Tag: Behind Bars

Rap Mogul Jay Z Teams With The Innocence Project To Raise $1M To Investigate Wrongful Convictions In Midwest

Hip Hop Wired — According to The Huffington Post, Jay-Z has once again partnered with The Innocence Project.

This time their focus is on the Midwest. According to the announcement Team Roc, the criminal justice division of Roc Nation, has helped raise over one million dollars for the non-for-profit organization.

Tricia Rojo Bushnell, Executive Director of the Midwest Innocence Project, called the effort “a huge investment”. As per the press release the funds will ultimately strengthen their ability to look at these cases which is going to shine a light on what the group needs to do to provide a just criminal legal system in Wyandotte County.

Back in September Team Roc filed a lawsuit against the police department in Kansas City. “The KCKPD is entrusted by the public to help maintain peace in the community. Yet, for years, it appears that officers have abused their power and engaged in wrongdoing,” the filing read. “To the extent that the KCKPD did not take any steps to remediate these issues, the public should have a right to know so they can organize and take appropriate steps to effect change.”

You can learn more about The Innocence Project here.

Reports Say Blacks Arrested at Nearly Five Times the Rate of Whites

Florida Mom Shot Dead on Zoom Web Call Meeting by 2 Yr Old Son

A Florida man has been charged in connection with the shooting of a young mother during a work-related Zoom call.

Shamaya Lynn, 21, died when her own toddler obtained an unsecured handgun, pulled the trigger, and fired.

According to court documents, the gun’s owner, Veondre Avery, 22, kept the weapon in a backpack decorated with animated characters form a children’s show and that his 2-year-old son — the toddler who fired the fatal shot — knew how to use toy guns.

Veondre Avery

One of the participants in the fateful multi-party Zoom was selected to immediately alert the police to what occurred.

The colleague who telephoned 911 said that a child began “jumping on the bed without a shirt on and looked like he was wearing only a diaper” during the Zoom call. The colleague said that “she heard a loud noise and the child in the background beginning to cry.” The victim’s “head fell backwards and moved forward back into [the view of the] screen.” The college noticed “blood on [Lynn’s] nose” before the victim again moved “back off screen.” No one responded when colleagues called out for help.

Eventually, after several minutes had passed, the colleague told police she heard Avery enter the room and yell. The Zoom call remained active while Avery called 911 himself. The colleague said she tried to call out to Avery but that he apparently couldn’t hear her; the child was the only other person in the room when the gunshot rang out.