California

Murder charge filed in death of Williamses’ sister

A felon with ties to a street gang was charged Tuesday with murder in the death of the sister of tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams.

Aaron Michael Hammer appeared briefly in Superior Court, but Judge John Cheroske postponed Hammer’s arraignment to next week at the request of the defense.

Hammer, 24, of Compton, is accused in the shooting of Yetunde Price, 31, early Sunday as she sat in a sport utility vehicle with a companion, Rolland Wormley, 28.

Authorities initially reported Price was shot in the chest, but a coroner’s spokesman said Tuesday an autopsy showed she died of a gunshot wound to the head.

Hammer has ties to a Compton street gang but is not a member, authorities have said without elaboration. They also said he was convicted in a commercial burglary.

Texas

Evangelist Armstrong dies

Evangelist Garner Ted Armstrong, who founded two ministries after being excommunicated from his father’s Worldwide Church of God for raising allegations of lavish spending, has died at age 73.

Armstrong died Monday from complications of pneumonia.

“I know that my dad fully expected that his work will continue,” his son Mark Armstrong said in a statement.

Garner Ted Armstrong was the heir apparent to the Pasadena, Calif.-based church founded by his father, Herbert Armstrong, until the two had a falling out in 1978.

Armstrong then founded the Church of God International near Tyler and the Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Assn. He stepped down from the church in 1995 after a masseuse accused him of sexual assault. He denied her accusation.

New York City

Time Warner to drop ‘AOL’ from name

AOL Time Warner plans to drop “AOL” from its name, symbolizing the giant media company’s effort to put the failings of the biggest merger in history behind it and begin a new phase of its corporate identity, company executives said Tuesday.

The corporation’s board of directors is scheduled to approve the name change Thursday at its monthly meeting in New York, people close to the board said.

The decision to drop “AOL” from the corporate name is not a precursor to a sale or spinoff of the America Online division, sources said.