The George Floyd Memorial Scholarship offered at North Central University in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is being accused of violating the Civil Rights Act, according to a federal complaint.
The Legal Insurrection Foundation filed the legal complaint Monday with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights. The conservative nonprofit says its mission is devoted to advancing free expression and academic freedom on campuses.
The foundation claims the George Floyd Memorial Scholarship is violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which “prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin in programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance.”
To be eligible for the scholarship in question, the applicant must “be a student who is Black or African American, that is, a person having origins in any of the black racial groups of Africa,” according to the university.
Students who do not meet the prerequisite racial category are automatically ineligible for the scholarship.
“Discrimination against white applicants is just as unlawful as discrimination against black or other non-white applicants,” complaint writers, civil rights attorney Ameer Benno and Cornell University law professor William Jacobson, said.
“Regardless of NCU’s reasons for sponsoring and promoting the GFMS [scholarship], it is violating Title VI by doing so.”
North Central University did not immediately respond to an NBC News request for comment.
The George Floyd Memorial Scholarship was created in 2020 “to contribute toward the educational promise of aspiring young black American leaders,” according to a university news release.
The scholarship is still accepting applications for the 2024-25 academic school year, and the recipient will be selected by June.
Beirut — The Syrian army said Friday that Israeli airstrikes near the northern city of Aleppo had killed or wounded “a number of” people and caused damage. A war monitoring group said the strikes killed 44 people, most of them Syrian troops.
The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor group, said Israeli strikes hit missile depots belonging to Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group in Aleppo’s southern suburb of Jibreen, near the Aleppo International Airport, and the nearby town of Safira, home to a sprawling military facility.
The observatory said 36 Syrian troops, seven Hezbollah fighters and a Syrian member of an Iran-backed group died and dozens of people were wounded, calling it the deadliest such attack in years.
There was no immediate statement from Israeli officials on the strikes specifically, but Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was quoted by the Times of Israel’s defense correspondent as saying hours after that the military would be expanding its ongoing campaign against the powerful Iran-allied group, and that Israel was “turning from defending to pursuing Hezbollah.”
“We will reach wherever the organization operates, in Beirut, Damascus and in more distant places,” Gallant said, according to Times reporter Emanuel Fabian.
Israel, which has vowed to stop Iranian entrenchment in its northern neighbor, has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets in government-controlled parts of Syria in recent years, but it rarely acknowledges them.
On Thursday, Syrian state media reported airstrikes near the capital, Damascus, saying they wounded two civilians.
Hezbollah has had an armed presence in Syria since it joined the country’s civil conflict more than a decade ago, fighting alongside government forces.
Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and once its commercial center, has come under such attacks in the past that led to the closure of its international airport. Friday’s strike did not affect the airport.
The strikes have escalated over the past five months against the backdrop of the war in Gaza and ongoing clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces on the Lebanon-Israel border.
Netanyahu agrees to reschedule Washington delegation to discuss Rafah
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Hezbollah is an ally of Gaza’s Hamas rulers, who sparked the current war with their bloody Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel. Both groups are considered part of the network of armed proxy forces backed by Iran across the Middle East.
In neighboring Lebanon, an Israeli drone strike hit a car near the southern port city of Tyre and killed a Hezbollah member, Lebanese state media reported. Israel’s military said the targeted man was Ali Naim, the deputy head of Hezbollah’s rocket and missile program. The group confirmed he was killed, without stating what his job was within the organization.
The drone strike that killed Naim came a day after Hezbollah fired rockets with heavy warheads at towns in northern Israel, saying it used the weapons against civilian targets for the first time in retaliation for Israeli airstrikes the night before that killed nine people, including what the group said were several paramedics.
Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, concerns have grown that near-daily clashes along the border between Israel and Lebanon could escalate into a full-scale war, which could draw in other countries including Iran.
California woman accused of husband’s murder freed 20 years later after new look at evidence – CBS News
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After nearly two decades behind bars for her husband’s murder, a California woman’s relentless quest for a reexamination of the evidence reveals flaws. “48 Hours” correspondent Erin Moriarty unravels her journey to freedom.
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Two 10-year-old students were arrested in connection to a gun sold at their elementary school in Florida, county officials confirmed.
A deputy’s son “agreed to exchange a handgun, (later found to belong to his deceased father), for a sum of $300” back in February, the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
The Country Oaks Elementary School was placed under lockdown Wednesday morning after the Sheriff’s Office received a call about “a suspicious incident” on campus. Authorities discovered ammunition in the backpack of the boy who purchased the gun.
Country Oaks Elementary School in LaBelle, Fla.Google
The gun was later found in his backyard under a shed, hidden with a 74 gram bag of marijuana, according to investigators.
The boy was charged with the purchase of a firearm by a minor, unlawful possession of a firearm by a minor, possession of a firearm on school property and possession of marijuana over 20 grams.
The deputy’s son was charged with selling a firearm to a minor, unlawful possession of a firearm by a minor, possession of a firearm on school property and grand theft of a firearm.
The mother of the deputy’s son, also a Hendry County deputy, was placed on administrative leave pending an administrative inquiry, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Both students have been in the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice since their arrest.
A music producer who filed a lawsuit against Sean “Diddy” Combs last month has now accused actor Cuba Gooding Jr. of sexually harassing and assaulting him, an amended federal complaint filed Monday night shows.
The amended civil complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan hours after federal officials searched Combs’ homes. Combs is a subject of a federal investigation, and several people have been interviewed by federal officials in Manhattan in relation to allegations involving sex trafficking, assault, illegal narcotics and firearms, a source familiar with the matter told NBC News.
Representatives for Combs, 54, did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment Monday.
The producer, Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones, filed his original lawsuit against Combs and others in February, alleging that Combs forced him to procure sex workers and pressured him to engage in unwelcomed sex acts with them.
The amended suit alleges that Gooding groped Jones while on Combs’ yacht.
An attorney and representatives for Gooding did not immediately respond to requests for comment late Monday.
Gooding “began touching, groping, and fondling Mr. Jones’ legs, his upper inner thighs near his groin, the small of his back near his buttocks, and his shoulders,” Jones’ the suit states.
Jones “was extremely uncomfortable and proceeded to lean away from Mr. Gooding Jr.,” the lawsuit says. “He rejected his advances and Mr. Gooding Jr. did not stop until Mr. Jones forcibly pushed him away.”
Attorneys for Jones said in the lawsuit that the incident happened on a yacht rented by Combs in the U.S. Virgin Islands in January 2023. It accused Gooding of sexual assault and misconduct.
Gooding has not been charged with any crime.
In a different case, Gooding pleaded guilty in 2022 to a misdemeanor charge that he forcibly kissed a worker at a New York nightclub in 2018.
He completed alcohol and behavior modification counseling, was then allowed to withdraw that plea and then pleaded guilty to a lesser harassment violation, resolving the case with no jail time.
On Monday, federal agents with Homeland Security Investigations executed search warrants at properties belonging to Combs in Los Angeles and Miami, sources told NBC News.
There has been no information connecting Gooding to any of the searches, and it is not clear what the searches entailed.
Combs has been accused of misconduct in civil cases filed by four women. One was quickly settled and three are pending. Combs has denied the allegations in those lawsuits.
“Let me be absolutely clear: I did not do any of the awful things being alleged. I will fight for my name, my family and for the truth,” he said in a December statement.
Jones said in the lawsuit that he worked on Combs’ latest album, “The Love Album: Off the Grid.” The album was released in September 2023 and was nominated for a Grammy.
The suit alleges, in part, that Motown Records, and others, benefited from his work on the album, but that he was not fully compensated.
Monday’s amended complaint filed by attorneys for Jones contains a declaration by former Motown Records CEO Ethiopia Habtemariam who it appears to show her willing to testify about the contract involving “The Love Album.”
A spokesperson for Universal Music Group, which owns Motown Records, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit seeks damages, including punitive damages, but does not specify an amount, seeking amounts to be determined at trial.
Long Island hospital fires nurse accused of slamming newborn
Long Island hospital fires nurse accused of slamming newborn
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CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. – Just as the trial was set to begin Monday on Long Island, criminal charges were dropped against a Holbrook nurse who was accused last year of mishandling a newborn baby.
The incident was caught on camera, and the nurse was fired from her job.
A proud father videotaping his two-day-old through the NICU window at Good Samaritan Hospital was horrified to capture what the Suffolk DA described as a nurse violently slam him face down into his bassinet.
Amanda Burke was charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
Monday, charges were dismissed.
“I’m just happy it’s over. It was a nightmare,” Burke said. “I was harassed. People at my door, emails. I have an 8-year-old I felt like she was in danger. It was a nightmare.”
Burke, surrounded by her family, was hugged by her attorney, who said they’ve been begging for a dismissal since Feb. ’23, when she admitted to flipping the baby by its diaper.
“We are thrilled for Amanda… because Amanda should never have been charged,” defense attorney Robert Gottlieb said. “They most they could say was that turning the baby over by the diaper was negligence, but it didn’t even rise to the level to issue a warning to sanction her in any way, and the case was closed.”
In court, prosecutors revealed a child advocacy expert “expressed profound disgust and shock but found the defendant’s action not likely to be injurious to the infant.”
“Unfortunately, despite the disturbing video… the NYS Department of Licensing found the defendant did not act with gross negligence. As such, we could not prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt,” the Suffolk County DA said.
Burke’s attorney said the baby wasn’t harmed.
“The baby was cleared, was not injured, did not even react. Did not even cry,” Gottlieb said.
“We are very upset with this disgusting situation and decision… about my grandson and this awful woman still working as a caregiver,” the baby’s grandmother said.
“She’s a great nurse. She’s a great person,” Gottlieb said.
“I never questioned myself. Things happen in the hospital every day,” Burke said.
Good Samaritan Hospital, which fired Burke within hours of the incident, said she is no longer working at any Catholic health facility. She retains her license is working as a registered nurse.
Carolyn Gusoff
Carolyn Gusoff has covered some of the most high profile news stories in the New York City area and is best known as a trusted, tenacious, consistent and caring voice of Long Island’s concerns.
Moscow — Four men accused of staging the Russia concert hall attack that killed more than 130 people appeared before a Moscow court Sunday showing signs of severe beatings as they faced formal terrorism charges. One appeared to be barely conscious during the hearing.
A court statement said two of the suspects accepted their guilt in the assault after being charged in the preliminary hearing, though the men’s condition raised questions about whether they were speaking freely. There had been earlier conflicting reports in Russian media outlets that said three or all four men admitted culpability.
Moscow’s Basmanny District Court formally charged Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32; Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30; Shamsidin Fariduni, 25; and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19, with committing a group terrorist attack resulting in the death of others. The offense carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
The court ordered that the men, all of whom are citizens of Tajikistan, be held in pre-trial custody until May 22.
Russian media had reported that the men were tortured during interrogation by the security services, and Mirzoyev, Rachabalizoda and Fariduni showed signs of heavy bruising, including swollen faces,
Rachabalizoda also had a heavily bandaged ear. Russian media said Saturday that one of the suspects had his ear cut off during interrogation. The Associated Press couldn’t verify the report or the videos purporting to show this.
The fourth suspect, Faizov, was brought to court from a hospital in a wheelchair and sat with his eyes closed throughout the proceedings. He was attended by medics while in court, where he wore a hospital gown and trousers and was seen with multiple cuts.
Court officials said Mirzoyev and Rachabalizoda admitted guilt for the attack after being charged.
The hearing came as Russia observed a national day of mourning of the attack Friday on the suburban Crocus City Hall concert venue that killed at least 137 people.
Rescuers continued to search the damaged building and the death toll rose as more bodies were found as family and friends of some of those still missing waited for news. Moscow’s Department of Health said Sunday it had begun identifying the bodies of those killed via DNA testing, adding the process would take at least two weeks.
The attack, which has been claimed by an ISIS affiliate, is the deadliest on Russian soil in years.
Finger pointing in full force
Russian authorities arrested the four suspected attackers Saturday, with seven more detained on suspicion of involvement in the attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an address to the nation Saturday night.
Putin appears to be trying to tie Ukraine to the attack, something its government firmly denies.
He called the attack “a bloody, barbaric terrorist act” and said Russian authorities captured the four as they were trying to escape to Ukraine through a “window” prepared for them on the Ukrainian side of the border.
A United States intelligence official told CBS News the U.S. has intelligence confirming that ISIS was responsible and U.S. intelligence has no reason to doubt those claims.
The U.S. Embassy in Russia had also previously advised Americans to stay away from concert venues because of the potential of a terrorist attack. The U.S. intelligence official confirmed to CBS News that the U.S. provided intelligence to Russia regarding the potential for an attack, under the intelligence community’s Duty to Warn requirement.
“ISIS bears sole responsibility for this attack. There was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
Russian media broadcast videos that apparently showed the detention and interrogation of the suspects, including one who told the cameras he was approached by an unidentified assistant of an Islamic preacher and paid to take part in the raid.
Putin didn’t mention ISIS in his speech, and Kyiv accused him and other Russian politicians of falsely linking Ukraine to the assault to stoke fervor for Russia’s war in Ukraine, which recently entered its third year.
The raid was a major embarrassment for Putin and happened just days after he cemented his grip on the country for another six years in a vote that followed the harshest crackdown on dissent since the Soviet times.
Some commentators on Russian social media questioned how authorities, who have relentlessly suppressed any opposition activities and muzzled independent media, failed to prevent the attack despite the U.S. warnings.
ISIS, which fought against Russia during its intervention in the Syrian civil war, has long targeted Russia. In a statement posted by the group’s Aamaq news agency, the ISIS Afghanistan affiliate said it had attacked a large gathering of “Christians” in Krasnogorsk.
The group issued a new statement Saturday on Aamaq, saying the attack was carried out by four men who used automatic rifles, a pistol, knives and firebombs. It said the assailants fired at the crowd and used knives to kill some concertgoers, casting the raid as part of ISIS’ ongoing war with countries it says are fighting against Islam.
In October 2015, a bomb planted by ISIS downed a Russian passenger plane over Sinai, killing all 224 people on board, most of them Russian vacationers returning from Egypt.
The group, which operates mainly in Syria and Iraq but also in Afghanistan and Africa, also has claimed responsibility for several attacks in Russia’s volatile Caucasus and other regions in past years. It recruited fighters from Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union.
As Russia mourns, frantic families of the missing seek answers
Events at cultural institutions were canceled Sunday, flags were lowered to half staff and television entertainment and advertising were suspended, according to state news agency RIA Novosti. A steady stream of people added to a makeshift memorial near the burned-out concert hall, creating a huge mound of flowers.
“People came to a concert, some people came to relax with their families, and any one of us could have been in that situation. And I want to express my condolences to all the families that were affected here and I want to pay tribute to these people,” Andrey Kondakov, one of the mourners who came to lay flowers at the memorial, told the AP.
“It is a tragedy that has affected our entire country,” kindergarten employee Marina Korshunova said. “It just doesn’t even make sense that small children were affected by this event.” Three children were among the dead.
Igor Pogadaev was desperately seeking any details about his wife, Yana Pogadaeva, who went to the concert. The last he heard from her was when she sent him two photos from the Crocus City Hall music venue.
After Pogadaev saw the reports of gunmen opening fire on concertgoers, he rushed to the site, but couldn’t find her in the numerous ambulances or among the hundreds of people who had made their way out of the venue.
“I went around, searched, I asked everyone, I showed photographs. No one saw anything, no one could say anything,” Pogadaev told the AP in a video message.
He watched flames bursting out of the building as he made frantic calls to a hotline for relatives of the victims, but received no information.
As the death toll mounted Saturday, Pogodaev scoured hospitals in the Russian capital and the Moscow region, looking for information on newly admitted patients.
His wife wasn’t among the 182 reported injured, nor on the list of 60 victims authorities had already identified, he said.
The Moscow Region’s Emergency Situations Ministry posted a video Sunday showing equipment dismantling the damaged music venue to give rescuers access.
In Aurora, Colorado, James Craig was a well-known dentist. He and his wife Angela Craig were raising six children. On March 6, 2023, Angela Craig reported feeling sick and her husband took her to a hospital.
There would be two hectic weeks and three hospital visits. On March 15, Angela Craig was put on life support; three days later, she was dead. Within hours, James Craig would be charged with first-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
Angela Craig’s autopsy revealed she had been poisoned. And police claim the evidence points to her husband — alleging he searched online videos about poison and then purchased potassium cyanide and arsenic.
Podcaster Steffan Tubbs, who covered the case, says police allege in the arrest warrant that James Craig had made a Google search for “How many grams of pure arsenic will kill a human?” Authorities believe he went further, lacing his wife’s drinks with poison. “He administered, allegedly the poison via her protein shakes,” said Tubbs.
Skye Lazaro, an attorney familiar with cases involving poison, tells “48 Hours” contributor Natalie Morales that James Craig’s defense might argue that police rushed to arrest him. “It’s essentially a three-day investigation,” she said of the time it took police to charge him with his wife’s murder.
James Craig’s defense has said he has a history of depression and had sought counseling in the past. Lazaro says they might argue he bought poison not to use on Angela Craig — but on himself.
As for those allegedly poisoned protein shakes, Lazaro says that from what she’s seen of the evidence made public so far, “The state hasn’t presented you any evidence that the poison was actually in the drink,” she said.
ANGELA CRAIG TEXTS HER HUSBAND “I FEEL DRUGGED”
On March 18, 2023, in the Denver suburb of Aurora, Angela Craig died. Just days later, former radio personality Steffan Tubbs began his podcast about the sensational case and the unimaginable news.
STEFFAN TUBBS (“Arsenic, DDS” podcast): I want to personally send our condolences to the friends and family of Angela Craig, just 43 years old. She passed away, declared brain dead … And not lost on me … is the fact that this family has been temporarily … destroyed.
James Craig had been almost immediately charged with the first-degree murder of his wife Angela. He has pleaded not guilty. The story of the dentist, his wife and the allegedly poisoned shakes would be told around the world.
Steffan Tubbs: Come on. A dentist. Allegedly ordering potassium cyanide and arsenic. Really?
But it was all as painfully real as a dentist’s drill.
Chelsea Otoya: Dr. Craig and Angela Craig were just like two peas in a pod.
Chelsea Otoya: The two of them in the office was cute cause they would play pranks on each other all day long.
Chelsea Otoya got to know James and Angela Craig when she worked for Dr. Craig at Summerbrook Dental.
Chelsea Otoya: They seemed like the perfect couple.
Until, according to Colorado police, James took his shot at the perfect crime.
CBS NEWS STREAMING NETWORK: Investigators say he researched poisons in the days leading up to his wife’s death.
Angela and James Craig were married for 23 years and shared six children. Their lives were steeped in their Aurora, Colorado, community—their church, their children and James Craig’s dental practice, Summerbrook Dental.
Facebook
The idea that the dentist stood accused of murdering Angela, his wife of 23 years, seemed incomprehensible because the Craigs seemed so close.
Chelsea Otoya: It just was heartbreaking for everyone, and I felt bad.
Steffan Tubbs (driving): Coming up on our left, the former home of Summerbrook Dental.
For Tubbs, the office building once home to Summerbrook, has become a tragic touchstone.
Steffan Tubbs (driving): The last time that I had eye contact with Dr. Jim Craig, he gave me a root canal.
Steffan Tubbs: I thought he was a great guy. I got incredibly competent friendly care. … He was a family man. We talked about his family, his kids … I — I met his wife.
Angela Craig was the heart and soul of that family — mother to their six children and a hands-on partner in what seemed like a thriving business.
Steffan Tubbs: She was not somebody just sit there and stay quiet. She was engaged in the dental practice. … She was somebody who was talking about ideas, and their marketing, their message.
Tubbs helped refine that message, working on some of Summerbrook’s advertising. He witnessed how those two peas in a pod worked side by side, with Angela pitching in as one of Jim’s office managers.
Steffan Tubbs: I thought it was kind of cool. You know, you’ve got a husband and wife, huge family. I thought it was — it was great to see a small Colorado business operated by, you know, husband and wife.
Tubbs’ podcast would delve into the disturbing details of Angela’s medical journey: how and why she was allegedly murdered. That account from police is contained in a 52-page arrest warrant.
Steffan Tubbs: In nearly 34 years of being a newsman, the most unbelievable and seemingly thorough arrest affidavit I have ever read.
The warrant alleges that “James has shown the planning and intent to end his wife’s life by searching for ways to kill someone undetected.”
Steffan Tubbs: This was not the James Craig that I knew.
The James Craig Aurora knew was on display that March 6, 2023, the day Angela’s odyssey began. James was at Summerbrook Dental when Angela texted from home: “My eyes don’t want to focus.” She texted “I feel drugged.”
James Craig headed right home.
He picked up Angela and drove to the ER at Parker Adventist Hospital. She reported feeling dizzy and weak. Doctors fast went to work.
Natalie Morales: She ends up going into the hospital, first time was March 6th, is that correct?
George Brauchler: That’s right. March 6th was her first time into the hospital.
At the time, George Brauchler was another force in Colorado talk radio.
He is also the former elected district attorney for Arapahoe County, where Angela Craig lived and would die, rattling this community.
George Brauchler: This is a huge story.
Like Tubbs, Brauchler has immersed himself in the details of Angela’s final days—a desperate two-week ordeal. But on that March 6, as the hours passed in the ER, there were lots of questions, but few answers.
George Brauchler: They really didn’t have a good answer for what she was going through and … they end up releasing her and sending her home.
Home — where Angela Craig appeared to think she was safe in her marriage. At least that’s how she sounded in messages the couple sent each other, with Angela now home, recuperating from her ER visit.
George Brauchler: There were texts … that would suggest a very supportive loving relationship.
James Craig texts, “I love you. It was so nice hanging out with you and just watching a show and snuggling.” Angela Craig texts James: “Hi Baby! I love your face.”
Back home, the busy couple picked up the daily routine that sustained them.
George Brauchler: Jim and Angela apparently worked out in the morning. They worked out together. And one of the things that Jim did for his wife was to prepare her a protein shake … It was an absolute routine.
George Brauchler: This was just part of the normal day.
James Craig texts: “I’ll need to ask what you’re hungry for and bring it to you. I’m kinda feeling just a smoothie or something.”
Within 24 hours, Angela Craig’s symptoms came back fast and strong. She headed back to Parker Adventist. This time she would be admitted.
Steffan Tubbs: The doctors and nurses are trying. They’re conducting tests. … They just cannot figure out what is ailing this relatively normal and healthy 43-year-old woman.
George Brauchler: All the steps that the doctors and medical staff had taken seemed to not be working. … it was a real mystery.
UNRAVELING A MEDICAL MYSTERY
Steffan Tubbs: There was nothing that would be even remotely a red flag, or this is a rocky, troubled marriage. None of that at all.
With Angela Craig still terribly sick, in March 2023 she was back at Parker Adventist a second time, now as an admitted patient. According to the warrant during her stay, Angela Craig texted her husband James Craig to say, “Now I’m hungry” and he texted back later that was bringing food, writing “Ok I gotchu.”
George Brauchler: The loving husband who wants to see his wife remain healthy.
Aurora police documented evidence in a 52-page arrest warrant when they charged James Craig with murder. Podcaster Steffan Tubbs said of that warrant, “In nearly 34 years of being a newsman, the most unbelievable and seemingly thorough arrest affidavit I have ever read.”
Aurora Police Department
That arrest warrant contains numerous texts detailing how as Angela Craig was hospitalized, James Craig went back and forth from their home to her bedside to Summerbrook — a husband seemingly supporting his wife and caring for their kids.
Steffan Tubbs: He’s continuing to go to work, and I don’t begrudge him for that. He’s got a family of six kids.
And the warrant would show that apparent trust that Angela Craig placed in James,how she reached out to him to share her symptoms, texting, “I’m cold, super tired, weak, shaky and dizzy”
And James Craig sent compassionate texts to Angela Craig: “I love you and miss you and I’m so worried. I wish you were healthy enough to come home tonight and snuggle me.”
Steffan Tubbs: Angela Craig was so sick.
It seemed that all her symptoms had returned.
Steffan Tubbs:She had horrible headaches. Horrible nausea … She was dizzy. … And doctors were at a loss.
George Brauchler: Struggling to figure out what in the hell is causing this. What is making her sick?
Steffan Tubbs: And they just could not get an answer.
As Angela Craig stayed in the hospital without a diagnosis, James Craig was in touch with his friends Michelle and Ryan Redfearn.. Ryan Redfearn, a fellow dentist, had recently become business partners with James Craig, he would later tell police.
George Brauchler: Ryan Redfearn went to dental school with Jim Craig all those 20-plus years ago. He’d known him all that time. … He was a close confidant.
And with Angela Craig so sick, according to the warrant, James Craig also texted with Ryan’s wife, Michelle Redfearn, trained as a nurse.
Natalie Morales: What were they texting about?
George Brauchler: The texts were really the kinds of things you would exchange with someone who’s another medical professional. I mean, he was talking about blood pressure. He was talking about concerns the doctors had expressed about symptomology … that should have resolved by now.
But one of James Craig’s texts, in retrospect, seemed odd, as it appeared he was making light of Angela’s mysterious illness.
Steffan Tubbs: Jim Craig texts Michelle Redfearn, quote, “If it wasn’t my wife, this would be kind of a fun puzzle to try to work out, exclamation point.” Who says that?
Still, a bad joke in times of crisis isn’t unusual, says former DA Brauchler.
George Brauchler: Everybody reacts to trauma differently.
And James Craig seemed worried. It had been four hectic days since Angela was admitted. Police say Jim told others he was sleeping on a stool next to Angela that night when her vital signs crashed. Doctors responded through the night.
Steffan Tubbs: I have thought about every agonizing minute that Angela Craig was in.
Angela and James Craig
Facebook
But over the next day Angela Craig seemed to stabilize. And on March 14, still with no answers as to why she was sick, Angela was released from Parker Adventist. Once again, Angela Craig came home to her husband of 23 years. But she wouldn’t be home for long. Within a day she started feeling sick again.
On March 15, she was admitted to nearby University Hospital. There would be more tubes, tests and monitors. James Craig was soon by her side.
Steffan Tubbs: They had no idea what was wrong with her.
Police say James Craig didn’t stay long at first. Within half an hour, he drove home from the hospital. Then about an hour-and-a-half later, he returned, carrying food. Police say he then went into Angela Craig’s room, alone. Soon after, Angela Craig had a seizure and once again her vital signs crashed.
George Brauchler: It was critical.
James Craig took photos of his wife as hospital staff tried to save her.
George Brauchler: She is getting into dire, dire medical consequences.
Angela Craig, once so full of life, was put on life support.
George Brauchler: Doctors are struggling to figure out what in the hell is causing this? What is making her sick?
What medical staff didn’t know at the time was that days earlier, according to police, a package had arrived at James Craig’s office. Authorities say what was in that package, ordered by James Craig himself, would become key evidence in this case. James Craig allegedly told a staff member “that he would be receiving a personal package” and “not to open it.”
Steffan Tubbs: Jim Craig had said don’t open this package. Somebody did. She sees the words “potassium cyanide.”
Steffan Tubbs: Why are we getting potassium cyanide to a Colorado dentist’s office?
A PACKAGE MARKED POISON
Angela Craig was on life support and fighting to survive. James Craig texted the photos he took to Michelle Redfearn, writing “crash” “intubated” and “doc says she’s ‘very very worried’.” The couple raced to the hospital.
Ryan Redfearn would later tell police he watched as James Craig broke down.
Natalie Morales: He saw Craig crying after speaking to doctors about Angela’s prognosis.
George Brauchler: Yep. He did say he saw him crying afterwards.
But according to police, Ryan Redfearn was far from convinced those tears were real. That’s because, on his way to the hospital, he had gotten a call from a staff member at the office. The call was to alert Ryan Redfearn about that package marked potassium cyanide that had arrived at Summerbrook Dental — allegedly addressed and later given to James Craig.
Steffan Tubbs: And there’s the dominoes that are now falling one after the other.
Ryan Redfearn led the way.
George Brauchler: He does what any other normal person would do.
According to police, while Angela Craig was on life support, Ryan Redfearn tells a nurse that James Craig “recently ordered Potassium Cyanide,” adding that there was no medical reason or purpose to order Potassium Cyanide for a dental practice.”
Steffan Tubbs: The nurse, being a mandatory reporter, calls Aurora police, and I mean it’s like that. Within five hours, probably even less, there is a member of the homicide unit with Aurora P.D. is at University Hospital.
Police started asking questions. Then, according to the warrant, “Ryan received a call from James’s personal cell phone.”
Natalie Morales: Tell me about that phone call.
George Brauchler: I think Ryan and his wife are in the parking lot of the hospital when Jim calls them.
According to police, James Craig asked Ryan Redfearn “if he had said anything to the hospital staff.” Ryan Redfearn confirmed that he had and told James Craig that he knew what James Craig had ordered. And James Craig replied that the “package was a ring for Angela and that he wanted to surprise her.”
George Brauchler: And Ryan … says, “… it’s not a ring, we know what was in there.” I mean this is a testament to Ryan Redfearn.
A decades-long friendship was about to be tested, then shattered. This tale was once again told in a text, revealed in that warrant, as the next morning James Craig pleaded with his pal and partner, texting in part: “I want to make an urgent plea to you. … please don’t talk to anyone … including any law enforcement officers. You are under no obligation to answer their questions unless you are served a subpoena and you will do more damage than good to my family by continuing to insert yourself into this.”
Natalie Morales: How damning is that text in itself?
George Brauchler: I’m trying to think of all the innocent applications of the phrase, please don’t talk to the police. I can’t come up with any.
George Brauchler: It’s a desperate effort to try to keep Ryan from cooperating any farther with law enforcement.
But if that’s what he was trying to do, it was too late. Police had already launched their investigation.
On March 18, 2023, Angela Craig was taken off life support. A friend, wife, and mother of six was dead.
Chelsea Otoya: I was in complete shock, in complete disbelief. … In my head, I’m like, this is crazy, it’s not true.
Chelsea Otoya: I thought maybe it was an accident.
James Toliver Craig was charged with first-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
Aurora Police
But investigators didn’t think so. Just hours after Angela Craig died, Dr. James Craig would be arrested and charged with the first-degree murder of his wife.
Steffan Tubbs: There’s my dentist, a mugshot.
James Craig would plead not guilty. Months later, Angela Craig’s autopsy would be released. That autopsy states Angela Craig died from “lethal concentrations of cyanide” and “a lethal concentration” of tetrahydrozoline, the chemical found in some eye drops. And it says that Angela Craig had “toxic concentrations” of arsenic in her blood in those two earlier hospital visits.
Steffan Tubbs: To think about what Angela Craig endured. … This woman was in agony, dying, for so long.
Just a week before Angela Craig got sick, according to the warrant, James Craig set up a new email account using the alias “Jim and Waffles” and used it to research multiple poisons — all part of his plan, according to investigators, to murder Angela Craig.
Steffan Tubbs: One particular Google search, “how many grams of pure arsenic will kill a human?”
James Craig, investigators say, also found videos online with titles like “Top 5 Undetectable Poisons That Show No Sign Of Foul Play.”
And police say on the same day he did that online research, James Craig made a purchase — arsenic — and had it delivered straight to his family’s mailbox.
George Brauchler: I think he legitimately believed that he would be able to poison his wife, she would die, he would have her cremated. And then they’d … move on.
Poison. Some call it the recipe for the perfect crime. A silent, invisible killer — no blood, no gun, no fingerprints. Even doctors can have a hard time spotting it.
Dr. Jeff LaPoint: It’s a pretty rare medical subspecialty.
Doctor Jeff LaPoint is the director of the division of medical toxicology at San Diego’s Kaiser Permanente Hospital.
Dr. Jeff LaPoint: If it’s a poison or a venom … that’s what we specialize in.
Natalie Morales: You’re that guy?
Dr. Jeff LaPoint: Yeah.
So “48 Hours” asked him, and Dr. LaPoint focused in on the alleged actions of James Craig and the final days of Angela Craig’s life.
He reviewed the arrest warrant for us, and some of the deadly drugs it lists.
Natalie Morales: Let’s start with arsenic.
Dr. Jeff LaPoint: OK … yeah, arsenic is a very famous poison. It’s … not detectable by taste or odor.
LaPoint says Angela Craig’s symptoms in those first two hospital visits are consistent with arsenic poisoning.
But police say there was more. A week after he purchased that arsenic, they allege James Craig — as “Jim and Waffles”— went back online. He ordered a second poison.
Natalie Morales: Oleandrin, what is that?
Dr. Jeff LaPoint: So, oleandrin is a toxin found in oleander.
Natalie Morales: I’m thinking of those white flowers.
Jeff LaPoint: Yeah, they’re really beautiful.
As lovely as a rose. Only deadly.
Dr. Jeff LaPoint: It prevents the heart from beating very efficiently.
But after three days, the oleandrin hadn’t been delivered. That’s when investigators say James Craig upped the ante. Police say he placed an order with a medical supply company for his strongest toxin yet: potassium cyanide.
Dr. Jeff LaPoint: Cyanide is one of the most effective poisons that exist.
Natalie Morales: Just a microdose could kill you then?
Dr. Jeff LaPoint: Yeah, a very small amount per kilogram and you’re not gonna live. … When you are poisoned with cyanide, you’re being suffocated on a cellular level. … It’s a very potent poison. … Your victim would die very rapidly.
Cyanide is so deadly that you need a medical license to buy it.And police say that when Dr. James Craig placed his order from a medical supply company, he stated he needed it for a complex dental procedure.
Dr. Jeff LaPoint: There’s no use for potassium cyanide in my practice or I can’t think of many medical practices.
Natalie Morales: So, a dentist ordering arsenic, potassium cyanide and oleandrin … What does that suggest to you?
Dr. Jeff LaPoint: Someone is trying to collect poison.
But this father and husband would offer a very different story about why he wanted those deadly poisons.
WAS INTEREST IN ANOTHER WOMAN A MOTIVE FOR MURDER?
Detectives suspected James Craig had bought all those poisons to kill his wife, but they wanted to know why. They would find a lead miles away from Aurora on a trip James Craig made — and a woman he met — just before Angela Craig got sick.
Steffan Tubbs: Doesn’t it just always seem like there’s another woman involved? Always, almost always.
“What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” It’s a rule of the road there, but investigators allege it is yet one more rule James Craig didn’t think he had to play by, when he met Karin Cain.
Steffan Tubbs: Karin Cain, an orthodontist from Austin, Texas … She meets James Craig at a dental conference in Las Vegas.
It was Feb. 23, a week-and-a-half before Angela Craig first went to the hospital. The doctor was traveling alone. And he rolled the dice.
George Brauchler: They strike up a relationship.
Steffan Tubbs: They hit it off … it’s a whirlwind.
A few weeks later, according to the warrant, Cain would fly to Colorado and rendezvous at a hotel with James Craig. He would use that newly created email, “Jim and Waffles,” to flirt with her.
Skye Lazaro: It’s not illegal to have affairs.
Skye Lazaro is an experienced defense attorney familiar with cases involving poison. James Craig and his attorney declined our request for an interview. Lazaro reviewed the case against James Craig for “48 Hours.” And she identified potential weaknesses.
Skye Lazaro: Is it reasonable that you would kill your wife to be with someone that you had had a 10-day relationship with?
Natalie Morales: The common defense strategy is affairs do not make a murderer.
Skye Lazaro: Right. … One doesn’t automatically mean you did the other.
At the time she visited James Craig in Colorado, Cain did seem to know Angela Craig was very sick and in the hospital. In fact, she had sent a concerned e-mail to James Craig. It read in part: “Hi honey, I am so sorry for what has transpired this week in your world. … I am praying for you and seeking God’s wisdom for this time. I love you.”
But there is no evidence to suggest Cain knew anything more.
George Brauchler: Nothing that I have seen … gives any indication that she knew that Jim was trying to kill his wife.
And according to investigators, James Craig lied to Cain, telling her that he “filed for divorce and was living separate in an apartment.”
Steffan Tubbs: He gives the standard male, typical, “I’m going through a divorce.” No, he’s not.
And a detective said she told them her relationship with James Craig was “intimate but not sexual.” Cain sent “48 Hours” an email, writing: “I had absolutely nothing to do with this horrific ‘crime’ and ‘my heart is absolutely broken for Angela Craig and her family.'” And she says she is “cooperating fully with the police and prosecution.”
Steffan Tubbs: Karin Cain … met the wrong guy at the wrong time. … She didn’t know anything.
Dr. James Craig is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife after he allegedly poisoned her protein shakes.
CBS News
Tubbs and Brauchler imply maybe no one knew anything about who James Craig really was. His pristine image — loving parent, church member, dedicated husband—now all being questioned. And as cops continued to investigate, another possible motive emerged.
Steffan Tubbs: One of the things that surprised me in this story … is the financial duress that Summerbrook Dental was under.
In fact, James Craig’s business had filed for bankruptcy in 2020, and shortly after, his then-friend Ryan Redfearn signed on as a partner.
Natalie Morales: Financial problems?
George Brauchler: Financial problems.
Natalie Morales: He was way in over his head then, in debt?
George Brauchler: Way in over his head.
And at a preliminary hearing in 2023, prosecutors argued that James Craig had “about 3.4 million reasons to kill his wife” — the value of Angela Craig’s life insurance.
George Brauchler: Jim had liabilities in excess of $2 million and we know that from some of the bankruptcy filings.
But Lazaro says she’s not convinced those financial problems give James Craig a motive for murder.
Natalie Morales: Is this sort of the portrait of a desperate man?
Skye Lazaro: Not necessarily.
Skye Lazaro: We see businesses go through bankruptcy all the time and come out the other side.
And, as for any poisons he may have ordered, Lazaro states those purchases may not even be illegal.
Skye Lazaro: He can legitimately purchase it because he has a DEA number.
Natalie Morales: As a doctor. As a dentist, right.
Skye Lazaro: Right.
Skye Lazaro: Just having it isn’t murder.
Natalie Morales: Mm-hmm. Administering it. Right.
But according to the arrest paperwork, James Craig might have thought he had that figured out, too. Authorities say he could have slipped the poison into one of those protein shakes he so often made.
Natalie Morales: A morning routine at home for example.
George Brauchler: Yeah.
On that morning of March 15 — the day Angela Craig would finally crash before she was taken to the hospital, she was home with James Craig. Investigators say that’s when he may have made her one of those protein shakes and laced it with potassium cyanide.
George Brauchler: It is tasteless. It is odorless. It is colorless. It is really hidable inside something like a shake.
Natalie Morales: And highly lethal.
George Brauchler: Highly lethal.
But attorney Lazaro counters the evidence may not be there. She has reviewed the transcripts from that July 2023 preliminary hearing and says there’s nothing there that shows James Craig put poison in Angela Craig’s shakes.
Skye Lazaro: They went and tested everything in the house and didn’t find any trace evidence of there being arsenic or cyanide or anything in the protein powder, in the protein bottles.
Skye Lazaro: The state hasn’t presented you any evidence that the poison was actually in the drinks.
And Lazaro says the defense can paint a picture of James Craig as a kind and attentive partner.
Skye Lazaro: Jim’s text messages to Angela are extremely loving and extremely caring. He repeatedly asks her how she’s doing. He tells her he loves her.
So if James Craig didn’t poison his wife, who did? He had a story to tell about that.
WHAT ANGELA CRAIG’S AUTOPSY SHOWED
As Steffan Tubbs reported on his podcast, there may be another story to tell about James Craig and what happened to Angela Craig. The story wasn’t about murder; it was about suicide.
STEFFAN TUBBS (podcast): Craig says to the business partner on the phone … she was just playing chicken.
According to the warrant, when Ryan Redfearn confronted James Craig about the cyanide, James Craig allegedly said that Angela Craig asked him to order it for her. That it was all a dare—kind of a deadly game of “chicken.”
Steffan Tubbs: According to Jim Craig … She’s been threatening suicide. And this game of chicken is … Now … are you gonna take it?
But according to that 52-page warrant, none of Angela Craig’s family members told police she was suicidal. A more likely argument for the defense, says Lazaro, is that James Craig had been looking for cyanide not to kill Angela — but to kill himself.
Skye Lazaro: There was some statements that he, in fact, was suicidal, not her.
At that preliminary hearing in 2023, James Craig’s defense team said he had spoken to a friend about his own past plans to die by suicide, and that “Dr. Craig had made a statement” to that friend that he was going to die by “suicide with something that was not traceable.” The defense pointed out that James Craig “suffered from depression” and went to counseling in the past.
And, the defense indicated, James Craig told Angela Craig at one point that he had actually drugged her years earlier, when he had tried to kill himself — hoping that while she was drugged, she wouldn’t be able stop him.
Natalie Morales: It sounds like there had been something that he had tried before with her.
Skye Lazaro: Mm-hmm. … That he had drugged her, so that she would fall asleep, so that he could go … essentially kill himself. And she wouldn’t be there to render any aid or call for help.
According to the arrest warrant, James Craig wrote: “Given our history I know that must be triggering. Just for the record, I didn’t drug you. I am super worried though.”
Aurora Police
And remember when Angela Craig first started feeling sick, and she texted James Craig: “I feel drugged”? James Craig’s defense points out that he texted back, “Given our history, I know that must be triggering. Just for the record, I didn’t drug you.” The defense said this text supports the story of James Craig’s past depression and suicide attempts.
But Lazaro says it’s unlikely the defense would try to tell a jury that Jim and Angela Craig were both trying to die by suicide.
Skye Lazaro: You have to pick one at some point.
Natalie Morales: Mm-hmm.
Skye Lazaro: And it’s either she’s suicidal … or that he’s suicidal … and this is why he bought the drugs.
But perhaps the most compelling evidence authorities say they have is what Angela Craig left behind in her own blood. That autopsy revealed something investigators find remarkable—the levels of cyanide in Angela Craig’s body actually increased while she was in the hospital on that final day. The possible implication?
Tubbs wonders if prosecutors will contend James Craig gave his wife more poison in the hospital.
Steffan Tubbs: If the allegations are true, this is about as cruel as it gets. Period.
James Craig’s defense has hired its own toxicologist. And, come his trial for murder, Lazaro says James Craig, innocent until proven guilty, may himself be portrayed as a victim — of cops too eager to make a fast arrest.
Skye Lazaro: It’s essentially a three-day investigation.
James Craig’s quick arrest, she says, could be a weakness for the state.
Skye Lazaro: You decided from the get-go that this had to be poisoning … This was the foregone conclusion. … So you never went and looked for anything else.
And as for that idea that poison might be the key to someone trying to commit the perfect crime, toxicologist Dr. Jeff LaPoint says that is just plain wrong.
Jeff LaPoint: You’re going to get caught.
Natalie Morales: That’s an important message.
Jeff LaPoint: Yeah, very.
Natalie Morales: There are ways that these will be traced, and you will be found.
Jeff LaPoint: You’ll be found.
Angela Craig
Facebook
And while Angela Craig’s friends and family are waiting for their day in court, they are left with photographs and their memories.
Three of Jim and Angela Craig’s six children are living with James Craig’s brother. The other three are now adults living on their own, including their daughter Mira. On Mother’s Day 2023, Mira wrote this message on social media: “as of tomorrow my mom will be two months gone. I haven’t the words to express the heartache my siblings and I feel every day.”
Chelsea Otoya: There’s no words, you know? … the whole situation is just traumatic.
Steffan Tubbs: This will all end, the lights will come down, the cameras leave. Thirty years from now, those kids who are in their teens right now still will be without a mom.
Mira’s last words in that post: “I love you so much mama” … “we miss you.”
Jim Craig’s trial is scheduled to begin on Aug. 8, 2024.
Produced by Jamie Stolz and Sarah Prior. Elena DiFiore, David Dow and Michelle Sigona are the development producers. Doreen Schechter is the producer-editor. Gary Winter and Gregory Kaplan are the editors. Michael Loftus is the associate producer. Patti Aronofsky is the senior producer. Judy Tygard is the executive producer.
Natalie Morales
Natalie Morales is a CBS News correspondent and “48 Hours” contributor based in Los Angeles. An award-winning journalist and anchor, Morales is also a host of CBS’ Daytime Emmy-winning talk show “The Talk.”
SAN DIEGO — One of two teenagers charged in connection with the death of a homeless woman texted he intended to go “hobo hunting” prior to the violence, a prosecutor alleged Monday, according to NBC San Diego.
William Innes, 18, faces the most serious charge, first-degree murder, in Monday’s charges against the pair in connection with the homicide of Annette Pershal, 68.
Armed with an air rifle loaded with pellets, Innes fatally shot Pershal in San Diego’s Serra Mesa neighborhood on or about May 8, authorities allege.
A makeshift memorial for the victim Annette Pershal in San Diego, Calif., on Monday.NBC San Diego
Police responded to reports of a woman down in Serra Mesa on May 8 and called paramedics, who couldn’t determine why Pershal was unconscious, San Diego police said in a statement.
She was taken to a hospital, where doctors determined she was shot several times with a pellet gun and that the injuries were not survivable, police said.
Deputy District Attorney Roza Egiazarian said Monday that Pershal was shot in the head, leg, and torso, according to NBC San Diego. One pellet ruptured her aorta, the prosecutor said.
Pershal was declared dead three days after she was found, police said.
Egiazarian said in court Monday that Innes sent a group text to contacts who included his co-defendant, Ryan Hopkins, 19, according to NBC San Diego.
It said, “I’m going hobo hunting with a pellet gun,” according to the prosecutor.
Egiazarian said authorities found the possible weapon, a Gamo Shadow Whisper air rifle, in a search of Innes’ home, according to station.
Innes faces additional charges of possession of an assault weapon, banned in California, and failure to apply for serial numbers for two would-be firearms under state legislation designed to thwart ghost guns, essentially untraceable firearms that can be 3D printed.
Hopkins faces a charge of assault with a deadly weapon. Prosecutors said he drove Innes to the scene of the crime, described by NBC San Diego as a parking lot.
Both teenagers, who live in the area, pleaded not guilty following their arrests last week. They remained in jail without bail, according to jail records.
Hopkins was scheduled to appear in court Thursday, when his attorney, Vikas Bajaj, said he will ask for bail, the station reported.
In court Monday, Bajaj disputed the timing of the “hobo hunting” text, saying it was sent 12 hours after the shooting, the station reported.
He described Hopkins as “a good kid with a warm heart.”
Attorneys for Innes and Hopkins did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.
The San Diego County medical examiner’s office determined Pershal’s death was a homicide. The cause of death is pending, and the office is “still working on the case,” county spokesperson Chuck Westerheide Jr. said.
Homicides by air-powered guns are rare. “The literature on air weapon deaths yielded only three murders in the United States,” a 2019 study by the journal Clinical Practice and Cases in Emergency Medicine found.
Pershal’s death comes as the city’s homeless — a population that has grown beyond 10,000 — face crackdowns by police.
Responding to complaints about block-long encampments on sidewalks and in front of businesses, the city has taken the hardline approach, seen in Los Angeles and elsewhere, of essentially outlawing “unsafe camping” outdoors.
People living on the streets also continue to be victimized. In Los Angeles last year, nearly 1 in 4 murder victims was homeless, NBC Los Angeles found.
The state has set aside at least $12 billion in funding to address homelessness.
Residents and patrons of the area where Pershal, known as Granny Annie, was found unresponsive told NBC San Diego she lived on the streets there for at least seven years.
A Virginia pediatrician who has been accused by two teenage patients in a civil lawsuit of sexually abusing them during medical examinations is being sued again, this time by a mom who says the doctor assaulted her as she held her baby boy.
The mom says in a recently filed civil lawsuit that Dr. Martin Seth Forman was “pretending” to examine her son’s ears when the incident allegedly happened on Jan. 27 at his private practice in Lansdowne, Virginia.
Forman, according to the complaint filed Friday, “straddled the plaintiff’s legs and began rubbing his penis against her while examining the child’s ears.” As the examination went on he continued to grind against the woman, the court documents said.
Forman also committed simple battery by touching her breasts, the mother alleges in the civil lawsuit, filed in Loudoun County Circuit Court.
Dr. Martin Seth Forman.Reston Pediatrics via Facebook
It is the third civil lawsuit accusing Forman, a 70-year-old board-certified pediatrician, of preying on women while performing medical examinations.
The alleged assault happened six months after Forman and Reston Pediatrics were hit with a $1.3 million civil verdict for barging into the home of a 15-year-old patient under the guise of making an unscheduled “house call” and allegedly fondling the girl’s breasts. A circuit court judge later dismissed an appeal by the defendants.
The mother, who is not identified by name in the court papers, has accused Forman of sexual battery and is seeking $2 million in damages.
In a telephone interview Tuesday, the mother said she had taken her other children to the clinic before for checkups and had never had an encounter like the one described in the lawsuit with Forman.
“This was very disturbing,” she said.
Reston Pediatrics, where Forman is a founding partner and still works, is also listed as a defendant in the lawsuit because it “had actual knowledge of Forman’s propensity to commit acts of sexual battery against women and young girls.”
Forman and the clinic are also being sued for $8.7 million by the parents of another female patient for allegedly touching her breasts and rubbing himself against her earlier this year while performing a lymph node examination her parents claim was unnecessary.
When NBC News first reported on allegations against Forman last month, Jacob Pierce, the attorney for both the doctor and his clinic, released the following statement:
“Dr. Forman and Reston Pediatrics categorically deny all the allegations made against each of them. Given that this case is currently in pending litigation, we do not have any further comment at this time.”
Forman is now being represented by Coreen Silverman who said, “This is all about money.”
“This a public campaign to destroy a good man’s name,” Silverman said Tuesday in a telephone interview.
A representative for the clinic did not immediately respond Tuesday after NBC News called the practice seeking comment about the third lawsuit.
NBC News reached out to Pierce on Tuesday about the third lawsuit against Forman. He did not immediately respond.
Forman has never been charged with a crime. He has been in private practice since 1984, according to a Reston Pediatrics Facebook posting from 2016. He holds a license to practice medicine in Virginia that is valid until Oct. 31, 2024, records show.
The mom said she reported the alleged incident to the Virginia State Police, but the two special agents who questioned her treated her more like a suspect than a victim.
“It was very much like a good cop, bad cop scenario,” she said.
One of them warned her “we get a lot of false reports and there could be consequences,” she said.
The other, she said, “seemed more sensitive.”
Jim Magner, who represents all of Forman’s accusers, said the agency chose not to investigate her allegations.
“I don’t know why,” the mom said, when asked.
NBC News reached out to the Virginia State Police on Monday and Tuesday for comment about the Forman investigation and to one of the special agents directly on Tuesday.
When Forman was accused of inappropriately touching the first teenager in 2017, the state Department of Health Professions, which regulates doctors, declined to discipline Forman. It also declined to comment on whether it would move to lift his license after Forman was hit with a second civil lawsuit.
When NBC News reached out to the DHP to see if it was investigating Forman now that a third woman has accused him of abuse, agency spokesperson Diane Powers responded via email.
“The Board cannot comment on a specific licensee or allegation, nor can the Board confirm or deny receipt of a complaint or the existence of an investigation as such information is confidential pursuant to Virginia law,” Powers wrote.
