Wednesday, December 19, 2012
DNA Solves 20-Year-Old Murder Cold Case
BRONX, NEW YORK, December19- District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced that a murder charge has been filed against a 60-year-old defendant in connection with the brutal stabbing of a woman in Riverdale 19 years ago on October 20, 1993.
Lucius Crawford, of Beekman Avenue, Mount Vernon, New York, was indicted by the grand jury on one count of murder in the second degree. The indictment alleges that Crawford acted “with intent” in causing the death of 38-year-old Nella West by “blunt force trauma and sharp injuries to the head, face, and abdomen.” The deceased was stabbed multiple times and had sustained multiple fractures to her skull and numerous blunt force injuries and lacerations to her face.
Crawford, who was arrested last month in Mount Vernon, was arraigned before State Supreme Court Justice Richard Lee Price in Part T-16. The judge ordered that Crawford be held without bail.
The homicide remained unsolved until March of this year when the NYC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner developed a full DNA profile of a suspect as a result of advances in DNA technology that was not available when the homicide occurred. Investigators were able to develop a profile from forensic evidence retrieved from vaginal swabs taken from the deceased.
(No sex crime could be charged in this case because the Statute of Limitations for sexual offenses has expired.) The profile was uploaded to the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and was found to be a match to Crawford, who was paroled in 2008 after serving ten years on a conviction in Westchester County.
The investigation was re-opened by the NYPD 50th Precinct Detective Squad and the Bronx District Attorney’s Office as a result of a grant to test DNA forensic evidence in “cold cases”. Court records indicate that upon his apprehension the defendant admitted to causing West’s death.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Rachel Singer, Director of DNA Prosecutions.
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Monday, December 17, 2012
Parkchester News: White Plains Road BID
Parkchester News: White Plains Road BID: (Photo by Robert Press) By Robert Press BRONX, NEW YORK, December 17- The White Plains Road Business Improvement ...
White Plains Road BID
(Photo by Robert Press)
By Robert Press
BRONX, NEW YORK, December 17- The White Plains Road Business Improvement District (BID) was established May,1994, as a not-for-profit community economic development organization with a mission to maintain and enhance business conditions in a four-block area in the Bronx. The area extends from Bolton Street east along Pelham Parkway South to White Plains Road and south for three blocks to Brady Avenue. There are currently 88 stores actively open for business with only three small storefronts that are empty to lease.
The main retail shopping area is characterized by the #2 elevated train which runs up the center of White Plains Road with a stop at Pelham Parkway. Bus connections Bx12, Bx39, and Bx22 are available at Pelham Parkway as well as links to the BxM11 and the Westchester #60 and #61 buses.
The White Plains Road BID is within walking distance of the Bronx Zoo, the Bronx Botanical Gardens, Beth Abraham Hospital and Health Services. Various elementary and intermediate schools as well as Christopher Columbus High School and Saint Catherine’s Academy serve the ethnicity diverse populated houses and apartment buildings that are also in the neighborhood.
The BID provides a uniformed street cleaner who sweeps the sidewalks and curbs twice per day and regularly empties the garbage pails. Holiday lights are up on White Plains Road and a Santa Claus walks up and down the street distributing candy and posing for pictures free-of-charge. The 49th Pct. patrols the White Plains Road BID area regularly with officers that are friendly and helpful to shoppers and the merchants. In cooperation with a group of local businesses (namely: Good N Natural, BX Sports, Creston Optical and Ultimate Studio Martial Arts), innovative commercials have been created which emphasize the advantages of the area, and placed on local cable channels.
For the first time a Chanukah Menorah was lit on White Plains Road on Pelham Parkway at the subway stop, which was provided by newly elected Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj. On hand were Congressman Eliot Engel, State Senator Jeff Klein, Assemblyman Gjonaj, Joe Thompson of the BID, and almost two hundred people including Rabbi Zuckerman who blessed and then lit the menorah.
Mr. Joe Thompson is the Executive Director of the White Plains Road BID. In an interview Mr. Thompson said that he walks to work, and loves helping to improve the area that he lives in. Joe is known by each and every merchant of the BID, and he told me a story about almost every store as we took a walk up and down the BID area.
There are several banks, two major chain drug stores, other national chain stores, a dozen different clothing stores, several places to eat including McDonald’s and Burger King, a supermarket, a post office, many one of a kind stores, and even a municipal parking lot. Some of the stores have increased in size, while others have opened additional stores with the success of the White Plains Road store.
When I asked Mr. Thompson the one store he would like to see in the BID his answer was “well we have almost everything”.
You can go to my blog at www.100percentbronx.blogspot.com to see many photos of the White Plains Road Bid.
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Parkchester News: Joy in Brooklyn as Fordham Beats Princeton
Parkchester News: Joy in Brooklyn as Fordham Beats Princeton: By Howard Goldin BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, December 17- In the first contest of a rare college triple header at Barclays C...
Joy in Brooklyn as Fordham Beats Princeton
By Howard Goldin
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, December 17- In the first contest of a rare college triple header at Barclays Center on Saturday afternoon, the Fordham Rams (2-8) edged the Princeton Tigers (3-6), 63-60, in a highly competitive and exciting contest. The Fordham win ended a five-game losing streak. The visit to Brooklyn was the first for the basketball Rams since November 26, 1985, when they met Long Island University.
The score was tied seven times and the lead changed hands on 15 occasions before Fordham sophomore Ryan Canty, on a pass from Branden Frazier, put in a layup that gave Fordham its final lead, 61-60, with 8 seconds remaining on the clock. The victory was ensured as Bryan Smith netted two free throws with one second remaining in the game.
The first half was efficiently played, a combined total of six turnovers by the two teams, and extremely competitive, six tied scores and 10 lead changes. Each club could not amass an advantage of more than four points.
The first 11 minutes of the second half continued in the same vein. The Rams led, 43-42, with 9:05 left to play. The first of two scoring runs, 12 unanswered points netted by the Tigers, began at that time and led to a double digit lead for the Princeton, 54-42, with 5:39 remaining.
The second scoring run ended with a Fordham victory. The Rams ended the contest by scoring 20 of the final 26 points. Frazier, a junior, was the major contributor to the final drive that led to the win. With the Tigers leading by 10 points, 56-46, late in the second half; Frazier scored his team’s next 13 points, outscoring the Tigers, 13-4. On the next play, Frazier fed Canty for the game winning layup.
Frazier paced all scorers with 19 points, 17 in the second half. He leads the Rams in scoring this season with an average of 15.6 points per game. Fordham coach Tom Pecora commented about Frazier, “He went to school four blocks from here. He’s a Brooklyn kid. He was very aggressive with the basketball. Branden keeps getting better and better.”
Sophomore Ryan Canty has started Fordham’s last four games. In those contests, he is averaging double figures in points and rebounds. He scored 12 and grabbed 15 boards against Princeton. Pecora said, “I’m very pleased with his development [and] he’s playing with a bad back.”
Another weapon that Fordham possessed on Saturday that was missing during the previous six games was the presence of Chris Gaston. The senior, out with an injury suffered on November 13, returned to action on Saturday. Gaston netted 16 points, grabbed five rebounds, blocked two shots and stole the ball twice. Pecora noted his presence, “His presence was great. Chris is a big part of this [win].”
The Rams return to the Rose Hill Gym in the Bronx on the afternoon of December 23 to face Siena.
Another college basketball triple header will be played at Barclays next Saturday. Manhattan College will play South Carolina in game two.
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