Woman and Her Fiancée Sentenced to 22 Years-to-Life for Torturing and Murdering Her 3-Year-Old Son

 

                      Connie Marie Escamilla and Kylie Mykaela Ann Beasley.

A woman and her fiancée received sentences of 22 years-to-life for killing her 3-year-old son. Prosecutors say Connie Marie Escamilla, 29, and  Kylie Mykaela Ann Beasley, 25, previously blamed each other for Connie’s son Gilbert dying from serious injuries, but they pleaded guilty in December to a count each of second-degree murder, and torture.

The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office announced the March 9 sentencing on Thursday.

Prosecutors say authorities were called to the couple’s Modesto home in 2017 about a child not breathing. Gilbert was unresponsive. First responders took him to a hospital, and personnel there found him to be terribly injured.

“Hospital personnel documented extensive physical injuries to the toddler including severe burn marks on his legs, bruising and abrasions over his entire body and various fractures,” the D.A.’s office said. “They also diagnosed internal damage consisting of bleeding on the brain, a bruised lung and bruised liver. Gilbert was flown to Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera for further treatment but died the next day.”

The couple claimed Gilbert got some of his injuries in a car accident, but they gave different accounts on when this happened, prosecutors said. There were also no records on such an accident, the D.A.’s office said. Defendant Escamilla and Beasley also fabricated other stories on what happened to the young boy, authorities said.

“The pair further blamed his severe leg burns on hot water spilling him on, but doctors determined that could not have caused the injuries they saw,” prosecutors said. “Additional excuses included falling off his bed, blaming an unknown male whom law enforcement was never able to locate and negligence by the medical professionals who administered CPR to the unresponsive child. When told that Gilbert had died, both Escamilla and Beasley admitted to being untruthful and blamed the other for the child’s injuries and death. They were both arrested and charged with Gilbert’s murder.”

Escamilla and Beasley waived two years of earned custody credits as part of their plea hearing on Dec. 16.

“How can you let someone hurt your child?” Escamilla’s sister April Marie Garza told KOVR in a March 6, 2017 report. “She could’ve done anything to stop it. I don’t know what she was thinking or what this girl did.”

She said she believed her sister began to change after moving to California and meeting Beasley. Connie, who also had a 7-year-old daughter who was half-siblings with Gilbert, refused to send pictures of the children, Garza said

Black store owner reports robbery, gets punched by officer

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ECATUR, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama liquor store owner has sued after a police officer responding to a robbery call at his store punched him in the face and broke his jaw in March 2020.

The Decatur Daily reports that Kevin Penn sued the city of Decatur and police officer Justin Rippen on March 11 in federal court. Penn is Black and Rippen is white.

The suit alleges the incident is an example of systematic use of “excessive force” by the Decatur Police Department that the city often ignores.

The lawsuit alleges Penn’s constitutional rights were violated by illegal seizure, false arrest and excessive force, seeking money damages.

City Attorney Herman Marks said Thursday his department hasn’t yet received the lawsuit and declined comment. Decatur Mayor Tab Bowling said he regrets a lawsuit has been filed but referred questions to Marks.

The lawsuit alleges the city regularly receives complaints that officers “react with unjustifiable violence and false charges when a citizen speaks up or otherwise asserts his rights as an American citizen.”

The suit also accuses officers of “using common charges like obstructing governmental operation, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest” against local citizens.

“It is well known in the Decatur legal community that Decatur officers frequently use these charges, commonly referred to as POP (p--- off police) charges, without a legal basis,” the lawsuit states.

Penn had trapped a shoplifter with an electronic lock and the suspect was lying on the ground, with Penn holding him at gunpoint. Surveillance video shows Penn unloading his gun as police arrive. The video appears to show Penn setting the gun magazine down as the officers approach.

An officer walked past the suspect and told Penn to put down his weapon. Penn refused saying, “I have a right to have my gun," according to body camera video.

But police said in 2020 they believed Penn was reloading the gun. An officer, who has been identified as Rippen, then appears to punch Penn. Rippen and two other officers wrestled Penn to the ground and handcuffed him, the video shows. Penn was arrested and charged with obstructing a robbery investigation.

Penn's lawyer, Hank Sherrod III, said using the obstructing governmental operations charge “is standard procedure for most police jurisdictions and 100% used in north Alabama.”

The lawsuit says city officials failed to ensure officers were properly trained and supervised.

City leaders were aware of numerous situations “in which citizens were subjected to unconstitutional stops, searches, arrests and uses of force but took no action to investigate and discipline officers,” the lawsuit says.

Penn spent six weeks with his jaws wired shut as he recovered.

Sherrod said the misdemeanor charges against Penn are still pending.

“I don’t know why they’re still active or they haven’t set a court date,” Sherrod said.

Sherrod said Penn “promptly” filed regarding the assault and false arrest complaint after he was punched “and the city did nothing. Mr. Penn hasn’t heard from the city to this day.”

Rippen wasn’t disciplined, the Penn lawsuit says. No investigation began until the video became public in June 2020, three months after it happened.

White teen in Louisiana charged with hate crime after whipping Black student Olafimihan Oshin

Louisiana authorities said a white teenager has been arrested and charged with a hate crime after being caught on video whipping a Black student with a belt, USA Today reported.

Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Tim Soignet said that the Vanderbilt Catholic High student was charged with simple battery and a hate crime and was booked into the parish's juvenile detention center.

"I'm very pleased that the school took a front stand on this," Soignet said in a statement Wednesday. "When we received the complaint, we immediately put our detectives on it. They worked through the weekend so we could get to this point and effect an arrest on that juvenile."

A video of the incident surfaced online earlier this month, showing the white teen throwing cotton at his Black classmate, who was seated in the school cafeteria, according to USA Today.

The white student could then be seen in the video whipping the Black student with what looked like a belt, the outlet said.

In a statement, Terrebonne Parish's NAACP President Jerome Boykin praised school officials and authorities for their quick response to the incident, USA Today reported.

"Vanderbilt Catholic High School's administration and the Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office sent a strong message to the community that this type of crime will not be tolerated," Boykin said. "The young man is only 15 years of age, and I hope that he can learn from his mistake."

The parents of the victim in the incident issued a statement last week thanking the community for their support.

Soignet said authorities took their time to work through this case as it involved juveniles, according to USA Today.

"It's not as simple as watching the video and making an arrest," Soignet said. "We wanted to do a very thorough investigation, and that's what they were able to do. When you're dealing with juveniles, it's a different challenge all on its own. It's not like dealing with adults."

In a statement, Vanderbilt schools officials said they were investigating the case as well, USA Today reported.

"School officials are working in cooperation with diocesan officials, students and parents to investigate this matter and are committed to ensuring that all individuals involved are held accountable in accordance with school policies," the school said. 

Florida High School Senior Forced To Cut His Locs To Walk At Graduation

  

Parents of Jacob Rush, a straight “A” senior at Abeka Academy, said he was denied being able to walk at his high school graduation because of his locs, Black With No Chaser reports.

Rush’s mother said Abeka Academy, located in Pensacola, Florida, sent a letter explaining that graduates must “have their hair tapered and may not come over the ears, eyebrows, or collar (no braids, dreadlocks, buns, or ponytails).”

The letter further asserts that Rush would not be permitted to walk at graduation if the senior does not comply with the guidelines.

“This is our culture…. this is who we are! This is the sad world we live in. JACOB @bluwjayarts is a straight A student, very talented young man. And for him to have to cut his locs for a standard graduation is horrible,” his mom shared on Instagram.

“Abeka Academy is not a diverse establishment. God created many nations. Racism shines very brightly at Abeka! My son has worked very diligently this year and to get the news that his senior picture shows that he has ‘Locs,’ disqualifies him from marching unless he cuts them. This is very inhumane! This is his culture, this how God made him. Braids, afros, Loc are the ways Africa Americans wear their hair,” she added.

She also said that societal hair standards have dated back to slavery.

“Hair has been the history of how Anglo Saxons ‘Coloized Slaves,’ by shaving, or cutting their Locs before taking them to the ‘Plantation.’ Or making the women tie up their hair to hide their Afro,” she said.

“There has always been rejection due to not only the color of our skin but our hair as well. I truly regret having to face something like this in 2022 but it shows that Racism is still alive! Everyone won’t fit the straight hair blue eye experiment,” she continued. “If the other race can’t see where this is a form of Racism then they are part of the problem!”

Abeka Academy said they follow the dress standard of Pensacola Christian College. However, the school later posted that they have removed the “no dreadlocks” guideline.

Abeka Academy said they follow the dress standard of Pensacola Christian College. However, the school later posted that they have removed the “no dreadlocks” guideline.