Woman’s Killer Arrested 19 Years After Her Own Mother’s Murder

February 27, 2019 Sasha Gonzales 0

Police have arrested the man they say fatally shot a 36-year-old woman in her head last year – nineteen years after her mother died the same way, officials said. Amere Bryant, 25, is accused of murdering Shaquana Button, of The Bronx, in front of a bodega on East 149th Street in Mott Haven on Jan. 15, 2018, according to the NYPD.

Bronx District Attorney to End Marijuana Prosecutions in Single-Charge Cases

February 27, 2019 Kevin Deutsch 1

Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark has instructed her office to decline prosecutions of marijuana arrests when a defendant faces only a marijuana charge, according to a statement provided to the city council. In the fourth quarter of 2018 alone, around 90 percent of people arrested for marijuana possession in the Bronx were either Black or Hispanic, the DA said.

FBI: Three DNA Labs Reported CODIS Software Glitch; Inaccurate Genetic Information Displayed Due to “Synchronization Issue”

February 26, 2019 Kevin Deutsch 0

The FBI says a software update to its national DNA database caused incorrect genetic information to display at a handful of local crime labs, but that no offenders were misidentified as a result. Three crime labs in the United States told the FBI they were impacted by the CODIS software glitch, which caused incorrect genetic profile information to be displayed.

Amid Falling Crime Totals, Rapes Surge in Bronx: NYPD Data

February 26, 2019 Sasha Gonzales 0

Reports of rape in the Bronx have surged during the first weeks of 2019, even as overall violent crime totals in the borough continue to fall, NYPD data shows. There were 64 documented reports of rape in the Bronx as of Feb. 17–the last date for which official statistics are available–representing a 64 percent increase from the 39 rapes reported during the same period last year, according to NYPD Compstat data.

Bronx Backlog Nightmare: Seven Years After Their Arrests, Two Jailed Men Are Still Awaiting Trial

February 24, 2019 Kevin Deutsch 0

Two men accused in a 2012 murder have spent nearly seven years on Rikers Island and other pre-trial detention facilities–their incarceration a striking example of the case backlog plaguing the Bronx judicial system. Craig Whitefield, 44, and Alonzo Johnson, 41, are accused of killing Jose Andujar and robbing Angel Mangual at the Edenwald Houses, the Bronx’s largest public housing project, in April 2012.

Exclusive: NYPD Plans to Use Controversial “Rapid DNA” Technology as Early as 2019

February 22, 2019 Kevin Deutsch 0

The NYPD plans to begin using Rapid DNA—a controversial technology that provides near-instantaneous test results on human genetic samples without the need for laboratories—as early as this year, Bronx Justice News has learned. The department is working closely with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to implement the plan, NYPD officials recently told a state subcommittee.