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According to the lawsuit, Darryl Thompson stopped breathing and died shortly after prison workers failed to respond to his pleas for help.

The agreement, approved last week by a U.S. District Judge, awards 2.28 million to Anntwanisha Thompson after legal fees for the death of her son.

“There’s no amount of money that is going to compensate for this boy’s life,” the family’s attorney, E. Robert Keach III, told theGrio.

Read more at the Grio.

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A former first round pick of the then-Los Angeles Raiders, McGlockton played 12 seasons with the Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos and New York Jets.

McGlockton registered 555 tackles, 51 sacks, 14 forced fumbles and four interceptions in his career. He made four straight Pro Bowl trips starting in 1994, when he had a career-high 9½ sacks with three forced fumbles and 48 tackles for the Raiders.

Read more at ESPN.

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Hundreds of friends and family crowded the pews at a church near Atlanta, and Champion’s drum major uniform was on display next to his open casket. Members of the marching band from Southwest DeKalb High School, where Champion attended, performed in full regalia at the beginning and end of the service.

Beulah Missionary Baptist Church pastor John Tatum urged the crowd to stop the “foolish” hazing in college fraternities and marching bands.

“If there’s anything about this man’s legacy we need to put a stop to, it’s hazing,” he said to a chorus of amens. “I call upon every parent, every mother, every father … do what is necessary now to stop this tragedy from ever happening again.”

The 26-year-old junior was found dead Nov. 19 on a bus parked outside an Orlando, Fla., hotel after the school’s football team lost to a rival. Police said Champion, a clarinet player, had been vomiting and complained he couldn’t breathe shortly before he collapsed, but they have not released any other details.

Since Champion’s death, Julian White, the band director at the historically black university in Tallahassee has been fired. The school has announced an independent probe, and the university president said he will work to end the long practice of hazing in the marching band.

Speaking at the service, White said Champion was like a son to him. He said he saw Champion shortly after he was found unconscious and he “looked in peace.”

“This is a difficult time for me. You may see me smile, and you probably won’t see me cry,” he said. “I’m happy that I knew Robert.”

The group that oversees Florida’s public universities announced Tuesday it wanted to investigate whether the school did enough to respond to hazing.

Champion fell in love with music when he was about age 6. He started in bands in middle school and his mother said he was so enthusiastic about performances she called him “Mr. Band.”

The Florida A&M band, known as the “Marching 100,” was one of the most prominent in the nation. The band has performed at Super Bowls, the Grammys and presidential inaugurations.

University president James Ammons pledged to “stamp out hazing at FAMU.”

“I vow that Robert’s death will not be in vain,” he said.

The study found that 51 percent of Hispanic males and 45 percent of African American males ages 15-24 will end up unemployed, incarcerated or dead.

ABC News Channel 3 in North Carolina Reports:

The College Board report on educational experience observed, “…Men, especially minority men, lag behind their female counterparts in college access, educational attainment and employment. Minority men outpace their female counterparts only in negative post-secondary outcomes: unemployment, incarceration and death.”

In order to accomplish President Obama’s goal of the United States retaking its position as the world’s best educated nation, improvements must be made in the rate men of color enroll in and graduate from college, the report stated.

Read More At WwayTV3.com

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Dr. David M. French was a former Howard University professor of pediatric surgery who treated the injuries of civil rights protesters in the 1960s and fought to stop the segregation of health-care facilities. He passed away on March 31 at the age of 86.

Dr. French was also a founding member of the Medical Committee for Human Rights, a civil rights organization that aimed to provide adequate medical care for patients of all races.

READ MORE AT WASHINGTONPOST.COM

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R&B legend Teena Marie has died, Washington Watch host Roland Martin has confirmed.

Reports of her untimely death spread online after a tweet from Ronald Isley. The soul crooner wrote: “Just found out a friend, Teena Marie passed away. I really didn’t expect to hear this. RIP. We will miss you much!”

FOR THE LATEST UPDATES CLICK HERE

Soon after a back and forth about her death erupted with various stars like LisaRaye and Kym Whitley saying that Teena was in fact alive.

However, as the minutes went on reporter Roland Martin confirmed with Teena’s manager, Mike Gardner, that the singer passed at the age of 54.

Philadelphia radio station WDAS first reported the story on the airwaves.

REMEMBER TEENA MARIE’S BEST VIDEOS HERE

Sheila E. shared a few scarce details of how Teena’s daughter, Alia Rose, discovered her mother’s dead body.

Sheila wrote:

“Her daughter found her in her bedroom already passed. she had seizures prior to this passing. please pray for her family.

They just took her body from her home. Teena Marie found dead by her daughter whose BD was yesterday. pray 4 her & her family.”

The protégé of the late Rick James has been an R&B staple since the debut of her 1980 release, Irons in the Fire.

SEE TEENA MARIE’S BEST PHOTOS HERE

She was heralded for her work as a songwriter, musician, and arranger. Teena was also credited by many for rapping on her own records, believed to have helped usher hip-hop into mainstream R&B.

As of now no further details about her death have surfaced.

Breaking news, December 26, 8:22 p.m. ET:

There are several reports that R&B star, Teena Marie has died. WDAS in Philadelphia has reported her death and Birdman of Cash Money Records has also said she has passed away via Twitter. Details will be posted as soon as they come in.

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An overnight fire traps a teenager and two children inside a Chicago home. Jamaya Herron, 18, died at the scene. Firefighters rescued the other kids.

It seems a candle started a fire at 2206 Clover Avenue in Rockford just before 4:00 a.m. Monday. The two parents, Joe and Delores Herron, escaped. But when firefighters arrived, their daughter and foster kids were still inside a bedroom. Rescuers got the 2 boys out. It was too late for the teenage girl. Fannie Barbee, a relative of the family says, “She was very faithful in the church. Whenever I go over there, she was a really nice person.”

The Rockford Fire Department responded to the one story house. Jamaya Herron and her two younger foster brothers, ages 10 and 11, were trapped. Rescuers got to the boys through the window. They were flown to a hospital in Madison for severe smoke inhalation.

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Firefighters could not lift Jamaya through the window. Investigators say she weighed more than 500 pounds. Winnebago County Coroner Sue Fiduccia says, “That did hamper the fire department and fire rescuers from taking her out a window. They did have to bring her out the door and in doing that, two firefighters we’re actually injured.

Read entire article at WREX.com

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The 17-year-old daughter of the U.S. Ambassador to Thailand plunged to her death from a Midtown luxury high-rise early Friday morning, the Daily News has learned.

Nicole John fell out of a 25th story window of the Herald Square Towers on W. 34th St., landing on the building’s third-floor overhang, according to police sources.

She was killed instantly.

John’s father, Eric John, was appointed U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand in 2007, according to the State Department website.

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Investigators believe Nicole John was part of a group of young revelers who were partying in the 25th-floor apartment near the Empire State Building in the moments before the 4:15 a.m. tragedy, according to sources.

“They’d been drinking,” said Robert Pena, the building engineer at the Herald Square Towers, who saw the pack of partygoers walking through the building’s lobby just before 4 a.m.

“They’d invited some other people back from a club,” Pena said.

Though the circumstances of John’s death remain under investigation, witnesses told cops they thought she was leaning out of the window for some fresh air when she tipped forward and fell, the sources said.

Read entire article at NYdailynews.com

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A Black Gay Pride organizer was shot and killed early Wednesday, according to a report by WSB-TV.

Durand Robinson, 50, of Decatur, an owner of the popular Traxx Atlanta club and promotion team, was shot after he got into an altercation with another person, the station reported.

Philip Boone, who was Robinson’s business partner told WSB, “This was devastating for our community and the Traxx family. He was an angel … we will miss him.”

According to a preliminary police report, Robinson was found in southwest Atlanta lying in the middle of Hadlock Street with a gunshot wound to the chest. He was found shortly after 1 a.m.

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The preliminary report states, according to Officer Kim Jones:

“Residence at Hadlock Street SW called 911 at 0123 hours to report a person injured. Grady EMS and Fire Rescue units were already on the scene. The victim was deceased on scene by an apparent gunshot wound. Residence at Hadlock Street SW heard a commotion in the street followed by a single gunshot and the sound of a vehicle speeding off. The residence advised that when they looked out they saw the victim lying in the street and called 911

Police continue to seek a motive and have not named a suspect in the case.

Read entire article at TheGAvoice.com

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Charles W. Bowser, 79, a tenacious advocate of racial fairness and an influential civic leader whose two campaigns for Philadelphia mayor inspired a generation of African American political leaders, died Monday from complications of Alzheimer’s disease at HCR Manor Care in King of Prussia.

For almost 40 years from the mid-1960s on, Mr. Bowser was a force in the city’s civic life while mentoring and encouraging virtually every major black elected official who has emerged in the last 25 years.

From fighting to end the wearing of blackface by Mummers to serving on the commission that investigated the MOVE bombing, Mr. Bowser proved a determined and intellectually gifted lawyer and public servant.

But his most enduring legacy can be found in the office he never was able to achieve for himself.

While Mr. Bowser was not the first African American to run for mayor in Philadelphia, his campaigns in 1975 and 1979 were the first to galvanize black voters. In doing so, they challenged the notion that a black candidate could not win.

“Charlie Bowser convinced the African American community we could do this,” said John F. Street, the city’s second black mayor.

Click here to read more at the Philadelphia Inquirer

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