(AP) — Two Buffalo men have been convicted in the fatal beating of a 96-year-old church deacon during a break-in at his home.

Authorities say 18-year-old Shaquar Pratcher and 23-year-old Elhajii Elshabazz (ehl-HAH-zhee ehl-shuh-BAHZ) were part of a group that set out to rob Levi Clayton’s house in 2012, believing Clayton’s caretaker had money inside from drug sales.

A state Supreme Court judge convicted them Wednesday of second-degree murder and burglary.

Surveillance cameras captured the pair in the deacon’s backyard with a knife and gun and the deacon throwing a lamp out a window trying to thwart the break-in.

Clayton suffered severe head injuries from the beating and died about four months later.

Two others, 19-year-old Justice Feggans and 20-year-old Jordan McKinnon, pleaded guilty earlier to burglary.

(AP) — Federal authorities say a northeast Ohio man has pleaded guilty to charges alleging he tried to buy a 10-year-old girl to engage in illegal sexual activity.

U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach (DEHT’-ehl-bahk) in Cleveland said Wednesday that 37-year-old Robert W. Thomas Jr. pleaded guilty to enticement and receiving and distributing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Thomas’ attorney hasn’t commented. A phone message was left after business hours at his law office.

The Cuyahoga (ky-uh-HOH’-guh) Falls resident was arrested in January after an online sting. He was accused of asking an undercover officer in Alliance to arrange a marriage between him and the officer’s daughter.

The officer says Thomas told him he wanted the girl for sex.

Thomas is scheduled to be sentenced July 24.

(AP) — About the only thing former President Ronald Reagan doesn’t have named after him is a mountain, not one recognized by the federal government anyway.

Now, Republican Rep. Joe Heck of Nevada is pushing a bill that would name a part of Frenchman Mountain, located just east of Las Vegas, after the nation’s 40th president.

The House Natural Resources Committee approved Heck’s bill by voice vote Wednesday, but not before some Democrats had fun with the issue.

One suggested that Yucca Mountain, site of a proposed nuclear waste depository, be named after Reagan. Another suggested the whole planet.

The bill is likely to pass the House but stall in the Senate. A spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he has higher priority land bills for Nevada, his home state.

(AP) — A Texas jury that convicted a Houston woman of fatally stabbing her boyfriend with the 5 1/2 -inch stiletto heel of her shoe is set to hear more testimony before deciding on a sentence.

The punishment phase in the trial of Ana Trujillo (troo-HEE’-yoh) is scheduled to begin Wednesday morning in Houston. The jury took just two hours to reach a verdict in the case Tuesday.

Prosecutors say Trujillo used the shoe to strike 59-year-old Alf Stefan Andersson at least 25 times in the face and head during an argument at his Houston condominium last June.

Trujillo’s attorney argued that the 45-year-old woman was defending herself against a violent attack by Andersson.

Andersson’s friends have described him as kind, mild-mannered and not violent.

(AP) — A police chief says a 16-year-old boy “was flashing two knives around” when he injured 19 students and a school police officer who eventually subdued him with the help of an assistant principal at a high school near Pittsburgh.

Murrysville police Chief Thomas Seefeld says the bloody crime scene left behind Wednesday at Franklin Regional High School is “vast” and may take a couple of days to process.

Police haven’t named the suspect who was taken into custody but says he’s being treated for a minor hand wound.

Investigators haven’t determined a motive but say they’re looking into reports of a threatening phone call between the suspect and another student the night before.

At least two of the victims were in critical condition, though doctors expect all victims to survive.

(AP) — Volkswagen is telling U.S. dealers to stop selling its most popular cars until transmission fluid leaks can be fixed.

Spokesman Scott Vazin says the order covers about 25,000 Jetta, Passat, Beetle and Beetle convertible models equipped with 1.8-liter, four-cylinder engines and automatic transmissions. They were built after Feb. 1.

An “O-ring” that links a transmission fluid line to a cooler can fail and cause leaks, potentially causing a fire. Vazin says no fires or crashes have been reported. VW plans to replace the defective parts.

About half the cars remain on dealer lots. Vazin says VW is working with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on how to fix the cars that have been sold.

He says owners with questions about their cars should contact their dealers.

(AP) — A man who served almost a quarter-century behind bars has been cleared of a New York City killing that happened when he was about 1,000 miles away on a Disney World vacation.

Jonathan Fleming was in tears as he hugged his lawyers and family Tuesday. Relatives said “Thank you, God!” after he was freed.

Defense attorneys and prosecutors sought the dismissal of Fleming’s conviction in the 1989 shooting of Darryl Rush.

An eyewitness recanted her testimony soon after Fleming’s 1990 conviction, but he lost appeals. The defense asked prosecutors to review the case last year.

Lawyers Anthony Mayol (MAY’-ohl) and Taylor Koss say the defense found new witnesses. They say the review produced a hotel receipt putting Fleming in Florida hours before the shooting.

 

(AP) — A Detroit woman has been sentenced to at least 23 years in prison for fatally stabbing her 8-year-old daughter just weeks after a court referee refused to have the girl removed from her care.

Wayne County Judge Margaret Van Houten issued the sentence in accordance with an agreement between prosecutors and Semeria Greene. Greene appeared in court Monday.

She pleaded guilty in March to second-degree murder. Her maximum prison term is 50 years.

The Michigan Department of Human Services tried to remove Tameria Greene and her siblings from the home in November 2012. But court Referee Richard Smart declined, suggesting instead that their mother should move out or place the children elsewhere.

The state didn’t appeal. Tameria was killed five weeks later.

(AP) — The investigative file of a Florida girl who authorities say committed suicide in 2013 because of bullying reveals a more complete portrait of her and her life.

Twelve-year-old Rebecca Sedwick had a spotty relationship with her father, was concerned by her mother and stepfather’s fighting and had just broken up with an online boyfriend before she jumped to her death at an abandoned cement plant.

Days after Rebecca’s death, authorities charged two young girls with stalking because they bullied her in-person nine months before her suicide. The charges were later dropped for one of the girls and the other entered into a diversion program.

However, the file contains scant evidence of cyberbullying, even though officials publicly described cruel text and social media messages as reasons for Rebecca’s suicide.

(AP) — Philadelphia police say a 2-year-old got hold of a loaded gun and fatally shot his 11-year-old sister.

Police say the fatal bullet struck the girl’s shoulder and then traveled to her chest.

Lt. John Walker says the mother was home Saturday morning with four children in a master bedroom. Police say the shooting occurred when she left the room at about 10 a.m.

The girl was rushed to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, but died a short time later.

Police believe a male friend had brought the gun to the house that day.

Prosecutors are investigating to determine if any charges will be filed.

The shooting occurred in the city’s Mantua section.