Suspect in deputy's slaying captured
DICKSON, Tenn. -- Looking haggard after two days on the run from a manhunt, a suspect in the slaying of a deputy was arrested Friday by a single state trooper with no use of force, authorities said.
Authorities said Steven Joshua Wiggins was booked into jail wearing the handcuffs of Dickson County sheriff's Sgt. Daniel Baker, who was found dead in his car Wednesday.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation tweeted photos of Wiggins grimacing as he was placed into the back seat of a law enforcement vehicle. His clothes were muddy and his jeans were ripped.
The state will seek the death penalty against Wiggins and a woman arrested the previous day on charges of first-degree premeditated murder, District Attorney General Ray Crouch Jr. announced.
Trooper Kevin Burch was driving down a road Friday morning when he saw a man near the edge of the tree line matching the description of Wiggins, who has tattoos on both arms, Tennessee Highway Patrol Col. Dereck Stewart said. He approached the suspect with his service weapon drawn, but Wiggins was "totally obedient" as he was arrested, Stewart said.
Investigators said a video recording enabled them to identify Wiggins as the suspect. Federal, state and local authorities searched for Wiggins over two days, checking into hundreds of tips.
Court documents indicated that 38-year-old Erika Castro-Miles, who was in the car when he pulled the trigger, is now jailed on a murder charge in Baker's death.
Suit seeks data on Puerto Rico deaths
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- Puerto Rico's Institute of Statistics is suing the island's health department and demographic registry to obtain data on the number of deaths after Hurricane Maria as a growing number of critics accuse the government of lacking transparency.
The suit comes as questions mount about the official death toll of 64, which many believe is an undercount.
On Friday, Puerto Rico's Health Department released some information, saying an additional 1,397 overall deaths were reported from September to December in 2017, compared with the same period the previous year. However, officials did not provide causes of death for any of the 11,459 total people deceased during the period.
Demographic Registry Director Wanda Llovet said in a statement that her office is being transparent and that not all information is public because it has to protect people's privacy.
While the institute's director, Mario Marazzi-Santiago, said that he was pleased with the information released, the lawsuit will continue because officials have not released details of each individual death.
Ex-officer ordered to trial in shooting
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- A judge ruled Friday that a former Florida police officer must stand trial for the fatal shooting of a stranded black motorist.
Circuit Judge Samantha Schosberg Feuer ruled that fired Palm Beach Gardens officer Nouman Raja isn't protected by the state's "stand your ground" law for the 2015 shooting of 31-year-old Corey Jones. She said his scheduled July trial on manslaughter and attempted murder charges should proceed.
Raja, who is of South Asian descent, shot Jones alongside a darkened highway ramp where Jones' SUV broke down. Raja was dressed in plainclothes and driving an unmarked van. Prosecutors say he never identified himself as an officer, causing Jones to mistake him for a robber and pull a handgun. Jones had a concealed weapons permit.
Raja's attorney, Richard Lubin, said he plans to file an appeal next week, which will likely delay the trial's start. Without going into specifics, he said he disagreed with Feuer's conclusions and how she applied the law.
Flight 93 wreckage will return to site
SHANKSVILLE, Pa. -- The remaining wreckage of United Flight 93 will be returned this year to the Pennsylvania memorial marking where it crashed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, officials said Friday.
The wreckage -- stored in shipping containers -- will be buried in a restricted area of the park that's accessible only to loved ones of the victims, said Flight 93 National Memorial Superintendent Stephen Clark.
United Flight 93 was en route from Newark, N.J., to San Francisco on Sept. 11, 2001, when hijackers seized control with the likely goal of crashing it into the U.S. Capitol.
The president of the Families of Flight 93 Gordon Felt, said his group requested a final search of the debris to see if there were any human remains or personal items in the wreckage.
Clark said workers found a number of items that will be added to the memorial collection. The National Park Service will release a full report of the items collected later this year.
A Section on 06/02/2018