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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

In brief: Girl locked in room freezes to death

From Wire Reports

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A 3-year-old girl died and her 1-year-old sister suffered hypothermia after their mother and the mother’s boyfriend left them in a locked bedroom with a window open to a temperature of minus 30 degrees to air out the room because the girls wet their beds, authorities said.

The mother, 28-year-old elementary teacher Esther G. Edwards-Gust, was apparently on the lam Saturday, a day after she and 29-year-old Richard Tilden Jr. were indicted in the child’s death. Tilden was in custody.

A grand jury on Friday indicted Tilden and Edwards-Gust on charges including manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. Tilden also faces second-degree murder and assault charges. He was arrested last month.

Jailed killer collected unemployment

LOS ANGELES – Authorities say a convicted killer who gained notoriety for having a murder scene tattooed on his chest received unemployment benefits while he was in jail.

Anthony Garcia, nicknamed “Chopper,” received more than $30,000 in fraudulent unemployment while in the Los Angeles County jail from 2008 to 2010.

Garcia’s father and two girlfriends would get the checks, cash them and deposit the money in the inmate accounts of Garcia and fellow gang members, Sheriff’s Capt. Mike Parker said Saturday.

Juan Garcia, 47, Sandra Jaimez, 45, and Cynthia Limas, 25, were arrested Thursday on charges including grand theft.

Kids given cancer pill instead of fluoride

TRENTON, N.J. – Children who may have taken breast cancer treatment medication mistakenly distributed by a New Jersey pharmacy instead of prescribed fluoride pills likely won’t suffer any health problems, a pharmaceutical expert said Saturday.

CVS Caremark officials say only a few children ingested pills for breast cancer treatment that they mistakenly received, and company investigators are still working to determine how and why the errors occurred at the pharmacy in Chatham. The pharmacy has acknowledged improperly dispensing Tamoxifen instead of chewable fluoride tablets to children in as many as 50 families between Dec. 1 and Feb. 20.

No injuries related to the mix-up have been reported.