Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 02.07.25 | Mom Burns Down Home with Sleeping Children Inside

Episode Date: February 7, 2025

Mom removes all the smoke detectors then sets house on fire, with her three sleeping children inside. Video game addict batters his roommate with a bologna sandwhich.  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. Rekonda Singleton carefully removes all seven fire alarms from her Grand Rapids, Michigan home where her three children, ages 12, 10, and 7, are sleeping. Then, after removing the fire alarms, she sprays a second-floor bathroom with lighter fluid and strikes a match, heads downstairs, repeats the process onto the living room couch, then locks all the doors and stands outside watching as the fire spreads and her children scream for help. Singleton's middle daughter grabs the younger sister and jumps from a second floor window to safety,

but the 12-year-old Shamaya doesn't make it out. Nancy, body cam footage shows firefighters pulling Shamaya from a second-story window, unconscious. First responders start CPR and transport her to a hospital, but Shamaya dies two days later. Singleton tells investigators she wanted to, quote, die with her three daughters so they could be free, but Singleton made no attempt at suicide after lighting the house on fire. Singleton was ordered in court to undergo inpatient mental health treatment last year, and prosecutors fear they may be forced to take an insanity plea. Wakanda Singleton, 46, charged with arson, child abuse, and murder. A Florida

man's video game addiction lands him behind bars again. Aquavius Chandler gets in an argument with his roommate when he arrives home and finds his PlayStation 5 missing from his bedroom. The roommate tells Chandler he took it because he's too loud when he plays. Response? Chandler, he took it because he's too loud when he plays. Response, Chandler throws a bologna sandwich at the roommate. Cops are called and would normally issue a misdemeanor, but Chandler was previously convicted of choking his sister and threatening his father with a knife after losing his video game. Well, history's repeating itself. Aquavius Chandler, 29, now facing felony battery

by bologna sandwich. More crime and justice news after this. Now, with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley. In New York, jury selection is underway in the trial of the man accused of attacking author Salman Rushdie during a 2022 lecture at the Chautauqua Institution. Rushdie, now 77, was stabbed multiple times, losing sight in one eye and sustaining permanent hand damage. The suspect, Hadi Matar, has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault. Rushdie is expected to testify, joining an estimated 15 witnesses. Prosecutors say jurors will see a video of the attack, which happened in front of a live audience. Defense attorney Nathaniel Barone has not disclosed his legal strategy, but insists his client is entitled

to a fair trial. A separate federal case alleges Matar was influenced by a fatwa, a religious edict calling for Rushdie's death, though prosecutors in this trial say motive won't be central to their case. Matar, a U.S.-born dual citizen of Lebanon, has been held without bail since his arrest. The trial is expected to last about a week and a half. The founder of a neo-Nazi group has been convicted for plotting an attack on Maryland's power grid. Our correspondent Sydney Sumner has the details. 29-year-old Brandon Russell, the founder of the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division, German for atomic weapon, was found guilty of conspiring to damage an energy facility. Federal prosecutors revealed that Russell encouraged his former girlfriend, Sarah Beth Klendaniel, to execute sniper attacks on electrical substations around Baltimore.

Their aim was to incite chaos in the predominantly black city. Both were arrested in February 2023 before any plans were carried out. The jury deliberated for less than an hour after a six-day trial in Baltimore's federal court. Russell's sentencing is pending. He has a prior conviction from 2018 for possessing unregistered explosives and improper storage of explosive materials, for which he served five years in prison. The 36-year-old Clint Daniel pleaded guilty to the plot and was sentenced in September to 18 years in prison. This conviction underscores the ongoing threat of domestic terrorism and the

efforts of law enforcement to prevent attacks on critical infrastructure. Thanks, John. Foul play expected in the disappearance of Chance Anthony Carson. The 29-year-old reported missing by family after not seeing or hearing from him for a month. Chance last known to be on foot in the East Omak, Washington area. Police say he reportedly got into a fight with two other people just before he disappears. Carson, 5'9", 155 to 178 pounds, black hair, brown eyes, and a member of the Confederate tribes of the Colville Reservation. Tattoo on chest, left hand, and right arm. Last seen wearing jeans and a dark gray sweatshirt. If you have info on the whereabouts of Chance Anthony Carson, please call Colville Tribal LE 509-634-2249. For the latest crime and justice news, go to

CrimeOnline.com. And please join us for our daily podcast, Crime Stories, where we do our best to find missing people, especially children, and solve unsolved homicides. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace. This is an iHeart Podcast.