Latest news with #JeffersonCounty
CBS News
3 days ago
- CBS News
Southern Illinois mass shooting leaves 2 dead, 5 wounded
Two people were killed, and five others were wounded, in a mass shooting this weekend in Southern Illinois. Mt. Vernon police were called to the 600 block of South 15th Street in Mt. Vernon at 12:49 a.m. Seven people had been shot at what the city described as a "non-sanctioned event" attended by more than 100 to 150 people, officials said. Mt. Vernon Mayor John Lewis said on Facebook that police were not getting any cooperation with attendees on what transpired. Police said the two people killed were identified as Zomarrius Williams, a 20-year-old man from Mt. Vernon; and Demonta Woodward, a 26-year-old man from Mounds. A 22-year-old woman from Mt. Vernon, Jerria J. Smith, was arrested and charged with reckless discharge of a firearm and obstruction of justice, Mt. Vernon police said. Police said more arrests and charges are expected. Mt. Vernon is located in Jefferson County, Illinois, about 80 miles southeast of St. Louis and about 50 miles north and east of Carbondale.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Person Dies After Falling Around 150 Feet from Colorado Rock Formation: 'Our Hearts Are with the Victim's Loved Ones,' Rescuers Say
The individual, whose identity and gender has not yet been made public, died on July 24 A person has died after falling 150 feet to the ground from a steep rock formation in Colorado, authorities said. On Thursday, July 24, the Elk Creek Fire Department — located in Jefferson County, about a 30-mile drive southwest from Denver — was called to a cliffside area near the town's Eagle Gate and Pine Valley roads at around 11 a.m. local time. The person, whose identity and gender has not yet been made public, fell "approximately 150 feet from a steep rock face, with a significant portion of the fall being a free fall," the fire department said in a statement shared on Facebook. Elk Creek Fire spokeswoman Bethany Urban told the Denver Post that authorities are still determining whether the person was on private or public property. Investigators are also unsure what they were doing prior to the fall. 'It was a recovery, unfortunately, not a rescue,' Urban told the outlet. "Our crews carried out a difficult high angle rope recovery operation with the support of Conifer Fire, Alpine Rescue Team, and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. We are deeply grateful for their assistance in such challenging conditions," the fire department wrote in its social media statement. "Our hearts are with the victim's loved ones during this incredibly painful time," the organization added. Photos from the scene of the incident show rescue officials performing a recovery mission by using ropes to climb up and down the steep rock ledge. The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for more information on Sunday, July 27. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. The individual's death comes just days after a hiker fell nearly 200 feet down a snowfield in the state. According to KRDO and the Denver Gazette, the Alpine Rescue Team found that person after they fell and sustained serious injuries near Saint Mary's Glacier at around noon on Wednesday, July 23. Deputies from the Clear Creek Sheriff's Office, local medical and fire officials also responded to the scene, and the individual was then transported via helicopter to a local hospital. Read the original article on People
Washington Post
7 days ago
- Washington Post
DNA reveals identity of man whose body was found more than three decades ago in Missouri
ST. LOUIS — A man whose body was found in the Mississippi River south of St. Louis in 1994 has finally been identified after authorities exhumed his remains to collect new DNA samples. In the latest cold case to be solved through advances in DNA technology, the sheriff's office in Jefferson County, Missouri, announced Tuesday that the former John Doe was Benny Leo Olson from Edwardsville, a suburb on the Illinois side of the river about 15 miles (24 kilometers) northeast of St. Louis. Officials do not suspect any foul play in the case, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported . After learning Olson had been dead more than three decades, his half-sister Catherine Heston told the newspaper, 'We knew something must have happened, but you never really know.' If alive today, he would be 76. She said Olson was a 'perpetual student,' attending St. Louis Community College-Meramec, Western Illinois University in Macomb and at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. But mental illness also lurked in the background. In 1980, he was charged with trying to pay someone to burn down his stepmother's house. His fingerprints were taken as part of that criminal case, and those prints ultimately helped confirm his identity following a partial DNA match to a distant relative. Olson, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, was deemed not competent to stand trial. He spent 11 years at a mental health facility in Illinois before being released in the early 1990s, Heston said. Heston said the last time she heard from Olson would've been about a month before his body was found in the river, when he called during what she described as a 'paranoid delusion.' The family often wondered what happened. Over the years, her mother kept a box full of mementos, including his high school class ring, family photos and other keepsakes. 'This case resolution is a testament to the power of investigative genetic genealogy to give John and Jane Does their names back and provide answers to family,' Alyssa Feller, a forensic genetic genealogist who worked on the case, said in a news release.
Associated Press
7 days ago
- Associated Press
DNA reveals identity of man whose body was found more than three decades ago in Missouri
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A man whose body was found in the Mississippi River south of St. Louis in 1994 has finally been identified after authorities exhumed his remains to collect new DNA samples. In the latest cold case to be solved through advances in DNA technology, the sheriff's office in Jefferson County, Missouri, announced Tuesday that the former John Doe was Benny Leo Olson from Edwardsville, a suburb on the Illinois side of the river about 15 miles (24 kilometers) northeast of St. Louis. Officials do not suspect any foul play in the case, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. After learning Olson had been dead more than three decades, his half-sister Catherine Heston told the newspaper, 'We knew something must have happened, but you never really know.' If alive today, he would be 76. She said Olson was a 'perpetual student,' attending St. Louis Community College-Meramec, Western Illinois University in Macomb and at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. But mental illness also lurked in the background. In 1980, he was charged with trying to pay someone to burn down his stepmother's house. His fingerprints were taken as part of that criminal case, and those prints ultimately helped confirm his identity following a partial DNA match to a distant relative. Olson, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, was deemed not competent to stand trial. He spent 11 years at a mental health facility in Illinois before being released in the early 1990s, Heston said. Heston said the last time she heard from Olson would've been about a month before his body was found in the river, when he called during what she described as a 'paranoid delusion.' The family often wondered what happened. Over the years, her mother kept a box full of mementos, including his high school class ring, family photos and other keepsakes. 'This case resolution is a testament to the power of investigative genetic genealogy to give John and Jane Does their names back and provide answers to family,' Alyssa Feller, a forensic genetic genealogist who worked on the case, said in a news release.
CBS News
22-07-2025
- CBS News
Unarmed Alabama man's death ruled a homicide after police officer kneeled on his neck
The death of an unarmed 52-year-old man who died after an Alabama police officer kneeled on his neck was ruled a homicide by a county coroner, according to an official autopsy reviewed by The Associated Press. The finding led lawyers representing Phillip Reeder's family on Monday to compare his death to that of George Floyd in 2020. The report issued by the Jefferson County medical examiner's office concludes Reeder, of Irondale, Alabama, died last August of heart failure "associated with cocaine use and restraint during altercation." Officers in the Alabama suburb 10 miles from Birmingham were dispatched to a local highway just after 5 a.m. on August 6, 2024, after one of Reeder's colleagues called 911 to report a medical emergency, according to Reeder's wife, Sandra Lee Reeder. Phillip Reeder, who owned a construction company, was driving home from a job in Memphis, Tennessee, she said. At the time, police said Reeder was wandering in and out of traffic when they approached him, according to Body camera video of Reeder's death has not been released publicly, but Sandra Lee Reeder and her attorneys said they reviewed it last week. "Phillip is heard clearly not once, not twice, but three times 'I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe,'" Sandra Lee Reeder said at a news conference Monday, CBS affiliate WIAT-TV reported. A 2023 state law that governs release of police recordings says the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency may choose to not disclose the recording if it would affect an active law enforcement investigation. An email seeking comment from the Irondale police chief was sent Monday morning. Sandra Lee Reeder said that the body camera footage shows her husband running from police when they arrived. Police then shocked Reeder with a Taser, placed him in handcuffs and laid him on his stomach, she said. One officer put his knee on Reeder's neck for over three minutes, she said. "If I stand right here and count to 120 seconds — a lot can happen. That's three minutes," the family's attorney Harry Daniels said, according to WIAT. "A knee was on the back of his neck while he was in handcuffs." The autopsy said Reed had multiple non-lethal wounds and bruising from the attempted arrest by the police. Sandra Lee Reeder said she could see he was bleeding from his face in the video. Reeder was unresponsive when the officer rolled him over onto his back, according to the coroner's report. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital just after 6:30 a.m. Daniels, the attorney for the Reeder family, compared the fatality to the death of George Floyd in 2020, which prompted months of protests and widespread scrutiny over police tactics. "This world was captivated and shocked about what happened in 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 2024, the exact same thing happened," Daniels said at a news conference outside Irondale City Hall on Monday. Daniels said that the only difference between what happened to Reeder and Floyd is race: Reeder was White and Floyd was Black. Reeder may have committed misdemeanor disorderly conduct by wandering into traffic, but "it is not warranted for a knee in the back - that is deadly force," he said. Reeder's two sons said that they also reviewed the body camera video of their father's last moments this month after almost a year of asking the local police department and state agency for more information. "What I have gone through these past 11 months should not happen to any 19-year-old," Zachariah Phillip Reeder said. WIAT reported the city of Irondale provided a statement after the press conference, which reads in part: The City of Irondale and the Irondale Police Department do not agree with the characterization of events by Ms. Sandra Reeder regarding the death of Phillip Reeder. On 8/6/2024 at approximately 5:10 am, Irondale 911 received several calls regarding a white male subject (later identified as Phillip Reeder) running in and out of traffic on Highway 78 near Old Leeds Road. Officers were dispatched to the area and located the subject who appeared to be under the influence and behaving erratically. Despite multiple commands to comply, Mr. Reeder continued running in the road and shouting. As Mr. Reeder posed a danger to himself and others, a Taser was deployed to bring Mr. Reeder to the ground and assist officers with detaining Mr. Reeder. Even after deployment of the Taser, Mr. Reeder continued to resist and would not follow commands of the officers. Once handcuffed, Mr. Reeder continued to struggle and resist for almost two minutes. Officers did hold Mr. Reeder to the ground using their arms only. No knee was placed in the back of his neck, and no excessive force was used. Mr. Reeder stopped resisting, and the officers realized that he had stopped breathing. They immediately turned him over, checked for a pulse and began CPR until the paramedics arrived.
