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Texas halts Melissa Lucio’s execution, court to consider new evidence

April 25, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(AUSTIN, Texas) — The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has ordered a court to consider new evidence regarding the case of Melissa Lucio and the death of her daughter, Mariah. Lucio is on death row and was scheduled to be executed on April 27.

The execution will be halted as the 138th Judicial District Court of Cameron County considers the evidence.

In a statement following the announcement, Lucio thanked those who have supported her fight for clemency.

“I thank God for my life,” Lucio said. “I am grateful the Court has given me the chance to live and prove my innocence. Mariah is in my heart today and always. I am grateful to have more days to be a mother to my children and a grandmother to my grandchildren.”

Lucio was sentenced in 2008 for the death of her 2-year-old daughter, one of Lucio’s 14 children.

Her lawyers say new evidence shows that the cause of her daughter’s injuries and subsequent death were caused by a fall down a steep staircase outside their apartment in Harlingen, Texas.

They say Lucio was coerced into a false confession after hours of intense police interrogations.

A supplementary filing submitted by Lucio’s attorneys asserts that the conviction was based on a false confession and false or poor testimony from medical examiners and specialists. They are asking the court to withdraw its order setting Lucio’s execution date.

The filing states that there is “overwhelming evidence that the judgment this Court set for execution on April 27, 2022, represents a miscarriage of justice.”

Lucio had said she is “at peace” regardless of the decision, according to a recently released statement.

“Either way I will get my freedom soon,” the statement read. “I will go home to my family or go to heaven. If I get a new trial, I am ready for the fight. I am not the same person I was in that interrogation room. I would stand up for my rights today. I want other survivors of domestic violence and assault to stand up for their rights too.”

In the days leading up to Lucio’s clemency hearing, political and social justice figures held rallies and prayer vigils to protest her death sentence.

State lawmakers including Reps. Joe Moody, Rafael Anchia, Alex Dominguez, Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. and more met with Lucio in early April to join the fight.

“Melissa Lucio checked all the boxes of the ideal culprit, right? She is a little Latina mom with too many children, with a drug addiction,” Sabrina Van Tassel, the director of the documentary “The State of Texas Vs. Melissa,” said at a press conference Sunday.

“After a three-year investigation, I’m here to tell you that she’s not … The world’s not going to be a better place if Melissa Lucio is executed tomorrow,” Van Tessel said.

Lucio’s children have also issued a plea to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to grant their mother clemency.

“She’s more worried about her kids than anything,” Bobby Alvarez, Lucio’s son, said in an interview with ABC station KVUE in Austin, Texas.

On Monday, a petition delivery and prayer vigil will be held outside Abbott’s office at the Texas State Capitol, as protesters await action from the state district attorney, the Texas Board of Pardons & Paroles or Abbott.

Celebrity Kim Kardashian has also spoken out against the planned execution online.

“So heartbreaking to read this letter from Melissa Lucio’s children begging for the state not to kill their mother,” she wrote. “There are so many unresolved questions surrounding this case and the evidence that was used to convict her.”

If Lucio is executed, she would be the first Latina to be put to death by Texas and the first woman to be executed by the state since 2014.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated when Lucio was sentenced. It has been updated.

Omeretta the Great signs a new record deal, shows up as surprise guest on Latto’s 777 tour

April 25, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NOTE LANGUAGE) Rap sensation Omeretta the Great is just getting warmed up.

After the crazy viral success of her controversial single, “Sorry Not Sorry,” the 25-year-old Atlanta native recently inked a new record deal with 300’s Entertainment’s Spartan Distribution.

Omeretta posted the exciting news, which was first reported by Diddy‘s TV and media company, Revolt, on Instagram over the weekend, with the caption, “HERE WE GO🤩✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️.”

Fans and fellow music stars, such as SZA, left supportive comments under the post. “OH YESSSSSSS😍😍😍,” SZA said.

Others wrote messages of concern, questioning the rising star’s business move. “Do you think this was the best decision?” one user said. Another fan wrote, “She too hard for 300 but I’m happy for her.”

“Just ensure your lawyers read your contract boo, and you too , and I’m so happy for you !!!!!!!! You deserve it,” another user wrote.

Meanwhile, Omeretta has relishing the blissful moment that was her fellow Atlanta rapper, Latto, bringing her out on stage over the weekend, during the last stop on her 777 tour in Atlanta.

“This s*** was soooo LIT🔥🔥 I forever f*** with @latto777 cuz she ain’t have to bring me out on Her tour but she did❤️❤️❤️,” Omeretta said on Instagram, reliving the significant moment.

Omeretta told Revolt that fans can soon expect her debut album, which will include “Sorry Not Sorry” as well as “some dope features.”

“Expect to see more Omeretta everywhere,” she said.

Luke Combs, Maren Morris and other Stagecoach performances to be streamed live this weekend

April 25, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Fans who won’t be in attendance Stagecoach Festival this weekend can still catch the action via livestream.

For the first time, YouTube will be live-streaming the third week of the country music festival in Indio, CA with performances by Carrie Underwood, Luke Combs, Thomas Rhett, Maren Morris, and more.

For three days, rising country stars who are also performing at Stagecoach will host the broadcast ahead of the headlining performances, as well as interview their fellow artists on the bill.

Breland kicks off the festivities on Friday, hyping up the crowd before Thomas, Midland and Brandi Carlile take the stage. Meanwhile, Reyna Roberts serves as host on Saturday before Carrie, Brothers Osborne and more perform, with Hailey Whitters closing out the weekend with hosting duties on Sunday as Luke, Cody Johnson, Lainey Wilson, and others hit the stage.

The broadcasts stream live on YouTube April 29 – May 1 at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Poster revealed for Whitney Houston movie, ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody’

April 25, 2022 by WDNY Radio

We finally have our first look at the poster for the upcoming Whitney Houston movie, I Wanna Dance with Somebody.

The movie’s official Twitter account debuted the poster Monday, which shows star Naoimi Ackie dressed in a black leather jacket, white tank, skinny jeans and black ankle boots — the same outfit Whitney wore for her “So Emotional” music video. Her arms are splayed wide and her head is thrown back as she strikes a joyful pose on the poster.

“Don’t you wanna dance?” the account teased. “Whitney Houston, the greatest voice, has an even greater story. I Wanna Dance With Somebody is exclusively in movie theaters December.”

Clive Davis, who signed Houston to Arista Records, is producing the movie and previously told USA Today, “The goal…is to come up with a very realistic, very honest story…as well as capturing her losing battle with addiction, capturing her vocal genius and influence on music and contemporary musicians.” He added that his overall mission with I Wanna Dance is to “present the full story of Whitney Houston impeccably and [ensure] that it will be realistic in every respect.”

I Wanna Dance with Somebody was written by Anthony McCarten, who’s behind the Oscar-winning Bohemian Rhapsody movie, which told the story of another late music legend and Queen frontman Freddie Mercury.

Johnny Depp testifies about “betrayal” of losing the ‘Pirates’ franchise, “cruel” “abuse” from Amber Heard

April 25, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Johnny Depp took the stand again Monday in his defamation trial against his ex-wife Amber Heard.

His testimony began with Heard’s attorney J. Benjamin Rottenborn continuing to grill him, before Depp’s own lawyer, Camille Vasquez, let him tell his side of the story on redirect.

Last week, Rottenborn tried to contrast Depp’s living up to the “standards of a Southern gentleman” with his texts to actor Paul Bettany, in which Depp said, “Let’s burn Amber,” and another that followed, “Let’s drown her before we burn her.” Those resurfaced again in court Monday.

Rottenborn also read a slew of headlines about the state of Depp’s career, essentially trying to debunk Depp’s claims that Heard’s Washington Post op-ed, in which she obliquely accused him of domestic violence, hurt his career.

Rotttenborn even intimated Depp cut his own finger off, not the vodka bottle Heard allegedly threw at him, based on an apparently sarcastic text he made to his doctor.

Later in the morning, Depp told his own lawyer reading the op-ed, was, “A blinding hurt. It was like somebody hit me on the back of the head with a two-by four.”

The actor later admitted his texts to Bettany were “…never intended to be real,” though said he was “ashamed” the messages were made public. He explained the texts were references to Monty Python and the Holy Grail‘s “burn the witch” scene, as he and Bettany shared the same “dry, obtuse, abstract” humor.

Depp called Heard’s relationship with WandaVision star Bettany “abominable,” saying, “Ms. Heard despised Mr. Bettany, mainly because we had become such close friends…he had become a threat, and would take me away from her.”

Depp also testified he learned he was dropped from Disney’s Pirates franchise days after the op-ed was published.

“I put a lot of myself into the character. And also having worked on these films with these people,” Depp said, “…I didn’t understand after that long relationship, that successful relationship, all of a sudden I was guilty until proven innocent.”

Asked to explain other texts Heard’s lawyers had previously quizzed him on, regarding his state of mind at the time, Depp said Heard used the same psychological “abuse” his mother did when he was a child.

“When you’re being demeaned, berated, judged, and treated like a lesser animal….’I’m a bad father.’ These things were endless,” he said. “There was no call for them. It’s hard to understand how someone who’s supposed to love you could be that cruel.”

Chris Rock’s mom says Will Smith “slapped all of us”; says Jada was “bowled over laughing”

April 25, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Author and mom of Chris Rock, Rose Rock, is opening up about the infamous Oscars slap.

In a sit-down with South Carolina’s WIS-TV show Soda City Live, Rock said Chris was “doing well,” but is “still processing, because that’s not something you expect.”

“When he slapped Chris, he slapped all of us,” Mrs. Rock said of Will Smith. “He really slapped me, because when you hurt my child, you hurt me!”

Rose Rock, who is also a motivational speaker, also said if she had a chance to talk to Will, she would have asked, “What in the world were you thinking?”

She added of Will and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, “You reacted to your wife giving you the side-eye, and you went up, and you made her day because she was bowled over laughing when it happened.”

Mrs. Rock also said, “I wouldn’t take his award away, and I don’t see any good way they could have taken him out without disrupting.”

However, she admitted she also didn’t think much of the Academy’s banning Will for 10 years. “What does that mean? You don’t even go every year,” she quipped.

She said Chris’ biggest regret was he was “so happy” to present the Best Documentary Oscar to his friend Questlove. “No one even heard his speech. No one was able to just be in the moment, because everyone was sitting there like, ‘What just happened?'”

Indeed, even Rock’s mother thought the slap might have been a gag — until Will cursed out the comedian from his seat at the awards show.

Rock closed with saying of Smith, “I feel really bad that he never apologized. I mean his people wrote up a piece saying ‘I apologize to Chris Rock,’ but you see something like that is personal, you reach out.”

Garth Brooks adds opening night show at Gillette Stadium

April 25, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Garth Brooks is adding an opening night show to his upcoming Stadium Tour stop at Gillette Stadium.

Garth will perform a second show in Foxborough, MA on May 20, one night prior to his previously announced concert on May 21. This marks the superstar’s first appearance at the stadium that serves as the home of the New England Patriots. The show will be in-the-round seating and tickets are priced at $94.95, all inclusive.

The “Friends in Low Places” singer has included opening night shows at recent stops in Nashville, Cincinnati and more. “I don’t care if 500 people just show up, the thing is, if you want a great seat, you’re guaranteed one,” he describes in a video before the Nashville show.

Tickets for the May 20 show go on sale Thursday at 10 a.m. ET.

Ann Wilson says Heart biopic will avoid “rock movie clichés”

April 25, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Heart‘s Ann Wilson is releasing her new solo album, Fierce Bliss, this Friday, but her famous band is always looming in the background. For one, Wilson says she’s enthusiastic about the in-the-works Heart biopic which, as previously reported, is being scripted by Portlandia star and Sleater-Kinney member Carrie Brownstein.

Speaking with the U.K. paper The Independent, Wilson says, “It is very strange, just the idea of somebody portraying me. But Carrie just really gets it. She’s the best – so smart and funny and talented.”

“And she’s trying to make sure it doesn’t fall into so many of these rock movie clichés,” Wilson adds. “She’s trying to get away from that and really tell the story of what it’s like for these two people, my sister [Nancy] and I. To make it real.”

While the Wilson sisters went on record earlier this year about their disagreements regarding Heart’s future as a live band, Ann said last month that they have “a bunch of stuff” planned for 2023, which will mark Heart’s 50th anniversary. For example, Ann tells The Independent that the band is hoping to return to the city where Heart played their very first gig for a 50th anniversary show.

That city is Vancouver, where Wilson recalls that Heart played a venue called The Cave. Their audition for the gig was a disaster, she recalls. Because Nancy hadn’t yet joined the band, Ann was playing guitar as well as singing. “My [guitar] strap came off and so my guitar fell off during “Stairway to Heaven,’” she laughs.

Wilson will kick off a series of tour dates with her backing band The Amazing Dawgs in support of Fierce Bliss starting May 4 in San Francisco.

More than 100 million Americans have received first COVID booster shot since August

April 25, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — More than 100 million Americans have received their first COVID-19 vaccine booster dose, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Boosters first became available in August 2021 for immunocompromised Americans before federal officials gradually lowered the age requirement.

Since then, nearly half of those in the U.S. who are eligible — aged 12 and older — have received their first booster as well as two-thirds of people over the age of 65. As of April 18, an average of 85,000 Americans are receiving a booster dose every day, a nearly 9% increase from the 78,000 getting their first booster dose one month ago.

When broken down by state, Vermont has the highest percentage of fully vaccinated residents with a booster at 60.2% followed by Minnesota, Wisconsin, Maine and Michigan, respectively.

CDC data also shows 55 million Americans have received a booster dose from Pfizer-BioNTech and 43 million have received a Moderna booster. Only 1.5 million Americans have gotten a booster from Johnson & Johnson.

The new figures come as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the U.S. Currently, the seven-day rolling average sits at 44,000 new infections — the highest number seen since March 3, according to the CDC.

Over the past few months, doctors have been stressing the importance of getting an additional shot, particularly as immunity from a primary vaccine series wanes and more infectious variants spread.

Additionally, Pfizer and Moderna have released data in the past showing efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines against infection declines after a few months, but a third dose boosts antibody levels.

About half of Americans eligible for a booster shot — approximately 91 million people — have yet to receive it, the CDC data shows.

“While vaccination milestones deserve celebration, our booster campaign has fallen far short of a success storm,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor. “Despite targeted public health messaging and wide availability of vaccines, getting to over half the eligible population boosted took many months to achieve.”

He added that experts predict new variants will emerge and without enough people boosted, it “enhances the risk of a significant surge that overwhelms our health systems.”

The CDC does not have data on how many Americans have received a second booster dose.

However, during a meeting last month of the CDC’s advisory committee, it was revealed that only about 4.3 million people over the age of 50 have received a second booster since they were authorized a few weeks ago.

“I was just trying to protect all of us”: Megan Thee Stallion emotionally recalls 2020 shooting incident

April 25, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NOTE LANGUAGE) Despite being the victim of a gun shot to the foot in July of 2020, Megan Thee Stallion says she lied to the police about the incident, in order to protect the Black people around her.

In an exclusive interview with CBS Mornings‘ Gayle King, the rap megastar recounted the scary incident, detailing her thoughts the moment her alleged shooter, rapper Tory Lanez, order her to “Dance, b****,” before pulling the trigger of a gun a “couple times.”

Regardless of the fear that Lanez “could shoot me and kill me,” Megan says she told authorities immediately after the shooting that she simply “stepped on glass.”

“I don’t remember everything they said to me, but I remember them asking me, ‘What’s happening? What– what happened to you?’ And I didn’t want them to kill any of us or shoot any of us,” she told King.

“Why did you say that, why didn’t you say–,” King inquired, to which Megan The Stallion responded, “For some reason, I was just trying to protect all of us because I didn’t want them to kill us.”

In her first-ever TV interview since the altercation, Megan emotionally recounted the night’s events, detailing the argument — which involved multiple people, including her best friend, Kelsey Nicole — that started it all. She said once the arguing in the car escalated, she attempted to remove herself, asking the driver to “pull the car over.”

“So I get out of the car and it’s like everything happens so fast. And all I hear is this man screaming. And he said, ‘Dance, b****.’ And he started shooting. And I’m just like, ‘Oh, my God.’ Like, he shot a couple of times.”

When King asked if Megan was “afraid for her life,” Megan answered, “I was really scared ’cause I had never been shot at before.”

Megan says she received backlash for lying to police about her injuries, but again, she said it was to save them all from what she thought could’ve turned into an even more traumatic incident.

“I’m the one who said I stepped on glass. I was lying to protect all of us. And I, sometimes I wish I really would have never said that,” she admitted.

“I wish I would have told– But if it saved all of us from dyin’, then that’s just probably what it was meant.”

After Megan named Lanez as the shooter in an Instagram live in August 2020, the Canadian rapper was charged with assault. If convicted, he could face up to 22 years in prison.

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