Fantasia provides emotional moment as Jennifer Hudson says goodbye to mother

As the two-hour wake for her mother, brother and nephew came to an end, Jennifer Hudson approached their coffins and spent a few moments with each.

She paused at the casket of her 7-year-old nephew Julian, then moved on, gently touching the body of her mother. Composed, the 27-year actress and singer, leaned down to kiss her mother goodbye. She paused again before her brother's casket before taking her seat.

The three-hour funeral reached an emotional peak when American Idol Season 3 winner Fantasia Barrino sang a gospel classic, "Your Grace and Mercy". Calling the Hudsons "my family," she walked off the stage and into the aisle where she took Jennifer's hand and sang directly to the actress.

"I think it healed Jennifer's soul just then," said family friend, Lisa Allison.

Read the rest because I still don't have the words.

William Balfour's mother defends her son to Nancy Grace

Balfour's mother tried to get crunk with Nancy but you know Nancy don't play dat mess. This was foolishness and that's all I will say until more facts come out.

Men charged with plotting to kill Obama

Federal prosecutors charged two men with plotting a "killing spree" against African-Americans that would have been capped with an attempt to kill Sen. Barack Obama while they wore white tuxedos, federal officials said Monday.

The U.S. attorney's office in Jackson, Tennessee, said Daniel Cowart, 20, and Paul Schlesselman, 18, were self-described white supremacists who met online through a mutual friend.

Both men have been charged with illegal possession of a sawed-off shotgun, conspiracy to rob a federally licensed gun dealer and making threats against a presidential candidate.

The men planned to kill more than 100 African-Americans, including 14 who would be beheaded, according to the affidavit. But federal law enforcement sources said there was no evidence Cowart, of Bells, Tennessee, and Schlesselman, of West Helena, Arkansas, had any details of Obama's schedule.

"We take this very, very seriously but we see no evidence these guys have the ability or the wherewithal to pull off what they say they wanted to do," one law enforcement source said.

According to an affidavit from the federal agent who questioned them, Cowart and Schlesselman planned to charge at Obama with a car, firing from the windows as they went. They would be dressed in white tuxedos and top hats during the attempt, the affidavit states.

Cowart and Schlesselman were arrested outside Jackson, about 75 miles east of Memphis, Tennessee, after an aborted robbery attempt last week, according to court records.

Though they told investigators they would be willing to die in their mission, the men backed out of their October 21 attempt to rob the gun dealer after spotting two cars and a dog at the home, the affidavit states. The men also shot out the window of a church on their way back to Cowart's grandfather's home, where they were arrested the next day.

Cowart and Schlesselman made their initial appearances before a federal judge Monday and are scheduled for a bond hearing Thursday in Memphis.

Obama, an Illinois Democrat, is the first African-American nominee to lead a major-party ticket and was placed under Secret Service protection in May 2007, far earlier than other candidates.

Campaign spokeswoman Linda Douglass said, "We never comment on security matters."

Threats against Obama have led to arrests in two previous cases. In one, federal prosecutors concluded that the three people arrested with drugs and weapons in a suburban Denver motel posed a "true threat" to the candidate.

In the second, a Florida man was charged with threatening bodily harm against the candidate in August. He has pleaded not guilty.

Amber Alert Canceled for Julian King

Amber Alert Canceled for 7 Year Old Illinois Boy, October 27, 2008: "The Illinois State Police canceled the Amber Alert on Monday morning after the body of a young black male was found in a white Chevy SUV on Chicago's west side. As of this update the police have not released a positive identification of the body but they have officially canceled the Amber Alert. A suspect has been in custody since late Friday night but has not yet been charged."

Lord, Jesus. I don't know what to say.

Jennifer Hudson's mother and brother found dead in their home

The mother and brother of singer and Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson were found shot to death inside a home Friday.

Police have confirmed Hudson's mother, Darnell Hudson Donerson, 57, is one of the deceased. The other victim has been identified as Jennifer Hudson's brother, Jason S. Hudson, 29.

search is underway for a young boy who is missing from the home. Jennifer Hudson's 7-year-old nephew, Julian King, has been missing since Friday morning, according to Area 2 Deputy Chief Joseph Patterson.

Patterson said neighbors reported hearing shots between 8 and 9 a.m.

State police have issued an amber alert for the child. He may be with William Balfour, who police are looking for. Relatives said Balfour is the husband of Jennifer Hudson's sister, Julia.

Police are searching for an SUV that was seen in the area - a 1994 white Suburban, Illinois license plate number X584859.

He could also be driving a teal or green Chrysler Concorde, four-door with temporary tags 332K823.

Balfour is believed to have lived in the house where the bodies.

Lord, have mercy. Jennifer, I'm so sorry for your loss. More important, I am praying for you.

Read the rest.

Louisiana Cop Indicted, Faces 45 Years in Prison for Tasering Handcuffed Suspect to Death

If convicted, Officer Faces 45 Years in Prison for Tasering Handcuffed Suspect to Death: "former Winnfield, Louisiana policeman could face up to 45 years in jail if convicted on charges he killed a suspect by shocking him with a Taser.

The charges are in connection with the Jan. 17 death of Baron “Scooter” Pikes in Winnfield, a small town less than 40 miles from Jena, the scene last year of one of the nation’s largest modern day civil rights marches."

Pikes died after being shocked with a Taser nine times, according to his death certificate. His family and community activists in Winnfield have said they want the officer to be held accountable for Pikes’ death.

Wednesday's indictment came eight months after the incident.

Officers said they spotted Pikes and took him into custody on an outstanding warrant.

Witnesses have said that Pikes was handcuffed while he was being Tased. A coroner’s report said by the time he was zapped with the Taser for the eighth and ninth times, it is possible Pikes was already dead.

T.I. pleads guilty

Taking a page from Bishop Weeks play book, Rapper T.I. has pleaded guilty to federal weapons possession charges, and is to be sentenced in one year, after completing a period of community service.

In the year that he is awaiting sentencing, T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris, must complete at least 1,000 hours of a total 1,500 hours of community service, talking to youth groups about the pitfalls of guns, gangs and drugs.

Good luck with that, Cliff. I'm praying for you. Amen.

Read the rest.

Kwame and Beatty plead not guilty

Legal experts said Tuesday that the heart of the perjury case against Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick — steamy text messages that seem to contradict his sworn denials of an affair with an aide — might be less open-and-shut than many believe.

Kilpatrick's attorneys want to keep the intimate and sexually explicit text messages out of a trial, and at least one outside defense lawyer says the admissibility of such high-tech communications is an unsettled legal question. Even if they are admitted, experts say the defense will exploit any ambiguity in the messages, in the questions the mayor and former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty were asked under oath, and in their answers.

"If the questions were not clear, and that's going to be used to prove the case, then that's another avenue in trying to establish a reasonable doubt," former federal prosecutor Matthew Orwig said Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the usually gregarious Kilpatrick was subdued as he stood mute to eight felony charges of perjury, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office during his arraignment in Detroit. Beatty also stood mute to seven of those charges.

Not guilty pleas were entered for both. They were released on personal bonds and are expected to appear at a June 9 preliminary examination that will determine if they will face trial in Wayne County Circuit Court.

The charges stem from a lawsuit filed by two former police officers who won a jury verdict last year. They said they were fired for investigating claims that the mayor used his security unit to cover up extramarital affairs.

Kilpatrick had said he would challenge the verdict, but prosecutors allege that a multimillion-dollar settlement was reached after the officers' attorney showed the mayor's lawyers references to the text messages, which had been left on Beatty's city-issued pager.

The Detroit Free Press published excerpts of the messages in January, prompting an investigation that led to charges against Kilpatrick and Beatty on Monday.

Kilpatrick's lawyer Dan Webb is a former U.S. attorney known for his three-hour cross-examination of former President Ronald Reagan in the Iran-Contra scandal. Webb won a conviction, later reversed, against Admiral John Poindexter on charges linked to the scandal.

Webb also was the chief defense attorney in the corruption trial of former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, who is now in prison.

Webb says the release of the text messages violates federal law.

"Under the Stored Communications Act they absolutely should not have been produced in civil litigation," Webb said Monday. "Because of that, everyone who sees them is clearly tainted because the initial production was illegal."

Miami criminal defense lawyer Milton Hirsch said Webb's effort to bring the 1986 act into play is a good move.

"He's a very fine lawyer," said Hirsch, who specializes in defending public corruption cases. "There is very little law on this, but I think it's a motion worth filing. It could make good law and could establish an important point."

Kilpatrick and Beatty denied having an intimate relationship when they testified in the police officers' lawsuit.

"Mayor Kilpatrick, during 2002 and 2003, were you romantically involved with Christine Beatty?" asked Mike Stefani, who represented the police officers.

Kilpatrick's response: "No."

Beatty said "no" and rolled her eyes when asked if she and the mayor were "either romantically or intimately involved" during the period covered by the case.

Text messages published by the Free Press told a different story.

"I'm madly in love with you," Kilpatrick wrote on Oct. 3, 2002.

"I hope you feel that way for a long time," Beatty replied. "In case you haven't noticed, I am madly in love with you, too!"

On Oct. 16, 2002, Kilpatrick wrote Beatty: "I've been dreaming all day about having you all to myself for 3 days. Relaxing, laughing, talking, sleeping and making love."

The messages also included dialogue about where to meet and how to conceal their trysts. Hirsch, however, said the messages may not be enough to prove perjury.

"The world is full of people who are in the habit of exchanging salacious phone calls, e-mails and text messages," he said. "It doesn't mean they are having an actual relationship. Did they say (under oath) they didn't have physical sex, or have no personal relationship or interaction, at all?

"If the witnesses testified 'we have nothing but a business relationship, we scarcely even talk about anything besides business matters,' that's a different matter," Hirsch said.

Sex is not the only issue surrounding the text messages. The prosecutor's office filed an investigative report Tuesday that included an excerpt of a text message from Kilpatrick asking members of his staff for help in explaining the departure of former Deputy Chief Gary Brown, one of the former officers who sued.

On June 24, 2003, he wrote: "We must answer the question? Why was Gary Brown fired. It will be asked, I need short, powerful answer ... I just need a good answer. Whatever it might be."

During the whistle-blower suit, Kilpatrick said Brown was "un-appointed."

"He was not fired," he testified.

Perjury, under Michigan law, is defined as "willfully" swearing falsely while under oath and is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

A 2004 Michigan Supreme Court ruling could help prosecutors' case. Reversing more than 150 years of precedent, the court said prosecutors don't have to prove that a lie was material to a case.

My response:

What ever the results of this case are one verdict will still stand: Kilpatrick is an idiot.

Vick asked for mercy

Michael Vick wrote a five-page letter to Judge Henry E. Hudson prior to Monday's sentencing hearing in Richmond, Va.

In it, Vick declared "I am not the bad person or beast I've been made out to be" and asked for leniency in a letter to the federal judge who sentenced him to 23 months in prison for a dogfighting conspiracy.

Vick's handwritten letter was one of several submitted on behalf of the suspended Falcons quarterback. The documents were unsealed by the court on Thursday.

Other supporters who wrote letters on Vick's behalf included Hank Aaron, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and former boxing champion George Foreman.

Read the letters here.

The Black KKK...well

FOX Sports on MSN - NFL - Taylor's death a grim reminder for us all: "The Black KKK claimed another victim, a high-profile professional football player with a checkered past this time. No, we don't know for certain the circumstances surrounding Taylor's death. I could very well be proven wrong for engaging in this sort of aggressive speculation. But it's no different than if you saw a fat man fall to the ground clutching his chest. You'd assume a heart attack, and you'd know, no matter the cause, the man needed to lose weight."

My response:

I can't do this article justice. You've got to read it for yourself. All I have to say about it is, I concur.

Redskins' Taylor Dies Day After Shooting | ajc.com

Redskins' Taylor Dies Day After Shooting ajc.com: "Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor died early Tuesday, a day after the Pro Bowl player was shot at home by what police say was an intruder. He was 24."

Apparently, his home had been previously burglarized by an unknown intruder. Something about this certainly doesn't make sense. I think it was someone he knew who had issues with him. This is so sad. My prayers are with his family.

Black College Student Missing for a Week

Black College Student Missing for a Week: "A college student has been missing for a week, and this city's police chief says her race is the reason her disappearance hasn't gotten more attention. Latasha Norman, who is black, was last seen Nov. 13 in one of her classes at Jackson State University. Her car was left on the campus, and the 20-year-old never returned to her dormitory room. Luther Samuel, a detective with the campus police, said investigators have combed the campus and have been searching all over the state, but no sightings of Norman have been reported. Police say they have no suspects. Among the people they have questioned are her current boyfriend and an ex-boyfriend who was charged Thursday with hitting Norman last month."

Jackson Police Chief Malcolm McMillin said Norman's disappearance should get "the same kind of concern" as that of Stacy Peterson, 23, a white woman from suburban Chicago who has been missing for three weeks.

"As far as the interest by the national media in the story, I think race probably had an impact," said McMillin, who is white. "It's a small college in the South. It's the daughter of simple people who maybe are not important outside of their circle, and maybe we don't attach the same importance to them that we do for other people."

Police have named Peterson's 53-year-old husband, a former police officer, as a suspect in her disappearance. Drew Peterson denies any wrongdoing, but prosecutors also are investigating the 2004 death of his third wife, which they now believe was a homicide staged to look like an accident.
Norman is a junior accounting major from the Mississippi Delta city of Greenville.

"We're not going to stop until we know something. We're going to be relentless," said her father, Danny Bolden. "I'll ask that God may touch whoever ... may have done this, that they may come forward and bring Tasha back to us because we love her very much."

I really hope they find her...alive. Sending my prayers up for the family.

No state charges in Anderson case

Tallahassee, FL.: "Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum today said his office will take no further civil or criminal action in the death of Martin Lee Anderson, but will help Anderson's family seek 'the justice they deserve.' In a statement, issued jointly with an attorney for Anderson's parents, McCollum did say there is more to do in the death of the Panama City teen. Anderson, 14, died Jan. 6, 2006, a day after he was struck, kneed, restrained and forced to breathe ammonia tablets at a Bay County juvenile boot camp."

My response:
I'm not looking for state charges. I'm looking for federal charges. This absolutely can not go unpunished. Not in 2007. Those who have the influence to do so must keep the pressure on.

T.I. Issues a statement

So, Clifford has made a statement to his fans. If you'd rather read it the transcript is below:

"I know alot of people are concerned given the current situation. And I want to say thank you, you know, for all the prayers and support coming from my fans and my supporters. You know, its a very trying time right now, but I want to let everybody know that I pled not guilty and I gotta stress my innocence, you know, to everyone out there whos listening! And I look forward to being exonerated on all charges. And I say that with the utmost sincerity. I cant stress that enough to ya, ya dig.

I'd really like to say thank you to my lawyers, Dwight Thomas, Steve Sadow, Ed Garland, and Don Samuels. And thank you to the judge for even allowing me the privilege of being on house arrest and being here instead of, you know, the clear alternative. I just wanna tell everybody man, dont even believe every thang you see on the news, dont believe every thang you read in the papers, ya dig that.

I just wanted to to give you a brief message, you know, telling you how much I love you, how much I cant wait to get back out there. The good thang is man, you know, I got a lot time on my hands; doing a lot of reading, doing a lot of writing, working on my next album, its called Paper Trail. Oh and speaking of Paper Trail, extra special thank youto the Grand Hustle family and the Atlantic Records family. Man we gonna get thru this, you know what Im saying...to whom much is given, even more is required. You know what Im saying. God will never take you to...what he cant take you through.

So, Im just listening to what God got to say right now. And that's what Im doing, Im being still...I'm being quiet and I'm being still. Im abiding by all the stipulations, all of the criteria of my bond and of my release and I got faith in God and I got faith in the system. You know, America is a wonderful country.

Im gettin a lot of work done man, a lot of music man being recorded. But, my main message is its not over (pause) and the King aint dead."

My response:

Cliff, I really hope you are listening to God. I really hope you are being still and quiet and seeking Him for direction. I also hope you are really innocent because it makes no sense for you to be in this position with all you are blessed with. But you know I love you and I'm in your corner. You are so intelligent and so talented. You have a gift. Now use it for His glory.

P.S. And tell your friends to stop referring to black women as bitches and hoes. There are some intelligent sistas like myself who like your music but honestly, I can't get with you when you disrespect the progenitor of the earth. Love you!

BAW: Commentary: If You Want To Highlight Problems in the Criminal Justice System, There Are Plenty of Valid Examples

BAW: Commentary: If You Want To Highlight Problems in the Criminal Justice System, There Are Plenty of Valid Examples: "I admit that when Black Entertainment Television recently elevated two of the Jena 6 defendants from being lucky to becoming luminaries, I was a bit conflicted. Not that I didn’t agree that Carwin Jones and Bryant Purvis – who escaped facing several years in prison on an attempted murder charge over a schoolyard beatdown – didn’t deserve some attention. They are, after all, symbols of the systematic racism that has far too many black men doing time for punishments that don’t fit the crime. "

What worried me, though, is whether their being hailed as celebrities when they are accused of beating a kid unconscious could send the wrong message to other impressionable black youths. I worried whether Jones and Purvis’ turn in the BET spotlight would obscure what the real message should be; that it is far smarter to avoid getting entangled in the criminal justice system in the first place if it means you have to count on national outrage to free you.

Yet if BET wants to use its award shows to trot out black people who have been wronged by the criminal justice system, I’m all right with that. I’m all right with that because there are lots of those people to go around – and many with cases more compelling than that of the Jena 6.
One of those people is Michael Anthony Williams.

Williams is 43 now. Like the Jena 6 he lives in Louisiana. Like the Jena 6 he was a teenager when he was accused of a crime; he was accused of raping and beating his high school tutor.
Unlike the Jena 6, though, he did wind up in prison - Did 24 years hard time in the notorious Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, in fact.

But unlike the Jena 6, Williams didn’t do the crime.

After spending several years trying to clear his name, he was exonerated two years ago by DNA testing. As it turned out, Williams had spent half his life in prison based largely on the testimony of a woman who didn’t even see her attacker. His tutor’s head was covered during the attack, but she told prosecutors that she recognized Williams’ voice.

That was enough to persuade a jury to lock him away for life without parole. At age 16.
But now, according to The Wall Street Journal, Williams is struggling to adjust to life on the outside. He had to fight to get a state representative to write a bill to compensate him for $150,000 – or around $6,300 a year for each year he spent in prison.

That’s a pittance. A pittance that has done little to help Williams get back a life that he never had a chance to develop. He has virtually no job skills. He was imprisoned before he learned to drive – a time-honored teenage rite of passage. He had never seen a cell phone, or used a computer.

He has to sleep with the lights on because he can’t get used to sleeping in the dark.

To ease his readjustment Williams said he hopes to join a community of exonerees who, like him, were freed through the efforts of the Innocence Project – an organization whose efforts have led to the release of more than 200 prisoners who have been proven innocent by DNA testing. But the project needs more money to help the former inmates – many of whom are black – who are struggling with depression and other psychological trauma after years of being locked up and then spat out into a world that, to them, might as well be Mars.

BET should champion that cause – and highlight someone like Williams on one of its award shows.

Sure exonerees like him may not be young anymore. They may not project the hip-hop generation aura that I’m sure Jones and Purvis projected – and that BET audiences eat up with a spoon.

But when it comes to the criminal injustice system, people like Williams illustrate something that transcends hairsplitting about whether black miscreants will receive equal justice compared to white miscreants. People like him illustrate the fact that in many cases, innocent black people don’t get any justice at all.

They show us that as we fume over black people who caught the short end of the stick after they got caught up in the system, there still are scores of black people who weren’t involved in the system at all, yet it managed to suck them in and beat them down.
Such people ought to be worthy of a BET moment too. Especially since what happened to Williams could happen to any of us.

Without us doing anything wrong."

Rapper T.I. wants judge to allow Thanksgiving gathering |

ajc.com: "Atlanta rapper T.I., who's under house arrest awaiting trial on federal weapons charges, is asking a judge to let him host a Thanksgiving Day dinner at his Jonesboro home. In a motion filed in federal court Tuesday, T.I — who was born Clifford Harris Jr. — requested that the judge waive the no-more-than-three visitors-at-a-time provision of his $3 million bond. Harris, 27, wants the exception only for Turkey Day, only between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., and only for a group of visitors whose names he submitted for approval. In another motion Tuesday, Harris also asked the judge to allow access for workers who can come clean his yard, pool and home. Harris was arrested Oct. 13 in a Midtown parking lot as he allegedly tried to illegally buy three machine guns and two silencers."

Police say man raped boys as video camera rolled

Police say man raped boys as video camera rolled ajc.com: "Authorities believe a Washington state pilot sexually assaulted at least 20 boys in his home over a six-year period and videotaped much of the alleged abuse. On Thursday, police and FBI agents in Atlanta arrested Weldon Marc Gilbert of Lake Tapps, Wash., on a warrant charging him with nine sex crimes."

My response:

Under the jail. That's where he needs to be for the rest of his life.

BAW: New Crack Cocaine Sentencing Goes into Effect

New federal sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine offenders went into effect Thursday, lowering the recommended sentencing range for people caught with the drug.

The new U.S. Sentencing Commission guidelines for those possessing 5 grams or more of crack cocaine are prison terms of 51 months to 63 months, down from the old range of 63 months to 78 months. The new range for offenders possessing at least 50 grams is 97 months to 121 months in prison, down from 121 months to 151 months. Those ranges apply for first-time crack-cocaine convictions.

In April, the commission voted for the lower recommended sentencing ranges for those caught with crack cocaine. The recommendation sent to Capitol Hill on May 1 became effective Thursday after 180 days of congressional review.

The reduction will be the focus of a Nov. 13 commission hearing to consider whether to make the lower guideline penalty retroactively available to 19,500 crack cocaine offenders who were sentenced previously.

Federal law sets a mandatory minimum five-year prison sentence for trafficking in 5 grams of crack cocaine. It takes 500 grams of cocaine powder to warrant the same sentence. The crack-powder disparity has a strong racial dimension because more than four-fifths of crack cocaine offenders in federal courts last year were black.

A commission analysis estimated the change would reduce the size of the federal prison population by 3,800 in 15 years. Such a reduction would result in savings of over $87 million, according to The Sentencing Project, a private organization tracking the issue.

The sentencing commission is urging Congress to repeal the mandatory prison term for simple possession and increase the amount of crack cocaine required to trigger five-year and 10-year mandatory minimum prison terms as a way to focus on major drug traffickers.

The mandatory five-year minimum trumps the lower end of the new guideline range that went into effect Thursday, meaning that the newly available range is 60 to 63 months. The same principle applies to the 10-year mandatory minimum, making the newly available range 120 to 121 months.

My response:
While there are certainly racial implications in the sentencing of crack cocaine dealers and powder cocaine dealers, the harsher sentences were suggested by Black congressional leaders. I don't believe it was there intention to discriminate against Black people, but their actions were in response to the devastating effect crack cocaine was having on Black communities. I don't know how I feel about these new sentencing guidelines, but I do think people are trying to be fair.

T.I. wants out of jail

MUSIC NEWS: T.I. Proposes Release Terms: "Lawyers for T.I. have asked that the rap star be released on a $2.2 million bond backed by his record label, record executives and the equity in both of his homes. They've also proposed that the rap star be on house arrrest with 24-hour monitoring. They presented the package to U.S. Magistrate Alan Baverman today in the Richard B. Russell Federal Building and Courthouse in Atlanta. According to CNN reporter Rusty Dornin, both Atlantic Records' CEO Lyor Cohen and Chairman Craig Kallman appeared in court to back the embattled rap star, pledging their financial support. "

My response:

I just have to tell you that I am so mad at T.I. right now. Seriously. I'm mad at him because I like most of his music. Some of his tracks have wayyy too much cursing in them for me. I really thought he had more sense than this.

Clifford, let me tell you something. You need to get it together. Leave some of those people alone that you are hanging with and surround yourself with people who have some sense. You are too talented, too gifted, and yes, too intelligent to get caught up in this foolishness. It's time to get smart.

Jacksonville.com: Metro: Story: 2 children saved from blaze at apartment

2 children saved from blaze at apartment: "Jacksonville firefighters said that when they went into a burning apartment to save lives Tuesday night, they didn't expect to see someone trying to take a child's life right in front of them. But after fire Capt. Steve Boudreau and firefighter David Spencer got inside a bedroom barricaded with furniture, they said they found a father crushing his 2-year-old daughter on the floor. They said in Times-Union interviews Wednesday that, with air masks and other firefighting gear strapped on, they wrestled the man and rescued the toddler from his grip. Once outside, rescuers got the 2-year-old breathing again and took her to Shands Jacksonville hospital. Police said she was in critical condition Wednesday, but fire officials said her condition improved and they'd been told she would make it. Police identified the attacker as Johnnie Everette Young and charged him with arson and domestic battery as they waited to see if the child survived. "

I'm just shakin' my head....