ANOTHER TRAYVON MARTIN TYPE CASE...76-year-old man to stand trial in shooting death of 13-year-old boy

In a case that bears some striking similarities to George Zimmerman's, a 76-year-old Milwaukee man  is set to stand trial this week in the 2012 shooting death a 13-year-old boy he had accused of stealing from him.

Police say John Henry Spooner confronted Darius Simmons, who lived next door with his mother, as the teen took out the trash. Spooner, who is white, had suspected that Simmons, who was black, stole $3,000 worth of shotguns from him, and demanded that the sixth-grader return them. Simmons denied stealing the guns, and his mother, Patricia Larry, told Spooner to go back inside.

Instead, prosecutors say, Spooner pulled out a handgun and shot the 13-year-old in the chest from near-point blank range.

"When police arrived, Spooner was still on the sidewalk, holding the gun," according to the criminal complaint. "When told to drop the weapon, he placed it on the ground and told police, 'Yeah, I shot him.'"

An autopsy showed that Simmons, who was unarmed, suffered a gunshot wound to his torso, according to the Associated Press. Spooner was charged with first degree murder. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett condemned the killing. "To have a boy who's taking out the garbage at 10:30 in the morning murdered should shock the conscience of the state," Barrett said at the time.

Just hours before the shooting, Spooner told a local politician he was frustrated police had not arrested the boy in the alleged burglary, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and hinted he might take the law into his own hands.

"There are other ways to deal with situations," Alderman Bob Donovan recalled Spooner saying.

Spooner's apparent reference to vigilantism drew comparisons to Zimmerman's killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin after the former neighborhood watchman followed him through a Sanford, Fla., housing complex. Zimmerman was acquitted of all charges on Saturday.

Last year, the Rev. Jesse Jackson's Rainbow PUSH Coalition called for Spooner to be charged with a federal hate crime. On Monday, an attorney representing Simmons' family said there's a clear "issue of profiling" and a "race component" to the case. But Spooner has denied race was a factor in the shooting.

The trial was supposed to begin in January but was delayed due to concerns about Spooner's health.

Man steals 92-year-old's glasses and Bible in Manhattan

 

A 92-year-old man who was mugged for his Bible and a pair of glasses at his Chelsea apartment building said his life was “beautiful” before the attack, but now he’s not so sure.

Ricardo Velez, — a devout Jehovah’s Witness — said he had just finished dinner with a friend when a heartless bandit followed him into the W. 18th St. building and knocked him to the ground shortly before midnight on Monday.
“I saw him push me,” Velez said Thursday from his bed at Bellevue Hospital, where he is recovering from a broken hip. “I fell on my hip on the right side and was trying to get up, but I couldn’t. I opened the second door and started yelling, ‘Help! Help!’”
His longtime neighbor, Radmes Hernandez, 82, was alerted to the cries after his toy poodle, Sheila Black, heard them and began yapping.
When Hernandez swung open the door, the pooch darted down the stairs and found the frail Velez curled up on the floor and reeling in pain.
“Somebody mugged me,” Velez told his worried neighbor. “Somebody hit me on the head. My hip hurts.”
The suspect — wearing dark clothing and a red baseball cap — fled the scene with a brown bag containing the elderly man’s Bible and a pair of glasses, but dropped a pair of scissors near the front door.
“I wouldn’t have heard the yelling if it wasn’t for (my dog),” Hernandez said.
Hernandez said he called 911 and that emergency workers quickly rushed Velez to the hospital.
Velez said he moved to New York from Puerto Rico with his parents when he was just 8 years old and has never been attacked while living in the city.
“I used to think it’s a beautiful life, but everything comes to an end. And that’s what the other day was,” the injured man said.
“I used to go here or there, shopping, everywhere,” Velez continued. “I have a bad habit: I talk to everyone. In my neighborhood, I love to walk around. Now I don’t know if I’ll be able to move around like that again.”
He said he was devastated to lose the most prized book in his collection.
“The Bible was extremely important,” he said. “It was leather-bound and well-printed. I loved that Bible.”
Hernandez said he hopes cops cuff the crook soon.
“There’s a lot of bad people in the streets,” Hernandez said. “There are a lot of crazy people. ... It shouldn’t have happened to (Velez).
“They need to catch this guy.”

As police continued to hunt for the suspect, the reward for his capture swelled to $22,000.