The slaying of Byrd and Melanie Billings of Beulah, Florida, was a tragedy. The couple raised 17 children, 12 of whom were adopted, many with special needs. The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office has been moving swiftly and already has seven people in custody related to the cold-blooded crime. The break-in and murders were…
When it comes to teens killed by guns in Miami, veteran Carol City Senior High social studies teacher Paul Moore has become something like the city’s tragic bard. As featured in “The Curse,” a New Times cover story published in February, he’s seen five students murdered from just one class. He’s written and spoken eloquently…
Well, this is just horrible. Melanie and Byrd Billings were found dead in the Beulah, Fl home, about 17 miles northwest of Pensacola. The Billings were parents to 16 children, 12 of whom were adopted — some with special needs. The couple appear to have been the victims of a random…
Sex Offenders banished to the Julia Tuttle Causeway now have some serious lawyers on their side. The American Civil Liberties Union sued Miami-Dade County today, claiming a 2005 ordinance “unreasonably burdens” the men. The reason: It takes away their right to housing. The complaint also points out Miami-Dade has “exacerbated…
The male-to-female transsexual sent to jail after a client’s botched cosmetic procedure ended in death was arrested again this morning. Flagler County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Florida Department of Health agents raided the quiet two-story home of Donnie Hendrix at 8 a.m. They collared her for practicing medicine without a…
What’s the saying? One tequila …two tequila …three tequila …floor. Well, sadly Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth downed four shots of tequila and didn’t hit the floor. He hit the road in his Bentley, and then hit a pedestrian crossing the MacArthur Causeway.Miami beach Police released an interview they conducted…
What better way to start off your post-holiday week than getting some gruesome new details in the case of alleged serial cat killer Tyler Weinman? After weeks of local media fighting for its release, the arrest affidavit for the case is finally available. Police had their eyes on Weinman for…
In April, we reported on the Craigslist Killings, in which murderers lured victims to their deaths using the classifieds site. Maybe my tale of barely escaping the jaws of a Craiglist predator won’t make national news, but fuck me if it wasn’t traumatizing. I almost sent my PlayStation 3 to…
Everglades Correctional Officer Shamel Watson thought he was negotiating with an inmate’s family member to smuggle in 1 lb of marijuana, 4 ounce of cocaine, and two cellphones to the inmate. Everglades Correctional Officer Shamel Watson is apparently stupid. When he went to go collect the contraband in Collier County instead…
In this week’s New Times, we report new statistics showing how President Obama’s “Secure Communities” program pulls Miami cops into the deportation game. The program, which runs anyone booked into any Miami-Dade County jail through a national Homeland Security database, has already flagged 8,407 illegal immigrants since January. Critics fear…
What is heroin, you say? Cocaine? Automatic weapons?Try cigarettes. As Western countries hike taxes higher and higher to try to curb smoking, black-market, dirt-cheap smokes are flooding the markets. Some are counterfeits, rolled out by the millions in filthy factories literally buried underground in southern China. Some are legit, smuggled…
A body was found lying on the shoulder of a road near South Miami Heights on Sunday. Police rushed to SW 135th Avenue and 200th Street to respond to a shots-fired call at 6:19 p.m. Upon arrival, officers discovered Fidel Ruz Moreno, 35, lying on the pavement. CBS4 is reporting a dad…
Bernie Madoff is facing 150 years in prison, but that’s nothing compared to the 400-year sentence that could await former Miami businessman Edward Hugh Okun.Not much ink has been spilled locally about Okun, but we’ll bring you up to speed. At some point, Okun, now in his late 50s, met Simone…
Police fatally shot a machete-wielding man who was attacking another man on a northwest Miami street Saturday evening.A Miami-Dade corrections officer summoned a Miami Police officer at 6:35 p.m., after he witnessed a man swinging a machete at another man on NW 12th Street and 12th Avenue, the Miami Herald reported.Both officers…
Bernie Madoff, the West Palm Beach financial demon who ripped off thousands of investors, many in South Florida, has been sentenced to the maximum 150 years behind bars. “I’m responsible for a great deal of suffering and pain, I understand that. I live in a tormented state now, knowing all…
The arrest affidavit detailing the cops’ case against suspected cat killer Tyler Weinman remains sealed, and CBS4 and the Miami Herald are absolutely livid about it. So much so that the news partners requested a hearing today pressing prosecutors to unseal the documents. CBS4’s Jim DeFede has already done a remarkable job prying out information about…
A 65 year-old man was pistol whipped this morning by two attackers who stole $3, a gold chain and a cellphone during a home invasion, Miami-Dade police said.Thomas Pulido was dragged into his home at 2169 NW 80th St. where the attackers beat him. The Miami Herald reported that Pulido’s…
The Miami-Dade Robbery Bureau are still searching for the man who stole a purse with $15,000 worth of jewelry and cash from a woman at a car rental establishment on Sunday afternoon.Police said, the victim’s husband entered the rental office at approximately 3 p.m. to exchange the vehicle while she…
Miami-Dade Police are investigating the death of two men and one woman found shot dead in a West Kendall townhouse Wednesday night.Police hurried to the Point Lake townhomes at 8 p.m. to respond to a call about gunshots fired at 15315 SW 76th Terr.Upon arrival, officers noticed the front door…
It has been so long since we’ve had a good old-fashion Ponzi scheme indictment down here in Miami. That was until Isaac Niego came along and got busted today.Federal authorites claim Niego defrauded 33 investers in a $2.5 million Ponzi scheme. Niego and an unnamed coconsipirator solicited investments through two…
A taxi driver was shot early this morning as he was working near NW 91st Street and Seventh Avenue.Jacques Milien, 64, was shot multiple times after what appeared to be an armed robbery at 6:15 a.m., Miami-Dade Police spokeswoman Det. Rebeca Perez said. He is in stable condition at Jackson Memorial…
Around 11:20 this morning, a slim black man — about six-foot-one and wearing camouflage pants, a yellow shirt, and a black skull cap — walked into the Wachovia Bank at 160 SW Eighth St. He waited patiently in line, and when he got to a teller, he handed her a…
