Atlanta Daily World

Malcolm Shabazz, Grandson of Malcolm X, Murdered in Mexico - Report

Malcolm Shabazz, the grandson of icon Malcolm X, was killed in Mexico Thursday. The news was reported by New York’s Amsterdam News and confirmed by Terrie M. Williams, a family friend via Twitter.

Several reports around the circumstances of his death are still unconfirmed.

"I'm confirming, per U.S. Embassy, on behalf of family, the tragic death of Malcolm Shabazz, grandson of Malcolm X.Statement frm family 2 come," wrote close friend of the Shabazz family Terrie M. Williams on twitter.

The Journal News , a paper from White Plains, N.Y., did directly confirm Shabazz’s death with Williams via phone.

“I mentored him and he did a lot of work with us in terms of speaking to young people,” Williams told the Journal News. “He was a very, very powerful brother.”

Juan Ruiz, a member of the California-based labor organization Rumec, told Talking Points Memo that Shabazz was in Mexico City with Miguel Suarez at the time of his murder. Ruiz asserted that the previous reports of a shooting were wrong and that Shabazz was beaten to death.

“He was murdered. He was in Mexico City and I believe they attempted to rob him and he didn’t allow it, so they beat him to death and he died on his way to the hospital,” said Ruiz. “This is all I can confirm, everything else is under investigation for the meantime.”

Officials with the State Department would not confirm Shabazz’s death, but did confirm the death of a U.S. citizen.

“We are aware of the death of a U.S. citizen in Mexico City. We have been in contact with the family members and at their request, there will be no further comment at this time,” a State Department official said in response to an inquiry about Shabazz.

Family members have also confirmed his death and said that he was in Mexico, but have not confirmed the exact location or circumstances of how Shabazz died.

Speculation on Shabazz’s murder being an assassination is intensifying.

On Tuesday, Shabazz posted to his Facebook page that “enemies” thought they could defeat him, but the “war” wasn’t over. (Click 'Next' on the photo at the top of the article to see Shabazz's tweets.)

Shabazz is survived by his three-year-old daughter, Ilyasah, his mother, Qubilah, and his closest aunt, Ilyasah, among others. Shabazz was living with his grandmother Betty Shabazz, when he confessed to setting fire to her Yonkers, N.Y., home in 1997. Mrs. Shabazz died from severe burns caused by the fire. Shabazz was just 12-years-old at the time. He eventually pleaded guilty to manslaughter and arson and was sentenced to 18 months in a juvenile detention facility. Years later, he told the Amsterdam News that he had not set the fire.

Shabazz was in the process of writing two books, at least one of which was a manuscript. He was attending John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.

Five CAU Student-Athletes Receive Arthur Ashe Jr. Honor

Five Clark Atlanta University student-athletes were named 2013 Arthur Ashe Jr., Sports Scholars by 'Diverse: Issues in Higher Education Magazine': Nekesha Whitaker, Kelvin Tanner, Brionne Bachus, Kailyn Blackmon, and Kasey Dawson.

Inspired by tennis legend Arthur Ashe Jr.'s commitment to education and his love for tennis, Diverse Magazine established the Sports Scholars Awards to honor undergraduate African-American student-athletes who are community leaders and have excelled academically and athletically at their respective colleges and universities.

Whitaker, one of the featured student-athletes, is a graduating senior wth a 3.73 GPA in Criminal Justice and the 2013 Georgia Peach of an Athlete top female honoree. With a wealth of community service initiatives including her involvement with CAU's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), she paces her workload as a member of the women's cross-country and track and field teams.

Dawson, a graduating senior and Psychology major and Bachus, a rising senior and Accounting major, are both women's tennis student-athletes who boast a 3.78 and 3.76 cumulative GPA, respectively. Blackmon, a junior Psycology major, claims a 3.74 GPA while Tanner, CAU's male Peach of an Athlete nominee, excels with a 3.55 GPA in Computer Information Systems.     

These student-athletes are among others at NCAA DI, DII and DIII member institutions to receive this recognition.

(Photo: Clark Atlanta cross country athlete Nekesha Whitaker.)

Ariel Castro: Cleveland Man Charged With 3 Women’s Kidnapping, Rape

Couple Gets Most of $1 Million Reward in Christopher Dorner Case

(CNN) -- The couple who called police after being held hostage in Big Bear, California, by rogue ex-Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner will get a majority of the $1 million reward for information that led authorities to him.

Karen Reynolds and her husband, Jim, called 911 on February 12 to report that Dorner had tied them up and stolen their car.

They will receive 80% of the reward, put up by the city of Los Angeles with help from other jurisdictions, groups, and private donors.

A panel of three judges awarded 15% to the Daniel McGowan, who discovered Dorner's burning truck near the ski resort town, and 5% to R. Lee McDaniel, who spotted Dorner on February 7 and informed police.

The panel said nine other people who filed claims were not entitled to any reward money.

The manhunt for Dorner ended when Dorner was cornered and died in the San Bernardino Mountains, about 100 miles east of the city where he once had been a police officer.

The 33-year-old former Navy officer holed up in a cabin after a shootout with law enforcement.

The renegade cop killed four people and wounded three others as part of a vendetta against his former comrades before apparently taking his own life.