Southwest
Texas crime victims liaison pleads guilty to human smuggling with county vehicle
A Texas crime victims coordinator who was employed by the Starr County District Attorney’s Office has pleaded guilty to using a county vehicle to smuggle immigrants into the United States.
Bernice Garza pleaded guilty Friday to conspiracy to transport undocumented people within the United States, according to a report from KRGV.
Two others, Magali Rosa and Juan Antonio Charles, were also arrested in connection with the investigation and have pleaded guilty to human smuggling charges, according to the report.
TEXAS CRIME VICTIMS LIAISON ARRESTED AFTER ALLEGEDLY USING COUNTY-ISSUED CAR IN HUMAN SMUGGLING SCHEME
Garza was arrested in December 2022 after a traffic stop in Victoria County noted that the vehicle registered with the county was making “numerous unauthorized trips to the Houston area,” the criminal complaint said.
Magali Rosa was the driver of the vehicle, according to police, while Garza and Charles were among the passengers in the vehicle.
Police say Rosa tried to argue that Garza was the Starr County district attorney during the stop, though she later confessed to making over 40 smuggling trips from Rio Grande City to Houston in the government vehicle.
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“This investigation is an example of no one being above the law, and our office taking swift action in eliminating public corruption,” the DA’s office said in a statement after the arrests.
Garza was soon terminated from the DA’s office, while the four migrants who were in the vehicle at the time of the stop were turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol.
Sentencing for Garza and Charles was set for Sept. 28, the reporting notes, while sentencing for Magali Rosa is set for June 27.
Read the full article from Here
Southwest
Oklahoma's high court tosses reparations lawsuit over 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre
Oklahoma’s highest court tossed a lawsuit seeking reparations for two survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the worst incidents of violence involving race that saw more than 300 Black people killed by a White mob and the destruction of Black Wall Street, a thriving Black district.
The nine-member Oklahoma Supreme Court dismissed the lawsuit of the last two survivors of the riot, ruling that the plaintiff’s grievances, although legitimate, did not fall within the scope of the state’s public nuisance statute.
“We further hold that the plaintiff’s allegations do not sufficiently support a claim for unjust enrichment,” the court wrote in its decision.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to Damario Solomon-Simmons, attorney for survivors Lessie Benningfield Randle and Viola Fletcher, who are both now over 100 years old. In a statement to Fox News Digital, the city of Tulsa said it respects the court’s decision.
“The City of Tulsa respects the court’s decision and affirms the significance of the work the City continues to do in the North Tulsa and Greenwood communities,” the city said. “Through economic development and policy projects, the 1921 Graves Investigation, and a renewed community vision for the Kirkpatrick Heights & Greenwood Master Plan, the City remains committed to working with residents and providing resources to support the North Tulsa and Greenwood communities.”
The lawsuit sought to force the city to pay for destruction by a white mob of the once-thriving Black district known as Greenwood. In 1921 — on May 31 and June 1 — the mob, including some people hastily deputized by authorities, looted and burned the district, which was referred to as Black Wall Street.
Randle and Fletcher brought the lawsuit in 2020. A third plaintiff, Hughes Van Ellis, died last year at the age of 102.
The surviving victims of the riot were never compensated for their losses and the massacre ultimately resulted in racial and economic disparities that still exist today, the lawsuit argued.
It sought a detailed accounting of the property and wealth lost or stolen in the massacre, the construction of a hospital in north Tulsa and the creation of a victims’ compensation fund, among other things.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Read the full article from Here
Los Angeles, Ca
Mountain lion found dead less than a mile from wildlife crossing construction site
A mountain lion was killed on the 101 Freeway early Saturday morning.
Preliminary information indicates that the deceased mountain lion was blocking lanes on the southbound side of the freeway near Liberty Canyon Road in Agoura Hills around 5 a.m.
The predatory feline died just half a mile from the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing construction site, which is set to open in 2026, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said last month.
California Highway Patrol officers moved the mountain lion to the right shoulder of the freeway so traffic could pass through.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife will investigate the death of the mountain lion, which was not wearing a tracking collar.
Southwest
Man killed after getting electrocuted in seaside resort jacuzzi
An El Paso, Texas, man vacationing at a private resort in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico, has died after getting electrocuted in a jacuzzi on Tuesday, according to reports.
A local NBC station in El Paso reported that the Mexican State of Sonora General Prosecutor’s Office said the man, only identified as 43-year-old Jorge N., and another person, Lizeth, N., were at the Sonoran Sea Resort and in a jacuzzi just after 10 p.m.
The prosecutor’s office said possible wiring failure may have caused Jorge to get electrocuted, while Lizeth reportedly suffered life-threatening injuries.
Lizeth was taken to a nearby hospital where she was reportedly informed she suffered from burns consistent with electric shock.
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She was then transported back to the U.S., where she was listed in critical condition, the general prosecutor’s office said.
During the investigation, investigators spoke with someone who is familiar with Jorge and Lizeth, who said she saw the two of them were not moving in the jacuzzi.
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The witness also reportedly told investigators she attempted to get into the jacuzzi after discovering the couple was non-responsive, but she was shocked.
The witness told investigators that was the moment she called for help.
The Attorney General’s Office of the State of Sonora is investigating the matter.
Read the full article from Here
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