FlutterbyeWings

Police are searching the frigid New Jersey Raritan River where they are expecting to find the body of the three month-old.  Shamshiddon Abdur-Raheem, 21, is believed to have abducted his infant daughter from the custody of her maternal grandmother and driven her to the Driskoll Bridge and thrown her into the river below.

Rescue crews were out all night and continued to search the river this morning, said Stephen Jones, spokesperson for the New Jersey State Police. Shamshiddin Abdur-Raheem is charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault, and possession of a weapon by East Orange police.

Source

The superintendent in Zara’s grandmother’s apartment, Chris Bailey, witnessed the incident and reported that Abdur-Raheem assaulted the woman before leaving with the baby.

“He pushed his way in and knocked her to the floor,” Bailey said according to Benjamin.

The grandmother, wearing a t-shirt, sweatpants and no shoes, ran after Abdur-Raheem, who was clutching the baby, all the way to the lobby and outside. At one point, Bailey said, she tried to snatch the infant, but the 21-year-old overpowered her.

Abdur-Raheem was not married to Zara’s mother, Venetta Benjamin, and did not have any custody rights for the infant.

Bailey said the girlfriend allegedly had a restraining order against Abdur-Raheem and that there was friction before the kidnapping Tuesday night.

Tags: Zara Malani Abdur-Raheem

Lavion was to young to have the concept of fear and especially fear of one of his caretakers.  Robert Long, however, has been charged with the six month old’s murder.

Lavion was found dead Wednesday of multiple blunt-force injuries, said Jim Wesley, a deputy Jefferson County coroner. His death was ruled a homicide.

Long, who is Lavion’s father, has been charged with murder, menacing, tampering with physical evidence and abuse of a corpse. He is being held at Metro Corrections.

Source

Leslie Gamble, Lavion’s mother, left the infant in his father’s care while she went to work her night shift job.  She had checked in with Leon around 10 pm and assured the baby was asleep and fine.  When she got in the next morning, Long and Lavion were gone, but the diaper bag had been left behind.  At that point Gamble become concerned about her son’s whereabouts.

Police became involved and were on the verge of issuing an Amber Alert when in SUV that had gone missing at the same time as Lavion and Long, was found outside the residence of his current girlfriend.  Inside the vehicle was the body of the infant.  Long himself was found inside the house asleep.  He was arrested and charged with murder, menacing, tampering with physical evidence and abuse of a corpse.

The death of Lavion is tragic enough but this is not the first time Long has murder his child.  In 1991, he was the caregiver when his son Robert Leon Long also died.  Long gave conflicting stories about what happened to the five week-old but was brought to trial for murder.

Long was tried twice for that son’s death.During the first trial, in November 1991, Long claimed that police coerced his confession, in which he said that he’d beaten the baby and let him fall off the bed.

In a 26-minute taped statement to police, Long said that the baby would not stop crying and he tried to comfort him. But he said nothing worked — not a bottle, pacifier or a new diaper.“Something just came over me, and I hit him,” Long said in the statement, according to newspaper accounts of the trial. He told police that he struck the child three times and “just went blank. I could see myself doing things to him and it was like, one side of me, it was like, stop, and the other side was like, no. …”

But during his testimony at the first trial, Long claimed that police forced him to make that confession when, in fact, he’d lost control of his son when he started to squirm. Long said his son accidentally fell down the stairs.

Although the first trial ended in a mistrial, jurors on the second trial found Long guilty and sentenced him to 35 years.  He was released under supervised probation after twelve years.  A year later a woman obtained a restraining order against him claiming that he was violent.

n the complaint, the woman said she had lived with Long for about eight months. She said she ended the relationship because of Long’s “violent ways.”

He tried to run her off the road while her children were in the car, attempted to choke her and threw her up against the wall, her complaint said. She said he stalked and threatened her.

“I am afraid of him,” she wrote. “I want him to stay away.”

Despite this, Long’s probation was not revoked and the family of his mother, Leslie Gamble, said they did not know about his violent past.  Instead they blame police for not taking the missing infant seriously assuming it was a custody issue.  There appears to be enough blame to go around in Lavion’s death.

Tags: Lavion R. Gamble

Amber Alert Issued for 8 Year Old Oklahoma Girl

Posted: MKonday, January 25, 2010 8:12 AM CT

The State of Oklahoma issued the Amber Alert Monday morning (1-25) after the girl was reportedly abducted by the suspect from her home in Geronimo late Sunday. The girl’s mother was found dead in the home and the suspect is wanted for questioning in the woman’s homicide. The suspect should be considered dangerous.

Aja Johnson, a white female, 8 years old, 4′, 65 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. She has a very thin build.

The suspect is Lester Hobbs, a white male, 47 years old, 5′9″, 180 pounds with green eyes.

The suspect vehicle is a 1992 white Toyota Paseo with Oklahoma tag number 577BPW. The back window has been replaced with a piece of sheet metal.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Comanche County Sheriff’s Office at 580-353-4280 or dial 911.

Tags: Aja Johnson

Update: Tragically the Amber Alert for Aveion has been canceled after law enforcement report that stepfather now admits that the toddler was not abducted as originally stated but was in fact probably dead before the initial 911 call was made.

Charges have not been filed yet but police continue their investigation questioning not only the stepfather but Aveion’s mother as well.

Amber Alert Issued for 2 Year Old Virginia Boy

Posted: Friday, January 15, 2010 8:44 APM CT

The State of Virginia issued the Amber Alert Friday morning (1-15) after the boy was reportedly abducted by the suspects from his home in Roanoke late Thursday. The boy’s stepfather was knocked unconscious by the suspects and a note demanding money was left at the scene.

Aveion Malik Lewis, a black male, 2 years old, 2′ 6″, 26 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. Hhe was last seen wearing a yellow Sponge Bob Squarepants Footie Pajamas.

There are three suspects. The first is know as Tony, a black male in his late 20’s, 6′ 2″, stocky build with a full beard. He was last seen wearing a black hoodie shirt, black Puffy fur collar jacket and a black du rag. The two additional suspects are described as black males, both about 5′11″ and in their early to mid 20’s, One was wearing a brown hat with white writing. He has a light complexion and no facial hair. The second has Dreadlocks hair a light complexion and was wearing Red baseball cap.

The suspect vehicle is a white 1990’s Chevy Blazer.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Virginia State Police at 1-800-822-4453 or dial 911.

Tags: Aveion Malik Lewis