True Crime – Page 48 – The Pen Hustle With Brandy Cavalli

Masked Gunmen Storm Mexican Water Resort Killing 7, Including a Child

The Mexican cartel is being blamed for storming a water park, in Cortazar, Guanajuato state, Mexico.

A video posted on social media shows several people in swimsuits running about crying, screaming and hugging their children.

The video taken soon after the attack showed shocked adults and children walking past piles of dead bodies near a swimming pool.

It was not clear exactly who was behind the shooting that killed the seven-year-old, three men and three women, Cortazar’s local security department said. One person was seriously injured in the La Palma resort.

“Heavily armed sicarios arrived and this is what happened,” said an unidentified man, using a word for hired assassins as he filmed at the resort in the video shared on the internet.

Mexican soldiers and police aided by a helicopter were searching for the attackers.

According to Reuters, Guanajuato, an agricultural and industrial hub, has been Mexico’s most violent state for years. The Jalisco New Generation drug cartel has been fighting with local criminal groups, including the Santa Rosa de Lima cartel, which is apparently backed by the Sinaloa cartel.

The Prison Journalism Project Trains Incarcerated Inmates to Become Published Journalists

See how incarcerated writers are breaking stereotypes and shifting the narrative from behind the wall.

Check out this article by incarcerated writer Jeffrey Shockley. Shockley has been incarnated for 23 years. He is currently incarcerated in Pennsylvania.

In the article “Pennsylvania Institutes Prison Pay Increase, A First in 30 Year,” Shockley discusses the recent pay raise implemented by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections in which prison wages have been increased by 20%. As of 2023, the minimum wage has gone from 19 cents to 23 cents, and the hourly range is now 23 cents to 50 cents for most jobs.

Shockley says this pay increase is significant as the cost of prison commissary and essentials have increased due to inflation.

“A packet of ramen noodles that used to cost 28 cents is now 38 cents. A 4 ounce bag of Maxwell House coffee went from $2.91 to $3.61. A particular brand of deodorant went from $2.31 to $2.95; a bar of soap that used to go for 83 cents is now $1.49”.

He says it can take a full day’s work to afford a single bar of soap.

Read the entire story here.

The Prison Journalism Project trains incarcerated writers to become journalists and publishes their stories. Subscribe to Inside Story to receive exclusive behind-the-scene looks at publications, as well as author profiles and other insights.

YSL Public Defenders Planning to Quit Trial Due to Low Pay

Man! Young Thug can’t catch a break. Now the public defense lawyers representing his co-defendants are threatening to quit due to insufficient funds.

I understand their point. If the case is taking up a significant amount of time, then yes they are being paid insignificantly for their time and efforts. Nobody can afford to live off $15,000 per year. Especially in Atlanta the city of “bullshit walks, money talks”.

I wonder what will the counsel quitting the trial midstream do for Young Thug’s defense? Will it delay the trial until new counsel can be obtained & prepped? Who knows how long that could take. That means Thug will most likely have to stay in jail in the interim. So far there have been multiple delays during the jury selection process due to intricate candidate screening – among other hold ups. To date, jury selection has taken 4 months with no end date in sight.

WSBTV ATLANTA— Several attorneys in the high-profile case of alleged criminal street gang Young Slime Life and rapper Young Thug say if they’re not paid more, they may quit the trial.

They say the small amount they have been paid is affecting their livelihoods because they do not have time to work on other cases.

“It’s bigger than we just want money,” defense attorney Justin Hill said.

“A case of this length not only affects the indigent clients but also our paying clients,” defense attorney Eric Johnson said.

The Georgia Public Defender Council is paying each attorney $15,000 to represent their clients at trial, regardless of how long it takes.

“I didn’t know that I would be there every single day. I’m not able to take on any other case. I’m not able to go to other court hearings. I’m not able to go to anything else,” said defense attorney Angela D’Williams.

These attorneys say they were told the trial could last anywhere from nine to 12 months, but jury selection has taken months longer than anticipated.

A spokesperson for the GPDC said in a statement, in part, “The agency is open to meeting with the attorneys, though their demand for a payment of $33,260.00 per attorney and at least $15,000 per attorney per month going forward present considerable challenges.”