Latest news with #AK-47-style
NZ Herald
3 days ago
- NZ Herald
How former teen killer William Izett's Auckland car theft led to a possible life sentence
But a return to prison, he said, was the only realistic option. 'No dignity in death' At 17 years old, Izett was the oldest of three teens who violently targeted 74-year-old Wellington resident Donald Stewart outside a toilet block in Hamilton in June 2010, resulting in his death. Their motive was to steal his 1989 Peugeot 405, which they took for a joyride before leaving it abandoned in a ditch where they had crashed it. William Izett appears in Auckland District Court on July 18 for sentencing on charges of heroin supply and possession of an AK-47-style gun, ammunition and explosive gel. Photo / Craig Kapitan Co-defendant Connor Rewha-Te Wara, who was 14 at the time, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 11 years after pleading guilty to murder. Izett, meanwhile, was sentenced to four years' imprisonment after pleading guilty to manslaughter. Rewha-Te Wara had been the one who inflicted the fatal blows, Justice Patrick Keane noted when the trio appeared in the High Court at Hamilton to be sentenced together. The teens had formed a plan to steal the Peugeot after finding it with the lights on but doors locked as the driver used the facilities. When Stewart refused to hand over the keys after emerging from the toilet block, Rewha-Te Wara knocked him to the ground with a punch to the head. He was then dragged to an alleyway and suffered what the judge referred to as a 'sustained and brutal assault'. Donald Stewart buys petrol at a Hamilton Gull service station only hours before he was found dead in the central city. Photo / Supplied The judge acknowledged that Izett didn't participate in the physical attack and wouldn't have anticipated his co-defendant's level of violence. But that doesn't excuse standing by passively – neither stopping the younger teen nor helping the victim. 'You left in his car, leaving him where he lay,' the judge said. 'You afforded him no dignity in death. You stole his personal property and ultimately you were party to destroying it.' By that point, he had already had a lengthy and violent record, the court noted. Cannabis stabbing Two years after the Hamilton sentencing, while Izett was imprisoned in Dunedin, a Corrections officer said the inmate spat in his face. The officer reported the saliva going into his eyes, causing stinging. He then had to wait six months for blood test results. Izett, who had been angry because his cell was not unlocked as quickly as he wanted, pleaded guilty to assault. A decade later, in 2023, he was out of prison and living in emergency accommodation in a Hamilton motel when he was charged with wounding with intent to injure, possession of cannabis for sale and unlawful ammunition possession. Convicted killer William Izett admitted a decade later to stabbing a man at a Hamilton motel who had asked to buy his cannabis. Image / Google He was taking freshly cut cannabis plants to his room about 11am that day when the victim approached and asked if he could buy some. After telling the man to leave, Izett retrieved a hammer and knife from his car and challenged the man to a fight. The scuffle, caught on CCTV, ended with the defendant inflicting two knife wounds to the other man's torso. 'Hooked up' Five months after the stabbing guilty plea, the Ford Ranger went missing from Murrays Bay on Auckland's North Shore. However, the heist was short-lived. The vehicle had a GPS tracker, which led police to Izett's Dairy Flat home the next morning. Police found the registration plates in a wheelie bin at the property and the keys on the kitchen table. Social media messages later recovered by police suggested the vehicle, with plates that phonetically spelt 'hooked up', had been stolen as part of a scheme relating to the Mongols motorcycle gang, Judge Sharp noted. William Izett appears in Auckland District Court on July 18 for sentencing on charges of heroin supply and possession of an AK-47-style gun, ammunition and explosive gel. Photo / Craig Kapitan The heroin was found in a suitcase in the living room, divvied into snap-lock bags for distribution. The military-style, semi-automatic weapon was wrapped in sheets and a blanket nearby. In the same room, investigators found Orica Powergel, a putty-like, high-power explosive. Receiving such an expensive stolen vehicle carried a maximum sentence of seven years' imprisonment. But the discovery of the potent drug, found to have 76% purity, meant he faced up to life imprisonment. Judge Sharp described the heroin scheme as an independent commercial enterprise. There was no evidence that either defendant used the drug, with both instead addicted to methamphetamine – a much more common drug in New Zealand. 'Capable of change' At a jury trial earlier this year, Izett pleaded guilty to possessing the firearm and explosives, as well as receiving the stolen vehicle, but denied the heroin charge. Conversely, co-defendant Cherish-Ann Buchanan, 33, pleaded guilty to the heroin charge but denied receiving the vehicle or being in possession of the firearm. Jurors, however, found both guilty of the charges they denied. 'There's no secret that Mr Izett has stood or sat where he is sitting – he's been before the court before,' defence lawyer Kima Tuialii acknowledged at the start of the hearing this week. Police examine the scene where Donald Stewart's body was found by a street sweeper in 2010. Photo / Christine Cornege However, she emphasised her client's letter to the court and asked for a sentence that wouldn't be so crushing that he'd have trouble imagining his eventual reintegration into the community. 'He is somebody that is capable of change,' she said. Judge Sharp sentenced Izett to seven years and six months' imprisonment, while Buchanan was sentenced to four years and six months. Both sentences took into account reductions for what the judge described as backgrounds marred by 'tragic personal circumstances'. 'They involved things that should never have happened to them,' he said, declining to elaborate in open court. Izett's sentence included a three-month uplift for his significant history of prior offences. Buchanan received reductions for her previously clean record and for the hardship her imprisonment will cause for her five children. Craig Kapitan is an Auckland-based journalist covering courts and justice. He joined the Herald in 2021 and has reported on courts since 2002 in three newsrooms in the US and New Zealand. Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Yahoo
Woman sentenced after admitting to evidence tampering in 2024 Tyler fatal shooting
TYLER, Texas (KETK) — A woman who was accused of tampering with evidence following the murder of a 19-year-old in 2024 was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty on Thursday. On July 4, 2024, Rawly Sanchez was murdered while driving with his friends in Tyler. According to an affidavit, Sanchez and his friends had to do a U-turn. When they turned behind Bautista Auto, the driver reported seeing a person in a building with an AK-47-style rifle who started shooting at them. 'I'm a monster': Upshur County man gets 90 years for sexually assaulting young girl Rawly was shot and his friends took him to a local hospital, where he died. Around the same time, a Tyler Police Department officer was driving by Bautista Auto when he saw a white Ford Explorer with bullet holes on the side. When the officer came back later, the Ford was gone, and then Smith County Sheriff's Office deputies arrived on the scene. During the investigation, Corina Bautista arrived at the scene and was questioned about the Ford. Initially, she reportedly said the car was never there, but then said someone had shot at them when shown footage of the vehicle. Athens man gets more than 5 years in prison for meth trafficking After speaking with Corina, deputies went to her home and found the Ford parked in her driveway. Additionally, a man was seen inside, who was identified as Seferino Bautista-Renteria, Corina's husband. Seferino was questioned and claimed that he was at the lake with his family and then went to Bautista Auto to drop off jet skis. Seferino claimed he and his son were almost hit by the truck Sanchez was in, so they went inside. According to the affidavit, Seferino claimed not to have shown any guns. According to officials, several 7.62-caliber bullet casings were found at the scene of the murder, and Corina admitted there were guns at the business after initially saying there were none at the scene. After obtaining a search warrant, Bautisa Auto officials found two AK-style rifles in the back of the building. Following the investigation, Seferino was arrested and charged with murder and two counts of aggravated assault. On April 3, before 114th District Court Judge Reeve Jackson. Corina was also arrested following the investigation and was charged with tampering with and fabricating physical evidence with intent to impair. On Thursday, Corina was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
San Francisco Chronicle
14-07-2025
- Politics
- San Francisco Chronicle
Milwaukee man pleads guilty to carrying concealed pistol near Republican National Convention
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A Milwaukee man has pleaded guilty to carrying a concealed pistol outside the Republican National Convention's security perimeter last year. Federal agents stopped Donnell Tinsley as he was walking near the convention's security zone on the gathering's first day in July 2024, according to a criminal complaint. Tinsley was wearing black pants and a ski mask and was carrying what the complaint described as a black tactical backpack. Agents found an AK-47-style pistol in the backpack. The arrest came just two days after Thomas Matthew Crooks tried to assassinate Donald Trump during a campaign appearance in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump was a presidential candidate at the time and went on to capture the White House in the November elections. Online court records show Tinsley, now 22, pleaded guilty July 3 to a misdemeanor count of carrying a concealed weapon. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Marisabel Cabrera, a former Democratic state representative, sentenced him to 26 days time served.
Toronto Star
14-07-2025
- Toronto Star
Milwaukee man pleads guilty to carrying concealed pistol near Republican National Convention
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A Milwaukee man has pleaded guilty to carrying a concealed pistol outside the Republican National Convention's security perimeter last year. Federal agents stopped Donnell Tinsley as he was walking near the convention's security zone on the gathering's first day in July 2024, according to a criminal complaint. Tinsley was wearing black pants and a ski mask and was carrying what the complaint described as a black tactical backpack. Agents found an AK-47-style pistol in the backpack.
Winnipeg Free Press
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Milwaukee man pleads guilty to carrying concealed pistol near Republican National Convention
MILWAUKEE (AP) — A Milwaukee man has pleaded guilty to carrying a concealed pistol outside the Republican National Convention's security perimeter last year. Federal agents stopped Donnell Tinsley as he was walking near the convention's security zone on the gathering's first day in July 2024, according to a criminal complaint. Tinsley was wearing black pants and a ski mask and was carrying what the complaint described as a black tactical backpack. Agents found an AK-47-style pistol in the backpack. The arrest came just two days after Thomas Matthew Crooks tried to assassinate Donald Trump during a campaign appearance in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump was a presidential candidate at the time and went on to capture the White House in the November elections. Online court records show Tinsley, now 22, pleaded guilty July 3 to a misdemeanor count of carrying a concealed weapon. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Marisabel Cabrera, a former Democratic state representative, sentenced him to 26 days time served. Tinsley's attorney, public defender Elizabeth Ellsworth-Kasch, declined comment when reached by phone Monday.
