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Cleveland teen Alianna DeFreeze's killer gets death penalty as the Imperial Women Coalition applauds Judge Carolyn Friedland's death sentence

26 March 2018

Kathy

Pictured are 14-year-old Alianna DeFreeze of Cleveland, and her killer, 45-year-old Christopher Whitaker

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog with some 5 million views on Google Plus alone.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, and who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.

CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM-CLEVELAND, Ohio-Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Carolyn Friedland, on Monday, sentenced teen rapist and murderer Christopher Whitaker to death, Whitaker found guilty last month by a 12-member Cuyahoga County jury of aggravated murder, rape, kidnapping and other crimes in the death of 14-year-old Alianna DeFreeze of Cleveland

The same 12-member jury recommended a death sentence last month for the 45-year-old Whitaker, who had confessed, saying he was high on cocaine and acting out the morning of the gruesome murder. And he has apologized to the victim's family.

Donnesha Cooper, Alianna's mother, said Whitaker has no conscience

"I don't believe he'll have any remorse until he suffers like my daughter suffered," said Cooper at sentencing on Monday, who was among several speakers at court seeking justice for the teen's murder, including Alianna's father, Donald DeFreeze, a grandmother, and her stepmother.

Whitaker raped and dismembered the 7th grader, who was Black, as is he, at an abandoned home in January of last year in the Kinsman -Mount Pleasant neighborhood on Cleveland's largely Black east side.

But Whitaker and his lawyers did not want him put to death, the height of punishment in the state of Ohio for aggravated murder.

Some community activists say that while that are not pro-death penalty in general due in part to the racial and undemocratic discrepancies in the nation's legal system, that in this matter they applaud Judge Friedland's decision for death for the teen murderer.

"We are pleased that Judge Carolyn Friedland accepted the jury's recommendation for the death penalty for Mr Whitaker, and we will follow this case realtive to any appeals and other legal matters that might open a loop hole for this monster," said community activist Kathy Wray Coleman of Cleveland, who leads the Imperial Women Coalition, a women's and children's rights group founded relative to heightened rape and murders of Black women and girls and other women and girls in Cleveland since 2009.

The girl's dismembered body was found in an abandoned home that January morning in 2017 at the the 9400 block of Fullmer Avenue, after she was snatched by Whitaker in the 3400 block of East 149th Street as she was getting off the RTA bus headed to school.

Alianna never arrived at school, and her mother, notified some 10 hours later by authorities of her absence from school that day, filed a missing person's report.

The teen's maimed body was identified by the Cuyahoga County medical examiner's office through dental records.

Whitaker used his sex offender's address of South Euclid, Ohio but lived in Cleveland, investigators said. He served time in prison for sexual battery, among other convictions, and is in jail held on a $3 million bond.

DNA linked Whitaker to the crime.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 28 March 2018 17:05

Judge to sentence the killer of Clevelander Alianna DeFreeze on March 26, 2018: Imperial Women Coalition supports jury's recommendation for death for Christopher Whitaker saying he must be held accountable for his crimes

25 March 2018

Kathy

Pictured are 14-year-old Alianna DeFreeze of Cleveland, and her killer, 45-year-old Christopher Whitaker

CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM-CLEVELAND, Ohio-A Cuyahoga County jury last month recommended death for convicted murderer and teen rapist Christopher Whitaker, the sex offender who kidnapped, raped and dismembered 7th grader Alianna DeFreeze at an abandoned home in January of last year in the Kinsman neighborhood on Cleveland's largely Black east side.

Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Carolyn Friedland, per state law, will decide, following a sentencing hearing at 11 am March 26, whether to accept the jury's recommendation or to sentenced Whitaker to life in prison.

The same 12-member jury that recommended a death sentence last month convicted the 45-year-old Whitaker on all counts, including aggravated murder, rape and kidnapping.

Whitaker, of Cleveland, confessed to the crimes, saying he was high on cocaine and acting out the morning of the gruesome murder. And he has apologized to the victim's family.

But Whitaker and his lawyers do not want him put to death, the height of punishment in the state of Ohio for aggravated murder.

Cleveland community activist organizers want Whitaker, who literally dismembered Alianna's body with lawn tools, including a saw, punished to the hilt under state law, and they are upset.

"We are pleased with the jury's verdict as well as its recommendation for the death penalty for Mr. Whitaker," said community activist Kathy Wray Coleman of Cleveland, who leads the Imperial Women Coalition, a women's and children's rights group founded relative to heightened rape and murders of Black women and girls and other women and girls in Cleveland since 2009.

Coleman said that Whitaker "must be held accountable for his crimes against this young and innocent Black girl that he kidnapped, raped, tortured and dismembered and we hope he rots in hell."

The 14-year-old Black girl, whose dismembered body was found in January 2017 by police in an abandoned home at the the 9400 block of Fullmer Avenue, was snatched by Whitaker in the 3400 block of East 149th Street as she was getting off the RTA bus headed to school.

Alianna never arrived at school, and her mother, notified some 10 hours later, filed a missing person's report.

The child's maimed body was identified by the Cuyahoga County medical examiner's office through dental records.

DNA linked Whitaker to the crime.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 28 March 2018 17:06

Cleveland East 93rd Street Serial Murders anniversary rally and vigil to be held March 28, 2018 at Bessemer and East 93rd Street at 5 pm to remember murder victims Jazmine Trotter, 20, Ashley Leszyeski, 21, Christine Malone 45, and Jameela Hasan, 37

22 March 2018

Kathy

.Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog with some 5 million views on Google Plus alone.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, and who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.

CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM, CLEVELAND, Ohio- Activists, family members of the murdered victims, and the community in general, will remember Cleveland East 93rd Street area murder victims Jazmine Trotter, 20, Ashley Leszyeski, 21, Christine Malone 45, Jameela Hasan, 37 and Alianna DeFreeze, 14 during a rally and vigil at 5 pm on Wednesday, March 28, 2018 at East 93rd Street and Bessemer Avenue in Cleveland, the day five years ago the dead body of Christine Malone was found at Bessemer and East 93rd Street in a vacant field. (For more information contact the Cleveland-based Imperialwomencoalition.com Tel: (216) 659-0473 Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com).

The aforementioned were murdered on the city's largely Black east side along a two mile strip from East 93rd Street and Bessemer Avenue up to Harvard Avenue.

All of the victims are Black, other than Leszyeski, a west side Cleveland resident who was found dead in a vacant field with a hand cut off.

The bodies of Trotter and DeFreeze were discovered at abandoned homes.

Hasan was stabbed 17 times in an east side apartment.

Their killer, aside from Alianna, whose killer, Christopher Whitaker, was convicted of her murder this year and will be sentenced March 26 before Judge Carolyn Friedland, remains at large.

Community activists and the murder victims families want answers as to the city's assertiveness in finding the killer or killers and an update from city officials on cold cases regarding murdered and raped women and girls, Black and poor women and girls in particular.

"We have asked city officials to update us at the rally and vigil on these cold cases that continue to haunt the Black community and we need to be assured that city officials are doing everything possible to seek to eradicate violence against women and girls in this largely Black major American city, particularly Black and poor victims of heinous violence that are sometimes discounted " said Cleveland activist Kathy Wray Coleman, a key organizer of the event who leads the grassroots group Imperialwomencoalition.com.

Speakers include three of Malone's eight surviving children, state Rep Bill Patmon, Cleveland Ward 6 Councilman Blaine Griffin, and activists Genevieve Mitchell, Fatima Chui, Dick Peery, Kathy Wray Coleman, Khalid Samad, Don Bryant, Gail Sparks, Alana Garrett, Patrice Brown and Alfred Porter Jr.

Hasan was murdered in December of 2012, Malone and Trotter, both in March of 2013, Leszyeski in May of 2013, and DeFreeze, in January of 2017.

Affiliated activist groups include Imperial Women Coalition, Women's March Cleveland, International Women's Day March Cleveland,Clevelandurbannews.com, Black Man's Army, Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, National Council of Negro Women-Cuyahoga Coiunty Chapter Find Our Children-Missing- Ebony Alert, Rebuilding Our Village and Protecting Our Children's Safety, Peace in the Hood, Black on Black Crime Inc, Greater Cleveland Immigrant Support Network, the People's Forun, the Task Force for Community Mobilization, Black Empowerment Makes a Difference (BEMAD), Carl Stokes Brigade.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 28 March 2018 18:05

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue, who is Black, steps down temporarily, state Rep Bill Patmon, a Black Democrat and former councilman, saying Lue is one of Cleveland's greatest assets, Lue having coached the Cavs to their first NBA title

19 March 2018

Kathy

CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM-CLEVELAND,Ohio-Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue is stepping down temporarily, beginning with tonight's game against the Milwaukee Bucks, franchise officials announced Monday, his health condition purportedly at issue, and his health ailment a mystery.

"After many conversations with our doctors and Koby [Altman] and much thought given to what is best for the team and my health, I need to step back from coaching for the time being and focus on trying to establish a stronger and healthier foundation from which to coach for the rest of the season," Lue said in a press statement.

Black elected officials of Cleveland were supportive of the coach, as were other fans in general.

"Cleveland will miss one of its best assets in Tyronn Lue," said state Rep Bill Patmon (D-10), a Cleveland Democrat and former city councilman. "We wish him the best and hope to see him again as a head coach in Cleveland."

Larry Drew, the team's chief assistant, will step up in Lue's place, for now.

Lue, 40 and Black, was hired as an associate coach in 2014 and was promoted to head coach mid season 2015-201.

In 2016y, he led the Cavaliers to their first NBA title championship in a contentious series with the Golden State Warriors.

The Cavs lost the championship title to the Warriors last year and have been struggling this season, accumulating a 40-29 win-loss season record to date, and slipping from last season's first place ranking in the Eastern Conference to third place.

Lue missed the second half of Saturday's win over the Bulls, as he did after halftime relative to the game last month against Orlando Magic. And he missed the Dec. 21 game against the Bulls in its entirety.

Last Updated on Thursday, 22 March 2018 14:52

Activists urge voters to vote Andrew J. Santoli (pictured) judge of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas on May 8 over attorney William McGinty, McGinty accused of misrepresenting indigent Blacks falsely accused of assault on White cops

18 March 2018

Kathy

CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM-EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio-A group of Cleveland community activists is urging Cuyahoga County voters to vote yes to judicial candidate Andrew Santoli and no to his opponent, criminal defense attorney William McGinty in the May 8 primary election ballot for judge for an open seat on the the 34- member general division common pleas court of Cuyahoga County, a county that includes the largely Black city of Cleveland.

Santoli has the endorsement of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party, Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, who is Black and leads Ohio's majority Black 1th congressional district, and a wealth of labor unions, elected officials and powerful Democrats

He is easy going, and has a contagious smile, and he talks like he wants to make things right, if prosecutors can win Blacks and others who question whether they can effectively make the transition from prosecutor to an impartial jurist.

"We need judges who recognize the unique challenges facing the criminal justice system, judges that are fair, just, empathetic" Santoli said at his campaign website of at andrewsantoli.com "Help me bring the experience we need to our criminal justice system."

William McGinty, who is of no relation to ousted and former county prosecutor Tim McGinty, is under fire by community activists and is accused of misrepresenting indigent Blacks falsely accused of assault on White cops, and his law firm of which represents the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association and Cleveland cops that gun down unarmed Black people.

A Democrat, Santoli seeks election to the term commencing Jan 3, 2019 in a two-way race and the winner will face Republican Lorraine Coyne, an assistant Cleveland city prosecutor accused of maliciously prosecuting Blacks for corrupt judges and city officials, in the November gnereal election.

No Black took out petitions in this judicial racet.

"We have studied this judicial race and urge voters to vote for Andrew Santoli for a seat on the common pleas bench instead of his two anti-Black and anti-Democratic opponents, William McGinty and Lorraine Coyne, whom we believe are both unqualified and have both undermined the Black community," said community activist Kathy Wray Coleman, a leader of the grassroots group Imperial Women Coalition and a former, 14-year public school biology teacher and Call and Post Newspaper reporter who now edits Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read digital Black newspaper and its most read blog.

Among several races for office this year, the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections is overseeing 12 general division common pleas court judicial races, two of them judges running unopposed of Judges Tim McComick and Cassandra Collier- Williams, one of two Blacks on the common pleas court.

They are six-year common pleas court terms in Cuyahoga, the state's second largest county of 88 counties statewide, a county that is roughly 29 percent Black, and a Democratic stronghold.

Other races for the May 8 primary include congressional races and the U.S Senate race, judge-ships on the juvenile court bench of Cuyahoga County, and seats in the 8th District Court of Appeals and the Ohio Supreme Court, and other statewide races, including for governor, as well as races for the state senate and house of representatives, and Cuyahoga County Council.

A Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com investigation reveals that McGinty, who is no relation to former county prosecutor Tim McGinty, is a prominent criminal defense attorney and indigent counsel assigned malicious cases that Blacks have assaulted to corrupt White cops by by common pleas judge Joe Russo, the two colluding and doubling the Black defendant's bond once it was paid, McGinty later quitting the case.

This is coupled with outright misrepresentation across the board in some cases of Blacks facing criminal charges in the common pleas court, which hears felonies, lawsuits with damages sought above $15,000, and a host of other legal matters.

Just last week McGinty's law partner, Henry Hilow, made news in rejecting an offer of dismissal of charges by the city of East Cleveland to his clients, five White Cleveland police supervisors prosecuted for failing to control a 22-mile chase that led to the 137 shots shooting deaths in 2012 of unarmed Blacks Malissa Williams and Timothy Russell by 13- non Black Cleveland cops.

Activists are calling for a municipal court trial for the police supervisors "before a duly impaneled jury of their peers."

The supervisors, Randolph Dailey, Patricia Coleman, Michael Donegan, Jason Edens and Paul Wilson, who were indicted in 2014 by a Cuyahoga County grand jury for failure to control, face a single misdemeanor charge of dereliction of duty, the case ultimately transferred form Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas to East Cleveland Municipal Court

The charge is a second degree misdemeanor and the supervisors face a possible 90 days in jail, and $750 fine.

Hilow called the city's offer of dismissal in exchange for restitution extortion and said prosecutors should either dismiss the case or proceed to trial.

Williams, 30, and Russell, 43, both homeless and struggling with drug addiction, were gunned down on November 29, 2012 by 13 non-Black Cleveland cops slinging 137 bullets following a high speed car chase from downtown Cleveland to Heritage Middle School in neighboring East Cleveland, a largely Black impoverished suburb of Cleveland.

Police claim Russell's car backfired and it was mistaken as a shot at police, a scheme, say community activists, to avoid prosecution and to escape accountability for one of Cleveland's most notorious excessive force atrocities.

Last year an arbitrator handed five of the six officers directly involved in the shooting who were fired relative to the incident their jobs back.

A sixth Cleveland police officer, Michael Brelo, whom Common Pleas Judge John O'Donnell acquitted of affiliated voluntary manslaughter charges in May 2015 following a bench trial, should not be reinstated, the arbitrator ruled.

Brelo was exceptionally callus and shot 49 of the 137 bullets into the windshield of the car Russell had been driving while stationed on the hood of the car, including a 15-round volley.

Russell's 1979 Malibu Classic was cornered and stationary at Heritage school when 137 shots were fired by the Cleveland cops, the duo dying at the scene of an incident that has heightened racial unrest in Cleveland and East Cleveland regarding excessive force by police and what activists say is a lack of adequate redress for the victims families and the Black community.

The city of Cleveland, which settled a wrongful death lawsuits with families of the victims for $3 million, is currently under a court-monitored consent decree for police reforms with the U.S. Department of Justice.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 09 May 2018 22:30

Activists to rally today relative to the 137 shots Cleveland police shooting deaths of Malissa Williams and Timothy Russell at 5:30 pm in front of East Cleveland City Hall, Russell and Williams gunned down by 13 Cleveland police slinging 137 bullets

16 March 2018

Kathy

Pictured are 137 shots unarmed Cleveland police fatal shooting victim Malissa Williams and 137 shots unarmed Cleveland police fatal shooting victim Timothy Russell.Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog with some 5 million views on Google Plus alone.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, and who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.

CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM-EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio-Greater Cleveland community activists will hold a press conference rally today, March 15, 2018, in front of East Cleveland City Hall in response to the city offering five White Cleveland police supervisors prosecuted on misdemeanor charges that they failed to control a 22-mile chase that led to the 137 shots shooting deaths of unarmed Blacks Malissa Williams and Timothy Russell dismissal of charges in exchange for $5,000 each in fines and court costs. (Contact phone numbers for the press conference rally are 216-804-7462 and 216-659-0473).

"We will meet today in front of East Cleveland City Hall on this matter," said activist Art McKoy.

"This offer by the prosecutor of the city of East Cleveland of money in exchange for dismissing this case is an affront to the thousands who have marched, protested, rallied and sat in on many different meetings demanding justice, and we want a trial for the cops at issue before a duly-impaneled jury of their peers," said activist Al Porter of Black on Black Crime Inc.

The charge is a second degree misdemeanor and the supervisors face a possible 90 days in jail and up to a $750 fine.

Henry Hilow, the attorney for the Cleveland supervisors says that his clients reject the city's offer and the city should either dismiss the case or proceed to trial.

Last year an arbitrator handed five of the six officers directly involved in the shooting who were fired relative to the incident their jobs back.

Brelo was exceptionally callus and shot 49 of the 137 bullets into the windshield of the car Russell had been driving while stationed on the hood of the car, including a 15-round volley.

Last Updated on Sunday, 18 March 2018 22:52

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Cleveland teen Alianna DeFreeze's killer gets death penalty as the Imperial Women Coalition applauds Judge Carolyn Friedland's death sentence

Judge to sentence the killer of Clevelander Alianna DeFreeze on March 26, 2018: Imperial Women Coalition supports jury's recommendation for death for Christopher Whitaker saying he must be held accountable for his crimes

Cleveland East 93rd Street Serial Murders anniversary rally and vigil to be held March 28, 2018 at Bessemer and East 93rd Street at 5 pm to remember murder victims Jazmine Trotter, 20, Ashley Leszyeski, 21, Christine Malone 45, and Jameela Hasan, 37

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue, who is Black, steps down temporarily, state Rep Bill Patmon, a Black Democrat and former councilman, saying Lue is one of Cleveland's greatest assets, Lue having coached the Cavs to their first NBA title

Activists urge voters to vote Andrew J. Santoli (pictured) judge of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas on May 8 over attorney William McGinty, McGinty accused of misrepresenting indigent Blacks falsely accused of assault on White cops

Activists to rally today relative to the 137 shots Cleveland police shooting deaths of Malissa Williams and Timothy Russell at 5:30 pm in front of East Cleveland City Hall, Russell and Williams gunned down by 13 Cleveland police slinging 137 bullets

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