New $25K reward offered in search for abducted 3-year-old girl

The search continues for a 3-year-old Alabama child, Kamille “Cupcake” McKinney, who was snatched on Saturday from an outdoor birthday party.

READ MORE: Accused rapist who kidnapped 10-year-old girl and fled twice, granted bond a third time

Gov. Kay Ivey’s office has joined in the efforts to find Kamille and offered a $5,000 reward to anyone who can help find the child. On Wednesday, Crime Stoppers also put up a $20,000 reward to help bring the baby girl home.

According to reports, Kamille was playing at a birthday party in Birmingham when she disappeared, authorities said. An Amber alert was activated by the Birmingham police, yet there are still no leads on the child’s whereabouts.

The heart-wrenching case moved Birmingham Police Chief Patrick Smith, who directed his comments directly to the kidnapper and pleaded for Kamille’s safe return when he spoke at a news conference on Wednesday.

“If you have her and you’re not sure what to do … please bring her to one of our fire stations, police station, a hospital,” Smith said. “If you don’t know what to do or where to go and you’re frightened, we’re here to help you … please bring her to a safe location.”

READ MORE: Stepfather arrested in connection to kidnapping of 4-year-old stepdaughter

Jasmaine Deloach, the head of Angel Arms Operation Exploited and Missing Persons in Birmingham also tried to reason with the unknown abductor at a vigil for Kamille on Monday.

“She might not even remember who you are, so if you have any heart, please let her go.”

“If they don’t want to deal with the officers, they can call my number,” Deloach told ABC News. “We’re begging.”

“I don’t want a bad outcome from all of this,” Deloach said. “I pray no one hurts this baby.”

Deloach herself is familiar with this scenario. She said her 16-year-old daughter human trafficked some five years ago. Her child was ultimately found five states away and the case is still under investigation with no suspects.

There are two persons if interest who were questioned by police, but the charges against them are unrelated to Kamille’s disappearance.

READ MORE: Houston police looking for three men who reportedly abducted 4-year-old girl

Authorities are asking anyone with information in connection to the case to call 911 or Birmingham police at 205-254-1757. Deloach also said the kidnapper can call Angel Arms Operation missing persons group at 205-585-8076.

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Cuba Gooding Jr. Pleads Not Guilty to New Sexual Misconduct Charges, Turns Self in to NYPD

Cuba Gooding Jr. has pleaded not guilty to additional sexual misconduct charges.

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Court seems split on possible resentencing for teen sniper Lee Boyd Malvo

By MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Liberal and conservative justices seemed split Wednesday on whether to grant a new sentencing hearing to Lee Boyd Malvo, one of two snipers who terrorized the Washington, D.C., region in 2002 when he was a teenager.

The Supreme Court heard arguments on whether Malvo, who was 17 at the time of the killings, was wrongly sentenced in Virginia to life without parole.

His attorneys say he deserves a new hearing because of recent Supreme Court rulings barring mandatory life sentences for juveniles and reserving the punishment for those “rare children whose crimes reflect irreparable corruption.”
Virginia argues Malvo’s life sentence was not mandatory because the judge theoretically had discretion to suspend part of Malvo’s life sentence, despite a state law mandating either execution or life without parole as the only sentencing options for a capital murder conviction.

Even if Malvo prevails at the high court and gets a new sentencing hearing, a Virginia judge could reimpose a life sentence. Malvo also faces six life-without parole terms in Maryland that are not technically in front of the high court, though courts there have placed Malvo’s Maryland appeals on hold while the Supreme Court decides this case.

Elena Kagan, a justice on the court’s liberal wing, said the high court’s previous rulings on the subject should be understood broadly, and that courts are bound to give serious consideration to the notion that “youth matters” in determining a juvenile’s sentence.

On the other side, conservative Justice Samuel Alito suggested the court should simply apply the wording from its earlier case, which bans only mandatory life sentences without parole for juveniles. Because Virginia’s Supreme Court has already ruled that Malvo’s trial judge had discretion to lower Malvo’s sentence, he would not be entitled to any relief under the court’s previous ruling.

Malvo was a 15-year-old from Jamaica who had been sent to live in Antigua when he met John Allen Muhammad and latched onto him as a father figure. Muhammad trained and indoctrinated Malvo, and in 2002 the pair embarked on a nationwide killing spree that concluded with a three-week rampage in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia that left 10 people dead and three wounded.

The random shootings terrorized the region, and featured bizarre coded conversations from police to the snipers delivered during live news conferences with phrases like “Call me God” and “We have caught the sniper like a duck in a noose.”

Notes left behind at the shooting scenes included demands for ransom, but trial testimony indicated the shootings were a plan for Muhammad to regain custody of his children by killing his ex-wife, who lived in the region, and making her death appear to be a result of random violence.

Muhammad was sentenced to death and executed. Malvo pleaded insanity but was convicted. The jury was then tasked with sentencing Malvo either to death or to life without parole. It opted for the latter.

Malvo’s lawyer, Danielle Spinelli, said that when the court issued its initial ruling banning mandatory life sentences for juveniles, in 2012’s Miller v. Alabama, about 2,800 individuals were affected. Since then, the Supreme Court ruled in a follow-up case that the Miller case should be applied retroactively, and Spinelli said all but 60 defendants in six states have been granted some form of relief.

“Virginia is not doing anything to comply with Miller,” Spinelli said.
Victims of the snipers are divided on the question. Some survivors and family members say they oppose a resentencing.

Cheryll Shaw, whose father Jerry Taylor was killed by the snipers in Arizona, is one of several surviving victims and family members who have endorsed resentencing.

Shaw, who attended Wednesday’s arguments, said after the arguments that she hopes Malvo gets a new hearing and that he is transferred from Virginia’s notorious Red Onion prison, but she is unsure whether she wants to see him released.
“I’m not ready to see him get out any time soon,” she said.

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Black Women Lose Out Over $1 Million in Their Careers Thanks to the Wage Gap

A black woman will lose out on $946,120 over a 40-year career if she continues to make 61 cents on the dollar that every white man earns due to the wage gap, analysis by The National Women’s Law Center shows.

“Assuming she and her white, non-Hispanic male counterpart begin work at age 20, a black woman would have to work until she is 86 years old to catch up to what a white, non-Hispanic man has been paid by age 60,” the press release states.

The National Women’s Law Center found that black women face even larger pay disparity in certain states.  In the state of Louisiana, black women are paid on average 47 cents for every dollar their white, non-Hispanic male counterparts make, which is the worst state for black women’s wage equality.

“There’s a significant racial wealth gap in America and black women’s wage gap certainly plays a role in it,” said Emily Martin, vice president for Education & Workplace Justice. “For many black women, the cost of the lifetime wage gap comes close to a million dollars—and in some states it’s more.  It’s time for the Senate to follow the lead of the House and pass the Paycheck Fairness Act. Women and their families literally can’t wait any longer.”

Advanced education among black women has not been shown to lower the wage gap, in fact, the gap is largest for the most educated black women.  Doctorate degree holders who are black women tend to make 60% of what their white, male counterparts make.

“Black women have the highest student loan debt of any racial or ethnic group. For an undergraduate degree, the average black woman carries nearly $30,400 in debt, compared to $19,500 for white men. The wage gap lessens black women’s ability to pay off educational debt, creating an additional barrier to saving money that could be used to buy a home, start a business, or used for emergencies,” the report stated.

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Gabrielle Union defends her family with a classy clapback on Twitter

Gabrielle Union took the high road and issued a classy clapback when an internet troll questioned her husband Dwyane Wade’s post calling his 12-year-old son Zion, wife and daughter, “my girls.”

READ MORE: Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade support 11-year-old son, Zion at Miami Beach Pride festival

On Tuesday, a Twitter user reposted Wade’s Instagram story, writing, “What y’all think about this?” apparently making reference to how Wade included his son as part of the trio as one of his girls.

Union offered her thoughts on the matter to the troll and replied:

“Looks like love to me,” Union wrote. “I truly hope that everyone gets the love, support and hugs they deserve. Also Kaav ain’t with the dumb s—. Peace & Blessings good people.”

Looks like love to me 🤷🏾‍♀️ I truly hope that everyone gets the love, support and hugs they deserve. Also Kaav ain’t with the dumb shit. Peace & Blessings good people. https://t.co/faFyusNktj

— Gabrielle Union (@itsgabrielleu) October 15, 2019

In the past, Wade has openly supported Zion at the Gay Pride parade.

According to Variety, back in April, while Wade was at an away game in Toronto, his 12-year-old-son Zion posted photos of himself with his siblings and stepmother, Union, all attending the annual Miami Beach Pride march.

Wade reposted them along with the caption,  “We support each other with Pride!”

Zion’s older brother Zaire also echoed that sentiment by sharing photos of them at the parade on his Instagram Story along with the caption, “Love you lil bro no matter what.”

Wade said previously about his son’s gender identity, “I don’t really talk about it much because it’s Zion’s story to tell,” he told Variety. “I think as a family, we should support each other. That’s our job. And my job as a father is to facilitate their lives and to support them and be behind them in whatever they want to do.”

READ MORE: Dwyane Wade, Gabrielle Union support LGBTQ youth with limited edition T-shirt and donation

Wade has admitted getting pummeled with backlash before when supporting his son and he said previously he intends to keep rolling out support.

“It’s my job to be their role model, to be their voice in my kids’ lives, to let them know you can conquer the world. So, go and be your amazing self and we’re going to sit back and just love you.”

Moral of he story, folks need to mind the business that pays them.

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