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Crime & Justice

Jacksonville, FL To Have “Standing Our Ground Week” for Marissa Alexander

Hundreds of activists will come together in Jacksonville, FL from Friday, July 25 through Friday, August 1 to support Marissa Alexander.

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Jacksonville protest Marissa Alexander
Photo by Kelly

Activist have come together for a “Standing Our Ground Week” for Marissa Alexander.

Hundreds of regional and national activists will come together in Jacksonville, Florida from Friday, July 25 through Friday, August 1 to support embattled domestic violence survivor Marissa Alexander, build awareness about domestic violence and reproductive justice, and strengthen opposition to mandatory minimum sentencing.

Marissa Alexander status

Marissa Alexander

“STANDING OUR GROUND Against Reproductive Oppression, Gender Violence, and Mass Incarceration” is envisioned by organizers as a celebration, an exercise of civil rights, and a call for human dignity. The date marks the one year anniversary of the verdict exonerating George Zimmerman for the murder of Trayvon Martin and connects to the August 1 hearing where Alexander will argue for Stand Your Ground protection. Participants are linking the call to free Marissa Alexander with Florida-based movements for justice for Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis and others.

Standing Our Ground Week

The Standing Our Ground week will feature noted speakers, educational panels, workshops, cultural events, and community outreach. An opening ceremony will launch the activities on Friday, July 25. On Friday and Saturday, the national SisterSong Reproductive Justice Institute will hold panels and training workshops. Saturday will also feature a Youth Assembly. Sunday is highlighted by a benefit concert for the Marissa Alexander Legal Defense Fund. On Monday, there will be a march from the SisterSong conference to the Duval County Courthouse. Tuesday will feature a keynote discussion by University of Illinois Professor Beth Richie, author of *Arrested Justice: Black Women, Violence and America’s Prison Nation,* followed by a panel of local and national feminists and leaders in the movement for women’s safety. Wednesday will take on the issues of police brutality and wrongful imprisonment with a panel of speakers organizing on these issues. On Thursday, legal experts will conduct community training to inform people about their rights under the law. The day will end with a candlelight vigil. Throughout the week, activists will also take part in a People’s Investigation where they will bring their concerns and questions to organizations and institutions of power on the local, state and national level. Times and locations are being finalized.

On Friday, August 1, participants will attend a hearing on whether Marissa Alexander can argue for immunity from prosecution under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law. In 2010, Ms. Alexander fired a warning shot to stop a life-threatening attack by her estranged husband. She caused no injuries, but was found guilty of aggravated assault and served 33 months of a mandatory 20-year sentence before a Florida appeals court overturned the
guilty verdict. State Prosecutor Angela Corey has chosen to re-prosecute Alexander, this time threatening a mandatory 60-year sentence if Alexander is found guilty in the new trial currently scheduled to begin December 8.

Local and national leaders of the Free Marissa Now mobilization campaign are partnering with New Jim Crow Movement – Jacksonville, SisterSong, INCITE!, African American/Black Women’s Cultural Alliance, Radical Women, Project South, Resist, Highlander Research Center, and National Congress of Black Women to organize the week of events. National supporters of Marissa Alexander in other cities will also take action during the week to build awareness about ending domestic violence and mass incarceration, and supporting all women’s right to self-defense. Participants will take part through daily live-streaming of Jacksonville events and through Facebook and Twitter updates, and a Selfies for Self-Defense campaign.

Marissa Alexander was sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing a warning shot to stop an attack by her abusive husband.

Her case has frequently been compared to that of George Zimmerman, who was found not guilty on grounds of self-defense for the killing of Trayvon Martin, while Alexander was denied Stand Your Ground protection and sentenced to 20 years although no one was injured by her action.

Through an appeal, her verdict was subsequently overturned and she was granted a new trial.


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Unheard Voices is an award-winning news magazine that started in 2004 as a local Black newsletter in the Asbury Park, Neptune, and Long Branch, NJ areas to now broaden into a recognized Black online media outlet. They are the recipient of the NAACP Unsung Hero Award and CV Magazine's Innovator Award for Best Social Justice Communications Company.

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Crime & Justice

Exonerated man on a mission to rebuild his life

C.J. Rice, a man who served more than 12 years behind bars for an attempted murder he was falsely convicted of, was officially exonerated on March 18, 2024. He is now on a mission to rebuild his life.

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CJ Rice Charles CJ Rice Exonerated
Charles "CJ" Rice (Photo Source: CNN)

Charles “CJ” Rice was just 17 years old when he was convicted of a crime he did not commit.

CJ Rice Exonerated

Now 30 year old Rice is using the injustice of the last 13 years to galvanize the life he almost spent behind bars after being exonerated and declared legally innocent of the crime he was convicted of in 2013 on March 18, 2024.

According to the GoFundMe, CJ wants to “embrace this opportunity” and become a paralegal.

With the help of Dream.org, the GoFundMe aims to help CJ start a new life with everything from a place to stay to clothes to wear as he builds a new future.

The CJ Rice case

CJ Rice, formally known Charles J. Rice, was convicted in a September 2011 shooting for attempted murder and sentenced to 30-60 years behind bars in 2013.

According to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, the South Philadelphia shooting left a woman identified as Latrice Johnson, a 6-year-old girl and two others injured.

Johnson called 911 after the shooting and described the suspects as two men running away in hoodies and black sweatpants but couldn’t fully identify them.

Through an initial investigation with victims in the hospital, Rice’s co-defendant, Tyler Linder, was identified as one of the shooters. Detectives interviewed Johnson while she was in the hospital and she identified 17-year-old Rice as one of the shooters running away although she hadn’t seen the teen in a few years. Rice had been friends with Johnson’s son when he was younger, according to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project.

In her description, Johnson said Rice was wearing a hoodie and claimed that she was able to see his full face and long braids poking out the side of the hood. However, Rice’s arrest photo depicted him with shorter cornrows flushed against his head. Despite this, a case against Rice and Linder was built.

According to the Pennsylvania Innocence Project, among the evidence was a theory that the shooting was retaliatory, which wasn’t proven. That’s because Rice was shot and injured a few days prior. It’s alleged the suspects ran from the scene, and Rice’s counsel never used his medical records as evidence to help Rice’s case.

Rice’s case received national attention after CNN anchor Jake Tapper began reporting on it. His father, Dr. Theodore Tapper, is Rice’s former doctor and treated his injuries.

Although it was alleged that the shooters ran from the 2011 crime scene, this is something that Dr. Tapper believed Rice just physically couldn’t do at the time.

Officials believed the 2011 shooting involved gang affiliations, leading the DA’s Gun Violence Task Force to begin their investigation to see whether or not Rice could be re-tried for the shooting or to dismiss the charges in full.

This suggestion of motive and the sole faulty eyewitness identification of CJ led to his conviction on four counts for attempted murder.

A free man

Rice’s defense counsel filed a habeas petition to get CJ out of prison and have his conviction overturned.

On March 18, 2024, the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas granted the Commonwealth’s motion to dismiss all charges against Rice, officially making CJ a free man.

Read C.J. Rice’s story


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Crime & Justice

Driver intentionally mowed down couple, killing wife, after calling 911 with ‘threats to shoot a school’

Shaunda Bizzell was killed by a man who drove his car into her and her husband minutes after he called 911 and made threats to bomb a building, police say.

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Shaunda Bizzell
Shaunda Bizzell (PHOTO: SHAUNDA BIZZELL FACEBOOK)

Derek and Shaunda Bizzell were taking an evening stroll in their Chesterfield, Virginia neighborhood Monday night when a crazed man plowed into them.

The unimaginable for Derek and Shaunda Bizzell

“We walked around the curb. We could see a car coming up the middle of the street like cars always do, and then he got closer to us,” Derek Bizzell told WWBT. “I could see him veer. I screamed her name, and all I heard was the thump.”

The husband wound up under the car, while his wife landed on top. When he grabbed his phone to call 911, he was too shocked to be able to speak, but good samaritans who rushed over to help called in the deadly emergency.

Before hitting the couple, police say the man called 911 with “threats to shoot a school, bomb a building and assault police officers.”

Suspect

The driver, identified as Daniel Anderson, 22, purportedly has a history of mental health issues, according to his father. He “intentionally steered” his 2012 Hyundai toward the innocent couple, police said.

Daniel Anderson is charged with murder.

Daniel Anderson (Photo Credit: Chesterfield VA police)

Shaunda Bizzell, 42, a married mom of two adult children, was taken to a nearby hospital but died from her injuries. Her husband was also hurt in the collision but has since been released from the hospital.

“I’m a little banged up, but if I could trade places with my wife, I would,” the heartbroken man said.

It was Shaunda’s first time she’d joined her husband Derek on his regular evening stroll around their neighborhood in Chesterfield, according to WWBT.

Derek Bizzell and Shaunda Bizzell

Derek Bizzell and Shaunda Bizzell

Derek on losing his wife Shaunda Bizzell

Bizzell said he has not been sleeping or eating, and feeling “just numbness” since losing his beloved wife.

He added that while he has not forgiven the driver, “I do pray for his family because I’m pretty sure they are hurting the same way we are hurting right now,” he said.

Anderson has been charged with murder, malicious wounding, making threats of death or bodily injury and making threats to bomb or damage buildings.

He is being held without bond.


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Crime & Justice

Jam Master Jay’s godson and childhood friend found guilty of murder in 2002 killing of Run-DMC pioneering DJ

Ronald Washington, Jay’s childhood friend, and Karl Jordan Jr., Jay’s godson, were convicted of murder in what prosecutors say was motivated by greed.

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Jam Master Jay murder
Jam Master Jay in 1985 (Photo Credit: Jeff Pinilla • CC BY 3.0)

Two men were found guilty of murder Tuesday in the 2002 killing of Jam Master Jay, the pioneering DJ of the groundbreaking hip hop trio Run-DMC.

2 found guilty of Jam Master Jay’s murder

Ronald Washington, Jay’s childhood friend, and Karl Jordan Jr., Jay’s godson, were convicted of murder in what prosecutors say was motivated by greed and a drug deal gone awry.

Pioneer murdered in 2002

Jam Master Jay, born Jason Mizell, was shot and killed at a recording studio in Jamaica, Queens, on October 30, 2002.

Jam Master Jay RUN-DMC

Run-DMC

For years, no one was arrested for the slaying, leaving one of the most shocking shootings in music history unsolved.

In August 2020, authorities would finally get a break in the case, unsealing a criminal indictment alleging Washington and Jordan conspired to kill Jam Master Jay in retaliation for a drug dispute.

A third defendant, Jay Bryant, was charged in May 2023 with murder while engaged in narcotics trafficking and firearm-related murder. He has pleaded not guilty and is set to go on trial separately in January 2026.

Witness testimony in Jam Master Jay murder trial

The verdict followed a four-week trial in which jurors heard from several witnesses who recounted the moment the pair killed the legendary DJ inside his 24/7 Studio in Hollis.

A witness, who was at the recording studio that night, testified Washington and Jordan came in armed, and he alleged Jordan shot Jay in the head.

Uriel Rincon was playing the “Madden” football video game with Mizell at the studio when the two were ambushed. He suffered a gunshot wound to his left leg from Jordan, also known as “Little D”.

Rincon, said he had kept the attackers’ identities secret because he was “confused and scared,” reports ABC.

Defense attorneys for the men convicted of murder say Jay Bryant is the real killer

A hat found next to Jam Master Jay’s body contained only Bryant’s DNA, and Bryant was the only defendant seen on a security camera, according to the attorneys.

Washington and Jordan each face between 20 years-to-life behind bars at their sentencing.


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