star-telegram.com: News

Man died driving home to surprise mom for Mother's Day

Mon, 12 May 2008 21:13 CDT

Relatives of a driver killed on a rural Texas highway when another car swerved into his lane, killing a college professor in that vehicle, said Monday that the man was headed to surprise his mom for Mother's Day.

Jan Bigbee Weesner said she didn't even know her son, 28-year-old Evan Bigbee, was making the trip from Weatherford to Brenham until a state trooper arrived at her home Saturday.

"They've always loved to surprise me," Weesner said of her two sons in an interview with the Bryan-College Station Eagle. The other son was home at the time.

Also killed in the accident on Texas Highway 90 was Prairie View A&M professor Eulalio G. Garza III. He was a passenger in the car that authorities say swerved into Bigbee's lane due to "driver inattention."

Garza died after attending the university's spring graduation service earlier that day. The driver of his car was taken to a Houston hospital and remained in serious condition, the newspaper reported.

The accident happened near Bedias, about 60 miles north from Bigbee's mother's home in Brenham.

Second sect baby born in state custody

Mon, 12 May 2008 20:53 CDT

By MICHELLE ROBERTS

A mother being held as a minor in state custody from a polygamist sect gave birth Monday to a baby boy immediately taken into child-protective custody as the state acknowledges the mother may be an adult.

The boy is the second baby born in state custody since Texas child welfare officials raided the sect's ranch in West Texas April 3.

The mother has been in state custody, treated as a minor, since last month. CPS spokesman Patrick Crimmins acknowledged Monday she is among 27 girls whose age is in dispute.

Crimmins said officials were reviewing documentation of the mother and others who claim they are over age and will release them from state custody if they are adults. He said he doesn't know how long it will take to determine whether their claims of adulthood are legitimate.

But Rod Parker, an attorney and spokesman for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, accused the state of deliberately holding a pregnant mother it knew was over age so it could take the baby into custody upon its birth.

"They just wanted to keep the mother in custody until they could get the baby," Parker said.

But Crimmins said the FLDS members gave conflicting information about their names and ages, so sect members whose ages were in dispute were kept in custody.

"We didn't have documentation. The other thing, too, frankly is the information we got ... changed over time," he said.

The new mother has claimed she is 22 and has filed a writ of habeas corpus to be freed from state custody; the state contends she is a minor.

The newborn was immediately placed in state custody, bringing the total number of children taken from members of the renegade Mormon sect to 465.

He'll likely stay in state custody even if his mother is an adult. Like other mothers of children under one year, she'd be allowed to stay with him in a foster-care facility, Crimmins said.

Child welfare officials and state troopers raided the FLDS's Yearning For Zion Ranch in Eldorado beginning April 3 after a domestic violence shelter received calls from a girl who purported to be an abused 16-year-old. The girl has never been found and authorities are investigating whether the calls were a hoax.

But the state took custody of all the ranch's children, saying the sect's practice of underage and polygamous spiritual marriages endangered the children there.

Under Texas law, children under the age of 17 generally cannot consent to sex with an adult.

Church officials deny any children were abused and say the state's actions are a form of religious persecution.

FLDS broke away from the mainline Mormon church, which officially renounced polygamy more than a century ago.

Dallas Zoo elephant is euthanized

Mon, 12 May 2008 20:05 CDT

by chris vaughn

A 39-year-old female African elephant at the Dallas Zoo was euthanized Monday afternoon after days of a deteriorating gastrointestinal problem.

KeKe, who came to Dallas from the Caldwell Zoo in Tyler in 2003, had been ill for more than 10 days but had grown increasingly sicker over the last week. She was receiving round-the-clock care from keepers, and veterinarians consulted with experts around the country, including the Fort Worth Zoo.

However, she laid down Monday morning, and zoo officials were never able to get her back up with a crane and a harness.

"Once we could not get her on her feet, and she was unresponsive, it was obvious her condition had deteriorated," said Sean Greene, director of community relations. "It's a really sad day for the staff here. I feel safe in saying they put in a heroic effort to save her life."

KeKe had a habit of eating dirt and rocks, and at least once a year would get colic from her unapproved diet. What happened this time, though, they aren't sure yet.

A necropsy will be performed at the zoo to try to determine what the problem was.

"It's very difficult with an animal so large to do sonograms," Greene said. "You can't always tell what's going on internally."

The elephant exhibit area of the zoo will remain closed Tuesday. The zoo also has another African elephant cow named Jenny.

Texas prison gang members plead guilty in racketeering case

Mon, 12 May 2008 20:29 CDT

Three members of the Texas Syndicate prison gang pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges Monday, the day jury selection in their trial was to begin.

The guilty pleas by Marco Medina, David Gutierrez and Daniel Arredondo bring to 14 the number of Texas Syndicate members who have been convicted. All but two of the 14 pleaded guilty to violating the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization, or RICO, statute. The other two pleaded guilty to substantive counts.

Gutierrez, a lower-level soldier in the Texas Syndicate, will not get more than 30 years in prison. Medina was a former top lieutenant for the gang in Dallas and faces life in prison. Arredondo faces up to 20 years in prison.

The three men are accused in three gang- and drug-related slayings from 1999 to 2001 in the Dallas area.

One victim was a Texas Syndicate member and one was a rival gang member. The third victim, an associate of a Texas Syndicate member, refused to break off a relationship with the gang member's mother, prosecutors say.

Officials said security was tight Monday at the federal courthouse in downtown Dallas because the gang is known to intimidate or kill witnesses, The Dallas Morning News reported in its online edition.

At least one Texas Syndicate co-defendant, who has pleaded guilty and was expected to testify, is in the U.S. Marshals Service witness protection program, along with family members.

The Texas Syndicate is a secretive gang that originated in the 1970s in prisons. Membership is for life, and members who are released from prison are expected to do the bidding of those on the inside.

"These convictions essentially halt the operations of the senior leadership of this violent prison gang," U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper said in a news release.

North Richland Hills man dies after motorcycle crash

Mon, 12 May 2008 20:27 CDT

By Deanna Boyd

A 38-year-old North Richland Hills man died early Sunday from injuries suffered the night before when police say his motorcycle crashed into the side of a vehicle that had turned in front of him in northwest Fort Worth.

Michael Wall was pronounced dead at 5:34 a.m. Sunday at John Peter Smith Hospital.

Sgt. Rodney Bangs, supervisor of the traffic investigation unit, said Wall was eastbound in the 9600 block of Boat Club Road about 11:25 p.m. Saturday when a westbound vehicle tried to make a left turn into an apartment complex in front of him.

The driver of the vehicle was hospitalized. His condition is not known.

Bangs said the collision is under investigation to determine whether any charges will be sought against the driver.

Wall's death was the second motorcycle fatality in Fort Worth over the past several days.

On Friday night, Fredrick Jefferson, 37, of Fort Worth was killed and two people in a car were hospitalized after a collision at East Berry Street and Edgewood Terrace South in southeast Fort Worth.

According to police, Jefferson was eastbound on East Berry, traveling at a very high rate of speed, when his motorcycle collided with a 2006 Dodge Strata that was northbound on Edgewood. Bangs said police are investigating witness reports that Jefferson may have been popping a wheelie when the collision occurred.

Settlement with Texas to cost Allstate $71 million

Mon, 12 May 2008 20:18 CDT

Texas customers of Allstate Insurance will get $71 million in refunds, credits and rate reductions for homeowner policies in a settlement that resolves legal disputes with the state over the rates dating to 2004.

The settlement involving Allstate Texas Lloyd's customers was announced by state insurance officials Monday.

Allstate will refund almost $37 million for new and renewal policies written between Dec. 1, 2004-April 23, 2006, a period when the state said its rates were too high.

Allstate also will reduce homeowners rates for Allstate Texas Lloyd's customers by 3 percent statewide for new and renewal policies written for one year beginning June 2. And it will credit or refund policy holders 3 percent between Aug. 20, 2007 and June 1.

The company agreed not to increase homeowner premiums from June 2 to June 1, 2009, barring extraordinary circumstances.

The Texas Department of Insurance estimates as many as 700,000 policy holders will be affected by the settlement. Allstate is Texas' second-largest writer of homeowner policies and covers nearly 15 percent of the market.

Former policyholders eligible for refunds will receive checks from Allstate. Current eligible policyholders will receive refunds through policies or company checks. All refunds are to be credited no later than Nov. 1.

"This agreement with the Texas Department of Insurance helps create clarity and consistency in how we work together," said Rich Crist, Allstate's Texas Field vice president. Crist said he hoped the settlement led to a more competitive marketplace.

Allstate said the settlement agreement doesn't include policies issued by Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Co.

4 teens indicted in Hurst slaying

Mon, 12 May 2008 16:19 CDT

HURST -- Four teens have been indicted on charges of capital murder on suspicion that they were involved in the slaying of a 20-year-old man near Hurst Junior High in February.

A Tarrant County grand jury returned the indictments on Friday against four 17-year-olds -- Miguel Alcorta, James Dallas Hudgins, Cary John Adair and Scott Thomas Defee.

The four remained in the Tarrant County Jail on Monday, with bail for each set at $500,000.

The four are accused in the death of Reed Ballard, who died of a gunshot wound to the chest.

Seven teens have been charged in the case. Two 16-year-olds entered plea agreements last month and were sentenced to probation until they turn 18.

Prosecutors are seeking to have a 15-year-old tried as an adult in the case. He is accused of being the shooter. The hearing is Wednesday in Fort Worth.

The three younger teens are not being identified because they are juveniles.

On Feb. 15, police say, Hudgins called one of Ballard's 18-year-old friends to buy marijuana. Ballard rode with his friend at the last minute, police said.

But the drug sale was a ruse to allow the teens to assault the 18-year-old in retaliation for an alleged burglary at Alcorta's apartment and the theft of drugs and other belongings, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

According to testimony from one of the 16-year-olds, the 15-year-old fired into the passenger side of the Chevrolet Blazer, hitting Ballard.

Attorney says trooper's murder was not premeditated

Mon, 12 May 2008 20:29 CDT

The defense attorney for an 18-year-old Texas man accused of shooting a Tennessee trooper said the incident was a "reaction" to the trooper's questions about drugs during a traffic stop.

The first-degree murder trial of Alejandro Guana began Monday after a jury was chosen in Tipton County, which is located near Memphis.

Guana's attorney Blake Ballin said in his opening statements that the murder of Calvin Jenks was not premeditated - not a "cool, calculated response."

Ballin said the trooper was leaning in the car, only inches from the gun, when it was fired twice.

Guana and 20-year-old Orlando Daniel Garcia, both of Austin, were charged in the murder of Jenks on a rural county road in January 2007.

Garcia was found guilty of facilitation of first-degree murder. He faces a prison term of 15 to 25 years.

Two firefighters injured in Colleyville blaze

Mon, 12 May 2008 20:19 CDT

By DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR.

Two firefighters were injured Monday afternoon battling a blaze in the 300 block of Polo Trail.

Firefighters from Keller and Southlake, who were not identified, suffered second-degree burns to their necks, a Colleyville spokeswoman said Monday night. They were transported to Baylor Medical Center at Grapevine, and their conditions were not available.

Residents in the house escaped the fire, which was reported about 5 p.m.

Colleyville spokeswoman Mona Gandy said the fire started in a laundry room, then spread to the second story.

Firefighters from Colleyville, North Richland Hills, Grapevine, Keller, Haltom City, Bedford and Southlake extinguished the flames in less than 30 minutes.

Last suspect in triple killing nabbed in Texas

Mon, 12 May 2008 15:44 CDT

The last suspect sought in an April 15 shooting at a Peoria, Ariz., home that left three people dead and another wounded is in custody in Texas.

The Peoria Police Department says 31-year-old Robert "Bobby" Hernandez of Glendale was arrested Monday near Houston by the U.S. Marshals Service.

Police have said that the shooting stemmed from an attempted robbery linked to drug trafficking.

Killed were 28-year-old Omar Guzman; his 22-year-old brother, Pablo Guzman; and 26-year-old Jeni Rivera. All three were Mexican citizens, as is the fourth victim, 26-year-old Maria Diaz, who's recovering from a gunshot wound to the head.

Booked earlier for investigation of murder and other charges were 17-year-old Daniel Matthew Bueno and 18-year-old David Alexander Alvidrez, both of Glendale.