New York man kills his infant daughter with one punch to her face

A cruel man blamed his wife for the killing of his little daughter.

A Bronx, New York man who beat his little daughter in the face, killing her, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, officials said Tuesday.

Lawrence Johnson, 31, was convicted of second-degree murder in the December 1, 2006 death of 3-month-old Jayla.

Johnson tried to blame the baby's death on a young child who lived with him and his wife, saying the older child with a toy hit Jayla, police said. But police said he hit the baby

when she was sleeping in her face in his apartment on E. 181st St. because he was angry about being nagged by his wife.

Johnson, who has several other children, had been fired from his job as a drug counselor shortly before the shocking incident took place.

He was sentenced Monday by the Bronx Supreme Court judge Pedro Benitez.

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Boy's death at daycare investigated

South Florida daycare center has been shut down while authorities investigate the death of a 4-year-old boy in an SUV. 

Jordan Coleman died Wednesday while he and seven other children were on a trip away from 3C's Day Academy in Sunrise, The Miami Herald reported.

Broward County Sheriff Al Lamberti ordered the closing Thursday.

"We have a family, and a lot of people with a lot of questions, and we need to answer all those questions," Dani Moschella, a spokeswoman for the sheriff's office, said. "A family is mourning the death of a young person who just turned 4. This is a tragic loss, and we have a lot of work to do."

The Herald said Broward County Child Care Licensing had cited Cecily Roberts, owner of the daycare center, for having more children than her license permitted. The newspaper said the record suggests Roberts might have asked her daughter to take the eight children out for the day because she feared another inspection.

Jordan was found in an SUV parked at an apartment complex where the children were apparently taken for a snack and a nap after going swimming. Jordan was somehow left in the car when the others went inside.

 

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Seven Walmarts hit by bomb threats

At least seven Walmart stores in Missouri were evacuated after receiving bomb threats, authorities said.

No explosives were found in any of the stores following the Friday evening scares, KCTV-TV reported.

Two of the threats were in the suburban Kansas City communities of Gladstone and Raytown, the Kansas City TV station said. Others were called in to stores in Nixa, Ozark, Jefferson City, St. Peters and Piedmont.

Officials for the discount store chain issued a statement, saying they were working with authorities and apologized for the inconvenience to customers.

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US warns of possible Nigeria attacks

The US embassy in Nigeria yesterday warned its citizens about threats to American targets through the independence holiday week.

 “The U.S. Mission in Nigeria is issuing this emergency message to inform U.S. citizens of potential threats against U.S. installations during the July 4 holiday week,” said a statement posted on the embassy’s website.

Abuja was hit by fresh violence late Tuesday when a blast went off outside a shopping centre popular with both foreigners and locals. US citizens in Abuja remain barred from visiting places of worship as well as nearby commercial establishments and must return to their homes by midnight, according to the embassy statement.

The Boko Haram Islamist group, responsible for scores of attacks in recent months, has intensified attacks on Sundays and holidays.  The embassy “is working with the government of Nigeria to implement additional security measures,” through the July 4 holiday week, the statement also said.

Last month, Washington designated three Boko Haram leaders as global terrorists; a move it said was aimed to help stem the violence in Nigeria.

The Commissioner of Police in Abuja, Ade Shinaba, said he was not aware of any plot to carry out major attacks in Abuja by any group, noting that the police was  were doing everything possible to protect citizens and foreigners from any form of attack.

He said people should not be apprehensive about unconfirmed warnings of imminent attacks.

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Teenager survives spear through brain

A US teenager's survival after a spear was shot through his brain is a miracle, doctors say.

Yasser Lopez, 16, is recovering after he was accidentally hit with a spear gun by a friend during a Florida fishing trip this month.

Medics at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami said the 3ft (90cm) projectile entered his brain over his right eye and went out the back of his head.

He is now out of bed and speaking following a three-hour operation.

Medics said he was awake as he arrived at hospital, and became "agitated".

After sedating the teenager, part of the stainless steel spear had to be severed with a mechanical cutter so he could fit into the CT scanner.

Doctors said the teenager has no memory of the freak accident.

He was shot with the projectile as he swam in a lake near his Miami area home on 8 June when his friend set off the trigger of a spear gun he was loading.

While medics are not sure of the extent of the damage to his memory and other parts of the brain, they say his condition could have been much worse.

"It's a miracle the spear missed all the main blood vessels of the brain," neurosurgeon Ross Bullock told reporters.

Also helpful, doctors say, was the foreign object's trajectory into the right side of the brain, Mr Lopez's non-dominant lobe, missing the parts responsible for speech and other important functions.

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97-year-old gets high school diploma(VIDEO)

 Ann Colagiovanni, 97 years old, is finally receiving her high school diploma.The Depression-era student quit school at the age of 17, back in 1930s, to work in her father's market.

The Ohio resident never returned to finish her education but instead became a student of life. She worked at the family store until the 1960s when it closed. She got married and has two daughters and 11 grandchildren.

Daughter Emilia Colagiovanni Vinci told Fox 8 Cleveland, "When I told her she was getting a diploma, she sobbed as if a pain had been relieved from her heart," adding, "I never knew what it meant to her. She wanted this."

Emilia noted that during the Depression, work was more important than an education.

But receiving a diploma certainly seemed important to the nonagenarian. The oldest member of the class of 2012 appears in the news video in a white cap and gown, at a special ceremony at Shaker Heights High School, which presented her with an honorary diploma--in her name--dated June 1934. "Finally, I'm going to be a graduate," she says.

Grandma isn't the only graduate this year: Her grandson, Thomas Vinci, will also receive a diploma from the suburban Cleveland high school one day after his grandmother.

Emilia Colagiovanni Vinci said, "She did what her father wanted her to do, even though she wanted to graduate. She put her father, her family, before herself."

Seventy-eight years later, Ann Colagiovanni finally put herself first.

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