Randall Lee Pruitt pleaded guilty to raping a 14-year-old in 2018 and 2019. She fled the state after meeting a Wisconsin man online.
MONROE COUNTY, Tenn. — A Morgan County man will spend close to three decades in prison after pleading guilty to raping an underage girl in late 2018 and early 2019.
The victim, now 16, appeared in court for Randall Pruitt’s sentencing hearing Friday to talk about what his crimes had done to her.
Pruitt, 44, pleaded guilty to three counts of rape in June.
Judge Andrew Freiberg called it one of the most horrifying cases he has seen in his 17 years as a judge. He delivered the sentencing statement as he fought back tears, speaking to the victim and calling her “brave, strong and courageous.”
“I’m very sorry, for what it’s worth,” he said. “I cannot imagine what you’ve gone through.”
The victim was 14 years old at the time of crimes. Freiberg sentenced Pruitt in Monroe County Circuit Court to serve an effective 28.5 years prison.
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Near Christmas 2018, the girl began communicating with a Wisconsin man online about what Pruitt was doing to her, authorities and court records state. She told Bryan Rogers that Pruitt had been raping her in Monroe County.
Rogers told the girl to record an assault on a smartphone as evidence. The girl complied.
Rogers then drove to Monroe County, picked up the girl and they returned to his Madison, Wis., home. She hid in the house. They had sex.
The girl was reported Jan. 14, 2019, setting off a state and national investigation.
On Jan. 31, 2019, FBI agents confronted Rogers at his home. He denied the girl was with him, but agents found her hiding in a closet, records show.
Authorities said the truth of what the girl had been suffering came more fully to light, and Pruitt was charged with rape.
Rogers later pleaded guilty to transporting the teen across state lines and having sex with her. He’s serving a little more than 11 years in federal prison.
In July 2019, Christina Pruitt, Pruitt’s wife, pleaded guilty to evidence tampering. She got a four-year term on supervised probation.
Harris County police are investigating a shooting at a Houston apartment complex that left two teens dead and another injured.
The shooting happened Friday night around 10:40 p.m. on the 300 block of Airtex Drive when officers responded to a shooting call.
Upon arrival they found 3 males suffering from gunshot wounds. All three males were transported to an area hospital where two of the males succumbed to their injuries. They were 17 years old. The third victim is expected to survive.
During the preliminary investigation officers learned that multiple people were in the parking lot when numerous shots were fired.
A Listeria outbreak has now infected 23 people throughout in 10 various states. One person from Illinois has died as a result. All but one of the individuals had to be hospitalized, states the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The agency reported that Listeria is a sickness that usually affects pregnant women, newborns, other adults, and people with weakened immune systems. It is unusual for those who aren’t in one of these groups to get the illness. To add, antibiotics are used if a person is infected.
Symptoms are different, depending on the person and where they have been affected in their body. A small percentage of cases can lead to a fever or diarrhea.
For those with severe cases, they may experience invasive listeriosis which means bacteria extends pass the gut. If a woman is pregnant, she may experience muscle aches and fatigue. Headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions are also symptoms.
Although it usually doesn’t cause major symptoms in pregnant women, Listeria can cause fetuses and newborn babies to become very sick. It can result in miscarriage, stillbirth, premature delivery, or life-threatening infection in a newborn.
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During the recent outbreak, five pregnant women became ill and suffered a miscarriage.
For people who are 65 or older, they could develop an infection in the bloodstream or brain. They may also experience problems with their joints, bones, chest, and abdomen.
Listeria outbreaks are almost always related to food contamination products. The CDC hasn’t validated where the outbreak started. However, almost all of the people who had gotten sick reside in or had gone to Florida about a month prior to becoming ill. It’s uncertain if that is a coincidence.
35-year-old Andrew Charles Beard, from Rowlett, Texas, cyberstalked, shot, and fatally stabbed his ex-girlfriend. It occurred as the two were going through a custody battle.
Last week, Beard pleaded guilty to two violent federal crimes. He had been charged with cyberstalking using a dangerous weapon resulting in death and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.
Beard will receive his punishment on October 6 and could receive two life sentences.
Authorities say that he admitted to stalking and killing his ex-girlfriend, Alyssa Burkett, 24. It happened in a parking lot in Carrollton on October 2, 2020. Beard wanted to have custody of the couple’s daughter who was a 1-year-old at the time.
Beard confessed to placing a GPS tracker inside of Burkett’s vehicle. He then trailed her to her apartment where he shot her in the head.
Burkett was able to get to a parking lot that was nearby. However, Beard found her and stabbed her 13 times.
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Burkett’s mother and colleagues informed authorities that she had been scared of Beard. She was worried that he had been following her and felt like he may kill her. Burkett’s boyfriend added that Beard seemed to be “overly obsessed” with Burkett and their daughter.
“This was a brutal, bloody crime. Ms. Burkett’s daughter is now suffering twin tragedies. Her mother is deceased, and her father is an admitted murderer. We pray for strength for this child and the rest of her family…” said U.S. Attorney Chad Meacham.
