Man arrested in mom and tot death, DWI repeat offender leaves accident scene, teens arrested Bayville B&E & more news stories for December 27th, 2011

LongIsland.com

Man Arrested, Charged With the Killed of Mom and Tot; Repeat Offender Receives DWI After Leaving Accident Scene; Teens Charged in Bayville Break-in; Teen Activists Fight Against Anoerxia; Georgia Woman Who Sent Threats to NY ...

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Man Arrested, Charged With the Killed of Mom and Tot

A Long Island man has been arrested in Maryland in connection with the deaths of Shakeela Planter, 21, and her 2-year-old son, Jaiden, whose bodies were found inside a basement apartment which Planter rented in Bay Shore. Jerry Lewis, 24, had previously been in a relationship with Planter and at the time as living in the apartment with the women and her son. Lewis reportedly stabbed Shakeela multiple times on the morning of December 18th and did not spare Jaiden, who was beaten, stuffed into a plastic bag and left inside a freezer. Lewis left the scene in Planter’s SUV, went to his sister home in New Jersey before returning to Long Island, ditching the car at a mall in Riverhead and then taking a train to his mother’s home in Laurel, Maryland. Suspicions arose when Planter failed to show up for her job as a dietician at Huntington Hospital. Five days after the murders Planter’s landlord found her body bound and wrapped on her bed. Lewis was arrested in Laurel, MD. Christmas day after he turned himself in to local police. He is expected to be extradited to Suffolk County to face murder charges.

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Repeat Offender Receives DWI After Leaving Accident Scene

Thomas B. Calhoun, 41, of Riverhead, was arrested once again Sunday night as he attempted to leave the scene of an accident in a Riverside parking lot. Calhoun hit two parked cars before trying to flee but it was too late as a witness had phoned police who responded to the scene and apprehended the intoxicated driver. Calhoun was charged with a DWI, a misdemeanor, leaving the scene of an accident and driving without a seatbelt, both safety infractions. Police impounded the vehicle due to a prior DWI conviction against Calhoun, who was held overnight for arraignment.

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Teens Charged in Bayville Break-in

Christopher Crisci, 18, of Bayville, and Allen Nunez, 17, of Oyster Bay have been arrested and are accused of attempting to break into a Bayville home on Christmas Eve. The pair was seen rummaging through the homeowner’s vehicle, which had been parked outside of his Jackson Avenue home, by the homeowner who has been awakened by his barking dog. When they finished searching through the vehicle they decided to try their luck inside the home but were confronted by the homeowner, who greeted them as they attempted to break through the front door. The two thieves took off northbound on Jackson Avenue as police were notified by the victim and later apprehended the two. Crisci and Nunez are charged with attempted burglary, petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.

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Teen Activists Fight Against Anorexia

Commack resident Liana Rosenman and Kristina Saffran, of Queen, are joining forces to bring awareness to and fight against the eating disorder Anorexia. The Rosenman and Saffran met while in treatment for the disease and founded their organization “Project Heal,” which stands for Heal to: Eat Accept and Live, and were recently honored by Glamour Magazine for their work. Rosenman is now a junior at Hofsta University and had been put on suicide watch a few years ago when her parents took away her food measuring cup. Saffran attends Harvard University and has been afflicted by the illness since she was ten years old, receiving a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa in fifth grade. They hope to give aide and support to other young women who are fighting the battle against anorexia and encourage anyone suffering from the anorexia to call 334-804-2437 or visit their website, Project Heal.

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Georgia Woman Who Sent Threats to NY Lawmakers Shot by Police

Jameela Barnette, 53, a Muslim woman of Marietta, Georgia, was arrested last month and indicted for sending threatening packages to New York lawmakers, Rep. Peter King and State Sen. Greg Ball. Barnette was killed by police Sunday after a brief struggle with officers who responded to the woman’s home after a panic alarm was activated inside her apartment. Upon their arrival Barnette opened the door wielding a knife and handgun before assaulting an officer with the blade, who then shot and killed her. Barnette admitted to a local TV station that she had sent a package to King, who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, containing a pig’s foot in response to his controversial hearings held in March on the radicalization of American Muslims.  Ball, who Barnette feels is racist toward her faith and supported King’s hearings, received a vial of perfume, a letter filled with anti-Semitic sentiments, and monkey doll wearing two Stars of David. Barnette told a news outlet, “I knew the Jews were behind the hearings,” adding “A monkey is a representation of who the Jews are.”

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