FEATURED POST

Indonesia | 14 years on death row: Timeline of Mary Jane Veloso’s ordeal and fight for justice

Image
MANILA, Philippines — The case of Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina on death row in Indonesia for drug trafficking, has spanned over a decade and remains one of the most high-profile legal battles involving an overseas Filipino worker. Veloso was arrested on April 25, 2010, at Adisucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, after she was found in possession of more than 2.6 kilograms of heroin. She was sentenced to death in October – just six months after her arrest. Indonesia’s Supreme Court upheld the penalty in May 2011.

Prosecutors seeking death penalty in Memphis shootings

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Prosecutors said Monday that they will pursue the death penalty if a Tennessee man is convicted of first-degree murder in a daylong shooting rampage that paralyzed Memphis and left three people dead and three others wounded.

The announcement by Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy came during a press conference in the case of Ezekiel Kelly, who has been charged in a series of shootings in September that led to a citywide shelter-in-place order and a frantic manhunt.

Kelly, 20, was charged with murder in the deaths of Dewayne Tunstall, Richard Clark and Allison Parker. He has pleaded not guilty.

Mulroy listed factors for his decision to file a notice to seek the death penalty, including that it was a random mass shooting and that Kelly that has a prior conviction for aggravated assault.

“This is not a close case,” Mulroy said. “The defendant is alleged to have engaged in an hourslong, apparently random murder spree, killing three people and wounding three others, and terrorizing an entire city in the process.”

Mulroy, a Democrat who was elected last year and was on the job for about a week when the shootings took place, has previously stated his opposition to the death penalty “as a policy matter.”

“If I were a legislator, I would vote against it,” Mulroy said. “But as DA, I have a duty to enforce the law as it is written, whether I agree with it or not.”

At least three witnesses saw Kelly shoot Tunstall during a gathering at a Memphis home at about 1 a.m. on Sept. 7, according to a police affidavit. Clark and Parker were shot later that day, as Kelly was driving around Memphis, livestreaming some of his activities, authorities said.

Police said three other people were wounded in the shootings. An indictment also charges Kelly with attempted first-degree murder and more than 20 other alleged offenses, including reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, commission of an act of terrorism, theft of property and evading arrest.

Kelly’s lawyer did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

The shootings led to the shutdown of Memphis’ public bus system, the lockdown of two college campuses and the cessation of a minor-league baseball game.

Kelly carjacked at least two vehicles before he was arrested when he crashed a stolen car while fleeing police, authorities said.

Police first said that four people were killed, but later revised the total to three after investigators found that one of the deaths was not related to the rampage.

The violence unfolded just a few months after Kelly was released early from a three-year prison sentence for a pair of shootings in 2020.

In February of that year, Kelly, then 17, was charged as an adult with attempted first-degree murder and other crimes in two shootings committed a few hours apart. Both victims survived but did not cooperate with prosecutors, according to court records, and Kelly pleaded guilty to reduced charges of aggravated assault in April 2021.

Kelly was sentenced to three years in prison, but was released in March after serving just over two years behind bars, including credit he received for time he was jailed prior to his plea.

Relatives have told The Associated Press that Parker was a mother of three who worked as a medical assistant at a clinic in nearby West Memphis, Arkansas.

Clark worked as a campus safety officer at Christian Brothers University after retiring from a career as a corrections officer.

Source: The Associated Press, Staff, March 27, 2023


_____________________________________________________________________




_____________________________________________________________________


FOLLOW US ON:


TELEGRAM


TWITTER







HELP US KEEP THIS BLOG UP & RUNNING!



"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."


— Oscar Wilde

Most Viewed (Last 7 Days)

USA | The execution I witnessed haunts me. Biden, clear death row before Trump returns: Opinion

Oklahoma panel rejects man’s plea for mercy, paves the way for final US execution of 2024

Indonesia | Filipino woman on Indonesia death row recalls a stunning last minute reprieve and ‘miracle’ transfer

'Bali Nine' drug ring prisoners fly home to Australia as free men

Biden commutes roughly 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 people in biggest single-day act of clemency

Indonesian President to grant amnesty to select prisoners while considering expediting execution of drug convicts

Filipina on Indonesia death row says planned transfer 'miracle'

Indiana | Pastor speaks out against upcoming execution of Joseph Corcoran

Texas | Prosecutors will seek the death penalty for 2 Venezuelan men accused of killing Texas girl