Tuesday, June 27 top stories
Hello! I’m Renca and I will be taking Alex’s place for today’s top news. Today is Tuesday, June 27. Here are the stories.
Club Q shooter sentenced over 2,000 years in prison
The person who carried out a mass shooting at a Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub, Club Q, was sentenced to over 2,000 years in prison.
The shooting happened on November 20, 2022. Five people were killed and 25 others were injured. The shooter, Anderson Lee Aldrich, pleaded guilty to five counts of first-degree murder and 46 counts of attempted murder.
The judge in the case, Michael Allen, said it was the second-longest sentence ever imposed in the state of Colorado. The longest sentence was the Aurora theater shooter. The death penalty is not an option in Colorado because the state decided to end the death penalty about three years ago.
Aldrich's sentences include punishment for "bias-motivated charges," which are similar to hate-crime charges in other states.
Kentucky woman shoots and kills Uber Driver in Texas
An Uber driver from El Paso, Texas died after his passenger shot him in the back of the head. The passenger's name is Phoebe Copas from Kentucky and she got into Uber to meet with her boyfriend. The Uber driver’s name was Daniel Piedra (52) and he started as an Uber driver just 3 weeks ago. This incident happened on June 16th and right now Copas is charged with a count of murder and she is being held on a $1.5 million bond.
The news articles explain that Copas assumed she was being kidnapped to Mexico when she saw traffic signs that showed the words “Juarez, Mexico.” Seeing those signs made Copas think Piedra was trying to kidnap her and take her to the border. So, she pulled out her handgun from her purse and shot Piedra on the back right side of his head, and then the vehicle crashed into the roadway barriers.
Copas took pictures of him and sent her to her boyfriend before calling 911. The police arrived and saw Copas’ boyfriend helping her out of the car. Piedra was hospitalized for several days before pronouncing brain dead- the family decided to take him off life support.
Piedra’s family said he was a good man and worked hard. The family said that they wish Copas asked questions first rather than acting on impulse because she did not just ruin the family’s life but also ruined her life. Piedra’s family set up a GoFundMe page to help with the hospital and funeral expenses.
Chicago billionaire dies from car crash
A famous Chicago billionaire, James Crown (70), died in a car crash at a racetrack in Colorado last Sunday. He died on the same day that he turned 70. He suffered blunt force trauma after hitting an impact barrier at Aspen Motorsports Park in Woody Creek.
The official cause of death is still pending autopsy, but the blunt force trauma is evident. Crown is part of Chicago’s wealthy Crown family, a board member at JPMorgan, owned Aspen Skiing Company, and many other business ventures.
Former President Barack Obama appointed Crown to be on his administration’s Intelligence Advisory Board in 2014 and he called Crown his “dear friend.” He tweeted his statement and said that Crown was a “pillar of Chicago.” Crown is survived by his wife Paula and four children.
—----
[Sponsored Video from Sorenson: www.sorenson.com]
—--------
A couple celebrating their 50th anniversary was stabbed to death
A couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary was stabbed to death in Newton, Massachusetts. Authorities arrested a 41-year-old man named Christopher Ferguson.
He is charged with killing 73-year-old Gilda “Jill” D’Amore, 74-year-old Bruno D’Amore, and Jill’s mother who was 97 years old. An attorney mentioned that there is no connection between the three of them and the murderer.
In one of the articles by ABC News, it says that the police did find forced entry into the basement and there were obvious signs of struggles inside the house. The police said this was a random act of violence.
What led up to the police finding Ferguson was the footprint and fingerprint of blood stains on the screens and windows. The bodies were found when a friend went to check on them because they did not show up at church this recent Sunday.
The community and the church that the couple goes to are all mourning over their death because it was "senseless." The attorney says that this incident is tragic, but even more because these people got together to celebrate the couple's wedding anniversary.
Canada wildfire smoke reaches Europe
Canada has officially marked its worst wildfire season on record. The smoke from their wildfire has reached the western parts of Europe. The wildfire seasons in Canada are usually from June to August and over 18 million acres have already been burned and they are only halfway in their wildfire season.
Earlier this month, the wildfires did cover New York City and have reached as far as the United Kingdom. So, now with the smoke reaching more of Western Europe, experts say that people will see vivid sunrises and sunsets in the next few days.
That’s all for now. Enjoy your Tuesday and remember to stay with the light.
Club Q:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/26/us/club-q-shooting-suspect-court-appearance/index.html
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/26/uber-driver-shot-texas-woman-kidnapping-claims
Crown:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/james-crown-dies-car-crash-colorado-racetrack-chicago-billionaire/
https://nypost.com/2023/06/26/billionaire-james-crown-dies-in-crash-at-colorado-racetrack/
Anniversary:
https://apnews.com/article/50th-anniversary-couple-stabbed-0f9b9486e3ffe9be1ce644851dac7334
Canada:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/26/americas/canada-wildfire-season-worst-2023/index.html