Connecticut

Mother gets probation for part in son’s suicide

A mother whose 12-year-old son hanged himself in his closet was placed on probation Friday after being convicted of contributing to his suicide by keeping a filthy house.

Prosecutors said that because of the squalid conditions in Judith Scruggs’ home and her own lack of attention to her son’s hygiene, the boy had body odor and bad breath and became miserable when his schoolmates picked on him because of it. The mother said the bullying drove the boy, J. Daniel Scruggs, to take his life.

Scruggs’ conviction on a risk-of-injury charge is believed to be the first time a parent was found guilty of contributing to a child’s suicide.

Scruggs, 53, was placed on probation for five years by Superior Court Judge Stephen Frazzini.

Prosecutor James Dinnan said Scruggs abandoned her parental responsibilities before the boy hanged himself with a necktie in 2002.

Washington

Lesbian minister won’t return to her church

A lesbian Methodist minister who was acquitted in a church trial over her sexual orientation has chosen not to return to her church, a United Methodist official said Friday.

The Rev. Karen Dammann chose to remain on family leave rather than return to First United Methodist Church in Ellensburg, said the Rev. Ron Hines, superintendent of the Pacific Northwest Conference’s Seven Rivers District.

“Karen is still a pastor in good standing with the conference. It was her choice that she continue on family leave,” Hines said.

In March, a jury of 13 pastors meeting in Bothell acquitted Dammann of violating Methodist law, even though she acknowledged she had a female partner. Church law prohibits the ordination of self-avowed, practicing homosexuals.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Hate crime probe begins at Goodyear plant

An investigation is under way at the Goodyear tire plant in Union City, Tenn., after officials there received reports about threatening notes and a noose being left in areas where black employees work.

FBI spokesman George Bolds said the federal agency had been alerted to the investigation and was reviewing the details.

Machine cleaner Marshall Brown, 34, said he found a noose and a racist and threatening letter in his work area on April 29.

“I actually found a hangman’s noose hanging,” Brown said in an interview Friday. “It really shook me up.”

Obion County Sheriff Jerry Vastbinder declined to comment on whether any suspects had been identified.

Illinois

Report: Inmate could’ve lived if treated earlier

In the days before a troublesome inmate died of pneumonia, county jail guards and a doctor witnessed the man drooling, making incoherent noise and falling out of bed, but they believed he was faking illness and blamed behavior problems.

Anthony Snyder might have survived if he had been treated sooner, a coroner’s report this week concluded. Jail guards said they didn’t realize Snyder was sick.

“Snyder was a faker,” Sheriff Bill Wilson said weeks after Snyder’s death in January.

Wilson said this week that Snyder had always been a troublemaker who refused to take his medicine for depression and wouldn’t cooperate with jail staff.

No state charges have been filed, and the U.S. Justice Department will determine whether any federal charges will be filed.