News
Cohen Says Woman He Was Tweeting is His Daughter
LUCAS L. JOHNSON II,Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen has revealed he's the father of the 24-year-old Texas woman he was communicating with on Twitter during the State of the Union in an exchange that drew news media attention.
Cohen, who has never been married, said Friday that he decided to publicly acknowledge Victoria Brink as his daughter after bloggers and the media tried to make the exchanges appear salacious. Cohen's message to Brink included a Twitter abbreviation for "I love you."
An aide to the 64-year-old Memphis Democrat told The Associated Press earlier this week that Brink was the daughter of a friend and Cohen deleted his tweets because they were supposed to be private messages.
Cohen said he didn't learn that Brink was his daughter until three years ago.
Ripley Man Arrested on Murder Charge, Victim Shot
JACKSON, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has arrested a West Tennessee man in the killing of a Bells man in his home.
TBI spokeswoman Kristin Helm said Wednesday night that the agency picked up 29-year-old Antonio Toomes of Ripley after a Lauderdale County grand jury indicted him. Toomes is charged with first-degree murder, especially aggravated robbery and especially aggravated burglary in the death of 40-year-old Matthew McKnight. The victim was found shot to death in his home on Oct. 18, 2012.
The agency said it appeared McKnight fought with Toomes during a home burglary before he was shot to death. Agents found forensic evidence at the scene that linked Toomes to the crime.
Toomes is held without bond in the Crockett County Jail.
Drug Task Force hauls in over 300 pounds of marijuana in Haywood County
Sheriff Melvin Bond said two people have spent most of the past week in the Haywood County jail, charged in connection with an I-40 traffic stop and drug bust. Bond said West Tennessee Drug Task Force officer Omar Jundi made the traffic stop February 6 resulting in the arrests.
Jundi stopped an eastbound U-Haul near mile-marker 47 in Haywood County. The two occupants consented to a search of the vehicle, according to officials. Officers say they found 307.7 pound of marijuana stashed in cardboard boxes inside of a freezer being transported in the U-Haul.
Alfredo Resendez Pacheo, 30, and Priscilla Virginia Abrego, 29, face charges. Sheriff Bond said Pacheo posted a $50,000 bond Tuesday night and was released. Abrego remains in jail under $50,000 bond.
Jackson Man Is Dead, Police Investigate Cause
Police Conducting Death Investigation
Jackson police are investigating a man's early morning death that occurred in his home.
At 12:14 a.m. Tuesday, police and emergency medical service were called to 154 Turtle Creek Drive. Scott Alexander Martin, 29, was found unconscious and had apparent head trauma. He was transported by ambulance to Regional Hospital of Jackson, where he was pronounced dead at 1:04 a.m. His body was transported to the state Medical Examiner's Office in Nashville to determine the exact cause and manner of death.
Martin and his 26-year-old brother, who also lived in the home, were the only two people present when he suffered the trauma. The brother was questioned by investigators and released.
Police have consulted with the District Attorney's Office and made them aware of both men's actions leading up to the death. The investigation is ongoing as investigators await autopsy results. At the conclusion, the findings will be shared with the District Attorney's Office to determine what, if any, charges should be presented to a grand jury.
VA Man Gets 60 Months for Threats to TN Women
Memphis, TN – 50 Year-old Richard Lee Wade, of Roanoke, VA, was sentenced Tuesday to 60 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge John T. Fowlkes for sending threatening communications through the mail to a pair of Memphis-area women, announced U.S. Attorney Edward L. Stanton III.
"Brazen conduct such as Wade’s repeatedly stalking and terrorizing of innocent women and their families will simply not be tolerated," said U.S. Attorney Stanton. "The sentence imposed today by the court should serve as a clear reminder to individuals who stalk, threaten and intimidate victims as Wade did by using the U.S. Postal Service that they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and will ultimately suffer the severe consequences of federal imprisonment."
On May 5, 2012, Wade was indicted on nine counts of sending threatening letters. In these letters, Wade made repeated threats to inflict serious injury upon the women, including torturing and killing them and threatening to have someone else track them down and kill them. In one of the letters, read during his plea hearing, Wade made the threat, "I will not stop until one of us in our grave."
Wade pleaded guilty to two of the nine counts on November 6, 2012. Following the completion of his prison term, Judge Fowlkes ordered him to serve three years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal prison system.
This case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Collierville Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lorraine Craig represented the government.