Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 05.16.24

Episode Date: May 16, 2024

Student assaults two teachers. Handcuffed trespasser chucks burger at Florida cop.  For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Alert, I'm Nancy Grace. Breaking crime news now. Aquavis Hickman, just 17, gets caught mocking a substitute teacher behind his back. After class, the sub tries to talk with Aquavis Hickman, but Hickman shoves the teacher, corners him, and tries to fight him. Later that day, Hickman gets in an argument with a second teacher and slaps her across the face. The teacher asks Hickman not to hit her again,

but he does anyway, sending her glasses flying across the room. Nancy, a video of the second assault went viral online. After the slap, the teacher asked Hickman, do you think that affected me in any way? Hickman replies, want me to hit you again? The teacher says, I don't want it. But Hickman slaps her a second time and walks away, saying, go back to teaching. A Quavis Hickman, 17, now charged with two counts each, kidnap and assault. Employees at a Florida Wawa's call police when Joseph Delancey comes in, despite him being banned from the shop.

He refuses to put down the cheeseburger in his hand, so he's cuffed anyway. He somehow manages to chuck the cheeseburger at a cop, striking him in the leg. Thankfully, the officer survives the cheeseburger attack. Joseph Delancey, 73, now charged with trespass and battery on a cop. Buy cheeseburger at AwaWa. More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Lindley. The California Court of Appeals has decided that a man found guilty of murdering his landlord's adult son with a sawed-off shotgun

should be granted a new trial because the trial judge neglected to inform the jury about the possibility of a self-defense claim. We turn to Sydney Sumner with Crime Online for more. A three-judge court overturned Ronald Vaughn Jr.'s first-degree murder conviction in connection with Gary Somerset's 2017 shooting death. The ruling states that when Somerset exclaimed, let's end this and ran toward Vaughn, he was on the porch of the Lincoln County trailer he was renting and carrying the weapon. There had been a furious fight between the two and Somerset's mother. Vaughn received a life sentence without the possibility of release. Using weapons like the Winchester.410 caliber shotgun that Vaughn fired

is a felony, and he was found guilty on that count as well. The shotgun has a sawed-off barrel that makes it easier to conceal and potentially cause more destruction. According to the state's Stand Your Ground law, anyone who, quote, reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself is justified in employing force and is not required to retreat. However, in certain cases where the individual in question was committing a felony at the time, it cannot be utilized. Following Vaughn's trial in 2021, the state Supreme Court ruled to narrow

this exception, stating that there must be proof that an injury would not have occurred if the person firing the weapon hadn't done so. Appeals Court Judge Allegra Collins wrote in the prevailing decision that the jury should have been informed of the Stand Your Ground clause even though she acknowledged that the trial judge was not in possession of that state Supreme Court case. According to The View, Somerset had been temporarily residing in the house with Vaughn. Shortly before the shooting, Vaughn received a notice from his mother to vacate the trailer, which he promptly tore up. From the viewpoint of The Opinion, Vaughn attempted to phone 911 on his iPad but was unable to do so. He then informed Somerset and his mother that they should leave the property. Judge Collins continued, saying that the prosecution misled the jury into

believing that the Stand Your Ground clause did not apply in this particular case. Vaughn's possession of a weapon capable of mass murder and destruction, a crime which carried a maximum penalty of nearly two and a half years in jail, was found to be a valid conviction by the appeals panel. Taking into account his credits from his pretrial incarceration, the court mandated that Vaughn be given a new sentence. Agreeing with Collins' opinion on the case were Judges Hunter Murphy and Valerie Zachary. Now to New Mexico, as the murder convictions of a man in the 2018 shooting deaths of three people close to the community of Dixon have been upheld by the state's Supreme

Court. Once again, Crime Online's Sydney Sumner. New Mexico's highest court determined unanimously that there was enough evidence to uphold John Powell's convictions on three charges of first degree murder and one count of aggravated burglary in 2020. It was just a few miles from Dixon in a Rio Arriba County residence that the bodies of 27-year-old Kieran Guilamon, 42-year-old April Brown, and 36-year-old Abraham Martinez were discovered. According to authorities, Powell and his brother Roger Gage were seen on security video killing Brown and robbing him of a safe and other goods from his house. Investigators say Powell and his brother traveled for over an hour to get to Brown's residence, allegedly to purchase drugs and collect tools.

Gage received a life sentence after being found guilty in a separate trial. Thanks, John. Mikael Biggs, 11, and younger sister Kimber play in the front yard at their Mesa, Arizona home. Mom Tracy Biggs watches from the porch. She heads inside to get started on dinner. Kimber comes in quickly after complaining the ice cream man hadn't come yet. Tracy Biggs reassures her the ice cream man will come another day and tells her to bring Mikkel inside too. When Kimber goes to get Mikkel, Mikkel's gone. Her bike is tipped over on the sidewalk, one of the wheels

still spinning. Mikkel's chains for ice cream scattered on the sidewalk. Tracy Biggs immediately calls police and friends from church. By the time police arrive, nearly 60 people are scouring the neighborhood for McHale. Mesa police believe McHale was kidnapped and investigate a neighbor and sex offender, D. Blalock, who strongly denies involvement. McHale Biggs, now missing 25 years. If you have info on then 11-year-old Mikael Biggs, please call Mesa, Arizona PD 480-644-2324. For the latest crime and justice news, go to CrimeOnline.com. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace.

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