Michigan man charged with murder, other crimes in case involving ex-girlfriend, her toddler

July 24, 2023

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A man accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend and kidnapping and killing her 2-year-old daughter has been charged with murder by Michigan’s attorney general. Attorney General Dana Nessel charged Rashad Trice, 26, on Friday with 20 counts, including one count each of first-degree premeditated murder and felony murder in Wynter Cole Smith’s strangulation death. Both charges carry a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. The Lansing man faces 18 other state charges, including kidnapping, in connection with the crimes committed on July 2 ...

First-gen iPhone sells at auction for $190K

July 22, 2023

(AP) A first-generation iPhone has sold at auction for $190,373, almost 380 times its original price of $499 when the groundbreaking device went for sale in 2007. LCG Auctions, which hosted Sunday’s sale, said the 4GB iPhone model was 20 times rarer than the 8GB model released at the same ...

A woman, 20, is arrested after 2 children were found in car seats outside a suburban Detroit school

July 22, 2023

MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich. (AP) — A 20-year-old woman has been arrested after an infant and toddler in car seats were found near a trash dumpster at a suburban high school north of Detroit. The children — believed to be around 2 years old and 4 weeks old — were found alone Saturday afternoon outside Lamphere High School in Madison Heights, police said Thursday. Driving school instructor John Belyea told WDIV-TV that he stopped at the high school for a quick break and heard what he believed were cats fighting. Belyea realized the sounds were from a child, searched the area and found ...

Michigan clerk stripped of election duties after being charged for acting as fake elector in 2020

July 21, 2023

LANSING — A town clerk in Michigan will be barred from running any elections after being charged earlier this week by the state attorney general for acting as a fake elector in 2020 for then-President Donald Trump. On Thursday, the Michigan Bureau of Elections notified Stan Grot, a Republican who has served as the Shelby Township clerk since 2012, that he will be prohibited from administering elections while the charges are pending. Grot was among the 16 Republicans charged earlier this week by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel for allegedly signing certificates that falsely ...

Whitmer signs legislation expanding voting rights

July 20, 2023

LANSING (AP) — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday signed a bipartisan package of bills into law to expand voter rights by allowing early voting and early tabulation of absentee ballots across Michigan. The legislation, which resulted from the voter-approved Proposal 2, establishes a website ...

Judge denies Michigan school shooter’s request to take life without parole off the table

July 20, 2023

PONTIAC (AP) — A judge Tuesday denied a request by 17-year-old school shooter Ethan Crumbley to dismiss a prosecutors’ motion to seek a sentence of life without parole for killing four fellow students. Crumbley has pleaded guilty to 24 charges, including one count of terrorism and four counts of first-degree murder, for the November 2021 attack at Oxford High School, roughly 30 miles north of Detroit. Four students were killed, and six more students and a teacher were injured. Crumbley was 15 at the time. A first-degree murder conviction typically brings an automatic no-parole ...