Pastor kills transgender woman, goes to work then calls police one hour later!
A Detroit pastor was charged this week in the shooting death of a 36-year-old transgender woman found dead on the street Friday.
Albert Weathers, 46, was charged with open murder and use of a firearm after an investigation into the death of Kelly Stough, who was found by a police officer in the Palmer Park neighborhood, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office said.
No motive was given, though prosecutors said they have evidence to be presented in court that Stough’s status as a transgender woman played a role in Weathers’ alleged actions.
Weathers is a pastor of the Logo’s Church, and until this week, was an employee at the Great Lakes Water Authority.
A spokesperson for the company confirmed to the Daily News that Weathers’ employment has since been terminated, and that he was off-duty at the time of the alleged shooting.
Weathers, who is reportedly married with children, allegedly left the scene of the crime, clocked in at work, and called police an hour later claiming he’d been the victim of an attempted robbery and had shot someone, according to local ABC affiliate WXYZ.
His bond is set at $1 million, though his lawyer David Cripps told the outlet that he will petition for a lower bond on the argument that his client has strong ties to his community.
Stough, meanwhile, was remembered by mother Jessica Chantae Stough as a beloved member of the community who was very loved, and hoped to one day work in the fashion industry as a designer and buyer.
“She has a family who cared about her, who loved her, and I want them to know that transgender ladies – expressly those of color – they’re not just throwaways,” she told NBC News. “People care about them.”
A GoFundMe page launched in memory of Stough has raised more than $4,500.
As noted by NBC, Stough once weighed in on the police’s inadequate treatment of transgender people in Detroit in the wake of a 2015 murder of a local transgender woman.
Kelly Stough (center) with friends
“The police are unaware with our struggle, so they have no sympathy for us,” she told the Guardian, using her stage name Keanna Mattel. “Nobody ever asks, what happened to the person to get here? Unelss you’re just in the middle of the street, dead bleeding, you can flag down a police officer, and they’ll just ride past you like you never flagged them down.”
Fair Michigan Foundation President and Michigan Attorney General-elect Dana Nessel said in a statement that Stough’s murder “reflected the excessive brutality that members of Detroit’s transgender community constantly face.”
Marvin Winans is accused of requiring a worker to donate money towards birthday gifts and pay 10% of her income as a “tithe” as a condition to maintain employment
Her job was to clean the church. But the church tried to clean her out instead, she claims.
In a blistering lawsuit against the Grammy-winning Rev. Marvin Winans and his Perfecting Church, a housekeeper named Lakaiya Harris claims the gospel music star and church officials shook her down for money. They required her to donate money toward birthday gifts for supervisors and managers and to tithe 10% of her salary to the church, the lawsuit claims.
When she refused to pony up, Harris says, she was fired.
According to the 18-page lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, it was Winans who demanded that Harris donate 10 percent of her $18,000-a-year housekeeper’s salary to the church. Winans allegedly did this during a meeting in a conference room in 2017, telling Harris “that it had come to his attention” that she earned $18,000 the year before.
” ‘So you owe us $1,800,’ ” Winans allegedly told Harris, the suit states. “When she stated that she didn’t have the money, he offered to deduct the $1,800 directly from her biweekly paychecks.”
Harris refused, stating she was not going to let the church deduct $1,800 from her paycheck and “complained that her job had already been threatened for not giving ‘birthday money,’ ” the suit states.
According to the lawsuit, supervisors repeatedly required Harris to give $10-$25 to buy birthday presents for managers and once offered to deduct the money from her paycheck “if need be.” One supervisor allegedly pestered Harris when she refused to donate to the birthday fund, telling her “Well, you’re going to have to give this $10. … I know you have $10 floating around in your little world, you just don’t want to give it up. Everybody has to give this,” the suit states.
Marvin Winans
At issue for Harris is that she is both a member of Perfecting Church, and an employee. In her lawsuit, she claims that other employees who work for the church but don’t belong to it aren’t required to tithe as a condition of employment.
But she is. And forcing only church-member-employees to give back 10 percent of their earnings violates employment and civil rights laws, Harris claims.
As of late Wednesday, Winans could not be reached for comment. It is not clear whether he knows about the civil suit as such lawsuits typically take longer than a day to get served on defendants.
According to the lawsuit, the church not only demanded money from Harris, but also cheated her out of overtime pay by manipulating her time clock records “in order to avoid paying her for overtime hours worked.”
“Perfecting also implemented an unlawful time-docking policy to penalize employees who arrived late,” states the lawsuit, which cited the church’s Tardiness Policy.
“Each time an employee is late he or she will be docked according to the following schedule,” states the policy, as cited in the suit. For example, if an employee is tardy 1-15 minutes, they get 15 minutes of pay docked from their check.
According to the lawsuit, this is what prompted Harris to sue:
Harris was employed by Perfecting from March 2012 through January 2017. She worked as a housekeeper and spent the first several weeks of her employment cleaning the Marvin L. Winans Academy of Performing Arts, an elementary and middle school headed by Winans. After several weeks, she was transferred to Perfecting’s main church on East Nevada, on the city’s east side.
Winans is the founder and president of Perfecting Church, which owns at least 90 commercial and residential properties in Detroit and employs about 40 workers to clean and maintain them. Among them was Harris.
At a staff meeting in 2016, Harris openly stated to Winans that she was not happy about not being paid for work she was doing. In October of that year, Winans directed Harris to meet with him in his office, where he asked her why she hadn’t attended church recently. According to the suit, Harris said that she was exhausted from working long hours and not being paid, and complained that her job was being threatened for refusing to donate toward birthday gifts to supervisors.
Three months later, Harris was summoned to another meeting with Winans and another church official. It was at this meeting that Winans mentioned the tithing issue, and deducting $1,800 from Harris’ check.
Harris wouldn’t hear of it.
So Winans responded: ” ‘Well, that pretty much terminates your employment with us. … You can go ahead and proceed with the exit interview.’ “
Harris was fired that day.
Editors Note: This is what “the church” has reduced itself to! A money hungry, non God fearing, unholy business organization! Today’s Christianity is a man made kingdom that has every spirit present in it except the Spirit of God!
Pastor Harris placed a permanent ban of membership against the church members…
The Zion Missionary Baptist Church in East Palo California. In 2004, the organization changed its name to Born Again Christian Center- Photo taken July 22, 2014
If members of the Zion Missionary Baptist Church in East Palo Alto, California, hadn’t fought back, their one-time Pastor, Andre Harris, and his wife, Rhona Edgerton-Harris, would have fleeced them of their church building and a home valued at more than $1 million.
Church members explained that when they arrived for services one day in early May 2014, they found a real estate sign on the parsonage next door where the Christian leader and his family had been allowed to live rent free.
A curious church member did some sleuthing at the county recorder’s office and discovered that the deed to the home had been strangely transferred to the pastor and his wife. A for-sale sign also soon appeared on the church property which led alarmed members to demand an explanation from their pastor about a month later.
Pastor Harris, who had renamed the church Born Again Christian Center when he took over leadership of the congregation, responded by handing the protesting members notices of ex-communication — barring them from the church in the name of Jesus.
“Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Born Again Christian Center is informing you because of your inconsistent attendance over the months or years, we have therefore removed you as a member,” Harris wrote in the notice. “You therefore no longer have any rights or privileges to conduct any matter at the said Church. … We are informing you of your removal and permanent ban of membership at Born Again Christian Center.”
The members replied to Harris with a lawsuit alleging several crimes, including attempts to defraud the church. About 10 months later, the church prevailed.
Harris returned the properties to them in a settlement, the terms of which were not disclosed. But Harris and his wife almost got away with it. Zion Missionary Baptist Church members called themselves “blessed” because most perpetrators of fraud in churches are usually never reported.
Research cited by Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company, the second largest U.S. provider of property and casualty insurance to Christian churches and related ministries, says reported cases of church financial fraud has been rising by about 6 percent annually and is expected to reach the $60 billion mark by 2025.
The level of reported fraud in churches is dwarfed, however, by the 80 percent of church fraud cases that are estimated to go unreported.
John Montague, a corporate and nonprofit tax law expert and senior associate at leading global international law firm Hogan Lovells, explained in a recent interview with The Christian Post why he believes the best way to abate church fraud is to remove the IRS Form 990 exemption churches currently enjoy. Evidence suggests churches cannot be trusted to regulate themselves, he said.
The IRS Form 990 is the reporting form that many federally tax-exempt organizations must file with the IRS each year. It allows the IRS and the general public to evaluate a nonprofit’s operations, including information on the nonprofit’s mission, programs, and finances. Depending on the filing year and the gross receipts of the organization, a nonprofit might be required to file Forms 990, 990-EZ or 990-N.
In his general assessment of what he is hearing from average churchgoers today, Montague said people are frustrated by not having access to the kind of transparency in churches that a Form 990 can give.
The public could also learn financial details such as how much ECFA President Dan Busby got paid from the organization that year — $193,218 in reported compensation and $42,032 in other income totaling just over $235,000.
“Nearly every conversation I’ve had with members of the laity, people have been interested in the concept of transparency, and frustrated by the general lack of transparency,” explained Montague, who served as a law clerk to The Honorable Thomas B. Wells of the U.S. Tax Court prior to joining Hogan Lovells.
“In churches, I’ve encouraged people to ask questions about the finances of their churches, but I’m not aware of any church that has actually made a move to voluntarily file a 990 or to provide the level of transparency that would result from having to file a 990,” Montague said.
He also explained that among the reasons why Christians aren’t pushing to hold churches more accountable and showing more concern about financial accountability through the IRS Form 990 is a lack of awareness.
“I don’t think most people are aware of the 990. … And even if they are aware of the 990, they are not aware of the exemption that churches have. I’m sure that 99 percent of Christians are totally unaware of that exemption,” Montague said.
“I think there are people, [who might say] ‘look, my responsibility is to give money to the Church and then I leave it up to God as to what happens to it after.’ I think there are those people. I would imagine that they’re probably in the minority but I have no idea.”
In January 2011, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, released a report after a three-year investigation targeting six popular televangelists, including Paula White, Creflo Dollar and Kenneth Copeland.
The report raised questions about their personal use of things such as church-owned airplanes, luxury homes and credit cards. It also expressed concern about the lack of oversight of finances by boards often filled by the televangelists’ relatives and friends.
Grassley, citing the concerns raised by the report, asked Busby in his role as leader of the ECFA to come up with a solution using legislation as a last resort.
“As you consider the issues my staff raised, please remember our discussion in my office when you visited me with other members of ECFA board on March 12, 2009. I stated then that I believe that legislation should be the last resort. However, ideas for reform often inspire informed and thoughtful discussions which, in turn, lead to self-correction and eliminate the need for legislation,” he wrote.
A house owned by Benny Hinn
In 1977, after similar concerns were raised about financial impropriety among certain televangelists at the time, then Republican Senator Mark Hatfield, who died in August 2011, warned that Congress would enact legislation if evangelical leaders could not develop a proposal to regulate themselves, according to Montague in The Law and Financial Transparency in Churches: Reconsidering the Form 990.
This resulted in the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the Christian relief organization World Vision partnering to found the ECFA in 1979 with 115 members. Only one televangelist was listed among that number.
In a March 1979 Washington Post report on the launch of the ECFA, organizers said more than 1,100 evangelical charitable organizations with a combined annual income approaching $1 billion would subscribe to the principles laid down by the organization.
Information from the ECFA’s 2015 990 shows that it currently reviews the data of more than 2,000 Christian charities and churches with more than $23 billion in annual revenue.
Grassley, in his letter to Busby, reminded him of the origin of the ECFA and its role as an alternative to legislated financial oversight for churches.
Creflo Dollar with one of his many elaborate cars and aircraft
“ECFA was founded because of a challenge then-Senator Hatfield made in 1977 to Christian groups to be more accountable. He apparently was responding to a scandal in the religious community at that time. The size and diversity of the religious community in the United States has grown tremendously since the ECFA was created. I hope that a discussion of the issues raised by my staff will similarly result in increased accountability while acknowledging this growth and diversity,” Grassley wrote to Busby.
In a report released in December 2012, the commission, which is now inactive, encouraged churches and their leaders to act honorably and asked members of the public who donate money or their time to them to research religious organizations before investing in them.
“Churches and their leaders should not engage in abusive financial activities, nor should they improperly exploit the exemption from filing Form 990, because doing so undermines the credibility of their organizations and the religious community as a whole,” the commission advised.
The commission also recommended that Congress “never pass legislation requiring churches to file Form 990 or any similar information return or form with the federal government.”
“To require such a filing would not only place a substantial and unnecessary burden on churches and the government, it would also raise significant constitutional concerns. New churches should not have registration or notification requirements beyond those that already exist,” the commission said.
Kenneth Copeland thanking his church for buying him a multi-million dollar private jet.
Church transparency and the New Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
In May, however, the IRS appeared to take a step toward bucking that advice when it released guidance on the increased scope of what should be taxed as unrelated business income under the newly instituted Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
“Because of this new tax, many tax‐exempt employers, including churches, hospitals, charities, and schools will be required to file federal Form 990‐T, and in many cases, state corporate income returns, every year regardless of whether they actually engage in any unrelated business activity. This new tax was purportedly added to the law to put tax‐exempt employers on the same footing as taxable employers with respect to employer‐provided parking,” the ECFA explained in a statement to CP.
While church and financial transparency experts agree that the 990-T would only add minimally to the broader push toward church transparency and accountability, Busby argued that it’s also likely to create various administrative and financial costs for many churches that do not have the means to meet them.
“Working in the church world most of my career, my guess is that prior to this provision, there’s probably only 1 [percent] or 2 percent of churches in America that file form 990-T so we’re really talking about two issues,” Busby said in a June interview with CP.
“We’re talking about a financial issue. We’re gonna have to pay a tax on providing employee parking and two, which may be more important, is the administrative piece of this — to file a return with which they are not familiar. If you can imagine, small churches across America have to file a form 990-T that they’ve never even heard of. And probably they’re gonna need to secure professional advice and pay a professional to file the return, even though the money may not be a significant amount, it’s just a ridiculous provision that was put in the law,” he said.
In July, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention issued a policy brief in support of repealing the new parking tax and earlier this month, bills were introduced in both the House and Senate echoing that recommendation.
“In addition to the new federal requirements, many nonprofits will then be required to file state returns and possibly pay state income tax,” the ERLC stated. “The new regulations create tax liability and increase operations costs for these nonprofits, all because they simply have a parking lot. …
“Taxing nonprofits on basic costs of operating an institution defeats the purpose of nonprofit status, an American tradition for over 100 years.”
The case for IRS oversight of churches
Pete Evans, lead investigator at the Dallas-based Trinity Foundation, which has been tracking religious fraud and helping victims of religious fraud for almost 30 years, told CP that the new requirement is a step in the right direction toward transparency and is a small price to pay compared to the billions being lost in church fraud annually.
“Even if it affects our own church, I would vote yes [to the 990-T provision],” Evans said. You have all these churches now and ministries that are wealthy beyond wealth and some of which have thousands and thousands of acres in the counties that are not on the tax rolls because of various exemptions and they are living like Arabian princes,” Evans noted.
Evans also questioned Busby’s apparent concern for smaller churches in his criticism of the ECFA.
“If you look at the majority of people that ECFA represents, they represent the larger churches because ECFA charges so much money that small churches can’t afford to be members of ECFA. And so I think there is hypocrisy there that on one hand they’re getting a lot of money from the larger ministries, churches and now all of a sudden they are defending the little churches?” he said.
In response to recent questions about the organization’s membership, a spokesperson for the ECFA revealed that only a minority of its currently registered members, 225, are churches.
That’s less than 1 percent of the 250,000 churches registered with the IRS’ Select Check program, according to Holly Ivel, director of Guidestar’s data services. Under this program, the IRS provides official recognition of an organization’s tax-exempt status which assures donors that their contributions are tax deductible.
“Based on how these organizations are coded there’s almost a quarter of a million churches that have chosen to do that (Select Check),” explained Ivel of the program. “So they’ve voluntarily registered, which is great.”
While Ivel, like the ECFA, does not recommend requiring churches to file a Form 990, she did notice from the data in their system that just over 2 percent of the 250,000 churches registered for the Select Check program also filed some variation of the form 990, even though they aren’t required to file it.
“They are not required to file a return but even though they are not required to, about 5,300 have filed an annual return — either an EZ, which is kind of the short form, or a 990. And that’s between 2014 and 2017,” Ivel said.
Some of these filings could be easily searched and viewed on a database available on the IRS website as recently as late June. An update to that page on July 6 now only allows the public to determine deductibility of their contributions. It is unclear why this change was made.
Evans, who agrees with Montague that the evidence against churches show they cannot be trusted with self-regulation, argued that the 990 would be a more powerful safeguard against abuse because of the detailed information it requires. Many churches, he argued, as seen in the number of churches that file Form 990 even though they are not required, would be able to adhere to IRS oversight if there was a requirement to do so.
“Especially for the larger ministries and churches, there needs to be some transparency because they’re not going to do it on their own. Churches, if they are not required to, are typically not going to be transparent on their own and I think a lot of churches would be willing if there was a requirement,” Evans said.
“ECFA does not reveal salary information of their clients and that’s one of the key aspects of transparency that they’re hiding their own clients. They give everybody a seal of approval, this organization is good and above board and yet don’t reveal salary information? What’s up with that?” he asked.
In response, Busby noted in a statement to CP: “There has never been a legal requirement for churches to disclose their salaries. ECFA’s standards start with legal requirements, and in some cases, go beyond the law.”
“… Because of their opacity and the unique nature of religious authority, churches are more likely to foster and shelter malfeasance. Churchgoers are unlikely to challenge leaders because doing so can endanger their position in the religious community, making it imperative that transparency be mandated by outside authorities,” Montague argued.
“Ironically, increased transparency may actually be good for churches because, as studies suggest, it is likely to increase donations and because, by minimizing opportunities for financial improprieties, it may preserve the religious experience of churchgoers. In addition, transparency is consistent with the teaching of many Christian leaders and with the expressed preferences of a large portion of churchgoers.”
Montague said he sent copies of his research to Busby and Grassley.
In a response from Busby to Montague shared with CP, Busby noted in a 2013 letter: “ECFA’s position with respect to Form 990 coincides with the recommendations in the Commission report, i.e., that requiring such a form for churches would constitute unnecessary and constitutionally prohibited excessive entanglement by the government in the affairs of the church.”
The Excessive Entanglement Problem
Some see potential religious freedom issues in additional filing requirements being placed upon churches.
“Although the entanglement created by having church-related institutions file information returns does not seem terribly great, the requirement can be seen as a first step whose ultimate end is full government surveillance of religious institutions. The excessive entanglement test serves as a ‘warning signal’ regarding programs which may appear harmless, but whose ultimate expression would result in a clearly unconstitutional relationship between church and state,” Worthington wrote.In discussing the excessive entanglement concerns, Montague pointed in his study to a well-publicized congressional hearing in 1987 hearing with witnesses from the IRS and the Treasury, as well as notable televangelists including Jerry Falwell and Oral Roberts.
Then Congressman J.J. Pickle, chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight of the House Ways and Means Committee who convened the hearing, noted how Congress and the executive “historically have been reluctant to look very closely at tax issues involving religious organizations” because of their political sensitivity.
Roberts argued that the ECFA, which had been formed as an alternative to legislation, lacked teeth and that it would be better for all organizations to file the Form 990 and submit to external audits.
Gordon Loux, then chairman of the board of the ECFA, also noted that there are “inherent difficulties in self-regulation” as it is limited to those who consent to be regulated. He agreed that the Form 990 is a “minimal requirement that ought to be met by those that are operating in the public service.”
Then Commissioner of the IRS Lawrence Gibbs, who had previously agreed that churches had not been subject to the requirements of filing information returns because of concern about government intrusion into religion, was challenged during the hearing by former Congressman from New York Charles Rangel. An excerpt of their exchange is highlighted below:
Mr. Rangel: Do you see where filing an annual report by churches would be in violation of the constitutional right of separation of church and state?
Mr. Gibbs: I have assumed, perhaps erroneously, that that was the reason—or certainly one of the prominent reasons—for specifically excluding them by statute in 1969.
Mr. Rangel: Well, why did you reach that assumption? You know, it is only a congressional decision. Has any court said that you cannot put limitations on the privilege of tax exemption? We do it in unrelated taxes. We do it in lobbying. We do it in political affairs. We do it in FCC control. What in God’s name could be even remotely considered a violation of the constitutional rights of churches to say that they should file an annual report as to how much money they got and what they did with it?
Several pastors contacted by CP to discuss this story because their churches filed 990 returns referred questions to their treasurer or the individual who prepared them. None of these individuals responded to interview requests.
Montague suggested that some of the churches may have filed the returns in error, not realizing they are exempt from filing.
(Originally written by Leonardo Blair/ Edited by Babylon Today)
“Pastor” Freeman said “We insert things into people” and “you don’t ask what happens [during deliverance]…
“Pastor” Meally Morris Freeman
A Minnesota opportunist who calls himself a pastor sexually assaulted a 28-year-old woman after she became unconscious during two “anointing sessions” and has now been charged with two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct that could land him in prison for 15 years and a fine of $30,000.
A criminal complaint against Meally Morris Freeman, the 55-year-old “pastor” of Grace Mountaineer Tabernacle Church in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota said the woman accusing him of criminal behavior saw him as a “spiritual father” when she went to him for spiritual guidance starting on Sept. 20, 2017, according to Fox 9.
In January, however, she told police that Freeman sexually assaulted her at the church which led to his arrest on Tuesday.
She explained that during an anointing session at the church, the pastor anointed her with oil and advised her that she was in need of “deliverance” that would require a one-on-one session with him.
Trusting the spiritual guidance, the woman said she attended a one-on-one session with Freeman and he gave her small cups of ‘oil’ to drink. Soon after they began to pray, the woman says she lost consciousness…
When she woke up, the woman explained that her underwear was wet and there was oil on her stomach and near her breasts. The pastor told her he had “anointed all places, but that he didn’t see all places,” and informed her she needed a second session that would take place after Bible study that night. The woman said in their second deliverance session she became unconscious again but when she woke up this time her pants and underwear were hanging ripped at her ankles and her shirt and bra were pulled up over her chest.
She said the pastor, who was spraying a water bottle filled with oil on her private areas, also inappropriately touched her genitals and anus.
It wasn’t until she shared what happened to a friend that the woman realized she was sexually assaulted.
The woman eventually confronted Freeman and recorded their conversation without him knowing. Freeman did not deny touching her genitals, but instead discussed the “deliverance process.” He admitted he anointed her breasts with oil and told her, “We insert things into people” and “you don’t ask what happens [during deliverance], you don’t go into details and that deliverance can be very tempting.”
The woman said at another meeting a church elder, Freeman and his wife [who should be arrested too] told her not to report the incident to police.
This disgusting so-called pastor Meally Freeman was arrested by Brooklyn Center Minnesota police Tuesday around 4 p.m. and is in custody at Hennepin County Jail.
This is an absolute mockery of God and His Kingdom…. Psalms 118:8 says It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man; it’s funny how Christians seem to overlook that verse. If you need “deliverance” from sexual sins make a decision to live above all evil and JUST STOP DOING IT, then you’ll be delivered! James 4:7~ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Many unfavorable “church” situations can be avoided if Christians wouldobey whats written in the bible instead of just reading it.
Shaun O. Harrison Sr. [aka Rev] prior to his arrest in 2015BOSTON — Shaun O. Harrison Sr., a former Boston high school dean, anti-violence advocate and youth pastor nicknamed “Rev” by the students for his pastor-like influence was sentenced to up to 26 years in prison for shooting and nearly killing a student he had recruited to sell marijuana for him in 2015. While employed as a Dean, he boasted to students of his gang ties, drugs and guns. He recruited one of them, a 17-year-old student from a broken home, to deal marijuana in school, authorities said.
But after a dispute over slumping sales, Harrison shot the teen in the back of the head with a .380 pistol as they walked on a snowy city street in 2015 and left him for dead, prosecutors said, but Luis Rodriguez didn’t die. He dragged himself up and flagged down a passing car. In the hospital, Rodriguez uttered the name of his would-be killer: “Rev.” Harrison, now 58, was sentenced Friday (May 2018) to as many as 26 years in prison for assault and other charges, capping the sad tale of a wannabe saint who prosecutors say, was revealed to be a dangerous, predatory fraud.
Shaun Harrison March, 2015
Shaun O. Harrison Sr., a former dean at Boston English High School, at his arraignment in May 2015
“You professed to be a man of religion, you promote yourself as one who can mentor troubled youth … and yet you violated their safety by bringing drugs and violence to them,” Judge Christopher Muse said.
Harrison arrived at English High in Boston in January 2015, just two months before his arrest and after stints at other city public schools over about five years. He had been a community organizer and youth minister in Boston for decades, a familiar face who often worked with police and other law enforcement and helped gang members turn their lives around.
“This guy is probably the last person we would expect,” Police Commissioner William Evans told The Boston Globe following Harrison’s arrest in 2015. “He was an advocate for anti-violence. Why would he be on our radar screen?”
But there were warning signs early on that something was amiss. A city inquiry into Harrison’s disciplinary record following his arrest found that he’d had other reprimands in his short tenure in the public school system, including warnings for pushing a female student and making inappropriate comments to two other students, both in 2012. The morning he shot Rodriguez in 2015, he had shoved a female student during a dispute. School officials said later they had intended to fire Harrison for that incident alone. But he was charged with attempted murder the next day instead.
Harrison has denied the allegations, telling WHDH-TV he “never lived a double life.”
In this May 30, 2018, photo, Shaun Harrison reacts as attorneys give closing arguments in Suffolk Superior Court in the jury trial of him in Boston. Harrison, the former dean at a Boston high school who was known as an anti-violence advocate, has been convicted of shooting and nearly killing a 17-year-old student. (Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via AP)
“I am not a gang member. I’m the Rev,” he told the station. “For me to be accused of something like that, all of a sudden at 55. … It’s like a nightmare, and you are trying to wake up from this nightmare,” He said. His lawyer told the judge Harrison shouldn’t have to die in prison, describing him as a well-respected youth advocate with no prior criminal record. But the judge said Harrison acted like an “assassin” and called it a miracle Rodriguez’s name isn’t etched into a nearby homicide victims memorial.
“He did everything to engrave Luis’ name on one of those stones except get a death certificate,” Muse said.
Rodriguez, now 20, cried quietly in the back of the courtroom as his aunt described the horror of learning that her nephew was nearly killed by someone he trusted. The bullet entered near Rodriguez’s right ear and just missed his carotid artery, breaking his jawbone and causing nerve damage and hearing loss.
During Harrison’s two-week trial in May 2018, prosecutors painted a portrait of a man who took advantage of youths instead of molding and shaping their lives for the better.
Rodriguez testified that he had a rocky start with Harrison but soon came to confide in him about his personal struggles. His mother was incarcerated and his grandmother largely raised him.
“He was my counselor. I went to him for everything,” Rodriguez said in court, according to the Globe .
On the night he was shot, Rodriguez said the two were planning to meet at a gas station.Harrison had promised to bring drugs and take Rodriguez to a place where the two could meet women, prosecutors said.
A surveillance video shows the two blurry figures walking in the snowy city street. Then one suddenly turns and runs away. Rodriguez sat in the back of the courtroom and cried quietly along with his family as his aunt took the stand to describe the pain of almost losing him.
“If (Harrison) has the opportunity, I believe from the bottom of my heart he would abuse his power and do this again,” Diana Rodriguez said. “May God forgive you sir because we will not,” she said.
Carroll urged the judge Friday for a sentence of about eight years to ensure Harrison doesn’t die in prison, noting he has no prior criminal record.
But the judge said Harrison’s conduct requires a stiff penalty, saying Harrison acted as an “assassin” and viewed Rodriguez’s life as “worthless.”
“He will be scarred emotionally and impaired physically for the rest of his life,” said Judge Christopher Muse, who sentenced Harrison to 23 to 26 years behind bars.
Rodriguez had told hospital staff he was shot by one of his marijuana customers during a botched drug deal, Carroll said.
Bruce Carroll, Harrison’s attorney, asked during the trial why Rodriguez did not immediately identify his client as the shooter even though he was conscious and alert.
“It took me a while to get all my thoughts back together after being shot in the head, sir,” Rodriguez said during cross-examination. “I was in such denial. I knew who did it. Of course I knew who did it.”
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office releases Shaun Harrison’s booking photo. Harrison, who had worked as a dean at Boston English High School for five years, was convicted of shooting and nearly killing a student in 2015 that he had recruited to sell marijuana for him. (Photo: AP Images)
Another sickening story and another innocent life is taken.
A 3-year-old girl was killed after investigators said she was severely beaten at her home near Forrest City, Arkansas. St. Francis County Sheriff’s Office said Deonte Miller a local church musician and live-in boyfriend of the girl’s mother is responsible. Arkansas police arrested Deonte Miller, accused of murdering the 3-year-old that “was bruised from the waist up” and appeared to have “had a cord tied around her neck.” Police say he possibly raped the girl because blood was found to support such allegation. The girl’s mother said she received a call from Miller on Friday morning, urging her to rush home. When she got home, her daughter was unresponsive. The woman called police, who rushed the child to a nearby hospital while giving her CPR, Fox13 reported. Doctors put the girl on life-support, but she died hours later at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis.
Miller is charged with capital murder. Deputies said the 20-year-old suspect who also has a criminal history admitted to them he was babysitting his girlfriend’s children when he hit the child and gave officials at least five different accounts of how the girl was injured.
The girl’s mother said she doesn’t believe Miller, who she’s only known for six months was responsible.
Leaked text messages between “prophet” Uebert Angel and his “spiritual granddaughter” reveal sexual exploitation of unsuspecting girls/women church attendants.
According to now deleted social media posts- a filthy sex scandal involving false prophets “Shepherd Bushiri”(real name Chipiliro Gama aka major1), and Uebert Angel of ECG church, in Pretoria South Africa and with a branch in Washington DC has been exposed via a cellphone that was not password protected of a woman mentored by “Shepherd Bushiri” named Melody Dzingaiwho is allegedly having a sexual affair with Shepherd Bushiri (Uebert Angels “spiritual granddaughter”), to arrange sex dates for him and source pretty girls for him from the church congregation. The post stated that Uebert Angels wife Beverly Angel is aware of his sexual escapades and uses hush money to pay off and silence would be troublemakers who would expose the secrets of Uebert Angel.
According to the now deleted post which was allegedly hacked and deleted by Bushiri’s “damage control team” created by LeroyElliot, Melody Dzingai’s personal driver; Melody Dzingai forgot one of her cellphones in a hired car, and Elliot received a phone call from the rental car office after returning the car that a cell phone had been left behind, LeroyElliot knew that the phone belonged to Melody Dzingai, Uebert Angels spiritual granddaughter so he went to retrieve it. LeroyElliot stated that He almost immediately received a phone call from false prophet Shepherd Bushiri’s “hit men” warning him to not open the phone followed by a number of warnings and death threats. Elliot stated that he had no intentions of looking in the phone but since his life had been threatened, he was adamant to learn the contents of the phone and made screenshots of the contents therein and created a Face Book account to reveal his findings to warn the public of Bushiri and Uebert Angels sexual activities which involved young girls and women in the church since his life had been threatened. Elliot stated that he couldn’t believe some of the despicable text messages that were being exchanged between UebertAngel and Melody Dzingai. He recorded Bushiri’s goons threatening him and the audio can be heard HERE
I was able to locate a few of the screenshots of the text messages exchanged between Uebert Angel and Melody Dzingai. Unfortunately, every internet source that published the information has been deleted- most likely paid off/bribed to delete the information. Here are a few of the text-messages exchanged between Uebert Angel and Melody Dzingai, his “spiritual granddaughter”
There has been an alarming number of incidences similar to this throughout the United States as well as in other parts of the world, tolerance for such behavior in South Africa is apparently more lax than in the United States. This is not the first allegation of sexual misconduct involving Bushiri and his “spiritual son” Uebert Angel. Since Bushiri and Uebert Angel came on the scene as “prophets” the allegations immediately irrupted. I won’t bother listing them, just google their names and read for yourself. I know without a doubt that these two use evil means to fool their followers to believe that they are performing “miracles”, when in reality they are being assisted by demons and most likely their participation in sexual morality is to appease the demon that is servicing them. My goal is to bring awareness to Americans who attend Bushiri’s church in the United States. Please, Please, Please don’t trust your children around this man or in his church– don’t take these allegations lightly, This man IS NOT a “man of God” he is an opportunist and a vulture who should have never been allowed to build his Satanic Temple in the United States.
CHRISTIANITY has failed yet again! This is Babylon indeed!
That’s right! Snoop got smart and launched his own gospel album and it’s at the top of the charts! It didn’t take much to persuade some of the elites in gospel music to endorse him such as Mary Mary, Fred Hammond, Tye Tribbett,The Clark Sisters, John P. Kee,Kim Burrell, Charlie Wilson, Patti LaBelle... because they know that when Snoop gets paid SO WILL THEY! I hope that you don’t think that these renowned artists contributed to Snoop’s gospel album for free- THEY DID IT TO GET PAID! I really don’t know what the big fuss is all about anyway; I mean, Snoop Dog didn’t lie! He NEVER SAID that he was born again, that he repented, that he’s not going to smoke weed again, that he’s no longer a womanizer, he never made a public announcement to denounce all of his filthy secular music and videos in circulation, warning the younger generation to not buy or listen to them- HE NEVER SAID THOSE THINGS. He said, “I’m coming out with a gospel album” and that’s exactly what he did and his supporters as well as the Christian community bought it and now he’s getting paid.
Calling oneself a Christian ISN’T ENOUGH, when there’s no clear distinction between clean and unclean- righteousness and unrighteousness, the standard is questionable and likely to compromise. Snoop said himself in an interview of how when he was younger and attending church and made it big with his first secular album (that was ridden with profanity) that the church didn’t care what he was saying in his music, they were just happy that “he made it”. WATCH IT This didn’t start with Snoop Dogg, as a matter of fact he most likely got his inspiration from the ever present money hungry filthy rich preachers such as TD Jakes, Joel Olsteen, Creflo Dollar, Kenneth Copeland, KC Price, Rod Parsley, Mike Murdock just to name a few, as well as the other gospel artists that live double lives! Just show me ONE gospel artist that is an example of true holiness- obeying ALL of the commandments of God! Show me even one who isn’t in it for the money. King David didn’t sell his psalms, he sang them from his heart to God, but the greedy present day Christians use David’s songs in their music to get paid!
There is a priest who received a STANDING OVATION by the church for saying that he’s gay, EVERYDAY one can read of preachers who have sexually molested children or women, priests who are smoking crack, pastors who have divorced their spouse for someone new and even preachers who commit murder, Sexually perverted individuals and/or those with questionable lifestyles are always welcomed into the church and onto the pulpits if they are insanely talented. There are Christians who support abortion and an embarrassing number of Christians who are racially prejudiced and they are still welcomed in the churches and on the pulpits. CHRISTIANS- WHERE IS THE STANDARD?
Snoop Dogg didn’t fail you- CHRISTIANITY DID! Christians are making a mockery of THEIR OWN religion. Time to stop blaming the Muslims and the atheists AND TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT YOURSELVES! Below are JUST A FEW photos of how Christian gospel artists present themselves shamelessly in public.
It is written in 1 Timothy 2 for women to dress modestly… maybe this was omitted in some versions. Again- NO STANDARDS!
Not one Christian made a fuss when Cee Cee Winans, Marvin Slaughter and Vashawn Mitchell performed for TB Joshua a well known African occultist! I say LEAVE SNOOP DOG ALONE because he was welcomed, embraced and assisted by a kingdom that compromises the commandments of God for money and fame; a kingdom that has absolutely nothing to do with holiness or faithfulness to God. He’s not doing any thing more than what other gospel artists have been doing for decades- using God’s name for money.
According to the police report cited by ABC13, the pastor’s wife told the victim’s daughter, “You wanna know why this happened? It happened because your mom slept with my husband.”
Anthony Morris (L) and Zelda Marie Morris (R) are accused of robbing a Sunday school teacher. (Booking photos via Toledo Police Department)
An Ohio church pastor, his wife, and daughter are accused of robbing a Sunday school teacher in the church at gunpoint.
Anthony Morris, 49, his wife, Zelda Morris, 46, and their daughter, Kamali Morris, 19, have each been charged with the first-degree felony of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon, the Toledo Blade reported.
Sunday school teacher Nickema Turner who had an affair with the pastor Morris claims she was at the St. Paul’s AME Zion Church in downtown Toledo, where Morris is a pastor, when she was violently assaulted and robbed. Turner alleges Kamali Morris grabbed her by the hair, and then both pastor Morris and his wife began to push and beat her, according to a police report.
Zelda Morris then allegedly emptied Turner’s purse and began taking some of the items.
Turner resisted and tried to recover some of her belongings, according to cleveland.com, and when it appeared she was getting the upper hand against her two female assailants, the pastor pulled out a gun and said “Bitch I’ll kill you”. It is alleged he pointed it at Turner’s face, according to the Toledo Blade, and made threats.
Two prescription bottles, a Taser, and an iPhone were allegedly taken from Turner’s purse. The iPhone was later recovered, with the screen broken.
The incident took place shortly before Sunday service was set to begin, it was reported, with witnesses on hand who later provided information to the police.
According to the police report cited by ABC13, the pastor’s wife told the victim’s daughter, “You wanna know why this happened? It happened because your mom slept with my husband.”
The three assailants then reportedly fled the church, while Turner was treated at the scene by Toledo Fire and Rescue crews.
The pastor and his wife have been arrested, police said, but at the time of reporting their daughter remained at large.
In a message on the church’s website, Morris describes St. Paul’s AME as “a family-focused, multi-generational ministry. We honor the traditions of the elders, but we are also intentionally contemporary in our Worship Experience.”
Left, The Pastors Daughter, Pastor Middle, The Mistress (Sunday School Teacher) Right
Collins pleaded with a judge for his release and explained to the judge that he was a pillar in the community …
FAYETTEVILLE, NC (WTVD) —
A former pastor is charged in the rapes of four children during the course of 13 years. Glenn Tyrone Collins turned himself into authorities Monday after police issued a warrant for his arrest.
Collins faces 142 charges.
12 counts of 1st Degree Rape
5 counts of 1st Degree Sexual Offense
5 counts of 2nd Degree Rape
3 counts of 2nd Degree Sexual Offense
9 counts of Statutory Rape
6 counts of Statutory Sexual Offense
32 counts of Indecent Liberties with a Child
25 counts of Child Sex – Sexual Activity
39 counts of Sexual Activity by a Parent
2 counts of Crimes Against Nature
2 counts of Sexual Battery
1 count of Attempted 2nd Degree Sexual Offense
1 count of Attempted Crimes Against Nature
According to detectives, Collins raped four children, including one of his neighbors, repeatedly between 1996 and 2009.
Police finally began working the case after one of the victims came forward after what was described as years of emotional torture.
“This person was going through emotional trauma when they told the mother, so a lot of times none of us know that folks are being violated, particularly folks they hold in high esteem,” said Police Capt. Darry Whitaker. Collins made his first court appearance Tuesday afternoon where District Attorney Billy West requested that he remain in jail without bond.
“It’s very unfortunate and troubling these are some of the most difficult and disturbing cases,” West said. “Our children are vulnerable and they need to be protected and when allegations like this come forward it’s particularly troubling.” In court, Collins pleaded with a judge for his release and explained to the judge that he was “a pillar in the community” and that he wasn’t “guilty of this stuff.”
But Fayetteville Police say they have plenty of evidence that proves otherwise.
“We’ll have 142 charges and we were able to collect enough data, and we feel confident about what we have,” said Capt. Whitaker.
Collins is being held at the Cumberland County Jail on a $3.75 million secured bond.
Anyone who has information related to these or other crimes involving this offender is asked to please contact Detective T. Huggins, who is the lead detective in this investigation at (910) 303-5470 or Sergeant P. Smith at (910) 433-1851.
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