Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert 11.20.23

Episode Date: November 20, 2023

2-year-old taken to ER with cuts to his penis. Car thief thwarted by a forklift.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Alert, I'm Nancy Grace, breaking crime news now. Timothus Powell takes his two-year-old nephew to the emergency room, claiming he found a piece of glass in the baby's diaper that cut the baby's penis. Doctors are confused. The cut is extremely clean and precise, not matching Powell's description at all. Hospital staff called Protective services to review security footage showing Powell standing over the baby with an unknown object until the baby screams,

then putting a fresh diaper on the tot. Nancy Powell was babysitting the child while his sister was at work. Powell initially told doctors that he noticed glass in the infant's diaper and he broke the skin trying to wipe it away. Then he said he broke the skin wiping the baby too hard. Doctors were able to repair the cut by gluing it, but it appeared to be the result of an at-home circumcision attempt. Powell, 29, now charged with aggravated child abuse.

Quick-thinking employees at an Ohio junkyard use a creative method to stop a car thief. Alexander Funk, who makes off with a stolen car from the junkyard twice in the past, decides to try his luck a third time, but employees are ready. As Funk tries to drive off in a hot-wired SUV, a forklift scoops the car up, holding Funk 20 feet above ground. When cops get there, they lower the car gently back to the ground. Funk cuffed. Alexander Funk, 26, now charged with trespassing and robbery. Guess he's left hanging. More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Lemley.

Medical complications have claimed the life of a man awaiting trial in connection with the abduction and eventual murder of a 16-year-old girl from western Michigan. For more, we turn to Sydney Sumner with Crime Online. Federal Attorney Mark Totten announced that 63-year-old Gerald Bennett of Detroit was admitted to a hospital on November 7th to receive treatment for cancer. As his condition worsened, Bennett was put on life support and subsequently died. In April of last year, Bennett was found competent to stand trial for the kidnapping of Mouge Dumbaya. Dumbaya had claimed in 2017 that she was sexually assaulted at the age of 15 by Quinn James, a maintenance worker at her school. She was even supposed to testify during his trial in April of 2018. However, Dumbaya was kidnapped from a bus stop in January, and her partially dressed body was eventually discovered in a wooded area of Kalamazoo,

about 50 miles southeast of her Grand Rapids home. She'd been strangled. Totten said James hired Bennett to assist him in abducting and murdering Dumbaya, and the two men were charged with murder in state court. In April 2019, James was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. However, Bennett was found unable to stand trial, and the accusations against him were dropped in March 2022. After that, the FBI and federal prosecutors were tasked with handling the investigation, and in August, Bennett was charged by a federal grand jury.

Bennett was found fit to stand trial by a judge after a forensic psychologist determined that he had staged his incompetency. The first jury selection was slated to start in February 2024. Bennett was charged by federal authorities with conspiracy to conduct murder for hire resulting in death, kidnapping resulting in death, kidnapping of a juvenile victim, and solicitation to commit a violent felony. Totten stated that the case has now been dismissed. Authorities in Texas are reporting that a 13-year-old boy found guilty of killing a Sonic Drive-In employee will spend 12 years in prison. According to Amy Pardo of the Johnson County Attorney's Office,

the judge handed down the sentence after days of evidence hearings regarding the boy's punishment in this unusual murder case against a minor. He may eventually be moved to the adult prison system in the state after beginning his time in the Texas Juvenile Justice Department's care. The boy, whose name has not been released by authorities, could have received a term of up to 40 years in prison or probation. In October, a jury in the murder case involving the shooting death of a Sonic employee who got into a confrontation with the teen's uncle found the boy guilty of delinquent conduct, the juvenile version of a guilty judgment.

After pleading guilty to charges related to his sponsorship of his son's gun license application, the father of the suspect in a deadly 4th of July parade shooting in suburban Chicago has turned himself in to begin a 60-day prison sentence. Once again, Crime Online's Sydney Sumner. Earlier this month, Robert Cremo Jr. pled guilty in Lake County Court in Waukegan, Illinois to seven misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct.

Despite the teen's frequent threats of violence, Cremo sponsored his underage son's handgun application three years prior to the July 2022 attack in Highland Park. On November 6th, Judge George Strickland gave Cremo Jr. a sentence of 60 days in jail, two years of probation, and 100 hours of community service. He consented to hold off on immediately taking him into custody. Cremo's son, Robert Cremo III, is charged with 21 counts of first-degree murder, 48 counts of attempted murder, and 48 counts of aggravated violence. When he was apprehended hours after the shooting in Highland Park, prosecutors said he acknowledged being the shooter. It's anticipated that a trial date for Cremo III will be set December 11th.

Dava Leonard, mom of six, moves in with her boyfriend in Divide, Colorado after three years together. She frequently visits her children and looking forward to a large family gathering to celebrate her son's birthday. When Dava doesn't show up, her family knows something's wrong. They contact the boyfriend who doesn't respond. The family eventually asks for a welfare check. Cops find Dava is gone. They contact the boyfriend, who doesn't respond. The family eventually asks for a welfare check. Cops find Dava is gone. Her boyfriend says she went out to run an errand and never came back,

leaving behind all her belongings, including her beloved dog, Ello. Her family says she never goes anything without him. Dava Leonard now missing nearly three years. She wears black cat eyeglasses, has a dragon tattoo on her back, and a scar on her left arm. If you have info on Dava Leonard, please call Taylor County Sheriff's 719-687-9652. For the latest crime and justice news, go to crimeonline.com. With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace. This is an iHeart Podcast.