26-year-old mother charged in alleged murder of 4-month-old son
(kali9/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — A mother in Alabama has been arrested and charged with the alleged murder of her 4-month-old son after an autopsy found that he had been severely injured, police said.
On Jan. 25, the Chambers County emergency dispatch center received a 911 call at approximately 1:55 PM in reference to a 4-month-old infant having a seizure at a residence in the Old Jackson Heights Housing Project in Lanett, Alabama, according to a statement from the Lanett Police Department.
“The East Alabama Fire Department was contacted for mutual aid and transported the black male infant to East Alabama Medical Center (EAMC),” authorities said. “The child’s condition was assessed by the medical staff at EAMC and then flown to the Children’s of Alabama Hospital in Birmingham. Alabama.”
The 4-month-old boy, however, died in the hospital just four days later and was taken to the Alabama Department of Forensic Science Medical Lab in Montgomery, Alabama to undergo an autopsy about what caused his death after police suspected fould play and said “the circumstances of the child’s death are under investigation by the Lanett Police Department.”
On Wednesday, the Lanett Police Department announced that the boy’s mother — 26-year-old Jamesia Brichae Pruit of Valley, Alabama — was arrested and charged with the alleged murder of the infant.
Police did not disclose the extent of the injuries the boy suffered but did confirm that this case remains under investigation and has asked for anyone with information regarding this case to contact the Lanett Police Department.
(WASHINGTON) — Former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez is set to be sentenced Wednesday on corruption charges after being convicted of abusing the power of his office in exchange for bribes in the form of gold bars, a luxury car and other items.
Ahead of his sentencing Wednesday afternoon, two New Jersey businessmen convicted of paying bribes to Menendez received lengthy prison sentences. Wael Hana was sentenced to eight years in prison and Fred Daibes to seven years.
Menendez, 71, faces decades in prison after a jury found him guilty on all 16 counts last year in his federal trial, becoming the first sitting member of Congress to be convicted of acting as a foreign agent.
Sentencing guidelines call for more than 24 to 30 years in prison, with the U.S. Probation Office recommending 12 years’ imprisonment for Menendez, according to court filings.
Federal prosecutors have said the Democrat deserves 15 years in prison for his “naked greed” and the “rare gravity” of the crimes.
“This case is the first ever in which a Senator has been convicted of a crime involving the abuse of a leadership position on a Senate committee,” federal prosecutors wrote in a memo to the judge earlier this month. “It is the first ever in which a Senator — or any other person — has been convicted of serving as a foreign agent while being a public official.”
Prosecutors asked the court to impose a substantial prison sentence “to provide just punishment for this extraordinary abuse of power and betrayal of the public trust, and to deter others from ever engaging in similar conduct.”
Menendez’s attorneys have sought leniency, urging the court to consider whether a non-custodial sentence — such as “home detention and rigorous community service” — would suffice.
“Probation’s recommended sentence of 12 years’ imprisonment would be draconian — likely a life and death sentence for someone of Bob’s age and condition,” his attorneys wrote in a memorandum to the judge earlier this month. “Bob is deserving of mercy because of the penalties already imposed, his age, and the lack of a compelling need to impose a custodial sentence.”
The defense noted that Menendez is helping his wife battle cancer and argued he is no longer in a position to be a repeat offender, given that he was convicted of crimes that arose from his position as a U.S. senator.
“With this case, his political and professional careers have ended; his reputation is destroyed; and the latter years of his life are in shambles. He is certain never to commit future offenses,” his attorneys wrote. “And his current state — stripped of office and living under a permanent shadow of disgrace and mockery — are more than sufficient to reflect the seriousness of the offenses and to promote respect for the law.”
The former New Jersey senator, who resigned in the wake of his conviction, has maintained his innocence.
“I have never violated my oath,” Menendez said outside the courthouse following the verdict in the nine-week trial. “I have never been anything but a patriot of my country and for my country. I have never, ever been a foreign agent.”
Menendez has twice unsuccessfully bid for a new trial ahead of his sentencing, most recently last week, with Judge Stein finding the trial was fair while denying his request.
Menendez has also tried unsuccessfully to postpone his sentencing until after his wife, Nadine Menendez, stands trial on similar charges. Her trial is scheduled to begin in March. She has pleaded not guilty.
Co-defendants get lengthy prison sentences
Two New Jersey businessmen who were found guilty in the case were also sentenced on Wednesday. Wael Hana was sentenced to eight years in prison and Fred Daibes to seven years — significantly more than what the defendants had sought and slightly less than what prosecutors recommended.
Prosecutors said Menendez promised to use his power as a senator to help Hana, who is originally from Egypt, by preserving a halal meat monopoly granted to Hana by Egypt.
Prosecutors said the former senator also promised Daibes that he would interfere with Daibes’ federal prosecution and help the government of Qatar by supporting a Senate resolution praising the country.
Daibes’ fingerprints were found on the envelopes of cash found at Menendez’s home and serial numbers on the gold bars traced them to Daibes and Hana, according to prosecutors. In issuing the sentences, Judge Sidney Stein called the evidence against Hana “substantial” and had strong words for Daibes.
“You are an American success story. You grew up in a refugee camp in Lebanon. But there is a dark side to what you have done,” Stein said of Daibes. “You bribed Sen. Menendez multiple times.”
Another New Jersey businessman, Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty in the case ahead of trial. Prosecutors said Uribe paid for Menendez’s $60,000 Mercedes-Benz convertible in exchange for helping disrupt a criminal investigation by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office related to Uribe.
Transgender flag/Nathan Morris/NurPhoto via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — After months of targeting transgender youth medical care, legislators in some states are now setting their sights on restricting funding for care for transgender adults.
Lawmakers in at least eight states are seeking to restrict state or public funds from being used for gender-affirming care, limiting a patient’s ability to use Medicaid to help pay: Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas, and Virginia.
For Mason Kalinsky, that would mean he may no longer be able to access the hormone therapy that he has been taking for roughly three years. Kalinsky, a 27-year-old transgender activist in Kentucky, told ABC News in an interview that hormone therapy changed his life.
Before accessing hormone therapy, Kalinsky said he and his doctors tried a slew of medications including antidepressants to address his mental health challenges, including his struggles with addiction.
Hormone therapy and gender-affirming care made him feel “more awake and alive in my body in a way that no other medication had,” Kalinsky said.
“It’s a necessary medication for me,” he said. “And this bill, if it passes, would mean that I would no longer be able to get this care, as would a lot of other people who also have insurance that is in some way paid for by the public.”
Kentucky state Rep. Josh Calloway, a Republican, is one of the legislators behind the Kentucky bill. He told ABC News in an interview that he believes state funds should not go toward gender-affirming health care.
His bill would bar state funds from going toward services related to gender transitioning, including mental health counseling or therapy, hormone therapy or any surgical procedures.
Calloway could not provide details about how much in state funding currently goes to gender-affirming care for transgender patients. Instead, Calloway stated that the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services informed him that if his bill were implemented, it could cost the state between $12 to $21 million in the need for psychiatric care, counseling and hospital stays from impacted patients who may need increased mental health services.
“What they are saying by that statement is that we have a mental health crisis,” Calloway told ABC News, adding “they’re saying that these people will be in psychiatric care and treatment if we remove the ability to use these medications.”
ABC News has reached out to the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services to confirm the estimate.
“The truth is there’s only male and female, and there is no way that either can transition to the other,” said Calloway.
The bill has exceptions for intersex people – such as those with differences in sexual development – and does not restrict such care for non-transgender people.
“This is what is best: men, women, having a family, having babies, procreating,” said Calloway. “Those aspects of our society are under attack through many different avenues. This is just one of those avenues — promote confusion. Cause kids to be confused. They become unstable. They become adults, and before you know it, our society is totally disrupted.”
Transgender Americans — who are estimated to make up less than 1% of the U.S. population over the age of 13 — have been the target of hundreds of Republican-backed bills in recent years.
These bills target bathroom usage and sports participation by transgender residents and restrict certain content in schools or libraries that refer to transgender identities.
However, many anti-LGBTQ bills fail to move forward each year. In 2024, 533 anti-LGBTQ bills were considered by state legislatures and only 49 passed, according to the ACLU.
Kentucky, like other states behind the new wave of restrictive bills, previously passed a gender-affirming care ban for people under the age of 18.
In 2023, the gender youth care ban was vetoed by Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, which was quickly overridden by the state legislature and passed into law.
Beshear argued that the bill allowed too much government interference in personal health care decisions.
Many of the laws that have been signed or passed into law have led to ongoing legal battles. The Supreme Court is currently considering a case, U.S. v. Skrmetti, which would decide the constitutionality of gender-affirming care bans for transgender minors.
For Carma Marshall Bell, a 34-year-old trans Kentucky resident who has been on hormone therapy for five years, she said she is “terrified” about what could happen if she’s unable to afford her treatment, which could include hormone withdrawal symptoms, which may lead to physical changes and a potential negative impact on mental health.
“I feel like I’m in a good place. I used to be in a really dark place at the beginning. I didn’t see myself in who I used to be versus who I see myself now,” said Marshall. Losing her hormones “would exacerbate depression and just those dark feelings that so many Americans right now are battling and fighting against.”
She continued, “Hormones, to a degree, have saved my life. If I hadn’t got on them, I don’t know where I would be right now.”
Marshall plans on attending a rally with other LGBTQ advocates and allies to call on lawmakers to vote against the bills impacting the transgender community in the state.
“We are people that are deserving of love, respect, humanity. We deserve our little piece of the American dream,” said Marshall. “We actually take a lot of steps to ensure that there’s nothing wrong with us, by ensuring that we see our mental health professionals, by ensuring that we’re in those doctor’s offices taking care of our health and well being, because health is wealth, and we want to prosper in this country known as America.”
