Parents Honor Son’s Dying Wish, Got Married
The parents of Asa Hill, a 7-year-old Buffalo, N.Y., boy who died following an auto accident on the Niagara Thruway last week, honored their son’s dying wish at his funeral Monday: They turned his burial ceremony into a wedding ceremony. The scores of people who showed up to pay their last respects said they were pleasantly surprised to see that Amilcar Hill and Rahwa Ghirmatzion chose to wed at that particular time and place. The Rev. Joel Miller of The Unitarian Universalist Church of Elmwood told reporters that was unsure at first when the idea of a wedding was proposed by the couple and their family. “I asked twice, ‘We’re doing a wedding?’ This was new for me. I never did a funeral service and a wedding ceremony at the same time, and normally wouldn’t, but they have known each other since they were teens,” Miller said. “And they had been providing for Asa, and they made a home together for all of Asa’s life. … It was clear they were following through on something they had been talking about for some time.” Hill and Ghirmatzion have been best friends since they were 15 and have been together for almost half of their lives. After Asa was born, marriage had always been something that they considered but, according to Hill, both felt that a wedding was “superficial and not necessary.” Asa, however, was insistent that they make their union official. “Asa really wanted us to do it, and every time he would ask us we would say, ‘Yes, we’ll get married,’” said Hill.
Here’s a Nominee for the World’s Dumbest Robber Award
We’ve all heard a story about a robber who wound up getting nabbed by police for doing something that was unbelievably stupid. But Stephfon Bennett’s actions Sunday night surely must qualify him as the World Champion Idiot Thief. Bennett is one of three men who robbed a couple on Columbus, Ohio’s north side, 10TV News reports. Two hours later, police said that the 20-year-old bandit returned to the scene of the crime to ask the woman out on a date he had just robbed. “We are not exactly sure what he was thinking at the time,” said Columbus Police Sgt. Sean Laird. “She recognized him right away when he returned and was able to have her cousin call 911.” Officers arrived and arrested Bennett in front of the house. He faces aggravated robbery charges. His robber buddies are still at large.

A clerk at a Chicago Office Depot sent a would-be robber scurrying from the store like a roach when the lights are turned on. Only the switch she flipped was the intercom, which broadcast the thief’s demands throughout the store. The man, wearing a light-blue shirt, and dark pants, can be seen on the store video camera with a gun concealed in a newspaper.  He approaches the clerk at the cash register and tells her to give him everything in the safe. She immediately turned on the public address system so that everybody in the store could witness what was going on. Once the bandit heard his voice blasting through the store, he ran away with nothing. Instead, police say, he went to the nearby Fannie May candy store and robbed the clerk there. He’s still on the run.

A robber fleeing from police, jumped the curb with his car, killing a woman and her three children, The Philadelphia Daily News reports. “He literally cut a tree in half and then hit the 1-year-old, [who] was in a stroller,” Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey told the newspaper. “The other individuals were on the front porch of their own home. He struck with such force that it knocked the concrete steps loose.” Killed in the accident were Latoya Smith, 22; Smith’s daughter, Remedy Smith, who would have turned 1 on Friday; Alicia Griffin, 6; and Gina Rosario, 7, Clark said. Donta Cradock, 18, the alleged driver, faces charges for theft of a motorcycle, the crime that allegedly triggered his flight, police said.

Robbers are run down by super cop

Two suspected robbers from New Jersey are probably wondering how, with all the Dunkin’-Donut-eatin’, pot-belly-havin’ cops patrolling the streets of Philadelphia , they had to end up getting chased by a fitness freak with no fear of bullets. Rakin Thabit and his alleged accomplice, Jonathan Massa, were held over for trial Tuesday on charges of attempted murder, aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy, in addition to a boatload of other offenses. Thabit and Massa, both 42 and from Camden, N.J., allegedly shot a Philadelphia Police officer, who interrupted them robbing a man who was coming home from a church function. Police say that Thabit fired at least six shots at Officer Mark S. Uffelman, hitting him in the elbow. Despite his injury, the officer, an accomplished long-distance runner, “caught up to and collared Thabit,” Philly.com reports. Officers arrested Massa shortly afterward. The men are being held on $2 million bail each, Assistant District Attorney Caroline Keating told the news service.

Inmate was murdered in Maryland , authorities say

A 19-year-old Maryland inmate, who was found dead in his jail cell one day after being locked up on charges he killed a police officer with his car, was murdered, coroner has ruled. Now the Maryland State Police and FBI are looking into whether Ronnie White’s civil rights were violated during his brief stay at the Prince George ’s County Correctional Center , just outside Washington , D.C. On Monday, the Maryland Medical Examiner ruled that White died asphyxiation and strangulation while in custody. The day before, White was charged murdering 39-year-old Prince George ’s County Cpl. Richard Findley during a traffic stop.