Gregory Jarvis

https://www.abc12.com/2021/09/28/caseville-drowning-victim-had-winning-lottery-ticket-his-wallet/

Not so lucky after all: Man who wins lottery jackpot drowns with winning ticket in his pocket

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HURDON COUNTY, MI- According to reports, a Caseville man won a Club Keno jackpot, but never got the chance to cash the winning ticket.

The body of 57-year-old Gregory Jarvis was found along a private beach along the Saginaw Bay on the morning of September 24th. An autopsy confirms the man drowned, but police grew concerned after discovering he had a winning lottery ticket in his wallet.

Jarvis was reportedly at the Blue Water Inn in Caseville on September 13th when he played the Club Keno add-on game The Jack and hit the jackpot, winning $45,000.  Joint owner Dawn Talaski said in a statement:

“Very nice guy. He was here every day. Somebody said someone just won The Hack and he said, ‘Great,’ and someone asked him, ‘Was it you?’ and it was. So, he was super excited.”

Talaski said Jarvis returned to the inn almost a week later and bought rounds of drinks, but still had not cashed his winning ticket because he did not have the proper documentation. Talaski added:

“He couldn’t cash it because he didn’t have a Social Security card at all. It wasn’t any good, so he applied for a new one.”

The business owner said she became concerned when Jarvis didn’t show up again as usual, adding:

“Sometimes he’s up north working. He wasn’t here all week and we thought something is wrong.”

Talaski also said that Jarvis’ boss later showed up at the bar stating that Jarvis never arrived at work.

On Friday, September 24th, a resident along a private beach in the small Huron County reported to police that a body had washed ashore near a boat, which was determined to belong to Jarvis.

Police Chief Kyle Romzek said in a statement:

“We are thinking that he was tying up his boat, slipped and fell, hit his head and that’s where he ended up in the water. No foul play suspected.”

Romzek said that when his department learned about the winning lottery ticket, they did some further investigation. He added:

“It did, at first, we were concerned about it, but after the autopsy and we interviewed people at the bar, he was well-liked around here. He was a nice guy, that took it off the table.”

An autopsy confirmed that Jarvis drowned after striking his head. Talaski said:

“He was planning to take that money and go see his sister and his dad in North Carolina.”

The winning ticket has been handed over to Jarvis’ relatives. According to the Michigan Lottery Commission, winners of prizes of more than $600 have to present a photo ID and their Social Security card in order to collect their winnings.

In a separate incident, a family visiting Daytona Beach, Florida, is mourning the loss of their 10-year-old son after he fell victim to dangerous beach conditions. 

Lifeguards reportedly spotted Fred Nelson Jr. and two other swimmers caught in a rip current about 100 yards from shore. The boy’s mother, TiUndra Wanton, said she watched the current take Fred as he tried to escape it and yelled for help. She added:

“It was too strong. It was too strong. The wave … he couldn’t.”

Several people and rescue teams rushed to help Fred. Lifeguards performed CPR on the boy and transported him to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. The mother said:

“They tried as well but the tides of the waves just kept going further and further out and I watched them pull Fred with them.”

She said that her son loved football, dancing and the beach, adding:

“I called him my miracle baby because that’s what he was.”

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Report: Miami mom accused of drowning 15-month-old toddler, stabbing husband and teenage daughter

September 8th, 2021

MIAMI, FL- According to authorities, a woman accused of drowning her own 15-month-old daughter in a bathtub and stabbing her husband and teen daughter is now facing murder and other charges.

The woman, since identified as 38-year-old Precious Bland, has been charged with second-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder, and aggravated child abuse. 

Miami-Dade police officials stated that the incident took place at a home on Northwest 99th Street and Northwest 30th in West Little River on the night of August 23rd. According to the arrest report, one of the victims said Bland had become upset and started “stating that Jesus Christ is coming and COVID is going to kill us all.”

The report said that Bland then insisted that everyone needed to be baptized and that she was going to baptize everyone in the bathtub. A short time later, Bland started holding the 15-month-old underwater in the bathtub until she became unresponsive. 

According to the report, Bland’s husband tried to stop her and a struggle ensued. Bland was able to get a hold of a knife and ended up stabbing her husband several times.

The husband was able to grab four of his children and flee the home, but before the 16-year-old daughter could flee, Bland stabbed her in the forearm. Officers arrived on scene and found the toddler unresponsive in the bathtub.

The 15-month-old girl was rushed to Jackson North Medical Center were she was pronounced dead. A medical examiner determined the toddler died by drowning. Bland’s husband and teen daughter were also hospitalized and treated for their wounds before being released. 

The report added that Bland was hospitalized with apparent self-inflicted wounds to her wrists. Four other children under the age of 11 were also in the home at the time of the horrific incident, bu were unharmed.

Miami-Dade jail records show that as of Monday, September 6th, Bland was being held without bond. At the time of this writing, attorney information for Bland was not available. 

In a separate incident in Laporte, Indiana, a woman killed her husband and chopped up his body and then forced her two children to help put the body parts in bags and clean up the crime scene. The woman, 34-year-old Thessalonica Allen, is facing more than a half-dozen charges, including murder, abuse of a corpse, and child neglect.

According to reports, the two children who were home at the time told police they heard a loud bang and saw Randy Allen lying on the ground, asking them to call 911, but their mother told them not to.

An autopsy revealed that a bullet entered his spinal cord area and the doctor concluded that he was likely not able to move and bled to death. Police said that Thessalonica then put his body in her daughter’s closet.

Later, the woman reportedly woke up her kids in the middle of the night and asked them to help carry the body to the car. Court documents state that they tried to move he body several times, but that he was too heavy.

The very next day, the woman allegedly used an ax to cut off his legs. She then had her children help put him into a bag and clean up the crime scene. According to investigators, she had plans to put him in his car and light it on fire. Thessalonica told police she shot her husband after he choked her and attacked her.

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Little sisters, 6 and 7, among at least 48 shot and six killed over the weekend in gun-controlled Chicago

August 17th, 2021

CHICAGO, IL – Two sisters, ages 6 and 7, were among those shot – one of which fatally – during the weekend spanning from the evening of August 13th through the 15th in Chicago where six victims were killed and at least 48 others were injured in shootings.

A family in Chicago’s northwest side are grieving the loss of their 7-year-old daughter and are praying for their 6-year-old daughter, who is currently fighting for her life at an area hospital, after the pair were shot while sitting inside of a car on August 15th.

Michael Broughton, the girls’ father, said his family had just spent the morning of August 15th at church and had decided to swing by and visit some of their relatives who live within the 6200 block of West Grand Avenue.

Broughton said they had finished up their visit at around 3:00 p.m., which his daughters were already in the car, and they were going to go grab some food and then head home. Then, the shooting happened.

The grieving father said his 7-year-old daughter, Serenity, was shot through the heart during the drive-by:

“They shot her in her heart. She didn’t even get a chance to fight.”

The family’s other daughter, Aubrey, remains hospitalized. Reports indicate she was shot in the chest and right armpit.

One witness to the shooting, identified only as Alberto, described the sounds of the gunfire going off during the incident:

“Like a machine gun going off, like, you know what I mean, like two people shooting at each other or something.”

Broughton is struggling to come to terms with the incident, commenting that he’s not some sort of miscreant that’s out running the streets and causing trouble:

“I’m not no gangbanger. I’m not out here doing the wrong thing. I’m a CTA worker. I’m a bus driver.”

Regina Broughton, the grandmother of the young girls, says she feels “lost” after the shooting, saying that there’s nothing someone can do to ever prepare for an event such as this:

“I’m lost, I’m lost…I mean they were my life, my everything. How do you prepare yourself for something like this? She was a beautiful child. Her spirit was beautiful, innocent, everything about her was innocent.”

The grandmother of the young girls is urging for the responsible parties to come forward:

“Come forth and take responsibility. Whoever sees this, turn them in, it was a child, she didn’t deserve this. If you have any kind of heart, step forward do what you’re supposed to do, and do what a decent human being should do.”

Aubrey is reportedly alert and talking, which Broughton said that he had to share the news with her that her sister was gone:

“I wouldn’t think she understood, but I had to tell her because she was thinking that her sister was in another room and she was going to see her.”

Local community activist Andrew Holmes is offering a $2,000 reward for any information that can lead to an arrest and conviction in the shooting of these young girls. Another community activist, Ja’mal Green, is also offering an additional $5,000 reward in the case.

The fatal shooting of Serenity Broughton was among at least five others fatally shot in Chicago during the same weekend.

The first fatal shooting transpired on August 13th at approximately 5:15 p.m., where an 18-year-old male that was standing along the 5100 block of West Fullerton was shot in the chest, leg, and back by a suspect in a passing vehicle.

Police say that the victim was pronounced dead at the scene and the investigation is ongoing.

Hours later at approximately 8:34 p.m., Illinois State Police said that a shooting that happened on the Eisenhower Expressway near Damen Avenue resulted in three victims being shot, one of who was pronounced deceased at the hospital.

On August 14th at approximately 12:40 p.m., a 59-year-old man was shot while driving along the 1200 block of North Pulaski. Officials say that he was struck in the upper back and right arm and was later pronounced deceased after being taken to Mount Sinai Hospital.

Later that evening at approximately 8:15 p.m., a 25-year-old man was shot while standing on the sidewalk within the 800 block of East 54th Street. Authorities say he was shot in the torso by someone in a white-colored vehicle. The victim was later pronounced deceased after being transferred to the University of Chicago Medical Center.

Slightly before 2:00 a.m. on August 15th, two individuals were shot in the 7500 block of South Street. Lawrence. Of the two individuals shot, authorities say a 33-year-old man was pronounced deceased after being transferred to University of Chicago Medical Center.

Chicago police are actively investigating all of the aforementioned cases, with no reports of suspects being apprehended as of this writing.  

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Suspects arrested in murder of Chicago cop are convicted felons on probation – and now their mom has been arrested

(Originally published August 11th, 2021)

CHICAGO, IL – Two of the three suspects arrested in the murder of Chicago police officer Ella French are convicted felons on probation, and their mother has also been arrested after creating a disturbance at a local  hospital.

As Law Enforcement Today previously reported, Officer Ella French was killed in the line of duty on Saturday, August 7, when she and her partner pulled over a vehicle for expired plates that were not registered to the vehicle.

According to CBSN Chicago, after driver Eric Morgan, 22, ran away from the scene, his brother and passenger Emonte Morgan, 21, began struggling with French and her partner.  

Emonte Morgan fired several shots at both officers, striking them both, then fired at a third officer, who returned fire and shot Emonte Morgan in the abdomen.

Officer French tragically died of her injuries, and her partner continues to fight for his life in the hospital.

According to CWB Chicago, both Morgan brothers are convicted felons on probation.

Emonte Morgan has a robbery conviction on his record. 

This event occurred in August of 2019, when Morgan met a 36-year-old victim to purchase his $900 iPhone.  At the meeting, Morgan took the phone and ran away.

The victim caught Morgan and tackled him, and the pair fought.  A passerby also intervened and helped to detain Morgan until police arrived on the scene.

Morgan was initially charged with felony theft and misdemeanor battery.  In November of 2020, he pled guilty to one count of robbery in exchange for two years probation, which was still in effect at the time he allegedly shot and killed Officer French.

In May of 2021, CWB Chicago also reports, prosecutors also filed a motion for violation of probation “after Morgan allegedly fled the scene of an accident involving injury.”

As for Emonte Morgan’s brother Eric, CWB Chicago notes that he allegedly robbed four people of $180 in Madison, WI in June 2018, and “later pleaded guilty to felony theft, according to court records.”  The New York Post reports that he, too, was on probation at the time of the shooting.

Also according to the New York Post, Emonte Morgan has been charged with “first-degree murder of a peace officer, attempted first-degree murder of a peace officer (two counts), aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon.”

Eric Morgan has been charged with “aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, and obstruction of justice.”

A third suspect, Jamal Danzy, has been charged with federal firearm violations for straw purchasing the weapon Emonte Morgan allegedly used in the murder, and providing it to him.

The Morgan brothers’ mother, 41-year-old Evalena Flores, has also been arrested after she created a disturbance at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where Emonte Morgan is being treated for a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

CBS Chicago reports that Flores “became angry …when she was unable to see her son.”

The New York Daily News adds that she allegedly kicked a hospital security officer in the groin before her arrest.

Livestream video on social media, reportedly streamed by Flores, shows Flores screaming and struggling with officers.

According to Oak Lawn Police, “Flores will be charged with misdemeanor offenses including battery, resisting a peace officer, and criminal trespass to real property.”  She has a court date in September.

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Below is our previous reporting on this story:

Two brothers and third suspect captured in murder of Chicago police officer, shooting of second cop

August 10, 2021

CHICAGO, IL – A third suspect has been taken into custody in connection with the fatal shooting of one Chicago Police officer and non-fatal shooting of another earlier in August, with officials identifying the officer that was killed while conducting a traffic stop.

Two suspects have been charged, and a third is not charged due to lacking evidence, regarding the fatal shooting of 29-year-old Chicago Police Officer Ella French and the non-fatal shooting of her partner that occurred on August 7th.

Officials have confirmed that 21-year-old Emonte Morgan has been charged with first degree murder, attempted first degree murder, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon.

The second suspect charged in the incident was identified as 22-year-old Eric Morgan, who was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, and obstruction of justice.

Both Emonte and Eric Morgan, who are brothers, are slated to appear in court on August 10th for their respective bail hearings.

One of the two Morgan brothers were shot during the incident and was last stated as being stable after being transported to the Christ Hospital.

According to officials, the original traffic stop that preceded the shooting was merely over expired plates on the suspect’s vehicle.

The third suspect, who was only identified as a female passenger inside of the vehicle with the two suspects during the incident on August 7th, has not been charged due to officials citing lacking evidence of criminal culpability in the shooting of the officers.  

Chicago police Supt. David Brown noted that investigators are focused on the Morgan brothers for Officer French’s killing and the injury of her partner, saying:

“There’s one reason that this happened. One reason. These two offenders killed Ella French and tried to kill [the second and third officer] there. That’s the only person we’re pointing the finger at today. I won’t entertain finger-pointing at anyone or anything else. They need to be fully held accountable for her murder.”

However, federal prosecutors have charged another individual who allegedly purchased the weapon that was used during the incident that killed Officer French and wounded her partner.

On August 9th, federal prosecutors charged 29-year-old Jamel Danzy for reportedly buying the gun used during the August 7th incident in Hammond, Indiana, in March and then later providing that weapon to an individual in Illinois that Danzy knew could not buy or possess a firearm.

The Chicago’s U.S. attorney’s office confirmed that the weapon connected to Danzy was recovered from the scene where Officer French was killed, and her partner was severely injured.

Danzy appeared in federal court on August 9th under charges of conspiracy to violate federal firearm laws, knowingly transferring a firearm to an out-of-state resident and knowingly disposing of a firearm to a convicted felon.

While Danzy may not have been the trigger-man, he could be facing up to five years in federal prison for the charges he’s facing.

U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, John R. Lausch, Jr., stated the following about the case against Danzy:

“Straw purchasers and firearm traffickers enable violence with deadly consequences. Fighting violent crime is a top priority in our office, and we are committed to holding accountable those who engage in illicit firearm transactions.”

Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the ATF, Kristen de Tineo, made the following statement regarding the matter:

“Tragedies like this happen when people straw purchase firearms on behalf of those who are prohibited from purchasing and possessing firearms themselves. ATF remains committed to working with our law enforcement partners and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to investigate these firearms trafficking schemes and prosecute those responsible.”

This is an ongoing investigation.

Please follow Law Enforcement Today as we continue to gather further insight into this developing case.

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About The Author

Jenna Curren, Ed.D., is an assistant professor in criminal justice studies. As chair of a CJ advisory board, Jenna actively partners with members of the community to integrate current students into internships and prospective law enforcement careers. Prior to working in academics, Jenna held various custody and treatment positions and was a lieutenant for the CT Department of Correction. Throughout her tenure, she supervised men, women, youth and mental health offenders. A C.E.R.T and honor guard member, as well as a training officer, Jenna has 10 years of experience in the criminal justice and human services fields.

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