Latest news with #AL.com
NDTV
9 hours ago
- NDTV
3 Men Arrested For Raping Children, Holding Hostage In Underground Bunker In US
New Delhi: Three men have been arrested for allegedly running a child sex abuse operation inside an underground bunker in Brent, Alabama. The suspects are accused of raping, sodomising, and trafficking six children for more than a year. According to court documents obtained by the alleged abuse began around New Year's Day 2024 and continued until April 29, 2025, when the suspects were arrested. The victims, including a three-year-old girl and a six-year-old boy, were between the ages of 3 and 10. The charges state that children underwent oral sex, anal sex and vaginal sex. One of the accused sold minors to various clientele for sexual pleasure, according to the court documents. The investigation began in February 2025 after the Bibb County Sheriff's Office received information that the abuse was taking place in an underground bunker. During the investigation and interrogation, the first suspect was 21-year-old William Chase McElroy, who was arrested on February 11. He admitted to raping at least one of the young girls and fondling the male victim. He is currently serving sentence in Bibb County Jail for multiple serious charges, including four counts of rape, six counts of human trafficking, six counts of sodomy, and four counts of kidnapping. On April 25, another suspect, Dalton Terrell, 21, was arrested. He also revealed having sexual intercourse with a minor, according to state court documents. He has been charged with six counts of rape, twelve counts of sodomy, and five counts of human trafficking. He is also in jail. Four days later, the third suspect, Andres Velazquez-Trejo, 29, was arrested on six counts of human trafficking. He is currently in jail for selling nude images of the victims. "Sheriff Jody Wade reiterates that such abhorrent behaviour will not be tolerated in Bibb County and that offenders will face prosecution to the fullest extent of the law. As this is an ongoing case, details are currently limited," read a Facebook post by the authorities.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Alabama man's death is ruled a homicide after police kneeled on his neck
Alabama Police Death The death of an unarmed 52-year-old man who died after an Alabama police officer kneeled on his neck was ruled a homicide by a county coroner, according to an official autopsy reviewed by The Associated Press. The finding led lawyers representing Phillip Reeder's family on Monday to compare his death to that of George Floyd in 2020. The report issued by the Jefferson County medical examiner's office concludes Reeder, of Irondale, Alabama, died last August of heart failure "associated with cocaine use and restraint during altercation." Officers in the Alabama suburb 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Birmingham were dispatched to a local highway just after 5 a.m. on August 6, 2024, after one of Reeder's colleagues called 911 to report a medical emergency, according to Reeder's wife, Sandra Lee Reeder. Phillip Reeder, who owned a construction company, was driving home from a job in Memphis, Tennessee, she said. At the time, police said Reeder was wandering in and out of traffic when they approached him, according to Body camera video of Reeder's death has not been released publicly, but Sandra Lee Reeder and her attorneys said they reviewed it last week. A 2023 state law that governs release of police recordings says the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency may choose to not disclose the recording if it would affect an active law enforcement investigation. An email seeking comment from the Irondale police chief was sent Monday morning. Sandra Lee Reeder said that the body camera footage shows her husband running from police when they arrived. Police then shocked Reeder with a Taser, placed him in handcuffs and laid him on his stomach, she said. One officer put his knee on Reeder's neck for over three minutes, she said. Sandra Lee Reeder said her husband can be heard saying 'I can't breathe' three times. The autopsy said Reed had multiple non-leathal wounds and bruising from the attempted arrest by the police. Sandra Lee Reeder said she could see he was bleeding from his face in the video. Reeder was unresponsive when the officer rolled him over onto his back, according to the coroner's report. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital just after 6:30 a.m. Harry Daniels, an attorney for the Reeder family, compared the fatality to the death of George Floyd in 2020, which prompted months of protests and widespread scrutiny over police tactics. 'This world was captivated and shocked about what happened in 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 2024, the exact same thing happened,' Daniels said at a news conference outside Irondale City Hall on Monday. Daniels said that the only difference between what happened to Reeder and Floyd is race: Reeder was white and Floyd was Black. Reeder may have committed misdemeanor disorderly conduct by wandering into traffic, but 'it is not warranted for a knee in the back — that is deadly force,' he said. Reeder's two sons said that they also reviewed the body camera video of their father's last moments this month after almost a year of asking the local police department and state agency for more information. 'What I have gone through these past 11 months should not happen to any 19-year-old,' Zachariah Phillip Reeder said. ___ Riddle reported from Montgomery, Alabama. She is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Alabama man's death is ruled a homicide after police kneeled on his neck
The death of an unarmed 52-year-old man who died after an Alabama police officer kneeled on his neck was ruled a homicide by a county coroner, according to an official autopsy reviewed by The Associated Press. The finding led lawyers representing Phillip Reeder's family on Monday to compare his death to that of George Floyd in 2020. The report issued by the Jefferson County medical examiner's office concludes Reeder, of Irondale, Alabama, died last August of heart failure 'associated with cocaine use and restraint during altercation.' Officers in the Alabama suburb 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Birmingham were dispatched to a local highway just after 5 a.m. on August 6, 2024, after one of Reeder's colleagues called 911 to report a medical emergency, according to Reeder's wife, Sandra Lee Reeder. Phillip Reeder, who owned a construction company, was driving home from a job in Memphis, Tennessee, she said. At the time, police said Reeder was wandering in and out of traffic when they approached him, according to Body camera video of Reeder's death has not been released publicly, but Sandra Lee Reeder and her attorneys said they reviewed it last week. A 2023 state law that governs release of police recordings says the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency may choose to not disclose the recording if it would affect an active law enforcement investigation. An email seeking comment from the Irondale police chief was sent Monday morning. Sandra Lee Reeder said that the body camera footage shows her husband running from police when they arrived. Police then shocked Reeder with a Taser, placed him in handcuffs and laid him on his stomach, she said. One officer put his knee on Reeder's neck for over three minutes, she said. Sandra Lee Reeder said her husband can be heard saying 'I can't breathe' three times. The autopsy said Reed had multiple non-leathal wounds and bruising from the attempted arrest by the police. Sandra Lee Reeder said she could see he was bleeding from his face in the video. Reeder was unresponsive when the officer rolled him over onto his back, according to the coroner's report. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital just after 6:30 a.m. Harry Daniels, an attorney for the Reeder family, compared the fatality to the death of George Floyd in 2020, which prompted months of protests and widespread scrutiny over police tactics. 'This world was captivated and shocked about what happened in 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 2024, the exact same thing happened,' Daniels said at a news conference outside Irondale City Hall on Monday. Daniels said that the only difference between what happened to Reeder and Floyd is race: Reeder was white and Floyd was Black. Reeder may have committed misdemeanor disorderly conduct by wandering into traffic, but 'it is not warranted for a knee in the back — that is deadly force,' he said. Reeder's two sons said that they also reviewed the body camera video of their father's last moments this month after almost a year of asking the local police department and state agency for more information. 'What I have gone through these past 11 months should not happen to any 19-year-old,' Zachariah Phillip Reeder said. ___ Riddle reported from Montgomery, Alabama. She is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
2 days ago
Alabama man's death is ruled a homicide after police kneeled on his neck
The death of an unarmed 52-year-old man who died after an Alabama police officer kneeled on his neck was ruled a homicide by a county coroner, according to an official autopsy reviewed by The Associated Press. The finding led lawyers representing Phillip Reeder's family on Monday to compare his death to that of George Floyd in 2020. The report issued by the Jefferson County medical examiner's office concludes Reeder, of Irondale, Alabama, died last August of heart failure "associated with cocaine use and restraint during altercation." Officers in the Alabama suburb 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Birmingham were dispatched to a local highway just after 5 a.m. on August 6, 2024, after one of Reeder's colleagues called 911 to report a medical emergency, according to Reeder's wife, Sandra Lee Reeder. Phillip Reeder, who owned a construction company, was driving home from a job in Memphis, Tennessee, she said. At the time, police said Reeder was wandering in and out of traffic when they approached him, according to Body camera video of Reeder's death has not been released publicly, but Sandra Lee Reeder and her attorneys said they reviewed it last week. A 2023 state law that governs release of police recordings says the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency may choose to not disclose the recording if it would affect an active law enforcement investigation. An email seeking comment from the Irondale police chief was sent Monday morning. Sandra Lee Reeder said that the body camera footage shows her husband running from police when they arrived. Police then shocked Reeder with a Taser, placed him in handcuffs and laid him on his stomach, she said. One officer put his knee on Reeder's neck for over three minutes, she said. Sandra Lee Reeder said her husband can be heard saying 'I can't breathe' three times. The autopsy said Reed had multiple non-leathal wounds and bruising from the attempted arrest by the police. Sandra Lee Reeder said she could see he was bleeding from his face in the video. Reeder was unresponsive when the officer rolled him over onto his back, according to the coroner's report. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital just after 6:30 a.m. Harry Daniels, an attorney for the Reeder family, compared the fatality to the death of George Floyd in 2020, which prompted months of protests and widespread scrutiny over police tactics. 'This world was captivated and shocked about what happened in 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 2024, the exact same thing happened,' Daniels said at a news conference outside Irondale City Hall on Monday. Daniels said that the only difference between what happened to Reeder and Floyd is race: Reeder was white and Floyd was Black. Reeder may have committed misdemeanor disorderly conduct by wandering into traffic, but 'it is not warranted for a knee in the back — that is deadly force,' he said. Reeder's two sons said that they also reviewed the body camera video of their father's last moments this month after almost a year of asking the local police department and state agency for more information. 'What I have gone through these past 11 months should not happen to any 19-year-old,' Zachariah Phillip Reeder said.
San Francisco Chronicle
2 days ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Alabama man's death is ruled a homicide after police kneeled on his neck
The death of an unarmed 52-year-old man who died after an Alabama police officer kneeled on his neck was ruled a homicide by a county coroner, according to an official autopsy reviewed by The Associated Press. The finding led lawyers representing Phillip Reeder's family on Monday to compare his death to that of George Floyd in 2020. The report issued by the Jefferson County medical examiner's office concludes Reeder, of Irondale, Alabama, died last August of heart failure "associated with cocaine use and restraint during altercation." Officers in the Alabama suburb 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Birmingham were dispatched to a local highway just after 5 a.m. on August 6, 2024, after one of Reeder's colleagues called 911 to report a medical emergency, according to Reeder's wife, Sandra Lee Reeder. Phillip Reeder, who owned a construction company, was driving home from a job in Memphis, Tennessee, she said. At the time, police said Reeder was wandering in and out of traffic when they approached him, according to Body camera video of Reeder's death has not been released publicly, but Sandra Lee Reeder and her attorneys said they reviewed it last week. A 2023 state law that governs release of police recordings says the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency may choose to not disclose the recording if it would affect an active law enforcement investigation. An email seeking comment from the Irondale police chief was sent Monday morning. Sandra Lee Reeder said that the body camera footage shows her husband running from police when they arrived. Police then shocked Reeder with a Taser, placed him in handcuffs and laid him on his stomach, she said. One officer put his knee on Reeder's neck for over three minutes, she said. Sandra Lee Reeder said her husband can be heard saying 'I can't breathe' three times. The autopsy said Reed had multiple non-leathal wounds and bruising from the attempted arrest by the police. Sandra Lee Reeder said she could see he was bleeding from his face in the video. Reeder was unresponsive when the officer rolled him over onto his back, according to the coroner's report. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital just after 6:30 a.m. Harry Daniels, an attorney for the Reeder family, compared the fatality to the death of George Floyd in 2020, which prompted months of protests and widespread scrutiny over police tactics. 'This world was captivated and shocked about what happened in 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 2024, the exact same thing happened,' Daniels said at a news conference outside Irondale City Hall on Monday. Daniels said that the only difference between what happened to Reeder and Floyd is race: Reeder was white and Floyd was Black. Reeder may have committed misdemeanor disorderly conduct by wandering into traffic, but 'it is not warranted for a knee in the back — that is deadly force,' he said. Reeder's two sons said that they also reviewed the body camera video of their father's last moments this month after almost a year of asking the local police department and state agency for more information. 'What I have gone through these past 11 months should not happen to any 19-year-old,' Zachariah Phillip Reeder said. ___
