take so close to Christmas and called it “reprehensible.” Paul White added the family has waited 18 years for the death sentence to be carried out, adding his family hoped that would provide “final closure.”
Two other men convicted in the killing did not face the death penalty and, according to Bureau of Prisons records, are expected to be released in 2025.
Biden’s move comes with just weeks left in his administration and years after Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a moratorium on federal executions in 2021. No federal inmates have been executed during Biden’s presidency.
The three men who remain on federal death row are Robert Bowers, who killed 11 people in the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh in 2018; Dylann Roof, who killed nine people in a shooting at a historically Black church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015; and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the Boston Marathon bombers in 2013.
Barbara White’s father said he doesn’t understand how they are any different than his daughter’s killer.
“They’re all murderers,” he told News4.
Virginia
PHOTOS: Virginia Beach Police investigate firearm-related incident at Carriage House Apartments
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Virginia Beach Police are at the scene of a firearm-related incident at Carriage House Apartments Saturday afternoon, according to the Virginia Beach Police Department.
The department also confirmed there are no shooting victims at this time.
10 On Your Side is at the scene and working to gather more information about the situation.
10 On Your Side will update this story when more information is available.
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Virginia Democrats are not happy about a state Supreme Court decision declaring last month’s referendum to draw new congressional districts null and void.
Democrats, however, have filed a motion asking the Virginia Court to delay its 4-3 decision while they file an emergency appeal to the United States Supreme Court.
Virginia’s current map that favors Democrats by a narrow 6-5 margin will stay in effect for the midterms. Both sides, though, have a lot to say to say about today’s decision.
Two months ago, you couldn’t avoid the political ads and mailers on both sides of the issue.
“Everybody remembers we got a few million dollars worth of flyers in our mailboxes, and everything with redistricting that whole referendum has now been overturned by the court decision,” said Old Dominion University Associate Professor of Political Science Jesse Richman.
On April 21, Virginia voters approved redrawing congressional maps that would have given Democrats a 10-1 advantage, giving them a strong chance to pick up four additional seats in November.
More than two weeks later, the Virginia Supreme Court rendered the results null and void, saying the required constitutional processes were not followed before this was put up for a vote. So what does that mean for Virginians?
“As it is, we stay with the districts we have,” Richman said. “If [Democrat] Bobby Scott’s your representative, he’s still your representative. The lines aren’t moving. If [Republican] Jen Kiggans is your representative, [she’s] still your representative.”
Scott and Kiggans spoke to 10 On Your Side shortly after today’s decision.
“I’m disappointed,” Scott said. “People voted, three million people voted, it carried in 55 of the 100 House of Delegates districts, so the people spoke.”
“It’s a big day for Virginia today,” Kiggans said. “It’s a victory for the rule of law [and] it’s a victory for fairness.”
That split reaction has also been felt among voters, some even rallying in front of the Virginia Supreme Court. One of them was Hampton’s NAACP Branch President Gaylene Kanoyton.
“We have got to make sure that we mobilize and don’t let this get us down,” Kanoyton said. “We need to be energized.”
Virginia Democrats have vowed to fight Friday’s ruling, saying they intend to file an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“I expect we’ll see more intense political campaigning in the midterms in this area because of the Supreme Court’s decision,” Richman said.
90+ artists to exhibit on the Va. Beach boardwalk with the backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Get ready for the largest surf art show on the East Coast!
The 17th Annual Virginia Beach Surf Art Expo at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront on the boardwalk, 3rd through 7th streets, will begin Saturday, May 23, through Sunday, May 24, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., ending on Memorial Day, Monday, May 25, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Courtesy: VB Surf Art Expo (Antone Nixon, with VB Sunrise)
The Virginia Beach Surf Art Expo features over 90 regional artists from Maine to the Mid-Atlantic region and down through Florida, capturing the essence of the beach, the ocean, wildlife, sea life, and surfing-related themes in art.
The Virginia Beach Surf Art Expo is partnered with the Coastal Edge Steel Pier Classic and the surfing competition at the 1st Street Jetty.
This event is an official kick-off to the summer season at the Oceanfront.
“Isn’t seeing an artist’s interpretation of the beach vibe the very best way to enjoy it? We drip salt water from our pores,” says Jodie Woodward, founder and show director of the Virginia Beach Surf Art Expo.
Surf art comes in all mediums, including painting, photography, jewelry, sculpture, ceramics, wood, metal, fiber, glass, and mixed media, all available for purchase at the art expo.
Each artist has a special connection with surfing, the ocean, beach life, sea life, seascape scenes, shells, coral, dolphins, fish, lighthouses, mermaids, custom surfboard and skateboard designs.
Expect to see more Patriotic themes this year in alignment with America’s 250th birthday, officials say.
“We can’t wait for the 23rd Annual Coastal Edge Steel Pier Classic presented by Katin,” says D. Nachnani, president of Coastal Edge. “This Memorial Day Weekend, the heart of Virginia Beach becomes the soul of East Coast surfing. We’re proud to host the WSL World Tour Longboard event alongside our professional shortboard competition. With over 300 athletes representing more than a dozen countries, and a combined $16,000 purse on the line, this is more than a contest—it’s a celebration of art, athleticism, music, and the surf culture that defines our coast,” Nachnani went on to say.
For more information about the Virginia Beach Surf Art Expo, click here, call (757) 348-1048, connect on the Virginia Beach Surf Art Expo’s Facebook here, or their Instagram here.
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