The Daily Moth 5-21-19 (Full Story)
Hello, welcome to The Daily Moth! It is Tuesday, May 21. Ready for news?
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Pregnant mother murdered with unborn baby cut out
One month ago in Chicago, a 19-year-old mother who was pregnant was murdered with her unborn child cut out from her womb. It is a terrible story, but the baby is still fighting for his life in a hospital and opened his eyes on Sunday while he was being held by his father.
The mother’s name was Marlen Ochoa-Lopez.
Three suspects have been arrested in connection with the murder. Two of them are a 46-year-old mother and 24-year-old daughter, and the third is a 40-year-old boyfriend of the mother. Police said they planned in advance to murder Ochoa-Lopez and to raise the baby as their own.
Police said the mother and daughter suspects lured Ochoa-Lopez to a home where she thought she would pick up baby items. She was strangled with a cable and her baby was cut out. The younger suspect called 911 and claimed she just delivered the baby but that it was not breathing.
After an investigation that lasted a few weeks, police found remains of Ochoa-Lopez’s body in a trash can in the backyard of a suspect’s home.
The father of the baby (and the husband of Ochoa-Lopez) said he reported her missing the day after she was killed, but that police told him to come back in 72 hours, then it took them three weeks to figure out what happened.
Police said they believe the motive for the murder is for the suspects to raise the child as their own.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/21/us/chicago-marlen-ochoa-lopez-baby-picture-trnd/index.html
https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/18/us/marlen-ochoa-lopez-saturday/index.html
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“Arthur” episode with same-sex wedding blocked by Alabama Public Television
Children cartoon TV show “Arthur” recently aired an episode that had a same-sex wedding with two men, but it was apparently blocked in Alabama by the Alabama Public Television, who instead aired a rerun.
The episode showed Mr. Ratburn marrying his partner, Patrick.
The APT programming director, Mike McKenzie, told BBC News that if they broadcast it, it would break parents’ trust in the network that children could watch the channel without parental supervision.
“Arthur” is a Canadian/American series about an eight-year-old aardvark and his friends that is broadcast by PBS. The wedding episode was the premiere of their 22nd season.
The wedding episode was popular with many people on social media, but not with APT and people who criticized it as “grooming children.”
Mr. Ratburn is not the first same-sex individual in “Arthur,” as there was an episode in 2005 that showed Arthur’s best friend, Buster (a rabbit) having same-sex mothers. That show was also blocked by Alabama Public Television.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48350023
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Texas transgender woman shot and killed
A transgender woman, Muhlaysia Booker (23), was shot and killed in Dallas last weekend. Her body was found face-down on a street Saturday morning.
She is the same woman who was seen on video being assaulted by a crowd of men in parking lot in a separate incident last month. CBS News explained that this happened after Booker accidentally backed into a car, whose driver got out and pointed a gun at her and said she had to pay for the damage. Someone offered $200 to a 29-year-old man, Edward Thomas, to beat her, and that’s when the assault started. Booker had a concussion, fractured wrist, and other injuries.
Thomas was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and is out of jail. Police said there is nothing to connect him with Booker’s murder.
Police have not identified any suspects in connection to the shooting death.
Booker was an activist who spoke out after her beating last month. Her cousin said people often picked on her because she was a transgender.
The Human Rights Campaign said Booker is the fifth transgender person killed in 2019.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/muhlaysia-booker-transgender-woman-death-highlights-violence-against-trans-women-of-color/
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Nepalese climber reaches Mt. Everest peak 24 times
Kami Rita, a Sherpa climber from Nepal, has reached the peak of Mount Everest a record 24 times. He scaled the peak twice this week.
He grew up in a village by the mountain. He first reached the peak in 1994 and has gone back up almost every year since as a Sherpa guide.
A feature on AlJazeera explained that he was at the Mt. Everest base camp in 2015 when an avalanche swept through, killing 19 people. After that, his family encouraged him to quit mountaineering, but he didn’t give it up.
Rita said he still feels strong and wants to go back for a 25th time.
Mt. Everest is just over 29,000 feet high.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/nepal-climber-scales-mount-everest-record-24th-time-190521080021718.html
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Chick-fil-A employee defends Deaf customers from rude co-workers
Two Deaf customers went to a Chick-fil-A in Hampton, Georgia recently and said they noticed something off about employees, that they seemed to be talking negatively about them behind their back.
Later, a staff member named Shanelle wrote a note to inform them that she confronted two co-workers for talking about them because they were Deaf.
[Image of handwritten note on a Chick-fil-A napkin. It says, “I had to get onto a couple of my coworkers for talking about you all because you all are deaf and it discusted (sic) me. You all are beautiful people! Enjoy your day!” (heart shape)]
The two Deaf people’s names are DeMarco Pittman and Janeth Barahona. DeMarco is a personal trainer and Janeth is his client. They went to eat after a workout.
The two sent a video to The Daily Moth to explain more.
DeMarco Pittman: I already knew because I could read their lips. Then a young woman actually came. She was maybe 19 or 20 years old. God bless her. She gave the note. I could see her shocked face, she was like, wow, I can’t believe this. When I got it, I wasn’t surprised as I’ve experienced this often. I was really grateful for her honesty.
Janeth Barahona: I didn’t realize… I can hear some, but I didn’t realize they would talk bad behind my back. Wow. I want to thank Shanelle… I am impressed that she was inspired by deaf people and that she thinks we are beautiful. I want to thank her and give her something, a surprise maybe.
Alex: Thank you for sharing. It’s certainly a negative experience for the two, but they have applauded Shanelle for not hiding what happened.
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Guest #DeafBing: Slippery Purse
Hasan K:
Hi. Deaf Bing: when you sign and…
(Purse handles slips off)
That.
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That is all for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!