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Speaker 1: Crime Alart hourly update breaking crime news.

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Speaker 2: Now we are in a verdict.

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Speaker 1: Watch here at crime Stories as we wait for the

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Speaker 1: Shawnkims jury to hand down a verdict.

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Speaker 3: Our Nicole Parton keeping an eye on the.

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Speaker 2: Court room to call.

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Speaker 4: During the defense's closing argument on Friday, Shawn Coombe's attorney

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Speaker 4: dismissed the sex trafficking and racketeering trial as a sham,

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Speaker 4: labeling the prosecution's narrative and exaggerated depiction of the music

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Speaker 4: icon's swinger lifestyle. In a confident and at times sarcastic presentation,

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Speaker 4: defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo countered the government's characterization of Cassie

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Speaker 4: Ventira as a victim of sex trafficking, referring to her

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Speaker 4: instead as a quote winner who emerged with thirty million

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Speaker 4: dollars following settlements with mister Combs and the properteer of

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Speaker 4: the hotel where she experienced an assault. Agnifilo contended that

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Speaker 4: the two ex girlfriends of mister Combs who testified they

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Speaker 4: were cohersed and drug fueled sex parties, were actually eager participants,

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Speaker 4: citing explicit text messages that conveyed their excitement for the encounters.

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Speaker 4: He said, they are swingers, asserting that the gatherings did

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Speaker 4: not constitute sex trafficking as alleged by the prosecution. I

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Speaker 4: suppose you can sex traffic your girlfriend if you sell

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Speaker 4: her into prostitution, he argued, but emphasized that mister Colmbs

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Speaker 4: was not profiting from these interactions. The judge has indicated

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Speaker 4: that the jury will probably receive the case on Monday.

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Speaker 3: Thanks Nicole.

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Speaker 1: More Crime and Justice News after this. I'm Jennifer Gould.

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Speaker 1: The innocence of an elementary school playground was shattered by

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Speaker 1: a revelation so chilling it defies belief. A calculated, cold

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Speaker 1: blooded murder plot by four fifth grade girls, mere children

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Speaker 1: age ten and eleven, what sounds like a grim movie script,

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Speaker 1: actually played out at Legacy Traditional School in Arizona, where

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Speaker 1: these young conspirators allegedly schemed to stab a classmate and

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Speaker 1: stage his death as a suicide, leaving a stunned community

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Speaker 1: in utter horror. Doctor Mark Anderson, a child psychologist, spoke

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Speaker 1: to twelve News.

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Speaker 2: Pay attention to potential barning signs and if you're seeing

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Speaker 2: that there might be an issue, there are doctors like myself.

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Speaker 2: There are a lot of people in the community that

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Speaker 2: are here to help.

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Speaker 1: According to the Surprise Police Department, this sinister plan was

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Speaker 1: cooked up during lunch and recess. The motive a breakup

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Speaker 1: and bitter allegations of cheating by a boy. Their blueprint

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Speaker 1: for horror was disturbingly detailed as well. One girl was

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Speaker 1: designated to bring the knife, another would lure the unsuspecting

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Speaker 1: victim to an outdoor bathroom on campus, a third would

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Speaker 1: stand as lookout, and a fourth would forge a fake

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Speaker 1: suicide note to throw off instigators. In a chilling display

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Speaker 1: of premeditation, they even planned to wear gloves to avoid

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Speaker 1: leaving fingerprints. This plot luckily did not pan out because

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Speaker 1: it was exposed before any harm came to the targeted classmate.

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Speaker 1: A student overheard one girl's chilling declaration to quote just

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Speaker 1: end him, end quote and immediately alerted school officials and authorities.

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Speaker 1: Wasted no time. The very next day, police moved in.

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Speaker 1: The girl's backpacks were searched, and they were questioned individually

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Speaker 1: with their parents present, causing their elaborate, deadly scheme to

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Speaker 1: unravel completely. All four girls were arrested on charges of

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Speaker 1: threatening and misdemeanor disorderly conduct. They were released into their parents'

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Speaker 1: custody and suspended from school pending expulsion. A particularly unsettling

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Speaker 1: detail emerged from the police report as well. While three

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Speaker 1: of the girls reportedly showed remorse when confronted, the fourth

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Speaker 1: girl allegedly displayed a disturbing lack of empathy, choosing to

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Speaker 1: smile and laugh while making excuses for their actions. The

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Speaker 1: Surprise Police Department says they do not plan to share

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Speaker 1: further details on the case. Legacy Traditional School issued a

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Speaker 1: statement emphasizing student safety and their cooperation with law enforcement.

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Speaker 1: The intended target's name is not known, and no word

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Speaker 1: if his parents were informed either.

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Speaker 3: I'm Drew Neilson, an eleven year old boy is shot

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Speaker 3: dead in broad daylight at a park in North Minneapolis,

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Speaker 3: dying in his older brother's arms before reaching the hospital.

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Speaker 3: On Monday, just after two pm, gunfire rang out at

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Speaker 3: Folwell Park. Witnesses saw cars joy riding through the area.

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Speaker 3: One of those cars, akia with apparent bullet holes in

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Speaker 3: the side, stopped a few blocks away on Morgan Avenue.

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Speaker 3: A teenager stepped out carrying a child and begged for help.

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Speaker 3: He told neighbors the boy was his little brother. The

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Speaker 3: boy was Emir Lamar aikins he had been shot in

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Speaker 3: the head. A good samaritan rushed the brothers toward the hospital.

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Speaker 3: They flagged down a police lieutenant at the corner of

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Speaker 3: Penn and Dowling Avenue North. The officer began CPR, but

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Speaker 3: Amir was already gone. He was pronounced dead there. A

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Speaker 3: balloon memorial now marks the corner where they stopped. Police

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Speaker 3: say Amir was riding in a car through the park

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Speaker 3: when someone in another vehicle opened fire. No arrests have

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Speaker 3: been made. Investigators are now reviewing surveillance footage.

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Speaker 2: Cannot emphasize how terrible it is to have an eleven

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Speaker 2: year old boy shot during the day and killed.

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Speaker 3: That's Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara. At a community meeting

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Speaker 3: inside Fallwell Recreation Center, neighbors and activists called for an

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Speaker 3: end to the violence.

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Speaker 5: We have a lot of community meetings whill we come

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Speaker 5: together and talk about what's wrong, and we already know

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Speaker 5: what's wrong. I just want to challenge everybody to start

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Speaker 5: coming together to talk about a plan to actually fix this.

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Speaker 3: That's community activist Joseph Banks. Princess Titus, who lost her

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Speaker 3: son to gunfire in twenty ten, said Amir's death was

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Speaker 3: part of an epidet.

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Speaker 4: This commitment starts at home. When I ask a parent

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Speaker 4: how are you and how's your children? They say, my

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Speaker 4: children are bad.

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Speaker 3: Everybody makes mistakes. There's no bad children, there's no bad people,

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Speaker 3: there's bad choices. Emir was due to start sixth grade

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Speaker 3: at Hopkins Elementary this fall. His family remembers him as

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Speaker 3: a joyful boy who loved video games and playing outdoors.

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Speaker 3: His uncle described him on GoFundMe as quote a beacon

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Speaker 3: of light in our lives. Donations are being used for

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Speaker 3: funeral costs for his mother and expenses for Emir's seven siblings.

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Speaker 3: His mother is also seeking a better housing situation. So far,

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Speaker 3: the GoFundMe has raised thirteen thousand dollars toward a goal

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Speaker 3: of eighteen thousand. For the latest crime and justice news,

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Speaker 3: follow Crime Alert's hourly update on your favorite podcast app

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Speaker 3: with this Crime Alert. I'm Drew Nelson.