Man shot trying to collect child support

HARALSON COUNTY, Ga. -- Authorities said a shooting stemming from dispute in Haralson County has left one man dead and another critically injured.

Deputy Jim Beck said the shooting happened when Denise Watkins stopped by her ex-husband's Buchanan home to pick up a child support payment.

When Watkins and her current husband arrived, 33-year-old Shane Brown was the only person home.

Beck said it appears Brown shot 33-year-old Tony Watkins, who died at the scene. Police say they don't know why Brown had a gun.

Beck said a deputy heard additional shots as he arrived at the scene. Police believe Brown shot himself in the jaw. Brown was flown to Grady Memorial Hospital where he was in surgery late Friday.

Denise Watkins was treated at a local hospital for minor injuries and released.

Man convicted of drowning son over paying child support

FULLERTON, Calif.—An Orange County father has been convicted of murdering his 4-year-old son by drowning him in a bathtub.

The Superior Court panel returned its decision Tuesday and will consider on Wednesday whether Gideon Omondi was insane at the time of the 2006 killing.

His defense attorney says Omondi was distraught about a custody fight and didn't know what he did was wrong.

He was also convicted Tuesday of trying to kill his son earlier by putting him in the trunk of his car and dousing it with gasoline.

Omondi pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. If jurors find Omondi is insane, he will be sent to a state mental hospital. Otherwise he faces a minimum of 25 years to life in prison.

Ex-NFL player pleads guilty in child support case

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Former NFL linebacker Dwayne Rudd has pleaded guilty to failure to pay more than $540,000 in child support.

The U.S. attorney in Nashville announced Wednesday that Rudd, who played for Minnesota, Cleveland and Tampa Bay during his seven-season career, pleaded guilty in federal court last week and faces up to two years in prison.

Court records shows that Rudd, who is 31 and lives in Atlanta, owes child support for his 11-year-old daughter, who currently lives with her mother in Tennessee.

Drafted by the Vikings in 1997, Rudd may be best known for costing the Browns a win against Kansas City in 2002. With the Browns leading, Rudd sacked the quarterback in the closing seconds and celebrated by tossing his helmet. The referees called a penalty, which set up the Chief's game-winning field goal with no time on the clock.

According to court records, Rudd's yearly income while in the NFL was about $5 million and since retiring he has been receiving annuity payments of about $11,000 a month, as well as income from investment sources and real estate income.

Rudd and Stacie Wade had a child in 1998, but never married. He was ordered by an Illinois state court to pay $7,500 per month in child support, but prosecutors say he consistently failed to pay.

"This is another sad example of a parent, who has the means to pay child support, failing to meet his court-ordered responsibilities," said U.S. Attorney Ed Yarbrough.

More Parents Requesting Child Support Modifications in Down Economy

As parents across the country find themselves unable to meet their existing support obligations in the current economic climate, courts have faced a rush of child support modification requests. With national unemployment rates hovering around 10 percent, more people are being forced to take unpaid time off, having their hours cut or losing their jobs altogether.

With finances growing increasingly tight, some parents are finding it impossible to care for their children on the amount of support they receive each month. Other parents are finding it equally difficult to keep up with their support obligations on decreased or non-existent incomes. Applying for a child support modification is one way parents may be able to alleviate some of their financial stresses.

Do Not Stop Making Child Support Payments

Unilaterally decreasing the amount of child support paid each month or stopping payment altogether is one of the biggest mistakes parents who are required to pay child support can make.

Under Virginia law, the only way to legally change the amount of child support owed each month is by court order. Even if the parents reach an agreement together to change the amount of support, this agreement is not legally enforceable until a court has approved it.

Parents who stop paying support or pay less than they owe will begin accruing arrears and may be subject to other significant penalties, including wage garnishment, property liens, driver's license suspension, fines or even jail time. Unpaid child support payments do not go away and cannot be discharged in bankruptcy.

Only a Court Can Change a Support Order

Parents who are unable to make their monthly support payments must submit a petition to the court for a modification of the child support order. Either parent can request the modification. The court may decide to increase the amount of support, decrease the amount or leave the amount unchanged.

In Virginia, a court will only grant a request for a modification if there has been a substantial change in circumstances in the parent's or child's condition since the current support order was entered.

Examples of substantial changes in circumstances include:
-New employment
-Job loss or reduced income
-Marriage or divorce of one of the parents
-Serious medical condition of a child or parent
-Birth of a new child

The parent requesting the child support modification has the burden of proving that there has been a substantial change in circumstances. If the parent is seeking a reduction in the amount of support he or she must pay, the parent also must fully disclose his or her financial situation to prove inability to pay. Additionally, the parent has the burden of showing that the inability to pay is not caused by a voluntary or negligent act.

Unemployment/Underemployment

In Virginia, the court has the power to impute income to a parent if the parent is underemployed or voluntarily unemployed. This means that the court can use a parent's former income rather than the current income to calculate support payments in certain situations. For example, if a parent voluntarily leaves a well-paying job without having a new job, the court may use the salary from the former position to determine the appropriate child support payment.

In the current economy though, many parents are losing well-paying jobs and being forced to take lower paying positions or even part-time work to keep a steady paycheck. Depending on the parent's profession or work experience, it can take six months or longer to find a new job, making it difficult for many to find comparable employment and income. Under state law, the court could consider this underemployment.

Before deciding whether to grant a modification, the court will consider all of the relevant factors and examine the impact of the modification on the child. Some judges are more understanding of the economy's impact on a parent's ability to find comparable employment and may be less inclined to impute income. However, this is not always the case.

How a Family Law Attorney Can Help

Before you submit a petition to modify a child support order, it is important you speak with an experienced family law attorney. The modification process can be frustrating for someone not familiar with the legal system or the specific requirements for making the request.

An attorney can review your family's specific circumstances and develop the best possible strategy for presenting your modification request. In some cases, the attorney may be able to negotiate a settlement with the other parent to modify the support amount without litigating the matter in court. While the agreement still will have to be approved by the court, a negotiated settlement will decrease the amount of time you will have to spend in front of a judge.

For more information on child support modifications, speak with an experienced family law attorney.

African Billionaire's Family Surviving on U.S. Welfare

Gabonese Democratic Party candidate Ali-Ben Bongo Ondimba may have some explaining to do abroad -- and here in the United States.

While the presidential hopeful is focused on winning the Gabonese election -- he is among 3 candidates claiming victory in the Aug. 30 contest -- his estranged wife, Inge Bongo (nee Inge Collins), and their adopted children subsist on welfare in the United States.

The beautiful California native (pictured left leaving the welfare office in Riverside) told Black Voices that she still loves her husband.


african leadersWho's Zooming Who?

Bongo (pictured right in June) is the son of the late Omar Bongo, who served as president of Gabon from 1967-2009.

In 2007, Inge Bongo was seen on VH1's 'Really Rich Real Estate' shopping for a $25 million mansion in Malibu for herself and her husband. This raised a few eyebrows considering that the average Gabonese person made the equivalent of $6,670 that year.

Now, she says she has gone from high roller to living off government assistance. Yet, her husband and his second wife, Sylvia Valentin, don't seem to mind.

U.S. taxpayers, however, should, because they are footing the bill.

For the Love of Money

Bongo and Valentin are under investigation in France for corruption, and so far, $900 million in assets has been seized from the couple. Ironically, Bongo has vowed to "redistribute the proceeds of economic growth and fight corruption and fraud."

It appears that the son may have more in common with the father other than DNA. The late Omar Bongo was also under investigation for corruption.

According to BBC, in 2003, Omar Bongo was named in one of the biggest corporate trials in France involving the oil firm Elf. Allegedly, he pocketed $16.7 million from Elf in exchange for preferential treatment over U.S. and British oil firms. As a result of the trial, many former Elf executives were jailed.

Omar Bongo's name once again popped up during a 2005 investigation into fundraising appropriation on the part of lobbyist Jack Abramoff. A U.S. Senate Committee investigation revealed that Abramoff requested $9 million to arrange a meeting between Bongo and President George W. Bush. 10 months after the request, Omar Bongo and George W. Bush met in the White House's Oval Office. According to The New York Times, there has "been no evidence in the public record that Mr. Abramoff had any role in organizing the meeting or that he received any money or had a signed contract with Gabon."

Records show that the family's financial history is sketchy at the very least. At the time of Omar Bongo's death in June, the family owned more real estate in France than anyone. Meanwhile, the average Gabonese person would be lucky to own one piece of real estate.

Hood Rich, Cash Poor

Located south of Cameroon, Gabon was once a wealthy African nation due to the oil boom in the 1980s and the country's relatively low population (nearly 1.5 million people). But like many African nations, it succumbed to the temptation of foreign loans from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Nowadays, Gabon has joined a long list of African nations experiencing foreign exploitation because of financial misappropriation and dependency on foreign aid.

On paper, Gabon may be one of the wealthiest African nations, based on its GDP, but the country imports most of its products and suffers from high inflation rates.

Politricks

While the current election has been propped up as a democratic process, several thousand Gabonese protesters don't see it that way. According to the Agence France-Presse, earlier this month, thousands of demonstrators rallied against Bongo, calling for his resignation as defense minister. One demonstrator who declined to be identified, said, "We supported the father, but we don't want the son. If people don't listen to us, everything will burn."

If Bongo steals this year's presidential election, as many believe he will, he certainly will not be the first African leader to steer an election in his favor. Quieting dissent through violence, payoffs to the opposition and other sneaky-handed tactics have been used in other African countries to secure election victories.

First Wife's Tale

While Bongo is living lavish in an $800 million presidential palace, Inge and their kids (ages 22 and 10) are living like paupers.

The Los Angeles-born Mrs. Bongo is, admittedly, not a saint, but she is legally married to her husband both in the United States and in Gabon. And here in the United States, polygamy is a crime.

When Black Voices caught up with the 45-year-old former interior designer said that she did not want U.S. taxpayers to have to support her and her children, and that she simply wanted her husband to man up.

"I'm trying to feed my children," she humbly stated. "I love him. And I still support him," she said, fighting back tears. "I'm going to vote for him. For the sake of the Gabonese people, he needs to win the election. I don't want to see Gabon become another Ivory Coast."

Inge said she believes her husband will make sure he wins the election at any cost.

When they met, Inge says, she was young and naïve. The couple had their first date in 1988 and were married in 1994. At that time, she says, she was happy and had little idea what her life as the wife of an African dictator would be like.

She didn't expect for her husband to have countless mistresses, and she certainly didn't think that she would be physically assaulted (Bongo allegedly physically and emotionally abused her for years). She revealed that she almost lost her life on a number of occasions.

If Bongo wins the election, she will be the first American first lady of an African nation.

And Inge Bongo is on welfare.

Lil Wayne: Lauren London & Nivea Expecting Sons?!

Rumor has it, Lil Wayne has two babies on the way, so if true, he’ll be a father of four. Actress Lauren London is reportedly six months pregnant with Wayne’s son and Weezy’s fiance Nivea, is rumored to be having a boy as well. So, who will deliver first? Hopefully their due dates are far enough apart that Wayne won’t have to try to be in two places at once. Awkward! I guess they could share a hospital room, you know, to make things less complicated.

T-Pain Sued For Child Support

A loyal reader who works in the same midtown building as rapper T-Pain’s lawyer emailed Sandrarose.com over the weekend to say she saw T-Pain, real name Faheem Rasheed Najm, leaving his attorney’s office on Friday (8/28).

Word gets around quickly, and she learned that T-Pain was there to attend a mediation meeting to resolve child support issues with his baby mama, Elisa Hood, aka Ms. Cherry from VH1’s Miss Rap Supreme.

Let’s just say that the mediation didn’t turn out as well as all parties had hoped.

For a rapper who just put out a track titled “I Support baby Mamas” he certainly isn’t supporting his own very well.

Before Friday, Ms. Hood was barely making ends meet with a measly $2,000 a month from the same rapper who bragged about dropping over $400,000 on a “big ass chain” inlaid with 197kt. diamonds. When T-Pain posted the pics of his 10 lb. chain on twitter last month, we chose not to participate in the nignorance by reposting the pics.

According to court documents, this dead beat dad pulls down $15 million a year in records sales, royalties and appearance fees. He owns an impressive collection of almost 40 luxury vehicles, including a Lambo, Bentley and a Phantom. Yet the cheapskate and his attorney put an offer on the table for a mere $500 per month more than the $2,000 he is already paying Ms. Hood in support for their 2-year-old son King!

Don’t you hate so-called ballers who value money and material possessions over their own seed? Oh, did I forget to mention that T-Pain was already married with children at home when he laid up with Ms. Hood?

Woman charged with sex with minor

WEST POINT — A 37-year-old Syracuse woman was arrested Sunday for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a teenage girl.

Kerrie Lynn Ferguson faces four counts of unlawful sexual contact with a minor, all third-degree felonies, according to charges filed Monday in 2nd District Court.

A Davis County Sheriff's deputy spotted the woman and a 15-year-old girl in a parked car Sunday afternoon at Bingham Park, near 4550 West and 550 North. As the officer approached the vehicle, he found the two "in the act," Davis County Sheriff's Capt. Kenny Payne said.

The deputy placed Ferguson under arrest and released the girl to her parents. Payne said police believe the girl is a friend of Ferguson's daughter.

Officers booked Ferguson into Davis County Jail Sunday for investigation of several first-degree felony charges because police believed Ferguson was a person who had a relationship of special trust with the victim, said Steve Major, deputy Davis County Attorney. "But (we) couldn't show she (the girl) was under a type of special trust."

Utah law states a juvenile is not old enough to "consent" to sex until he or she is 16 years old, Major said. And even then, so-called consensual sex by minors is only defensible if the older party is less than 10 years older than the minor.

"The idea is we don't want 42-year-old men having sex with 16-year-old girls..." Major said. "It's less predatory if you're 18 and your girlfriend is 16."

It wasn't immediately clear if Ferguson would face an enhanced felony charge for being 22 years older.

She posted a $50,000 bail prior to her initial hearing in court Monday, which she did not attend.

Ohio man sentenced to 6 months for failing to pay $15,000 dollars in child support

AKRON — John Lee Bishop Jr., 50, of Akron, was sentenced last week to six months in prison for failing to pay $15,100 in child support.

He pleaded to criminal non-support Aug. 28 and was sentenced by Summit County Common Pleas Judge Thomas Teodosio.

Bishop owes support for one child. He was ordered to pay $132.80 a month in 2000.

He pleaded guilty to that offense and was placed on community control for five years. After violating the conditions of his probation, he was sentenced to the Oriana House Work Release Program.

Couple accused of passing $27,000 in fake money orders to pay for child support

Two Baltic residents who reportedly paid nearly $27,000 in child support with phony money orders were indicted for forgery Thursday.

Brian William Denson, 49, was being held at the Minnehaha County Jail last month for nonpayment of child support. At Denson's request, his 29-year-old girlfriend, Jamie Ann Moore, reportedly brought 27 counterfeit money orders to the Department of Social Services office in Sioux Falls to pay off Denson's bill, according to court documents.

Later that day, she used two other counterfeit money orders to pay the child support of Denson's friend Jonathan DeBelts, who also was being held for nonpayment of child support.

Sioux Falls Police got a call about the forgeries from the Department of Social Services in Pierre on July 7, police spokesman Sam Clemens said.

"That's pretty rare," he said. "We do run into the fake money orders, but it's usually some kind of scam."

The Department of Social Services declined to comment on the ongoing investigation, but spokeswoman Tarah Jahnig did say that this was the only case of child support fraud in recent memory involving forged money orders.

"It's usually just bad checks," she said.

After the Pierre office told police about the money orders, Moore was put in a lineup for two Sioux Falls DSS employees. They identified Moore as the person who brought in the forged money orders, and police obtained a search warrant for the couple's Baltic home.

That search turned up computers, printers, scanners and seven other $950 counterfeit money orders.

Denson told police that he wasn't aware the money orders were fake until after he was released from jail.

Moore was charged with 10 counts of forgery and Denson was charged with 10 counts of aiding and abetting forgery.

They each face up to five years in prison on each count.

Penn Hills man who owes nearly $70,000 was arrested on bench warrants

A Penn Hills man who owes nearly $70,000 in child support was arrested Saturday morning, the Allegheny County Sheriff's office said.

Keith Douthett, 49, was among the sheriff's "most wanted" child support offenders and was wanted on three bench warrants issued in April 2006, according to the sheriff's office.

Douthett was apprehended about 8:50 a.m. in the 100 block of South Avenue in Wilkinsburg, the sheriff's office said. Detectives began putting the area under surveillance after receiving an anonymous tip several days ago.

Douthett is being held in the Allegheny County Jail.

Wronged 'deadbeat dad' may be free of child support

hen Frank Hatley walked out of a South Georgia jail last week, the state said he still owed more than $10,000 in past-due child support for a son who wasn’t his.

But now, state attorneys are asking a Cook County judge to relieve Hatley of all his child support obligations.

“I appreciate that because it’s the right thing,” Hatley, the “deadbeat dad” who had no children, said Thursday. “When I get all my rights back, that’ll be the peace of God.”

In a recent interview, Dena Smith, spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Resources, said her agency will propose legislation in next year’s General Assembly to make sure what happened to Hatley will not happen again to anyone facing the same predicament.

Hatley, 50, sat in a South Georgia jail in Adel for almost 13 months even though a special assistant state attorney general and the judge knew he was not the child’s biological father. In 2001, Hatley had been ordered to pay $16,398 in past-due child support even though a DNA test proved he was not the parent.

Hatley paid off about $6,000 of that over the ensuing years but fell behind again after he lost his job and was living in his car. Still, Hatley used some of his unemployment benefits to make partial payments.

But in June 2008, Cook County Superior Court Judge Dane Perkins found Hatley in contempt and ordered him jailed. Hatley sat there until a lawyer, Sarah Geraghty of the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, filed a court motion asking for Hatley’s release. Perkins freed Hatley on July 15 after finding he was indigent and unable to make the necessary payments to obtain his release.

But Perkins postponed considering Geraghty’s request that Hatley be relieved of the $10,263 the state said he still owed.

Hatley got in such a fix because of a relationship he had in the late 1980s with Essie Lee Morrison. In 1987, Morrison gave birth to a son, Travon, and told Hatley the child was his. Two years later, Morrison applied for public assistance for Travon and the state then moved to get Hatley to reimburse it for the cost of Travon’s support.

Since then, Hatley paid more than $9,500, court records say. But in 2000, Hatley and Travon gave DNA samples to an independent testing lab, which found the two were not related. In 2001, Perkins relieved Hatley of future child support but ordered him to still pay his past-due obligations.

In a motion filed Wednesday, the state Attorney General’s Office said the Office of Child Support Services (OCSS) had determined Hatley still owed $5,556 to the state for unreimbursed welfare payments and $4,706 in child support to Travon’s non-parent custodian, Beatrice Morrison, who is now deceased.

Hatley should be relieved of his reimbursement obligations because of his “apparent indigence and that repayment of this debt would result in substantial and unreasonable hardship,” the state said. As for the $4,706 in past-due child support, OCSS has been informed that Travon, now 21, does not object to waiving those arrears, the motion said.

As a result, the state said it “would have no objection to an order waiving all arrears and directing it to close its enforcement case,” the state’s filing said.

Hatley, who is now living with a relative, said he hopes Perkins agrees to the state’s motion.

“It would be great news,” he said. “It would mean that finally I can get a job and not have to worry about them taking some of what little I make for a son who wasn’t none of mine.”

Scott Storch behind on Child Support Over 40K

Multi-platinum producer Scott Storch is wanted by the Miami-Dade County police after missing a court appearance, the Miami Herald reports today.

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Marc Schumacher issued a warrant for Storch’s arrest after he failed to appear at the latest hearing in an ongoing child support battle with the mother of his two-year-old son Jalen.

The boy’s mother, Dalene Jennifer Daniel, originally filed a complaint in 2006 stating that Storch owed $46,000 in back child support.

The balance represents $30,000 in monthly payments and $16,000 in contributions to Jalen’s Florida Prepaid College Plan, as set forth in a mediated settlement agreement between Storch and Daniel.

Once in custody, Storch would have to pay the full balance in order to be released on bond.

Otherwise the warrant authorizes police to keep him in jail until his next court appearance.

KELIS WANTS MORE SPOUSAL/CHILD SUPPORT: Her lawyer is seeking "retroactive" money from rapper.

*Additional spousal support is being requested by singer Kelis in her ongoing divorce court drama with estranged husband Nas.

According to TMZ.com, sources say Kelis' lawyers have drawn up a list of items that she should be awarded, including back child and spousal support.

Her lawyer Laura Wasser filed documents requesting that the rap star pay $281,571 in retroactive spousal support and $29,522 in retroactive child support. And because Nas makes over $244,000 per month, Wasser believes Kelis is entitled to $72,728 in spousal support and in the future, $17,225 a month in child support.

A judge is expected to rule on the additional requests at the next scheduled hearing in September.

Kelis was awarded $44,000 worth of child and spousal support on July 23, shortly after giving birth to their son Knight.

What planet is this woman on? Don't get me wrong maybe NAS is balling like that, but realistically speaking when is enough enough? 1 million dollars a year is crazy... I understand why pre nup is a common language you must use as a superstar... It is the mans duty to take care of his x-wife and child but any time it takes you to the poor house to provide her income is out of the question! If she can not survive on $40, 000 a month she should not get a dime.

Child support payments cut as parents lose jobs

Child support payments cut as parents lose jobs

THOUSANDS of parents receiving child support from their former partners face lower payments as more lose their jobs.

Welfare groups are concerned the number of parents paying the minimum payment of $12 a fortnight will increase as unemployment rises.

"The human tragedy is that two families could be placed under extra financial stress - not just the family that they are living with, but the family they are assisting through their child support payments," the president of the National Welfare Rights Network, Kate Beaumont, said.

The loss of a job could mean the parent receiving child support gets only $6 a child per week instead of the average of $77 a week. Some of the difference could be made up through increased family tax payments.

Increasing unemployment is likely to make it harder for the Federal Government to ensure parents are receiving adequate money to raise their families.

It is already grappling with a debt in unpaid child support that grew by about 5 per cent to $1 billion last financial year.

This was despite increasingly tough measures used by the Government to recover the money, such as hiring private detectives to spy on people suspected of under-reporting their income and automatically deducting payments from welfare benefits.

The Minister for Human Services, Joe Ludwig, said the Child Support Agency was paying close attention to the effect of rising unemployment on child support payments.

"Many Australians, through no fault of their own, have lost their jobs, had their hours cut back or had their pay reduced as a direct result of the global recession. This can make it especially hard for separated parents to pay child support for the benefit of their children," Senator Ludwig said.

The agency was granted an extra $223 million in last week's budget to offer financial counselling to separated parents whose payments have been affected by changing work circumstances.

Michel’le Demands Child Support From Suge Knight

Michel’le Demands Child Support From Suge Knight

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Singer Michel’le has filed child support charges against her Ex-husband Marion Suge Knight, reports the Wall Street Journal. Michel’le is asking for $40,476 in three-months of unpaid court-ordered spousal and child support. In addition to the $40,476, she is asking that she receive $13,492 in child support each month for her son Balei, whom she had with the former head of Death Row records seven years ago. In 1997, Toussaint “agreed to marry Knight while he was serving a prison sentence for assault and battery.” Soon after Bailei’s birth in 2002, her relationship with Suge Knight ended.

In the coming months, Michel’le will be heading to bankruptcy court since Suge is believed to be bankrupt; Suge filed for bankruptcy three years ago.

Michel’le also has another son named Marcel, with whom she had with rapper/producer Dr. Dre.

Warrant Issued For Bobby Brown For Missed Child Support

An arrest warrant was been issued for Bobby Brown this week, after he failed to appear in a Massachusetts court on a contempt complaint.

According to the Associated Press, Judge Christina Harms ordered Brown be arrested the next time he sets foot in Massachusetts for missing a hearing in June regarding child support.

The 40-year-old singer has reportedly fallen behind on payments to the tune of $45,000, for the two teenage children he has with former girlfriend Kim Ward.

He's supposed to pay $5,500 a month.

At press time, he had not commented on the news.

This isn't the first time Brown had been in trouble for failed child support payments. In 2007, he served four days in jail.

Ex-NFL player facing child support charges

CINCINNATI, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Former NFL defensive end Roosevelt Theodore Nix was arrested in Hamilton County, Ohio, for not paying $214,245 in child support, authorities allege.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reported Thursday that Nix, 42, was arrested on a Hamilton County Juvenile Court warrant for an alleged lack of child support payments for his 16-year-old son, whose identity was not reported.

Nix, who reportedly also missed a 2006 child support hearing, is accused of not making any child support payments for the teen since 2000.

In addition to facing charges for the missing child support payments, Nix was charged with escape and contempt of court for his absence at the 2006 hearing.

After being drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the eighth round of the 1992 NFL draft, Nix went on to play in 16 games for the Bengals. He later played two games with the Minnesota Vikings, amassing a career total of six tackles.

Prosecutor: Man killed son and baby’s mom to avoid child support

In Bonita man strangled the mother of his son and the 10-month-old baby to avoid paying child support, a prosecutor said today, but a defense attorney said the real killer was a hopeful suitor the woman rejected.

Dennis Potts, 25, surprised 22-year-old Tori Vienneau the night of July 26, 2006, knocking her unconscious between 6 and 6:45 p.m., then killed her after they had made plans to go out to dinner, prosecutor Per Hellstrom said in his opening statement.

A roommate found Vienneau strangled with the cord of a hair-flattening iron and her son, Dean Springstube, hanging in his crib with the cord of a cell phone charger wrapped around the baby’s neck, the prosecutor said.

A week before the murders, Vienneau had decided to take Potts to court after she became convinced that he had faked a paternity test, Hellstrom told the jury.

“He came over that evening, all right,” the prosecutor said of Potts. “He didn’t come over to go to dinner. He came over to kill them both.”

The crime scene was made to look like a sexual assault because Vienneau’s blouse and underwear were ripped and her pants were off, Hellstrom said.

There were no signs of forced entry into the third-story apartment in south San Diego, which told investigators Vienneau knew her killer, he said.

“This was not a stranger-type killing,” the prosecutor said. “This was somebody who knew Tori. It’s clear she was taken by surprise.”

Potts’ fingerprint was found in a door jam about 3 feet away from the baby’s crib, according to Hellstrom, who said a text message was planted by the killer on Vienneau’s phone at 6:59 p.m. so he could cover his tracks.

Hellstrom said Potts lied to detectives when he said the paternity tests he took were legitimate, when in fact he had used his friend Max Corn’s DNA to submit for the test.

“He is distancing himself from his connection with her,” the prosecutor told the jury.

Thirteen text message exchanges between Potts and Vienneau the day of the murders were deleted from her phone, and Potts told police he deleted all of his text messages from that day, Hellstrom said.

A “ping” from a cell phone tower near the victim’s apartment puts Potts in the vicinity at 6:44 p.m., around the time Vienneau was killed, the prosecutor said.

On Potts’ computer, authorities found Google searches for “committing murder; how to cheat a swab paternity test; best way to kill someone; getting away with murder; getting out of child support; performing (a) chokehold; knocking someone unconscious; knocking someone in the head; and how did you get away with murder,” the prosecutor said.

Hellstrom alleged Potts and Corn had an agreement to defraud Vienneau, but also to cover up Potts’ actions and throw off police so an obvious motive wouldn’t be apparent.

Defense attorney Kerry Armstrong, in his opening statement, said police focused on Potts from the beginning and ignored the real killer, a man named Daniel Moen.

Armstrong said once Vienneau’s boyfriend Neil Springstube was out of the picture, Moen became more attracted to Vienneau, but she didn’t see it the same way.

“Daniel Moen wanted to be Tori’s boyfriend,” Armstrong told the jury.

Four days before the murders, Moen and Vienneau had sex, but later Vienneau rejected him, Armstrong told the jury.

Potts will admit lying to police about the paternity test and will admit he faked it, his attorney said.

Armstrong said Potts was scared and had a longtime girlfriend — who is now his fiancee — and needed time to figure out how to tell her and his parents about the child he would now be responsible for.

“He knew he was going to be deemed the father,” Armstrong said of Potts.

Armstrong said Potts searched the Internet about death and murder because his father had suffered a couple of strokes in the past. Potts also had an interest in mixed martial arts, his attorney said.

Furthermore, Potts wrote a school paper on euthanasia that included those searches, according to his attorney.

“He will tell you that he had no plans to kill Tori Vienneau and Baby Dean,” Armstrong told the jury.

Potts’ fingerprints were in the victim’s apartment because he had been there at least three times in the past and remembered leaning against the door, Armstrong said.

Potts was at Corn’s South Bay home working on a project for his father when Vienneau was killed, Armstrong said.

An expert will testify that the “ping” off the cell tower near Vienneau’s apartment could have come from a call that Potts’ mother placed to him while he was at Corn’s house at 6:44 the night of the murders, Armstrong said.

Potts is charged with two counts of murder and a special circumstance of multiple murders, along with a charge of conspiracy to obstruct justice. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.

The trial is expected to last about a month in courtroom of Judge Bernard Revak.

Corn, who is charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice, will be tried following Potts’ trial.

Child Support Judge Sued for Not Supporting His Kids

Broward General Magistrate Philip Schlissel knows the rules of child support. The judge has been busting dads and moms for not paying their fair share for years.

But now he is being taken to court by, of all people, his judge ex-wife for not giving up enough dough to take care of their son and daughter.

A lawsuit filed last month claims Schlissel owes his ex-wife more than $5,000 for not helping with his kids' living expenses, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

Now both children aren't really children at all. Schlissel's son is 19 and his daughter is 22. The get-off-child-support card kicks into effect at age 18 in Florida.

But Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren, his ex-wife of 15 years, claims they agreed to split the expenses of the kids, post-teenage years. That includes cell phone bills, health insurance, car repairs and other similar expenses that most adults tend to handle on their own. If that's not a silver spoon deal, we don't know what is.

Schlissel has never missed a child support payment, his attorney said. Good thing, too, because otherwise he would have to put out a warrant for his own arrest, and that can get complicated. The lawsuit will be heard in Palm Beach County.

I have spent many a days in front of the child support judges and to hear them talk to men like they were the low of all lows . Then what happens a judge that does not want to pay child support. They should first take his license to practice law, lock his ass up and treat him like he has treated many men. This make no sense to think that you being a judge makes you exempt from the law... Make the strike with the sword be swift and send a devastating blow to him and all the bureaucrats that don't want to pay! Teach them a lesson like they preach! Now lets put the shoe on the other foot and say he who has not sinned cast the first stone... What, no rocks?