Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 01.22.24

Episode Date: January 22, 2024

Man shoots roommate during confrontation over TV remote. The Christmas Tree boyfriend-beater is at it again! For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Alert, I'm Nancy Grace. Breaking crime news now. Richard Benard naps on his sofa, wakes up by noise when his roommate, Dominique Hayes, cooks a meal. Benard repeatedly asks, where's the remote? When Hayes doesn't respond, Benard turns, sees Hayes holding two knives. Benoit grabs a gun, opens fire, and runs to his room and, quote, falls back to sleep. Nancy, Benoit called 911 about six hours after the shooting. Benoit claims Hayes came at him with knives, so he shot at him. Benoit further reports he didn't see any injuries on Hayes, so he assumed none of the bullets hit him and went back to sleep in his room upstairs. Hours later, Maryland cops find Hayes dead of multiple gunshot wounds.

Minaw, 38, now charged with manslaughter. Remember the woman that beat her boyfriend with their Christmas tree? Well, Miracle Rivera is at it again. During their latest argument, she takes a glass vase to the victim's face, leaving him with visible injuries. Florida cops arrest Rivera, just 20 years old, on domestic violence charges for the second time. Hopefully she hasn't heard three times the charm. More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley.

A Florida judge has rejected a former sheriff's deputy's attempt to have his case dismissed before trial, ruling in favor of the relatives of the 16 victims and other dead in the Parkland School Massacre lawsuit against him for his failure to act. With more, here's Sydney Sumner with Crime Online. Circuit Judge Carol Lisa Phillips stated in her ruling that a jury should determine whether fired Broward County Deputy Scott Peterson showed a wanton and willful disregard for the safety of the teachers and students when he refrained from confronting the gunman during the six-minute attack inside a building at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Although Peterson was cleared of all criminal charges last year, and he maintains that he didn't know where the gunfire was coming from, the standard of proof needed in a lawsuit is much lower.

Families of the victims have accused Peterson of cowardice and are suing him for an undisclosed sum of money. Also named in the suit is the Broward Sheriff's Office, who did not insist on Peterson's firing. Phillips intends for the trial to get underway later this year. Michael Piper, a lawyer for Peterson, argued at a hearing in December that his client was not legally obligated to confront gunman Nicholas Cruz during the shooting on February 14, 2018. According to Piper, in citing appellate court rulings, law enforcement officers are not legally

required to shield anyone from danger by third parties, and they are not subject to lawsuits for decisions they make in an emergency. However, Phillips stated in her decision that the jury should determine the full scope of this officer's responsibilities, citing a genuine dispute over whether Peterson had a, quote, special relationship with students, teachers, and administration that went beyond the regular interactions that law enforcement officers have with the public. The families and survivors of the Parkland massacre have already reached a $15 million settlement with the Broward school system and the FBI, whose agents neglected to look into a warning regarding Cruz. Final court documents in the Jeffrey Epstein case involving allegations of sexual abuse of adolescent girls have now been made public.

These papers included transcripts of testimony from several powerful and wealthy men, many of whose names have been known for a decade or longer, covering a range of misconduct allegations. The previously classified documents contained a 2016 deposition from Virginia Giuffre, who said that Epstein had molested her sexually and had set her up for sexual encounters with men, including Prince Andrew of Britain, all of this beginning when she was just 17 years old. Also among the documents, a transcript of testimony by Ghislaine Maxwell,

the ex-girlfriend of Epstein, who maintained that Giuffre was lying. Additionally, Epstein, who maintained that Giuffre was lying. Additionally, Epstein himself provided a deposition in which he invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and declined to respond to questioning. Now to Kentucky, as members of the State House of Representatives introduce a three-strikes bill that would incarcerate someone upon conviction for a third violent felony. Once again, Crime Online's Sydney Sumner. The Kentucky Plan is a component of a much larger anti-crime law that lawmakers have set as a top goal for the 60-day term.

After months of meetings with stakeholders and extensive tweaking with many of the provisions, the legislation finally made its appearance during the second week of the session. Several House lawmakers promptly agreed to be co-sponsors, and more are anticipated to jump on board. The main author of the bill, Jared Bauman, told reporters that anyone convicted of three serious felonies in Kentucky would face life in prison without the chance of parole. Gubernatorial candidate Ashley Beshear focused heavily on crime throughout his campaign last year. Beshear and his opponent Daniel Cameron presented opposing strategies for public safety in the months leading up to the election. Any anti-crime bill that makes it to the governor's desk will ultimately be guided by policies set by lawmakers.

Thanks, John. Grady Benson goes to dinner with his wife before she heads for a trip to Missouri. After the meal, Grady heads back to the couple's Randlett, Oklahoma farm. He meets his son, who now runs the farm, helps him out with a few things, then drops the son off, heading inside for the night. Benson's wife texts him good night and good morning, but Grady Benson doesn't respond. She sends her son to go check on him. He finds Grady's truck in the carport, unlocked with the keys, Grady's wallet, a jacket, and cash inside. Grady nowhere to be found. Very few leads. Cotton County Sheriff's asking for the public to help in locating Grady Benson, now missing a year.

If you have info, call Cotton County Sheriff's, 580-875-3383. For the latest crime and justice news, go to CrimeOnline.com. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace. This is an iHeart Podcast.