#7 - Henry Ruggs III
On November the 2nd of 2021, professional football player Henry Ruggs III was involved in a fiery car
crash that resulted in the death of a 23-year-old woman and her dog. Prior to the fatal incident,
Ruggs had been regarded as a promising young player, having been selected by the Las Vegas
Raiders with the twelfth overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft. The 22-year-old man and his girlfriend,
Kiara Kilgo-Washington, had allegedly been seen drinking at a Topgolf location,
in Las Vegas, on the eve of the accident. They reportedly left the venue around midnight.
According to local police, Ruggs was traveling down the roadway at speeds of up to
156 miles per hour as he approached a Toyota RAV4, driven by Tina Tintor. At approximately 3:40 am,
the man slammed on his brakes in an attempt to avoid the imminent collision. Unfortunately, his
Chevrolet Corvette Stingray had been travelling too fast for his preventative efforts to succeed
and it plowed into Tintor’s vehicle, at 120 miles per hour. Ruggs struck the SUV with “such violent
force” that the woman’s car immediately burst into flames, trapping her and her dog, Max,
inside. The Clark County coroner later determined that Tintor burned to death while she was stuck in
the flaming vehicle. Ruggs and Kilgo-Washington were taken to the University Medical Center
of Southern Nevada to be treated for the minor injuries they’d sustained during the crash.
Doctors discovered that Ruggs’ blood alcohol level was 0.161% at the time, which was more
than twice the legal driving limit in the state of Nevada. Upon his release from the hospital,
Ruggs was remanded into police custody and charged with felony counts of DUI resulting in death and
reckless driving. He was released by the Las Vegas Raiders less than 24 hours after his
arrest. The case’s preliminary court hearing was scheduled for March the 10th of 2022.
#6 - Richard Deluna
On May the 21st of 2015, a Texas firefighter allegedly murdered his girlfriend before taking
his own life in her Houston home. The family of Caroline Minjares, aged 36, went to the
house to check on her after she’d neglected to pick up her 5-year-old daughter from school,
earlier in the day. Upon entering the residence, they discovered that Minjares had suffered
multiple stab wounds, and had been left to die on the bathroom floor. In the bedroom,
the family also found the body of her boyfriend, 40-year-old Richard Deluna. In the investigation
that followed, detectives hypothesized that Deluna had fatally stabbed Minjares before
hanging himself. The authorities also reported to have found evidence of forced entry into the house
as well as visible signs that there’d been a struggle prior to the two deaths. It was reported
that Deluna, a father-of-five and a 12-year veteran of the Houston Fire Department, had
been threatening the victim in the weeks leading up to the fatal incident. Her 5-year-old daughter
reportedly had a graduation ceremony for her kindergarten class the day after Minjares’ murder.
#5 - Millen Cyrus An Instagram influencer, known to her followers as
Millen Cyrus, was jailed in the aftermath of a drug raid at an Indonesian hotel, in November of
2020. At the time of her arrest, Cyrus had amassed more than one million social media followers,
and was regarded as a role model by many within the transgender community. She and a male friend
had been suspected of partaking in the use of illegal drugs, which prompted officers to raid
the pair’s hotel room, in North Jakarta. Cyrus and her companion were reported as having crystallized
methamphetamine in their possession, and they were consequently taken into custody. Indonesian
law enforcement’s perceived mistreatment of Cyrus was met with outrage by her fans. They
were particularly up in arms about the fact that she’d been placed in a men’s detention facility,
at Tanjung Priok Port Police Station, rather than in a women’s cell. The local police chief defended
the decision by claiming that she’d been placed in the detention area that corresponded with the
sex written on her citizen’s identity card, which identified her as male. Amidst mounting
condemnation of the police’s handling of the situation, the social media celebrity was moved
to a private cell. The charges levied against Cyrus in connection to her drug possession carried
a maximum penalty of four years in prison. #4 - Stephanie Peterson
A Florida school teacher was arrested, in February of 2018, after it emerged that she’d
engaged in intimate relations with a male student. 26-year-old Stephanie Peterson, who was married
at the time, had been employed as a science teacher at New Smyrna Beach Middle School.
The boy with whom she’d been involved eventually told his parents about their illicit affair, and
law enforcement officials subsequently launched an investigation into Peterson’s activities.
According to the student’s testimony, Peterson had begun sending him explicit
photographs of herself in November of 2017. The boy alleged that, in the months that followed,
the teacher drove to his house during the late evening hours, on several occasions,
in order for them to spend time together, without his parents’ knowledge. Peterson was also accused
of purchasing marijuana for the victim as well as other drug-related paraphernalia. Her position
was, by definition, one of a role model but the woman used her authority to manipulate the young
boy into keeping their romantic involvement a secret. As their relationship continued,
the student’s school performance reportedly began to suffer, which prompted him to inform his
parents about the affair and finally put an end to it. Following her arrest, Peterson was charged
with two counts of lewd battery and one count of transmission of harmful materials to a minor,
to which she pleaded guilty in October of 2018. She was sentenced to serve 3 years in prison and
an additional 2 years under house arrest. #3 - Lisa Nowak
One of the astronauts that was on board the Discovery, during its mission to space in 2006,
was later dismissed from both NASA and the United States Navy for assaulting a love rival. Lisa
Nowak had cultivated a successful career as an aerospace engineer and a naval flight officer in
the years preceding her dismissal. During her time in the Navy, Nowak had been awarded the Defense
Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal, and the Navy Achievement Medal. In 1996,
she was selected to be part of NASA Astronaut Group 16, qualifying as a robotics specialist.
Nowak was thus responsible for operating the robotic arms of the Discovery during the STS-121
mission to the International Space Station, in July of 2006. The following February, Nowak
was involved in a violent altercation at Orlando International Airport. The conflict had allegedly
been triggered by Nowak’s jealousy towards a US Air Force Captain named Colleen Shipman.
The latter had recently started a romantic relationship with astronaut William Oefelein, with
whom Nowak herself had previously been involved. Nowak drove her husband’s car a total of 900 miles
from Houston to Orlando, where she confronted Shipman at the airport. The former astronaut
pounded on Shipman’s car window and pleaded with her to open the door. The Air Force Captain
eventually rolled the window down a couple of inches, at which point Nowak sprayed mace into the
vehicle. Shipman then fled the scene and contacted the police. When officers arrived, they reportedly
watched Nowak dispose of a trash bag at a parking shuttle bus stop. It was later discovered that
she’d brought latex gloves, a black wig, a BB gun and ammunition, pepper spray, a hooded trench
coat, a power drill, and an 8-inch folding knife with her to Orlando. She was thereupon charged
with attempted kidnapping, battery, attempted vehicle burglary with battery, and destruction
of evidence. After agreeing to a plea deal, Nowak was sentenced to one year of probation.
She was terminated from NASA and discharged from the Navy under “other than honorable conditions”
as a consequence of the incident. Today's topic was requested by Th1@g0.
If you have any other topics you'd like to learn about, subscribe & let us know in the
comments section below. #2 - Oscar Pistorius
In February of 2013, a South African sprinter, who’d previously competed at both the Paralympic
and Olympic Games, was accused of murdering his girlfriend. Before his criminal charges
put an end to his professional athletic career, Oscar Pistorius had become world-famous for
participating in and winning several international sprinting competitions. Having had both of his
feet amputated as an infant, due to a congenital defect, Pistorius eventually became a Paralympic
champion, in the summer of 2008. He was also the first amputee to earn a non-disabled world
track medal at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics. His role model status was further
elevated the following year when he competed at the Summer Olympics, becoming the first double-leg
amputee to do so. According to court records, Pistorius had been romantically involved with
29-year-old Reeva Steenkamp for a period of three months before her death. In the early morning of
February the 14th of 2013, Pistorius reached for his gun and fired four rounds through a
locked bathroom door, at his Pretoria home. In his defense, he claimed to have acted under the belief
that an intruder had barricaded themselves inside. The bullets ended up hitting Steenkamp, who’d
gotten up during the night to use the restroom, and the injuries she sustained ultimately proved
fatal. Pistorius’ ensuing murder trial was held at Pretoria High Court, where it was established that
the former sprinter was, in fact, mentally stable at the time of the shooting and could therefore be
held criminally responsible for his actions. On September the 12th of 2014, Pistorius was
formally convicted of culpable homicide. He was initially sentenced to only 5 years in prison but,
following a motion for a longer term by state prosecutors, the Supreme Court of Appeals
increased the sentence to 15 years. #1 - Aaron Hernandez
Aaron Hernandez’s burgeoning career in the NFL came to an abrupt end, in 2013,
when he was arrested and charged with the murder of his friend. Prior to his incarceration,
Hernandez had come to be regarded as one of the premiere tight ends in professional football
while playing alongside quarterback Tom Brady for the New England Patriots. His prodigious athletic
talent had been evident since his collegiate career, but many NFL teams were wary of selecting
him in the draft due to off-the-field concerns regarding his personality and temperament. On
June the 18th of 2013, police officers arrived at Hernandez’s North Attleboro home. The police spent
several hours searching the residence as part of their investigation into the fatal shooting of
semi-professional football player Odin Lloyd, which had occurred the day before. Massachusetts
State Police had obtained a search warrant for Hernandez’s house after it emerged that he’d
destroyed his home security system and hired a team of house cleaners on the same day authorities
had located Lloyd’s body at an industrial park, roughly one mile away. On June the 26th, Hernandez
was taken into custody and officially charged with first-degree murder and other weapons-related
offenses. He was released by the Patriots 90 minutes after his arrest had become public.
It was subsequently reported that Hernandez’s DNA had been found at the murder scene. Following his
criminal trial, the former professional athlete was convicted of all charges and sentenced to
life in prison without the possibility of parole. During the case’s court proceedings, Hernandez was
also indicted for an unrelated double homicide, which had taken place in 2012, but the additional
charges were dismissed in 2017. Days after his acquittal, Hernandez was found dead in his prison
cell, having reportedly hanged himself with a bed sheet. He was posthumously diagnosed with Chronic
Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, in connection to the routine head trauma he’d sustained while
playing football. News of the diagnosis led to speculation that his medical condition might have
been a factor in his erratic and violent behavior. Thanks for watching! Would you rather be cursed
out by your favorite celebrity after encountering them on the street or learn that your parents
like you the least of all your siblings? Let us know in the comments section below!