Anthony C. Spense, a Baltimore school police officer, has escaped a felony child-abuse charge after being caught on video slapping and kicking a student outside a city high school last month, the Baltimore Sun reports.  Prosecutors dropped the felony charge Thursday, Spense’s defense attorney, Warren Brown, announced. Now only two misdemeanor charges—second-degree assault and misconduct—remain. In…

The San Antonio Independent School District has launched an investigation after viral video surfaced showing a school police officer tossing a 12-year-old to the ground, Fox San Antonio reports. In the incident, which took place March 29 at Rhodes Middle School, the sixth-grader, identified as Janissa Valdez, was picked up and slammed to the ground…

A Brooklyn, N.Y., teen died Tuesday night, succumbing to injuries she suffered after a brutal beating, authorities and her family confirmed, the New York Daily News reports.  Ta’Jae Warner was declared brain-dead Sunday night after she was beaten late Friday night outside Ocean Towers in the Coney Island neighborhood, prosecutors say. Ta’Jae’s younger brother was with…

The friendship of two young men has survived from their harrowing childhood in Mozambique to their somehow being adopted by two different couples in Arizona who just happened to live a mere 2 miles apart, AZ Central Sports reports.  Kelvin Lewis and Afonso Slater were fast friends even before they were placed in an orphanage…

Police in Washington, D.C., are continuing the search for Relisha Rudd, the young girl who disappeared more than two years ago with the janitor of a District homeless shelter, the Washington Post reports.  The new search will be carried out on the grounds of the National Arboretum in Northeast D.C. Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy…

Alma Arrington Brown, the wife of the late U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ronald H. Brown, as well as a philanthropist with a special focus on children and underserved communities, died at the age of 76 on April 3, 2016—exactly 20 years to the day of her husband’s death. According to a press release, Alma Brown…

The decision as to whether accused Charleston, S.C., church shooter Dylann Roof will face the death penalty in his federal case is in its final stages, the Associated Press reports.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Richardson confirmed Tuesday that the decision is now before U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch. Roof is charged with federal hate crimes and…

Federal investigators and police in Michigan made a horrific discovery while looking into a case involving identification fraud, Click on Detroit reports.  Authorities were originally investigating Ryon Lenell Travis for allegedly charging more than $50,000 to a local business’s credit card. But what West Bloomfield, Mich., police uncovered upon executing a search warrant at Travis’ home…

A Michigan school is under scrutiny after a picture of a student dressed as a member of the Ku Klux Klan spread across social media, ABC57 reports.  The photo, which was originally posted to Snapchat, was taken inside a Niles High School classroom Thursday but quickly spread across Facebook, resulting in several disparaging comments about…

Police in Kenner, La., are looking into the deaths of a couple found shot multiple times with an infant sleeping next to them, Fox 8 reports. Dawn Scott, 28, and Rayell Kimbrough, 31, were found Monday morning in the bedroom of their apartment, Kenner Police Lt. Brian McGregor said. Scott was still in bed when…