Dawn Loggins Survives Poverty, Now Heads To Harvard: What About Minority Students? Where Is Their "Village"?

‎"It takes a Village to raise a Child."
Hillary Clinton, Circa 1996

Dawn Loggins of North Carolina, lived in Extreme Poverty & was later Abandoned by her Parents.

Dawn is a Young White Teen.

Instead of allowing Dawn to be placed in Foster Care like most BLACK Children are when their Parents Abandon and Neglect them, the Community of Lawndale, NC Adopted Dawn & became her New Family.

Dawn's New "Family" refused to let her Fail, refused to let her Past determine her Future.

With the Lawndale Community's help, Dawn attended School, earned Good grades & worked as a Janitor.

In essence Lawndale became Dawn's Village.

It takes a Village right?

Dawn Loggins is now 18 and has just won a Full Scholarship to Harvard.

I am really Proud of Dawn's Academic Success.

However NOT many Children make it so Successfully out of such dire Circumstances.

Especially NOT many BLACK & Latino Children.

I applaud the citizens of Lawndale, NC for accepting Dawn as one of their Own versus allowing her to become another Foster Care Statistic.

But To my BLACK Brothers & Sisters I pose this Challenge:

Why does the BLACK Community so frequently allow BLACK Youth living in Poverty to become wards of the Foster Care System?

Where are the 21st Century BLACK Communities like Lawndale?

Are there anymore BLACK "Villages" in America left to help Save BLACK Children?

This is why I want to help launch FREE Programs on the East Coast for Children & Youth that will expose them to Science, Art, Creative Writing, Financial Literacy & Entrepreneurship.
Especially for BLACK & Latino Youth.

And if they're Hungry, need Clothes or an Encouraging Word, I want to help provide those necessities too.

Hillary Clinton was Correct. It Does take a Village to raise a Child.

But it must be the Right kind of Village.

Congratulations Dawn!

Peace.


From scrubbing floors to Ivy League: Homeless student to go to dream college

It's before sunrise, and the janitor at Burns High School has already been down the length of a hallway, cleaning and sweeping classrooms before the day begins.
This particular janitor is painstakingly methodical, even as she administers a mental quiz on an upcoming test. Her name is Dawn Loggins, a straight-A senior at the very school she cleans.
On this day, she maneuvers a long-handled push broom between rows of desks. She stops to pick up a hardened, chewed piece of gum. "This annoys me, because there's a trash can right here," she says.
The worst, she says, is snuff cans in urinals. "It's just rude and pointless."
With her long, straight dark blonde hair and black-rimmed glasses, Dawn looks a bit like Avril Lavigne. But her life is a far cry from that of a privileged pop star.
She was homeless at the start of the school year, abandoned by her drug-abusing parents. The teachers and others in town pitched in -- donating clothes and providing medical and dental care. She got the janitorial job through a school workforce assistance program.

She's grateful for the work. But it's where she's going next, beyond the walls of Burns, that excites her most. She applied to four colleges within North Carolina and one dream university. She'll graduate soon before heading off, leaving her dust pan behind.

For now, there's still work to be done. She stops for a quick bite to eat in the custodial closet amid Pine-Sol and Clorox. She then darts to classes -- three advanced placement courses and an honors class.

Growing up without electricity

Dawn grew up in a ramshackle home with no electricity and no running water. She often went days, even weeks without showering. She and her brother Shane -- who was equally studious in his schoolwork -- would walk 20 minutes to a public park to fetch water.
"We would get water jugs and fill them up at the park, using the spigots in the bathroom. And we would use that to flush the toilet or cook with. Stuff like that," she says.
She confided in a staff member at school. She had trouble doing homework at nighttime because her home had no electricity and she couldn't afford candles. It was difficult to read in the dark.

"OK, we'll get you some candles. We'll take care of that," said Junie Barrett, Dawn's supervisor.
Another time, Barrett says, Dawn and her brother asked if they could use the school's washing machine to clean their clothes. "I said, 'Just leave them with me. We'll get them washed, dried,' " Barrett recalls.

"We let them use our shower facilities in the locker rooms because they had no running water. They had nothing to bathe in."
Burns High was their fourth high school since middle school, as they moved from town to town. Living the life of a rolling stone, the two had missed several months' worth of classwork when they first arrived two years ago, putting them well behind other students' progress.

Shane was outgoing, but Dawn always appeared more reserved.

Guidance counselor Robyn Putnam saw the potential in Dawn and Shane early on and enrolled them in online classes to get them caught up. The work paid off.
Abandoned by parents
Last summer, Dawn was invited to attend a prestigious six-week residential summer program, the Governor's School of North Carolina, at Meredith College in Raleigh, 200 miles east of Lawndale, to study natural science. It was a field Dawn had never studied before.
The program is reserved for the state's top students.
Putnam ferried Dawn to Raleigh to attend the elite program and took her shopping, making sure she had the clothes she needed. Other faculty members contributed funds, too.
Putnam worried Dawn's home situation could worsen while she was away. "We weren't even sure where her parents were at that time. And there was an eviction notice on the house," she says. "We kept telling her to get everything she could; we knew this was a possibility."

Dawn saw her parents for 30 minutes during the middle of the summer program during a short break. They talked about her school and how she was doing. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. "It was just a regular conversation," she says.
She wouldn't hear from them again for weeks.
As she prepared to leave the summer program, she kept calling her parents' phone, only to learn it had been disconnected. Putnam picked her up and brought her back to Lawndale.
"When I returned, my grandmother had been dropped off at a local homeless shelter, my brother had just left, and my parents had just gone," she says. "I found out later they had moved to Tennessee."
Her voice is steady, matter of fact. "I never expected my parents to just, like, leave."

Dawn was abandoned.

"I'm not mad at my parents. My mom and my stepdad both think that they did what was best for me," she says.

In fact, she used her parents' example to drive her. "I just realize that they have their own problems that they need to work through," she says. "They do love me; I know they love me. They just don't show it in a way that most people would see as normal."

Stability in Lawndale

For a while, Dawn lived on the odd couch at friends' homes, while she figured out what to do. Sometimes, she slept on the floor. The only thing that was clear was that she wanted to stay in Lawndale, where she was active in extracurricular activities, had a boyfriend and had a job.
Her classmates there didn't make fun of her, though she had been mercilessly mocked in middle school. "It was the worst. That's when I would come home crying because the teasing was so bad," Dawn recalled.

She had lived with her grandmother until she was 12 and attended junior high at a school about an hour away from Lawndale during that time.

"My grandma loved me, and she taught me a lot. She had lots of crafts around and watched History Channel with us. But ..."

Dawn's voice halts, then begins again a few seconds later. "She never really explained to me and my brother the importance of bathing regularly. And our house was really disgusting. We had cockroaches everywhere. And we had trash piled literally 2 feet high. We'd have to step over it to get anywhere in the house."

Dawn would go without showering two to three months at a time and wear the same dress to school for weeks straight. "When I was little, it seemed normal to me. I didn't realize that other families weren't living the same way that I was. And because of that I got teased, the kids would call me dirty."

In Lawndale, a town of about 600 in the Appalachian foothills of western North Carolina, things were different. Dawn felt comfortable.

With her parents gone, she processed the options with her guidance counselor.

She could move yet again to Tennessee to be with her mother, or she could be turned over to the Department of Social Services. Putnam feared what that might bring. "If Dawn were to go into the system, she could be uprooted again and moved around," she says.

Dawn would turn 18 during the second semester, Putnam knew, making her an adult by law. So Putnam asked Dawn: "What do you want to do? She said, 'I want to graduate from Burns. To be in the same school two years.' "
So the community and Burns staff became her family.

Sheryl Kolton, a custodian and bus driver for Burns Middle School, had met Dawn before and knew her but not well. She wasn't expecting the phone call she received. "The counselor at the high school just called me one day and asked me if Dawn could come live here," Kolton says.

A few days later, she and her husband, Norm, agreed.

Shooting for the stars

With a roof over her head and the contributions of Burns staff to supplement the Koltons' income needed to house and feed a growing teenager, Dawn was seemingly in a stable environment. She admits that having her parents out of the picture helped.
"Honestly it was kind of a relief," she says. "I mean, I have a place to stay, and I have a job, and I'm going to school."

As she began her senior year, Dawn turned her laser-beam focus to her future: college. She knew she wanted a different path than her parents.

"When I was younger, I was able to look at all the bad choices -- at the neglect, and the drug abuse, and everything that was happening -- and make a decision for myself that I was not going to end up like my parents, living from paycheck to paycheck."
A straight-A student, Dawn was president of the photography club. She also had started a community service program collecting thousands of letters for active military troops and was involved in National Honor Society and band club.

Before she took her custodian job, she ran cross country.

She wasn't top of her class, and she didn't have a perfect GPA, but she was smart. On paper, she had always fared well.

"I was looking at her transcript, and one of the lowest grades on her transcript is a 94 and that was for a class called Success 101, and the irony of that is just really amazing," Putnam says with a laugh.

Dawn applied to four colleges within the state: the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; North Carolina State University; Davidson College; and Warren Wilson College. In December, she sent one final application off in the mail, to her reach-for-the-stars choice, Harvard.

No one from Burns High had been accepted to the elite Ivy League school.

"I thought about it and just figured, 'Why not?' "

She asked her history teacher, Larry Gardner, for a recommendation letter. "I don't know how many times I started that letter of recommendation," he recalls. "Because how do you articulate her story into two pages? How do you explain this is a young lady who deserves a chance but hasn't had the opportunities?"

But after a prayer for wisdom, the words flowed.

"Once again, words fail me as I attempt to write this letter of recommendation," Gardner began. "I can promise I've never written one like this before and will probably not write one like this again. Because most students who face challenges that are not even remotely as difficult as Dawn's give up.

This young lady has, unlike most of us, known hunger. She's known abuse and neglect, she's known homelessness and filth. Yet she's risen above it all to become such an outstanding young lady."

Months passed. She was accepted to the four schools in North Carolina. Each time, the acceptance letter came as part of a thick package with fat brochures and congratulatory notes.

Days went by. Nothing from Harvard.

But on a sunny day earlier this year, she came inside after tending the garden. There was a letter from Harvard, the type of letter every high school senior dreads from a university -- a regular-sized envelope, the ominous sign of rejection.

Cautiously, she opened it: "Dear Ms. Loggins, I'm delighted to report that the admissions committee has asked me to inform you that you will be admitted to the Harvard College class of 2016. ... We send such an early positive indication only to outstanding applicants ..."

She gasped when she read those words.

Gardner had the same reaction when she handed him the note at school the next day. "I just looked up at her, and kind of teared up because this is a young lady who ... " he stops, his voice breaking.

"When I first met her and had her brother in class, they were living in a home without electricity, without running water, they were showering at a local park in a restroom after most of the people at the park had left. This is a young lady who's been through so much and for her to receive this letter -- pretty awesome."

Not only was Dawn accepted to Harvard, she got a full ride. She was offered tuition, room and board, as well as assistance finding an on-campus job.

The tiny town of Lawndale rallied around Dawn again. They raised money to get her to Boston so she could see the school in person in April.

"We in a sense had a collective responsibility to get her to Harvard," says Aaron Allen, Burns High principal. "Even though Harvard was going to pay for Dawn to go on her own, this is a girl who's had multiple moves, never flown, never ridden a subway, never really been outside small town USA, North Carolina foothills, and you're expecting her to go to Cambridge all by herself?"

Barrett, her custodial supervisor, traveled to Cambridge with her. "When we went up there, it was just like she was at home. She will succeed, and she will excel."

For Dawn, it wasn't a foregone conclusion that she would attend, but her inaugural visit solidified the decision. "I just could not picture myself anywhere else, at any other college."

Helping others

Since Dawn's story has come out, she's attracted attention worldwide from well-wishers sending her everything from simple encouragement to monetary donations.

Dawn doesn't want the money. "When I get to college, I can work for what I need. And I know my future is going to be great."

She hopes to start a nonprofit organization to help other teens who've had obstacles in their educations, using the funds that have been sent to her. There are more than 200 students listed as homeless in Cleveland County, where Lawndale is located.

"There are so many kids whose futures aren't so sure, and they need help more than I do," she says. "I want them to be able to use my story as motivation. And I want the general public to realize that there are so many kids who need help."

The final pages of Dawn's high school chapter are nearing a close. She will walk across the stage today -- June 7 -- to accept her diploma. She has invited her parents but isn't sure they will be able to attend. "If they're not there, it would be for good reason."

But the one person she will look for in the crowd is her brother Shane.

"Throughout the years, no matter where I've been or been through, he's always been there for me," she says, with a rare ghost of a smile.

Shane will attend Berea College in Kentucky on a scholarship.

Dawn has learned the sort of lessons that can't be learned in school. "I love my parents. I disagree with the choices that they've made. But we all have to live with the consequences of our actions," she said.

She takes it all in stride. "If I had not had those experiences, I wouldn't be such a strong-willed or determined person."
She might just find Harvard to be easy.


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Sources: CNN, Google Maps

Lark Voorhies: OMG! What Happened To "Lisa Turtle's" Face? Plastic Surgery Gone Bad??

Has anyone seen the face of former "Saved By The Bell" cast member Lark Voorhies lately?

She used to be so Beautiful.

Now she looks like the Walking Dead!

What happened??

Is it a case of Bad, Cheap Plastic Surgery?

OMG!






Lark Voorhies, former ‘Saved by the Bell’ star, looks barely recognizable with drastic new look


"Lisa Turtle", is that you?

Lark Voorhies, who played the spoiled student on “Saved by the Bell” from 1989 to 1993, has fans all atwitter over her drastic new appearance.

The 38-year-old actress looked barely recognizable during a recent interview with Yahoo!’s “The Yo Show,” in which she wore a different hairstyle and heavily-applied makeup over a puffy face.

During the chat, Voorhies admitted she would be open to the possibility of an onscreen reunion with her former cast mates Mark Paul Gosselaar, Mario Lopez, Elizabeth Berkley, Tiffani Thiessen and Dustin Diamond.

“I really honestly believe if it did happen it wouldn't be a bad thing ,” the actress and producer said. “We tend to circumvent and come around to this topic quite often, so I think the buzz might catch.”

As for the rumors that she once dated Gosselaar?

"No, we were all that close," Voorhies said. "We just had a great chemistry and it registers very powerfully (on-screen)."

Nowadays, the former teen star said she has been "very busy” with her new company, Yo Soy Productions. In September, she will appear in an episode of VH1's new reality show “Miss You Much,” in which viewers are updated on what their favorite TV, movie and music stars are up to now.

Whoa! See What Lark Voorhies Looks Like Now


If the Bayside High Class of 1993 reunion ends up happening, Jessie, AC, Kelly, and Zack might have a hard time recognizing their old pal Lisa Turtle.

Now 38, Lark Voorhies--who played the spoiled Valley girl on Saved by the Bell from 1989-1994--recently sat down for an interview with Yahoo!'s "The Yo Show," setting the internet abuzz with chatter over how the actress has changed since her faux-high school days.

Voorhies, whose last major role was in 2001's How High, debuted a dramatically different hairstyle and a fuller face, heavily made up with poorly-matched shades.

During the chat, the actress and producer--who currently owns her own production company, Yo Soy Productions--opened up about what she's been up to lately, and more importantly, whether she and her former costars plan to reunite.

Though she wouldn't confirm if a reunion with Mark Paul Gosselaar, Mario Lopez, Elizabeth Berkley, Tiffani Thiessen and Dustin Diamond was in the works, Voorhies did admit she would be interested in signing on.

"I really honestly believe that if it did happen, it wouldn't be a bad thing," Voorhies revealed. "We tend to circumvent and come back to this topic quite often . . .so I think the buzz might catch."

As for the rumors she once dated costar Gosselaar?

"No, we were all that close," Voorhies says. "We just had a great chemistry and it registers very powerfully [on-screen]."

This fall, the former teen star is set to appear in VH1's new reality show Miss You Much--which updates viewers on what their favorite 90s entertainers are up to now--alongside the Wonder Years' Jeremy Miller.



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Sources: AOL, Huffington Post, NBC, NY Daily News, US News, Yahoo, Yo Productions, Youtube, Google Maps

Deryl Dedmon Sentenced To Life In Prison For Murdering James Craig Anderson (White vs Black: Hate Crimes)

In 2011 James Anderson 49 (BLACK), was Murdered in Cold-Blood by Deryl Dedmon via a Hate Crime. Today Dedmon was Sentenced to Life in Prison.
Amen!




Life sentence in Mississippi hate-crime case


A white Mississippi man has been sentenced to life in prison for the 2011 murder of an African-American man, with the judge calling it an inexcusable, "despicable" crime.

Deryl Dedmon pleaded guilty to murder and a hate-crime charge before a judge in Jackson on Wednesday afternoon, admitting to the June killing of James Craig Anderson. Hinds County Circuit Judge Jeff Weill sentenced him to two concurrent life terms, saying, "This craven act isn't who we are."

"Whatever excuse you offer, forget that. There is no excuse," Weill said. He added, "The state of Mississippi condemns this despicable crime."

Dedmon, 19, told the judge that he was a "changed man" who had found religion since his arrest.

"I wish I could take it all back," he said, adding, "I was young and dumb, ignorant and full of hatred. I chose to go down the wrong path."

Dedmon is also expected to plead guilty to still-undisclosed federal charges Thursday, three sources with knowledge of the case told CNN -- the first indication that a federal case was pending in Anderson's death.

Officials would disclose no details, but Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith said he expected other charges -- and other arrests.

"This is just the beginning," Smith said.

Anderson's killing prompted several large marches and prayer vigils in Jackson, a city of about 537,000 people. His sister, Barbara Anderson Young, said during Wednesday's hearing that her family was praying for "racial conciliation."

"These last months have been very difficult," Young said. "We cried. We wept.

We reminisced about our beloved brother, Craig, a loss I cannot even explain. Craig was a big-hearted person who loved his fellow man."

Anderson died after he was beaten and run over by a truck driven by Dedmon, according to police.

Dedmon was part of a group of seven white youths from largely white Rankin County who decided to "go f**k with some niggers," after a night of partying and drinking, law enforcement officials have said, quoting some of the suspects in the case.

Smith has said the evidence indicated the suspects, who ranged in age from 17 to 19, "went out with the intention to harm and, in this case, kill a black man." According to investigators, they drove 16 miles in two vehicles from Rankin County to Jackson, where after exiting the highway, they found Anderson alone in a parking lot about 4 a.m. on June 26.

The white men allegedly beat Anderson repeatedly, yelling racial epithets.

After the beating, Dedmon drove his Ford F-250 truck over him, leaving him to die, according to what some of the teens cooperating with police have told authorities.

Anderson's death drew national attention after CNN first reported it and aired exclusive surveillance video of the killing, captured by a parking lot security camera in a Jackson suburb.

A second man, John Aaron Rice, was initially charged with murder, but a judge reduced the charges to simple assault because Rice was not believed to be driving the vehicle used to kill Anderson.

For months, lawyers had been working behind the scenes in Jackson, where Dedmon is being held, fighting over a change of venue in a possible trial. Smith had hoped to have a trial in Jackson, where the crime occurred and which is largely black.

But defense attorneys wanted to move the trial to an area with a larger white population, the law enforcement officials said.

Authorities believe Dedmon led and instigated the attack.

On a sweltering Mississippi night in June, a gang of youths climbed into Dedmon's green truck and a white SUV and drove to the western edge of Jackson. They would have seen Anderson immediately as they exited the highway, officials said. He was standing in a hotel parking lot just beyond the exit ramp.

On the videotape obtained exclusively by CNN, the group pulls into the parking lot and stops where Anderson is standing, although he is just off camera and not visible.

The young men can then be seen going back and forth between their cars and Anderson.

Witnesses told authorities this is when Anderson's beating took place, as the white youths yelled racial epithets, including "white power."

Authorities allege Dedmon and many of the other teens pummeled Anderson repeatedly as he crumpled to the ground, although this is not visible on the tape. After the beating, some of the white youths left, and others got into the green Ford truck.

At this moment, Anderson becomes visible on the tape as he staggers into view and walked toward the truck.

"Defendant Dedmon drove the F-250 out of the parking lot and turned right onto Ellis Avenue," the lawsuit says. "Just as Dedmon turned right, his headlights shone directly on Anderson, who, having been severely beaten, was stumbling in a grassy area near the motel's entrance. Dedmon accelerated, drove onto and over the street curb, and struck Anderson with the front of the F-250."

Shortly afterward, Dedmon allegedly boasted and laughed about the killing, according to statements some of the teens made to detectives. "I ran that nigger over," he allegedly said in a phone conversation to the youths in the other car.

"He was not remorseful," Smith said. "He was laughing, laughing about the killing."
But during a bail hearing last year, Dedmon's attorney told the court he saw nothing to back up the "racial allegations."

The U.S. Justice Department had been looking into the death as a possible federal hate crime and assisting local prosecutors. Federal investigators also have been digging for months into other possible crimes in the area committed by Dedmon and others that might show a pattern of racial violence.

Anderson's family had asked state and federal officials not to seek the death penalty against Dedmon or any other youths who might be charged in the case, saying they oppose capital punishment in part because of their religious faith.

The family also filed a wrongful death suit against all seven of the white youths who were present at the beating of Anderson. The Southern Poverty Law Center, a nationally recognized organization in Montgomery, Alabama, that opposes racism and intolerance, joined in the lawsuit to help the case, joining forces with the family's attorney, Winston J. Thompson III.

"James Anderson lost his life for no other reason than the color of his skin," said Morris Dees, chief trial counsel for the law center . "Those responsible must be held accountable for their callous and deadly actions. We are filing this lawsuit today to ensure his family gets a measure of justice."

Anderson, a line worker at a Nissan plant, sang in his church choir, Thompson said. He is survived by his partner of 17 years.

"He was just a pillar of the community," Thompson said. "He paid his taxes on time; he went to work, came home -- he was just an average, ordinary citizen, good guy, wonderful gardener."


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Sources: AP, CBS News, CNN, Google Maps

Bobbi Kristina Brown's Future: Can She Be Saved From Whitney's Fate?

The Road Ahead for Bobbi Kristina

Despite her rich musical lineage, the path ahead for Bobbi Kristina Brown won't be easy.

For better or worse, the 18-year-old with musical aspirations of her own will undoubtedly be compared to her mother, the incomparable Whitney Houston.

"There is no way people are not going to compare her to her mother -- not to Rihanna, to her mother -- and if she doesn't sound on par with her mother or better, people are going to say horrible things," Billy Johnson Jr., a senior editor at Yahoo! Music, told ABCNews.com. "The public scrutiny is so great."

The only child of Houston and singer Bobby Brown had been in Los Angeles with her mother to attend pre-Grammy festivities and was staying at the Beverly Hilton Hotel when Houston was found dead Saturday night in the bathtub of her hotel room.

Whitney Houston's brother-in law, Billy Watson, told ABCNews.com that Bobbi Kristina was "doing OK" after she "broke down" over the weekend and had to be taken to the hospital twice for stress and anxiety.

Bobbi Kristina, along with much of her mother's family and entourage, returned to New Jersey Monday night in advance of Houston's funeral, which is scheduled for Saturday. Her father canceled his tour to be with his daughter and reportedly traveled to New Jersey as well.

"She ... is presently with my family, including her siblings," Bobby Brown told Access Hollywood, referring to his five other children from other relationships.

On the family's reality-TV show, "Being Bobby Brown," it was Brown who often acted more like the parent in the often-erratic relationship between her mother and father. Sources close to the family say that Houston's well-known battles with addiction were also a heavy burden for her daughter to bear.

"It's very common, when a parent has an addiction, for the child to be parentalized," Dr. Drew Pinsky, host of HLN's "Dr. Drew," told ABC News. "It's almost a survival mode to try and control and maintain that addictive parent safely, the child takes on the role of parent or parents."

When stories surfaced last year that Bobbi Kristina Brown might have started using drugs herself, it was her father who came to her defense with a strong denial, telling media outlets, "She doesn't do that."

Drew says Brown should be careful about how she handles the inevitable fallout from her mother's death.

"When people are stressed, when they turn to substances, is when they can turn the switch on for addiction," he said. "That is my greatest fear for Bobbi Kristina."

Mother and daughter had begun working together on songs in the recording studio, according to Us Weekly.

With Houston's death Saturday, the world is eager to see -- and hear -- more from Bobbi-Kris, as she is known to her family.

"She idolized Whitney," a source told US Weekly, and "wanted to be just like her mother."

Brown comes from a musical family. Her father is a former member of New Edition, her grandmother is gospel legend Cissy Houston and her cousin is 1960s pop icon Dionne Warwick.

"People want to know if she has the gift," Yahoo! Music's Johnson said.

Brown posted a video in September of her singing a capella Adele's "Someone Like You" on her Twitter page.

Johnson thought the aspiring singer had shown some improvement since the last time he heard her, performing alongside her mother on "Good Morning America" in 2009.

But Us Weekly's senior editor Ian Drew wasn't sure Brown had grown enough.

"She's not her mother, but she's not the worst singer either," he told ABCNews.com. "With the right songs and auto tuning anyone can be big.

"I would encourage her to take her time," Johnson said. "People said the same thing about Michael Jackson's children. She needs to sort out things in life a little bit more before rushing into this adult world.

"I think she's already dealing with a lot," he said, "and I hate to see her end up in a similar type of situation as her mother."





WHITNEY FORCES COKE-Y DAUGHTER BOBBI TO REHAB


A heartbroken WHITNEY HOUSTON will put her daughter BOBBI KRISTINA into rehab after The ENQUIRER published world exclusive photos in our print edition of the troubled teen snorting cocaine.

Crushed by our report that her daughter - known to friends as "Krissi" - is hopelessly addicted to cocaine and alcohol, Whitney begged her: "Don't let drugs ruin your life the way they ruined mine," sources say.

The Grammy-winning diva and her ex-husband, Krissi's father Bobby Brown, are blaming each other for their only child's problems, according to insiders.

"Whitney was devastated over the photos showing Krissi using cocaine, and The ENQUIRER story that quoted her telling friends, 'I'm just like my mother,'" a friend divulged.
"She called a family meeting and sobbed as she told Krissi, 'I don't want to lose you.'"

The singer, 47, also canceled plans to celebrate Krissi's 18th birthday on March 4 in Atlantis, the luxury resort in the Bahamas, the source revealed.

"Whitney called Bobby, and they agreed that Krissi needs rehab," the friend said. "They also agreed on a tough-love move to shake Krissi up, and Whitney returned a Lexus convertible that she'd bought for Krissi's birthday."

Despite her parents' decision, Krissi is fighting the idea of rehab, said the source.

"Krissi is denying that she has a problem. She says that she does cocaine for fun and isn't addicted," said the source.

Meanwhile, Whitney and Bobby - who have both battled serious drug habits - are blaming each other for Krissi's problems, sources say.

"Bobby reminded Whitney that she used to have drugs all over their house," a friend divulged.
"He also accused her of being 'coked up' in public, looking like a mess and setting a bad example all along to their daughter," the friend said.

But "The Bodyguard" star was quick to snap back at her bad boy ex, said the source.

"Whitney told Bobby that he did drugs too and got into more legal trouble than she ever did," the friend said.

Bobby, 42, has been arrested for DUI, possession of marijuana, driving without a license, probation violations and misdemeanor battery for slapping Whitney.
The former "New Edition" singer, who has five children with four different women, has also been dragged into court numerous times for failure to pay child support.

"Bobby and Whitney are pointing fingers at each other, but the truth is that they're both responsible. Krissi has been around while her parents and their friends were drinking and drugging ever since she was a little girl," said another pal.

Krissi was only 12 when she was photographed drinking from a wine glass as her parents looked on.

In 2008 she was admitted to a psychiatric ward after attempting to slash her wrists with a razor blade. As The ENQUIRER reported, Krissi's suicide bid came after she tried to stab her mother during a heated argument.

And she was just 17 when a former boyfriend - who dated her for 2 1/2 years - snapped the coke-snorting photos that appeared in The ENQUIRER. He also claimed that he saw Krissi smoke pot and guzzle beer and the potent grain alcohol Everclear.

After The ENQUIRER's explosive story hit newsstands, Krissi took to her Twitter account to blast her ex-boyfriend. But she admitted that it was her in the photos, and said her mother "comforted me to the max."

Now with Bobby's blessing, Whitney is planning to send Krissi to an outpatient rehab program, said the source.






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Elizabeth Smart Case Jurors Found Her Testimony Compelling: She's Thrilled!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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Elizabeth Smart Says She's "Thrilled" After Guilty Verdict


Elizabeth Smart waited more than eight years for the word she heard Friday.

"Guilty," after a federal jury deliberated five hours to convict street preacher Brian David Mitchell of snatching Smart from her bed, at knifepoint in the dead of night, and having sex with her while he held her captive for nine months.

Smart smiled as the verdict was read, while a bedraggled, bearded Mitchell sat at the defense table, singing hymns with his hands before his chest, as if in prayer.

“Today is a wonderful day,” Smart said outside the courthouse hours later, adding “I am so thrilled to be here, so thrilled of the verdict."

"I hope that not only is this an example that justice can be served in America, but that it is possible to move on after something terrible has happened," Smart said.


Ordeal

It was a dramatic end to a tale that captured the nation's attention since she disappeared in June 2002: A 14-year-old girl mysteriously taken from her home, the intense search and her eventual discovery walking Salt Lake City's streets with her captors.

Smart, now 23, flew back from her Mormon mission in Paris to take the stand, and recount her "nine months of hell."

"The beginning and the end of this story is attributable to a woman with extraordinary courage and extraordinary determination, and that's Elizabeth Smart," federal prosecutor Carlie Christensen said outside the courthouse.

"She did it with candor and clarity and a truthfulness that I think moved all of us," she said.

Smart described in excruciating detail how she woke up one night to the feel of a cold, jagged knife at her throat and being whisked away by Mitchell to his camp in the foothills near the family's Salt Lake City home.

Within hours of the kidnapping, she testified, she was forced into a polygamous marriage with him. She was tethered to a metal cable and subjected to near-daily rapes while being forced to use alcohol and drugs.
Story: Smart storms from court during doctor's testimony

The five-week trial turned on the question of Mitchell's mental health.

The thinly built, gray-haired Mitchell was routinely removed from the courtroom after loudly singing hymns and Christmas carols and taken to another room to watch the proceedings on closed circuit TV.

He kept his eyes closed in court and never spoke to anyone, including his lawyers.

His lawyers did not dispute that he kidnapped Smart but wanted him to be found not guilty by reason of insanity. Such a verdict would have sent him to a prison mental hospital.


'Predatory Chameleon'

Prosecutors countered that Mitchell was faking mental illness to avoid a conviction, labeling him a "predatory chameleon."

Smart testified she believed Mitchell was driven by his desire for sex, drugs and alcohol, not by any sincere religious beliefs.

Jurors did not buy the insanity defense, deliberating for roughly five hours to find him guilty of kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor across state lines for the purposes of sex.

As the verdicts were read, the shackled Mitchell sat singing about Jesus Christ on the cross. Smart then turned to her mother and both smiled. Elizabeth Smart later hugged prosecutors.

"It's real!" father Ed Smart said on his way out of the packed courtroom, giving a thumbs up.

Smart and her family had hoped for the guilty verdict and a long sentence.

"(Mitchell) has left a trail of misery behind him," Ed Smart said.

Mitchell could face up to life in prison when he is sentenced on May 25. However, a judge also could impose an unspecified, lesser sentence, prosecutors said.


'Upset and Frustrated'

To the chagrin of the family, the case was delayed for years after Mitchell was declared mentally incompetent to stand trial in state court and a judge refused to order involuntary medications.

Federal prosecutors later stepped in and took the case to trial.

Christensen, the U.S. attorney, said one of the biggest challenges of the case was the six years between the time of the kidnapping and the time the case came into the federal justice system.

A parade of experts took the witness stand to say Mitchell had an array of diagnoses, from a rare delusional disorder and schizophrenia to pedophilia, anti-social personality disorder and narcissism.

Mitchell's former stepdaughter told reporters that she was shocked that jurors didn't see that he was mentally ill.

"He honestly believes God tells him to do these things," Rebecca Woodridge said. "He's upset and frustrated that the Lord is making him go through this."


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Delvonte Tisdale Honored By His School's JROTC Program; R.I.P.

Last Update: December 14, 2010: 12:57pm


Delvonte Tisdale's Mother Can’t Fathom Why He May Have Stowed Away


As Jonette Washington prepares a private service to remember her 16-year-old son, Delvonte Tisdale, she remains mystified by his apparent decision to flee his father’s home in North Carolina and climb into the wheel well of a commercial airplane.

“My first instinct was it can’t be true,’’ Washington said yesterday in an interview from her Baltimore home. “He wouldn’t do anything like that. He has no reason to do anything like that. All he had to do was pick up the phone and say, ‘Mommy, I’m ready to come home,’ and I’d go get him.’’

Tisdale and his younger brother and sister had been living with their father for a year and a half, and although Anthony Tisdale, a chef, was stricter than she was, his relationship with the children seemed generally good, Washington said.

Why Delvonte Tisdale left around Nov. 15 as everyone slept — and, according to authorities, sneaked into a US Airways plane bound for Boston — is a puzzle that may never be solved. A spokesman for Norfolk District Attorney William R. Keating said yesterday that investigators scoured his family’s computer and cellphone — Tisdale did not have his own — and found nothing that indicated he planned to do something so drastic.

On Friday, Washington will hold a small service at her home, where she will gather with close friends and family and tell stories about her son.

She said she will make his favorite dish, fried chicken and potatoes, and put out a yellow cake with white icing. A picture of Tisdale in his ROTC uniform will be iced onto the cake. He will be buried in Baltimore, Washington said.

Washington, a 35-year-old nursing student, said she accepts what authorities are telling her but cannot reconcile their conclusions with what she knew of her son, whom she described as a quiet, stable boy whose wildest behavior had been to once cut school.

Contrary to reports, she said, he never ran away from home, but he had been more aloof in recent weeks.

“I think it was something that was building that nobody actually saw or knew about,’’ Washington said. “Just sounded like something was building and made him get fed up and he was just tired and wanted to leave.’’

Authorities from Charlotte Douglas International Airport, the federal Transportation Security Administration, and US Airways declined yesterday to say how Tisdale managed to get onto the tarmac and climb into a Boeing 737 undetected.

“Airport security is a multi-layered process and every facility is different, based on how the facility works,’’ said Haley Gentry, an airport spokeswoman.

The boy’s family said they have no idea how Tisdale got to the airport, about 18 miles from his home, or if he had any friends who worked there.

In a statement, officials at the Charlotte airport said they were told on Dec. 1 by the Federal Aviation Administration that Massachusetts investigators would be examining two US Airways planes.

A US Airways spokesman referred questions to Massachusetts authorities.

David Traub, Keating’s spokesman, said that the Norfolk district attorney has no jurisdiction over airport security.

None of the images examined in the surveillance videos from the airport so far has shown Tisdale crawling into a plane’s wheel well, Traub said. An exact cause of death has not been released; officials are awaiting the medical examiner’s final report.

Fingerprints left on greasy parts of a plane’s wheel well have been photographed and digitally enhanced in the hopes they can be identified, said David Procopio, spokesman for Massachusetts State Police, who have been investigating the case with Milton officials since Tisdale’s battered body was found on a quiet Milton street Nov. 15. Officials said Tisdale apparently plunged to the ground as the plane opened its landing gear.

Patrick Smith, a commercial pilot who writes the “Ask the Pilot’’ column for Salon.com, said, “We can have all the security in the world and short of turning the airport into a fortress, there’s always going to be a way for someone who is resourceful enough to find his way around security.’’

While it is unclear how the teenager bypassed security, Smith said the TSA exempts ground workers from the same security checkpoints, with metal detectors and X-ray machines, that pilots, flight attendants, and passengers are required to pass through.

Tisdale had never flown in his life, according to his mother. His father drove him and his siblings from Baltimore to North Carolina, where they went last year so they could get to know their father, whom they had not seen in years, Washington said.

“He was afraid of heights,’’ she said. “He didn’t even like going in a building that was high.’’

He was passionate about the Air Force ROTC program at his school, but his dream was to be a Marine, Washington said.

She said she last spoke to him on Nov. 8, his birthday. She was planning on visiting her children for Thanksgiving and Tisdale wanted her to meet his ROTC friends, Washington said.

Nothing seemed wrong, Washington said, but a couple of his friends told her later that he had been wanting to come back to Baltimore.

“All of a sudden he started becoming distant,’’ she said.

Anthony Tisdale said he was too distraught to speak yesterday.

On Saturday, he held a memorial for his son at a Charlotte church, said the Rev. James Woodson, the family’s pastor when they lived in Greensboro.

About 50 people came to mourn the teenager. His ROTC classmates presented Anthony Tisdale with a framed picture of his son in uniform.

The moment reminded the father of something his son once told him, Woodson said: “I want you to keep a picture of me because someday I’m going to be great.’’










Last Update: December 12, 2010; 3:00pm




McCrory On Stowaway Investigation: "This Is A Federal Problem", How Did It Happen?


Friday’s announcement by the district attorney from Norfolk County, Massachusetts said they had enough evidence to suggest Delvonte Tisdale climbed into the wheel well of a Boeing 737 and fell out of the jet just outside Boston last month.

Following that announcement, former Charlotte mayor Pat McCrory told Eyewitness News the incident will prompt an international review of airport safety procedures.

He even said he "wouldn't be surprised" if Charlotte leaders are called to testify before Congress about what investigators have labeled a "major breach in security."

For five years, McCrory served on the Homeland Security Advisory Commission, along with 17 other leaders, including airline CEO's and the former director of the FBI.

“We are spending tens of millions of dollars protecting our airplanes from terrorists," McCrory said. "So to see a teenager gain access to a plane--not only on the ground but also up in the air—it has got to raise some major red flags from a national, and international perspective."

The TSA has said very little since investigators revealed they believe Tisdale breached security at Charlotte Douglas and gained access to a plane. Its only released a brief statement saying the airport--not the TSA--is responsible for "access control security."

McCrory says first and foremost, this is a federal problem.

"No one can pass the buck when it comes to access to an airplane. Especially by a teenager."

Eyewitness News spoke to Delvonte Tisdale's stepmom in Baltimore. She said she's furious at what investigators call a major breach in security.

"A 16-year-old boy managed to get onto the airport, climb up into a plane, and died inside this plane," said Diane Turner. "With nobody seeing him. No camera. No security. No anything."

McCrory believes the TSA and Homeland Security will use Tisdale's death to call for a major overhaul of perimeter security.

"I'm sure they'll look at fencing, lighting, cameras, and more people on the ground."

Investigators said Tisdale stowed away on a plane, but they aren't saying for sure how he did it. Eyewitness News has interviewed commercial pilots and Homeland Security experts who agree the most likely scenario is that he hopped a perimeter fence.

Charlotte Douglas Airport director Jerry Orr said as the investigation continues, the airport will make security changes as needed. The new developments in the investigation even had passengers concerned about security. Lauren Mihalchik was flying from Charlotte to Boston. She said, "I don't understand how someone could get through security and do all that. It obviously shows that the airport hasn't done something right."

In a phone converstation with Orr, Eyewitness News asked if the airport can reassure people that it is safe to fly. Orr said they take security very seriously, but said nobody can guarantee 100 percent safety.








Update: December 11, 2010; 11:34 am


Delvonte Tisdale May Have Fallen From Plane In Massachusetts


Authorities are investigating what happened to a North Carolina teenager whose body was found along a flight path in Massachusetts with "trauma that was consistent with a fall from a significant height," a Massachusetts district attorney said.

"It appears, more likely than not, that (Delvonte) Tisdale was able to breach airport security and hide in the wheel well of a commercial jetliner without being detected by airport security personnel," William R. Keating, district attorney for Norfolk County, Massachusetts, told reporters Friday.

The mystery started November 15, when 16-year-old Delvonte was last seen by a sibling at their home in Charlotte, North Carolina, according to Keating.

Later that day, his family discovered Delvonte wasn't home and reported him missing.

"About 7 p.m., a Boeing 737-400 aircraft was boarded and took off from North Carolina's Charlotte Douglas International Airport, en route to Boston's Logan Airport," Keating told reporters.

"At approximately 9:30 p.m. that same evening, a group of area college students came upon a severely injured body" in the town of Milton, Keating said. "This was directly below a flight path."

The body was later determined to be Delvonte's.

The autopsy on Delvonte's body "did not reveal any knife or gun wounds, but did show trauma that was consistent with a fall from a significant height," Keating said. He said a toxicology test turned out negative.

Investigators examined two planes that had originated in Charlotte and followed a similar flight path, Keating said. They found "what appeared to be physical evidence of someone having been in a left wheel well of one of the planes was located and documented -- including hand prints visible in greasy areas and scuff marks in the area that would accommodate a person."

On Friday, Milton police and other authorities conducted a search of the wooded area along the flight path, Keating said.

"They recovered two dark Nike Air Force sneakers with white stripes, consistent with those that the Tisdale family describe as belonging to Delvonte," Keating said.

During the investigation, Keating said, one local resident described hearing a loud, crashing noise shortly before 9 p.m. the night Delvonte's body was found.

State police have ruled out motor vehicle homicide as a possible cause for Delvonte's injuries.

"The theory that the death may have involved a fall from a passing airplane -- as has happened in other parts of the country and other parts of the world -- began to be explored," Keating said.

Fingerprints lifted from Delvonte's body were run through a national database, but no matches were found.

"But investigators released a handwritten note found in the pocket of the jeans he was wearing, and a member of the family recognized the name and made contact with Milton police," Keating said.

Last week, Massachusetts state and local police traveled to North Carolina to take samples of grease used in maintaining aircraft to see if the grease found on Delvonte's pants could be matched to that grease, Keating said. Forensics tests are still pending.




Delvonte Tisdale Possibly Breached Charlotte's Airport Security


A month after the mangled body of a North Carolina teenager was found in a quiet Milton neighborhood, Norfolk District Attorney William R. Keating said yesterday that evidence indicates he stowed away in the wheel well of a plane and fell from the sky as the landing gear came down on the approach to Logan International Airport.

A shirt stained with what appeared to be grease used in airplanes and believed to be Delvonte Tisdale’s was recovered yesterday, along with sneakers, scattered along the flight path, Keating said. The items were found about a half-mile from where the 16-year-old’s body was discovered on Brierbrook Street on the night of Nov. 15, authorities said.

Fingerprints and a handprint were also discovered in the left wheel well of a Boeing 737 commercial airliner that left Charlotte Douglas International Airport at 7 p.m. Nov. 15 and landed at Logan about two hours later, Keating said. Investigators are still awaiting test results to confirm that the prints are Tisdale’s, but Keating said it appears likely that they are.

The conclusion that the teenager’s death was not believed to be a homicide, as initially thought, quickly shifted the focus of the investigation to the Charlotte airport and the Transportation Security Administration.

“It appears more likely than not that Mr. Tisdale was able to breach airport security and hide in the wheel well of a commercial jet airliner without being detected by airport security,’’ Keating said during a press conference, calling it a major breach of airport security.

Keating said that it was unclear how the teenager was able to get onto the tarmac and climb into the wheel well undetected at a time of heightened security, but that the probability that he did so raised troubling questions about the potential for a terrorist attack.

“There is great concern that with all of our efforts for security and the almost invasive type of efforts that are occurring right now, that something like this could happen,’’ said Keating, who will be sworn in next month as the new congressman from the 10th Congressional District.

He added, “It’s a terrible tragedy, what happened to this young man, but if that was someone with a different motive . . . if that was a terrorist, that could have been a bomb that was planted, undetected. This is very serious.’’

He said he notified federal officials yesterday that Tisdale somehow managed to breach security at the Charlotte airport.

Ann Davis, a spokeswoman for the TSA, released a statement last night saying, “We will work with the airport, which is responsible for access control security, to conduct a thorough investigation based on the facts and information provided by law enforcement.’’

Authorities at the Charlotte airport did not return repeated calls last night.

Tisdale’s parents could not be reached for comment last night. But, Norman Brown, a former neighbor of Delvonte Tisdale in Baltimore who said he was like an uncle to the teenager, reacted with disbelief to the announcement that the teenager fell from a plane.

“It seems pretty far-fetched to me,’’ said Brown, questioning how he could have made it across the tarmac and onto a plane with the increased scrutiny of the TSA. “He would have to go into the terminal, find out where the plane is, and he’d have to go to TSA to get to where that plane is. Then he would have to orient himself once he got on the field. That’s just too much for a child to do.

“That just doesn’t sound right at all. . . . I think there’s more to be investigated here.’’

Diane Turner, the mother of Delvonte Tisdale’s half-brother, Craig Tisdale, was also skeptical of the notion that Tisdale fell from a plane.

“Even though he wanted to go into the service, he was afraid of flying,’’ said Turner, who lives in Baltimore and considered Delvonte her stepson. “I just can’t see that happening. But then again, I don’t know. I’m not a scientist. Only God knows what happened to Delvonte.’’

Tisdale, a sophomore who was enrolled in the Air Force Junior ROTC program at his high school in Charlotte, NC., was last seen by a sibling some time after 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 15.

Keating would not identify the plane Tisdale was believed to have been on, but when asked if it was a US Airways flight, he acknowledged it had been “identified as such.’’

US Airways spokesman Andrew Christie said last night that he could neither confirm nor deny that Tisdale was on a company plane. He said the airline is cooperating with the investigation and declined further comment.

Keating said he spoke yesterday with Tisdale’s parents, but declined to disclose what was said.

Keating said it is unclear why Tisdale, who had relatives in Baltimore, would stow away on a Boston-bound plane. He said that Brierbrook Street is in the direct flight path used by aircraft heading to Logan and that a resident heard a crashing noise shortly before 9 p.m. Tisdale’s battered body was discovered about a half-hour later. Police initially suspected that he was slain, but found no evidence of foul play.

The pants Tisdale was wearing were also stained with what is believed to be grease used in airplanes, Keating said.

It was unclear whether Tisdale had survived the flight until he fell from the plane, said Keating. He added that a plastic card Tisdale was believed to be carrying shattered when it hit the ground, “consistent with being frozen’’ in flight.

Laura J. Brown, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said that it is not uncommon worldwide for stowaways to hide in plane wheel wells, but that it is rare on planes originating in America.

The last person to stow away on a flight from a US airport was on April 14, 1972, when a frozen body was found in the left wheel well of a flight from San Diego to New York City.

In February of this year, a frozen body was found in the wheel well on a flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York when it landed at Narita International Airport in Japan, but it was later discovered that he did not actually stow away on the plane in New York. In fact, his body had been undetected in the wheel well since he stowed away Dec. 12, 2009, during a flight from Lagos, Nigeria, to New York.

Between 1996 and November of this year, there have been 86 stowaways involving 76 flights, of which 68 were fatal and 18 people survived.




North Mecklenburg High School JROTC Honors Delvonte Tisdale


The North Meck High School JROTC cadets marched into a vigil Wednesday night to pay tribute to one of their own.

“Usually one person doesn’t affect a group like that, but Delvonte did. He had a magnetic character,” said JROTC 1st. Lt. Austin Finley.

Tisdale was a sophomore at North Mecklenburg High School. He was last seen alive on Nov. 14. The next day, his father filed a missing person report, that same day his body was found in Milton, Massachusetts.

Officially, police have not released a cause of death, but police do have some clues.

A spokesperson for Logan International Airport in Boston told NewsChannel 36 that local police are investigating the possibility that Tisdale may have been inside an airplane's wheel well and fell out.

The cadets in the Air Force JROTC program did not want to speculate about Tisdale’s death. At their Wednesday night vigil, they honored his life through song and prayer.

“He had respect for everybody. That’s just the kind of person he was. He was so sweet. He did not have a bad word to say about anybody,” said JROTC cadet Destinee Green.

About 30 JROTC cadets took part in the vigil, along with a crowd of about 50 parents and other students.

Many of those students wrote messages on signs. Those signs will be delivered to the Tisdale family early next week.

The JROTC drill team also plans a special celebration at their first drill practice since Tisdale’s death to pay tribute one last time to their fellow cadet.

“You just do not want anything like this to happen to anyone you know. And you would not think it would happen to anyone you know,” said Shaneisha Jenkins. “He is just going to be missed.”







Delvonte Tisdale's Death vs Charlotte's Lying Media: Plane Theory Obviously A Cover Up!


During this very sad time for the Tisdale family I send My Condolences. I can't imagine the hurt they are feeling at this moment. Only God & the Lord Jesus Christ can heal anyone from such pain.

As it relates to how Delvonte Died let's just say that ONLY God, Delvonte & his Murderers knows how he REALLY Died!

NOT Charlotte's Biased, Lying Media!

It appears that whenever a Black Youth from the Charlotte region dies, Charlotte's Biased Media Community loves to make up some Stupid Theory about how that individual may have died as a way to screw up their Character or hide the TRUTH.

On the other hand when Zahra Baker died NO such lies were reported or published to tarnish her Character because Zahra was a White child.

According to many who knew Delvonte, including many White citizens (including Adults), he was a very Respectable Student and a Respectable, Kind person.

In fact he even had plans to enlist into the U.S. Marines upon completing High School.

That said why is WCNC & the Charlotte Observer trying to ruin this young man's character with this foolish "Plane death" theory?

In this instance Charlotte's Media mainly WCNC (an affiliate of MSNBC) is pushing the "fell from a Plane" theory/lie.

Boston Officials are refuting the possibility that Delvonte died by falling from a Plane.

Just because his body was Mutilated & Mangled doesn't mean he fell from a plane!

Based upon Scientific facts & Studies, Boston Officials have determined that its basically impossible such an incident could have occurred, because anyone trying to stow away in a Plane Wheel would have died from Subfreezing Temperatures.

What about the White Audi Delvonte was "seen" riding in that had Blood splattered on its tires and was impounded by Boston Law Enforcement officials?

Since the Boston Law Enforcement Officials have NOT endorsed falling from a plane as cause of death for Delvonte Tisdale, why is the Charlotte Media constantly pushing this Lying Theory??

Is it possible the Obama White House Officials, Governor Deval Patrick & Mayor Anthony Foxx are making those two Media organizations push such LIES to Cover Up the REAL Truth about Delvonte's Death?

I Believe that Delvonte was Murdered by someone living in the Boston area or a Boston Surburb.

However that doesn't mean he was actually Killed in the Boston area.

He may have been killed some place else and his body dumped in the Boston area.

After all its NO secret that Boston has a Racist History.

Just because Massachusetts elected a Black Governor doesn't mean Racism doesn't Still exist in America because it Does!

Its also NO secret that Charlotte's Media Community consistently assassinates the Character of local Black citizens. Especially Black Youth!

Where is the NAACP when it comes to protecting the Character of Black Youth?

They are often noticeably Silent whenever a Black Youth is murdered but loud & vocal when it comes to Political Issues.

Remember how loud the Charlotte NAACP was over the recent Charlotte-Mecklenburg School closings?

That was just a Stupid Political Gimmick & NOTHING more!

And Remember how Silent the Charlotte NAACP was about Tiffany Wright's death?

More Politics & a Cover Up!

So in essence President Obama, Governor Patrick & Mayor Foxx (ALL Black Men) are willing to tarnish the image of Delvonte Tisdale (also a Black Man), for the sake of trying to protect the image of Massachusetts or hide Boston's Racist history?

Please!! That is NOT right!

Its obvious this is a Cover Up!

Such Selfish, Backstabbing actions explains why Black Voters are turning away from Black Politicians like President Obama & Mayor Anthony Foxx.

I commend the Boston Law Enforcement Officials for treating Delvonte's family with Respect and for working Hard to solve this case.

I also commend Boston Law Enforcement Officials for refuting the "Plane Death" Theory/ Lies currently being spread by Charlotte's Media community.

Just as it was with Tiffany Wright's death, God is going to publicly expose the TRUTH about how Delvonte REALLY died.

As to Delvonte's family My Prayers are with them in this time of need.

I also pray Delvonte's family has the Courage NOT to accept that Lying "Plane Death" theory for the sake of Politics or just to help out some Self-Serving Black Politicians who could care less about them.

I wonder if Governor Patrick or Mayor Anthony Foxx called the Tisdale family.

I can answer that one for you. NO!

They are Lawyers & don't want to get involved!

As for the fates of President Barack Obama, Governor Deval Patrick & Mayor Anthony Foxx they will ALL stand before God Almighty one day.

It doesn't matter if a person is an Atheist, Christian or a Muslim, every Human Being WILL most certainly stand before God one day to give an account for their Deeds.

Even Deeds that were done in the dark & behind Closed doors!

Please Check out the articles below from the Boston Globe.

Seems the Boston Globe is the ONLY Media organization actually reporting Factual information regarding Delvonte's death since this Investigation began.

R.I.P. Delvonte








Boston Officials Refute Plane Death Rumors; He Would Not Have Survived Subfreezing Temperatures


Speaking publicly for the first time, the father of Delvonte Tisdale said he last saw his son at their North Carolina home, when they had pizza and his son was playing video games, less than 24 hours before he was found dead on a Massachusetts street.

The next day, on Nov. 15, authorities found the 16-year-old’s mangled body in Milton, about 900 miles from home.

At a press conference yesterday outside the family’s home in Charlotte, Anthony Tisdale, the father, told reporters he said good night to his son about 10 p.m. “I said, ‘Hey, man. Good night,’ ’’ he said. “And that was the last time I saw my son.’’

He said he did not know why his son would leave home and did not know what to make of a theory that his son might have fallen from the wheel well of an airplane descending to Logan International Airport.

“I have no idea,’’ Tisdale said when asked how his son made it to Massachusetts.

He said his son had not missed a day of school since the family moved from Greensboro to Charlotte about five months ago and the boy became a sophomore at North Mecklenburg High School.

“My son was a hard-working man,’’ said Tisdale, wiping away tears. “He didn’t frequent the streets. He didn’t listen to a lot of out-of-the-way music. He played video games and spent time with the family. We did projects around the house. And, you know, he loved the ROTC.’’

He said his son was adjusting well to life in a new city.

“Our son was ecstatic with Charlotte,’’ he said. “He loved Charlotte. He loved the area. He loved his high school. His friends were great. He was really able to associate himself with a lot of good folks at North Mecklenburg High and with the ROTC group. It became part of who he was at North Mecklenburg, and Charlotte was a great city for him.’’

Last week, however, relatives said Tisdale had had a contentious relationship with his father and may have run away to be with his extended family in Baltimore. They said he had run away several times before and may have hitched a ride with someone bound for the Boston area.

Standing with the father, the family’s pastor, the Rev. James Woodson of St. James Home of Fresh Start in Greensboro, said it was hard for anyone to know for certain what the boy was thinking or why he left home.

“Kids have got secrets,’’ he said. “At that age, you don’t know. We assume by his practices, by his habits, that he was satisfied with being in Charlotte.’’

Woodson said the family knows of no argument or other event that might have caused the teenager to flee. “There was nothing out of the ordinary that we know of,’’ he said. “This is the most baffling thing that we can understand.’’

Tisdale said the family hopes investigators can solve the mystery of his son’s death. “That’s something we’re trying to let the investigators handle at this point, because we just don’t know,’’ he said. “We aren’t detectives; we are family, and we just did the best that we could do to make sure that they could complete their jobs.’’

Tisdale was joined at the press conference by his mother, Delvonte’s grandmother, Lula Smith. She said the family is mourning and making plans for a funeral.

“This will be the first Thanksgiving that we’ve had to contemplate what to do, so it’s very difficult for us and for my family trying to [bring] everybody together, and really what we have to do to try to mend our family,’’ Tisdale said. “It’s a hard loss for us. It’s a difficult thing for us to accept, because I still can’t believe my son is not with us.’’

Tisdale said the family moved to Charlotte “for better opportunities for us as a family.’’ He described the move as a “win-win for everybody.’’

“That’s part of the reason why we came here to Charlotte, because Mecklenburg High offered the ROTC program here, and it was a good spot for everybody,’’ he said. “But you know, being here such a short time, and losing my son, is extremely difficult.’’

Authorities are investigating the “remote possibility’’ that the boy fell out of an airplane as it passed over Milton toward Logan, said a spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs the airport.

One theory is that Tisdale sneaked into the wheel well of an aircraft and that when the plane prepared to land, the well opened, sending him plummeting to the ground. Officials said wheel wells on jet aircraft are not pressurized and a stowaway probably would not have survived the subfreezing temperatures of the upper atmosphere.

Authorities said they are investigating how he made it to Milton, where he had no known ties. Milton police have said his body was mutilated.

Massport spokesman Phil Orlandella said Massport is checking records to see what flights and what type of aircraft passed over Milton that night. Arriving flights heading to Runway 4R cross Milton, he said.

“We have been requested to look into that possibility,’’ said Orlandella. “It’s something that theoretically can happen. It’s a remote possibility.’’

Norfolk District Attorney William R. Keating’s office said Milton and State Police are “investigating every possibility regarding how Delvonte Tisdale came to be found dead on Brierbrook Street.’’

Prosecutors declined to endorse the theory that Tisdale fell out of an aircraft.

“The office continues to decline to detail specific investigatory measures being taken,’’ a statement said. “The investigation remains active and ongoing on multiple fronts.’’


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Sources: Boston Globe, CNN, Curry College, WCNC, WSOC, Google Maps