Woman texting while driving pleads guilty to killing 2 teens
AKRON, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio woman who authorities say was texting when she crossed a marked lane in her car and fatally struck two teenage girls and seriously injured a teenage boy has pleaded guilty to multiple charges.
The Summit County Prosecutor’s Office in Akron said 25-year-old Natasha Boggs, of New Franklin, entered guilty pleas Friday to two counts of involuntary manslaughter, and one count each of vehicular assault and attempted tampering with evidence.
The accident in May 2017 in Coventry Township south of Akron killed 14-year-old Taylor Galloway, of Akron, and 14-year-old Amber Thoma, of Coventry Township. The 15-year-old boy was hospitalized for his injuries. They were walking alongside a road with no sidewalks when they were struck.
Boggs’ attorney couldn’t be immediately reached for comment.
Sentencing is June 15.
Ohio woman gets lengthy sentence for trafficking daughters
LIMA, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio woman who allowed a man to have sex with her daughters to pay for her drug habit has been sentenced to 64 years in prison.
The Lima News reports the 39-year-old woman showed remorse during a hearing Thursday in western Ohio’s Allen County. She pleaded guilty in February to charges that included complicity to attempted rape, compelling prostitution, child pornography and trafficking.
Authorities say her daughters were 12 and 15 when they were sexually assaulted over a yearlong period starting in 2014.
The man who assaulted the girls is serving 30 years. Court documents say he raped the 12-year-old and told her sister he’d continue having sex with the younger girl unless she submitted to him.
The Associated Press isn’t identifying the mother to protect her daughters’ identities.
Ohio man charged with murder in death of infant son
CINCINNATI (AP) — Authorities say a 27-year-old Ohio man whose infant son died from a skull fracture has been charged with murder.
A judge on Friday set a $1 million bond for Joshua Mounts, of Sharonville, in Hamilton County Municipal Court. He was arrested and charged Thursday.
Authorities say Mounts called 911 on Jan. 25 and told a dispatcher his 6-month-old son wasn’t breathing. WLWT-TV reports the child died three days later.
Police say the skull fracture was caused by blunt-force trauma.
Mounts’ attorney wasn’t immediately available for comment Friday.
Prosecutors are expected to present Mounts’ case to a grand jury on April 9.
School shooting survivor receives detention over protests
HAMILTON, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio student who was one of two shot when a classmate opened fire in a school cafeteria has received detention for participating in a mass student walkout over gun violence.
The Cincinnati Enquirer reports 16-year-old Cooper Caffrey and 42 other students walked out of Madison High School as part of the March 14 protests. Each has received detention.
Cooper and another boy were struck when James “Austin” Hancock fired a gun he had stolen from his great-grandmother in February 2016. Two others were injured by shrapnel or while running away.
Madison school board President David French said Monday students who participated in the protest should apologize to school resource officers.
Cooper attended the meeting, and he says hearing those words were “like being shot all over again.”
Shootings in Cincinnati down nearly 50 percent
CINCINNATI (AP) — Cincinnati police say shootings are down nearly half of what they were at this time last year.
Police Chief Eliot Isaac tells WCPO-TV there have been 56 shootings so far in 2018, compared to 108 last year.
Isaac says the biggest drop has been in the Avondale neighborhood, which has seen two shootings in the past three months compared to at least a dozen in years past.
He credits the neighborhood’s low numbers with the newly-launched Neighborhood Enhancement program and the department’s use of ShotSpotter. The ShotSpotter system tracks the sound of gunfire and alerts police directly.
Isaac says the focus will be on keeping numbers down during the warmer summer months.
Sheriff’s deputy struck by ambulance
MEDINA, Ohio (AP) — Authorities say an Ohio sheriff’s deputy was struck by an ambulance while responding to a medical call.
Medina Sheriff’s Capt. Kenneth Baca says the Medina County deputy was responding to a call for a 71-year-old man with chest pains Thursday in Westfield Township.
Baca says the deputy was standing behind the ambulance when it hit him. The deputy suffered cuts and bruises and was taken to Medina Hospital for treatment.
Baca says it’s unclear if the ambulance driver inadvertently backed into the officer or if there was a mechanical failure.
