Usher’s Father Dies

The singer Usher’s biological father, Usher Raymond III, has died in an Atlanta hospital on Friday of unknown causes. It is known that Usher, his wife Tameka, and his mother Jonetta Patton where by his side when he passed away.

Funeral Directors in Philadelphia Steeling and Selling Body Parts

In Philadelphia, three funeral directors sold a total of 244 bodies for $1,000 each to a former oral surgeon who collected the bones, tissue, and skin from the bodies to be used for transplants. The transplants were used worldwide by unknowing medical patients.

A man named Michael Mastromarino, a former oral surgeon who ran the Biomedical Tissue Services of Fort Lee, N.J., ran the operation with help of a team of “cutters” who stole the body parts. The funeral directors named Louis Garzone, Gerald Garzone, and James CcCafferty were arrested and have thousands of counts against them, including running a corrupt organization, forgery, and theft of body parts. Mastromarino plans to surrender and fight the charges he has against him. He says that he was victimized by the funeral directors and that they were in charge of getting consent and all he was suppose to do was take care of the tissue and send samples to the processors.

The families of the bodies thought that their loved ones were cremated, but the bodies were left unrefrigerated for days and sometimes put in alleys next to the funeral home until a cutter arrived. The funeral directors lied and forged death certificates to say that the bodies had died from heart attacks or blunt-force trauma. They also made up fake names for the bodies and forged family consent forms and the authorities have found the true identities of only 48 of the 244 bodies. They also reduced the ages of the bodies and changed their dates of death to make it look as if the parts were newer and fresher.

The parts were used to treat burns, replace broken bones, and provide for other medical needs. One woman is suing because she says that she received hepatitis by getting a transplant from one of the bodies that had HIV, hepatitis C, and cancer.

Germs Taken to Space Come Back Stronger and Deadlier

The germ Salmonella was put on a space shuttle and sent into space because scientists wanted to see how space travel has an affect on germs. Researchers found that 167 genes had changed in the salmonella that went into space. They say that the germs change genetically because they sensed that they were in new environment. When they fed mice the germs from space they were three times more likely to get sick and die than the mice that were fed germs that didn’t go into space.

Brain-Eating Amoeba Causes Deaths

It is reported that a brain-eating amoeba has been causing deaths and health scares. The amoeba gets into the body through the nasal cavity and destroys tissue as it moves toward the brain. You can get it by swimming in lakes, hot springs, and swimming pools. It lives in the bottom of the waters and lives off of algae and bacteria. People can get infected when they wade through the water and stir up the bottom of the water. It has infected and killed 23 people between 1995 and 2004. There have been several hundred cases worldwide since its discovery in 1960.

People that are infected complain about a stiff neck, headaches, and fevers. They soon show signs of brain damage and have hallucinations and changes in behavior. There is a very small chance of surviving and the infected die within two weeks.

Newborn Found with Pacifier Taped to Mouth at Daycare Center

In Jefferson City, TN, a four month old baby boy was found in a dark room at a daycare center with a pacifier taped into his mouth. The Tennessee Department of Human Services received a complaint that a caregiver at Noah’s Ark Nursery and Preschool was taping babies’ mouths shut.

An investigator went to the daycare center and heard muffled whining from the bathroom and found the baby boy’s mouth covered with two pieces to two-inch-wide clear packing tape over a pacifier. The child could have died, ingested the tape, aspirated, or had breathing problems. Two of the caretakers on duty admitted to what they did and admitted that they have done this before to children. Back in 2005, the same daycare was investigated after a child died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in the facility.

The facility cares for 24 children between the ages of 6 weeks and 5 years old. The facility is still under investigation. It is sad that you can’t trust some daycare centers.

Baby Crib Recalls

About 1 million Simplicity and Graco cribs are being recalled after three children had gotten trapped in their cribs and died of suffocation. The three children were 6-months old, 9-months old, and 1-year old.
In all of the deaths, the buyer had installed the drop-rail side of the crib upside down. This causes a gap in the crib that children can slide into and suffocate. There have been 55 reports of the crib’s drip side detaching or the hardware not holding the side to the crib. All of the cribs were made in China.
Back in June, about 40,000 Nursery-in-a-Box cribs, manufactured by Simplicity, were recalled because the assembly instructions didn’t explain correctly how to attach the drop side. The current recall involves mainly the Simplicity and Graco cribs made from January 1998 to May 2007. The recall involves many models and model numbers.
A person that owns one of these cribs should make sure that the drop side is installed right side up and is securely attached. The newer models have a flexible tab at the top of the lower track and a permanent stop at the bottom. The older models had a flexible tab at the bottom of the lower tracks.
The models that are recalled include: Aspen 3 in 1, Aspen 4 in 1, Nursery-in-a-Box, Crib N Changer, Combo, Chelsea, Pooh 4 in 1, Ultra 4 in 1, and Ultra 5 in 1. Simplicity is offering free repairs for cribs with older hardware.

Court Orders Burial of Mummified Baby

In Concord, NH a judge ordered a man, named Charles Peavey, to bury his family heirloom, which is a mummified baby that has been passed down for generations through his family. Authorities took the mummy last year after the man’s niece mentioned it at a day care center.

Tests showed that the baby died of natural causes but they didn’t find that the baby was related to the family. The mummy won’t be given back to the Peavey family until they prove the mummy is related to them through DNA testing. The family says the mummy is the child of a great-great uncle. The mummy, named Baby John, had been placed on display on a bureau in the Peavey home. Relatives and friends would treat the mummy like a family member and give it cards during the holiday and a dried fish as a pet. If there is no relation found to the mummy, the baby is ordered to be buried.

Drunk Man Trapped in Ex’s Chimney

In Evansville, Indiana firefighters had to tear through a wall and rescue a drunken man who had gotten stuck while trying to climb down a chimney to get into the home of his ex-girlfriend.

Alejandro Valencio was drunk when he got into the chimney at 3:30 a.m. in the morning. The firefighters needed help from the police because his ex-girlfriend, Connie Deweese, blocked the fireplace and wanted them to leave him in there and let him die. Deweese had known Valencio for eight months and wanted him to stay away from her. She had locked her doors but he decided that he would get in the house through the chimney. Valencio says he has a job and would pay for the damages he caused due to the rescue.

Man Dies after Playing Online Games

It is reported in southern China that a 30 year old man died of exhaustion after playing online games for three days straight. The man fainted at a cybercafé in the city of Guangzhou and the paramedics failed at trying to revive him. He was pronounced dead at the café.