Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Woman Caught Trying to Burn Down MLK's Childhood Home: Cops

Episode Date: December 8, 2023

A 27-year-old woman was caught on camera pouring gasoline on the childhood home of slain civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Atlanta. Laneisha Henderson faces an attempted arson charge but she could be in even more trouble because the house is federal property. The Law&Crime Network's Angenette Levy has video of the woman caught in the act and details about who stopped her in this episode of Crime Fix, a daily show looking at the top stories in the world of crime.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this law and crimes series ad free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple podcasts or Spotify. Look at this. A woman dousing a house in gasoline. And it's not just any house. It's the childhood home of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Atlanta. A person walking by on Thursday recorded video of the woman with a big red gas can tossing gasoline on the home. Two men from Utah were visiting Atlanta for work and they wanted to visit the historic site. They found Lanisha Henderson tossing

gasoline on the windows. They asked her, hey, what are you doing? At first, she didn't really say anything. And they actually thought when they first saw her that she might be watering plants. Then they realized she was actually holding a gas can. I have a dream. The house where Dr. King was born is part of a federal historic site. So that includes Dr. King's church as well. It's visited by millions each year in Atlanta. Fortunately, those two men from Utah were walking by and called police. Officers arrived and took Henderson into custody. She's charged with attempted arson and many other charges could be coming. And because this is a federal historic site, Henderson could face federal charges as well. I'm Anjanette Levy. It's Friday

and this is Crime Fix, law and crimes rundown of the top stories in the world of crime for the day. Well, things are going from bad to worse for Hunter Biden. The president's son has been indicted again by a federal grand jury in California. The special counsel says the younger Biden spent millions of dollars on drugs, strippers, cars, and hotels instead of paying his taxes. And now Uncle Sam wants his money. These new charges are in addition to federal charges accusing the younger Biden of lying on federal firearms forms. A plea deal in that case fell apart last summer. Biden's lawyer is crying foul though, saying this is really all about politics and not really about whether Hunter Biden committed a crime. The White House is not commenting. Children's Hospital drove her mother to suicide is getting ready to sit down with police again

about her claim that a hospital employee sexually assaulted her back in 2016. Maya, how are you doing with that? Because you brought this claim, you filed a criminal complaint alleging this, and it sounds very traumatic. Yeah, the first time I brought it up was in the hospital at John Hopkins All Children's Hospital. I complained about it. It was ignored. I just thought because it was never dealt with or taken seriously that it wasn't significant enough. And I kind of just kept on telling myself that for years. It wasn't until Greg asked me about every single incident that happened at John Hopkins that I came forward with that story. And here again, you know, I brought it up and it just doesn't seem to be taken seriously.

It's frustrating. I mean, part of me wishes I would have just kept it to myself because like everything, I'm being questioned. Kowalski's claim that a doctor at All Children's Hospital assaulted her while claiming to examine her came to light during the nine-week civil trial earlier this fall. In that trial, the jury awarded Kowalski's family more than $200 million in damages. Kowalski suffers from complex regional pain syndrome,

but doctors at All Children's in Tampa believed her mother, Beata, was making up her daughter's symptoms. Maya was kept in isolation away from her family for three months in 2016. Beata died by suicide in January of 2017. Johns Hopkins is asking for a new trial and has said they suspected child abuse and reported it as required by law. It turned out Beata Kowalski was not abusing Maya and was not making up her symptoms. We'll have more of my interview with Maya Kowalski and her lawyer on law and crime very soon. The woman convicted of murdering a family friend with eye drops is getting a new lawyer after writing a letter in which she

suggested her lawyers tried to help her concoct a fake alibi. You really can't make this stuff up. Jesse Kershefsky was in court on Thursday when she was supposed to be sentenced for the murder of Lynn Hernan. Prosecutors successfully argued at trial that Kershefsky was stealing from Hernan and murdered her by putting a lethal dose of eye drops in her drinks. Well, a 37-page letter Kershefsky wrote was recently discovered. In it, she insists she didn't kill Hernan or steal from her, but she writes about trying to get a friend to pose as Hernan in a recording and discuss taking her own life. The letter included a script for her friend to read on the recording,

and Kershefsski actually alluded to her lawyers coming up with this idea about the fake alibi, hence her lawyers withdrawing from the case. Here's Krzyzewski in court yesterday. I did. I do not because up until yesterday, neither one has done anything for me now because they had halted all proceedings

due to the DAAA conversation they have had. So at this point, as much as I wanted to get out of Waukesha County and proceed forward and go through appeals, I don't because nothing has been done for sentencing except last minute yesterday. Partial. I have letters of character in limbo. I have nothing completed for sentencing. So no, I don't. And I frankly blame the state for that. They proceeded to release this information, which should have not been done. And it has created this mess. So while they are requesting they should not withdraw on their behalf, I don't think this is right. Everything has been done wrong since they have came forward last week

with this information. i do say no i did not write it there's cameras all over this jail there's recorded phone calls there's a lot of issues here that no everything should be stopped and i i need to look at my legal rights because i don't know what they are at this point i can tell you no i do not think because of everything that i have since learned no i, I should not have either attorney, which is very hard, proceed at this point. And sentencing should be stopped today. Now, Jesse Krzyzewski will be sentenced next year. And get this.

Judge Jennifer Dorough has ordered that the media not contact her, but she can contact the media if she wishes. That sounds pretty unconstitutional if you ask me. Typically, it's up to a jail to go through an inmate's mail or up to an inmate or their lawyer to restrict what mail that person receives. Kershefsky faces the possibility of life in prison without parole when she's sentenced. Richard Allen, the man charged with the Delphi murders, has been moved from one prison to another. The entire issue of Allen even being in prison at all Richard Allen, the man charged with the Delphi murders, has been moved from one prison to another.

The entire issue of Allen even being in prison at all has been the subject of much controversy. When do you ever hear about a defendant pre-trial being housed in a maximum security prison? It never happens. Allen's attorneys have complained about the conditions where he is being held, while prosecutors saying he's being treated like any other prisoner and he's being housed in a prison for his own safety instead of a county jail. Well, this week, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita signed an order saying Allen should be moved. Defense Diaries host Bob Mata, who's also a defense attorney, has been following the case closely. That entire portion of the statute is basically talking about that they have the ability to file a motion if they believe that the inmate is in serious danger of great bodily harm or death, or if they think that, but they're supposed to bring it through motion.

It's supposed to, they're supposed to put their case forward in terms of why they think there's a substantial threat. And obviously none of that occurred. So like, I'm thinking like, wow, like, why, why did the AG do this? That's a very good question. I contacted the Indiana AG's office and was told to contact the Department of Corrections. A spokesperson there told me he can't say why Allen was moved because of a court order. Allen has pleaded not guilty to murdering Abby Williams and Libby German the day before Valentine's Day back in 2017. Prosecutors say he confessed to the crimes in several jail calls. Right now, Allen's fighting to have his former attorneys reinstated to his team.

They were removed after a man admitted taking graphic crime scene photos from one of the lawyer's offices and leaking them to a podcaster. Judge Francis Gall has been under fire for how the lawyers were removed. Allen wants her removed from the case. An Ohio babysitter enters into a different type of plea deal where she basically maintains her innocence, but admits the prosecution might convict her at trial. It's called an Alford plea and Corey Seavers, by entering into it, says, hey, I'm going to say I didn't do this, but I know the prosecution, if we took this thing to trial, has enough evidence where I might be found guilty. According to Fremont, Ohio police, they went to a home in September of 2022 for a call about an

unresponsive toddler. Severs had been running a daycare out of her home and multiple children were in her care when 21-month-old William Bova was found unconscious. The babysitter claimed William injured himself, but doctors say there was no way he could have caused the injuries that were that severe. Seavers pleaded to one count of involuntary manslaughter, one count of endangering children, and one count of felonious assault. She will be back in court in January for sentencing. Remember the poison control doctor from the Mayo Clinic who's accused of murdering his wife by poisoning her? Well, there are some warrants we've gotten a hold of. Connor Bowman actually blamed his late wife for her own death

because he said she bought the drugs that he used to poison her. That's all according to police. Betty Jo Bowman died in August. Police say she got sick after drinking a smoothie that her husband had spiked with a lethal amount of drugs he bought online. Warrants obtained by the Rochester Police Department show Connor Bowman called the company from which he purchased the drug Colchicine and asked that his account be deleted. The warrant claims Bowman told the company that his wife had fraudulently purchased this drug using his account. The Bowmans were apparently in an open relationship and had agreed they wouldn't get attached to anyone they were seeing.

But it turns out Bowman had become infatuated with a woman he had started seeing. He faces a second-degree murder charge. And that's it for your Crime Fix on this Friday, December 8th of 2023. I'm Anjanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with us. Have a great weekend. We'll see you back here on Monday.