Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 08.01.24

Episode Date: August 1, 2024

A Florida man drops a child from a 2nd story balcony in 'scare tactic' gone wrong. On a California beach, a 16-year-old girl must be rescued from a 6-foot hole.  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. Brandon Gilmore flirts with a woman at a Daytona Beach hotel pool for hours before she invites him up to her room where her young son is sleeping. The boy wakes up when mom and Gilmore enter the second floor room and Gilmore asks permission to play with the boy and quote, scare him a little. He takes the boy out on the balcony, holds him by his legs and dangles him over the side of the balcony.

He then drops the little boy headfirst to the ground two stories below. Nancy, witnesses claim they heard the child screaming before he was dropped, and surveillance video captured the entire incident. Gilmore is cooperative with police and claims the drop was accidental, but does admit in retrospect that the whole scare tactic was a terrible idea. Police have not revealed the child's age, but have said he was remarkably unscathed. Well, even though the child did not sustain major injuries, Gilmore, 31, now charged with aggravated child abuse. What happened to attempted murder?

Across the country on a California beach, a little goofing around lands a 16-year-old girl in big trouble. A group of San Diego teens call 911 frantic because they cannot unbury their friend and the tide is coming in. First responders find a girl buried in sand up to her neck at the bottom of a six-foot hole. Lifeguards, firefighters, and bystanders desperately digging around the girl as the waves creep closer and closer to her head. Half an hour later, first responders finally pull the girl out just as the water begins to fill the hole. Authorities now warning other beachgoers to stick to sandcastles. More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley.

We begin in Utah as a court has vacated the death sentence for a death row inmate, this while upholding his conviction for a 1985 murder. For the latest, we turn to Sydney Sumner with Crime Online. The Utah Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence of Douglas Lovell, convicted of murdering Joyce Yost in 1985 to prevent her from testifying against him in a rape case. The court upheld Lovell's conviction but determined that he had ineffective legal representation during his 2015 sentencing, particularly regarding the handling of testimony related to his excommunication from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The case has been sent back to a lower court for

resentencing. Lovell, now 66 years old, has been convicted twice of capital murder. Prosecutors allege he attempted to hire two individuals to kill Yost and when that failed, carried out the crime himself by abducting and strangling her. He was initially sentenced to death by lethal injection. The Utah Attorney General's Office has not yet decided whether Lovell will face the death penalty again. His attorney in the appeals case, Colleen Koberg, declined to comment. This decision comes amid ongoing discussions about the death penalty in Utah, where another inmate, Tabaron Dave Honey, is scheduled for execution on August 8th. Utah has not carried out an execution since 2010.

The site of a triple murder during the 1967 Michigan race riot has now received an historic marker. Once again, Crime Online's Sydney Sumner. The historic marker was dedicated at the former site of Algiers Motel in Detroit, where three young black men were killed during the city's 1967 race riot. The dedication ceremony was held at the former site of the motel, several miles north of downtown Detroit. The Algiers Mot held at the former site of the motel, several miles north of downtown Detroit. The Algiers Motel became a focal point during the riots when police and National Guard members raided the building on July 26, 1967, after reports of gunfire. The bodies of 19-year-old Aubrey Pallard, 17-year-old Carl Cooper, and 18-year-old Fred

Temple were found afterward, and several others were beaten. Despite multiple trials, no one was convicted in connection with the deaths and assaults. The marker's installation is the result of years of effort by community members and the Michigan Historical Marker Commission. The 1967 riots, triggered by long-standing tensions between Detroit's black community and the predominantly white police force, left dozens dead, thousands arrested, and significant parts of the city damaged. The aftermath saw a substantial exodus of residents and businesses from Detroit, contributing to a sharp decline in population and economic challenges for the city. The events at the motel have been covered in documentaries and the 2017 film Detroit, which depicted the riot and the tragic incident at the Algiers. The Algiers

motel was demolished in the late 1970s and the site is now a park. Thanks, John. Before Joyce Williams leaves for work, her son, Tommy, age 27, asked her to give him a goodbye hug and kiss. When Joyce asked him why, he says, you never know, I might go missing, followed with a smile and a laugh. Joyce takes Tommy's words as a joke and goes to work. After her first shift, she grocery shops, goes to her night job, then back to her day job, before finally returning to their Rochester, New York home. She immediately realizes Tommy's not there, and he did not let her know he wasn't coming home. He doesn't answer any of her calls

or texts. Police find surveillance footage of Tommy speaking with an acquaintance hours after Joyce last saw him, but searches of the area turn up nothing. Tommy Williams, now missing over two years, 5'9", 180 pounds, several tattoos including a lion on his right forearm. Tommy has brown eyes, brown curly hair, a mustache, and a beard. If you have info on Tommy Williams, call Rochester, New York PD, 585-428-6720. For the latest crime and justice news, go to CrimeOnline.com and join us on our daily podcast, Crime Stories. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.