Mother arraigned

Mother arraigned
YOUNGSTOWN -- The 21-year-old mother whose infant daughter died after being removed from life support appeared via video for arraignment today in municipal court on a felony charge of child endangering. Judge Elizabeth A. Kobly set a 25,000 signature bond for Shareitta Buffington, of Almyra Avenue, and ordered that she be placed on electronically monitored house arrest. The jail will hold Buffington until the house arrest equipment, an ankle bracelet and a land-line phone without extras such as call forwarding, is hooked up. Buffington will be back in court at 11 a.m. Feb. 2 for a preliminary hearing. The warrant was issued Monday before the death of 71/2-month-old Kha-Niyah Williams. The baby died that evening at Akron Children's Hospital after spending the weekend on life support. Buffington is accused of leaving Kha-Niyah unattended in the water in a bathtub Friday evening. Kha-Niyah was face down in the tub when Buffington, who told police she'd left to fetch soap, returned. Buffington was captured Tuesday evening in Akron by members of the Mahoning Valley Violent Crimes Task Force and Akron FBI agents.
Grand jury gets cases
GIRARD -- Two of the young adults charged with trafficking in marijuana last week were arraigned in Girard Municipal Court on Wednesday. Danilo Comichista, 18, of Oak Street, and Zachary Diamond, 18, of East Howard Street, were bound over to a Trumbull County grand jury. The grand jury will examine the evidence and determine whether there will be an indictment. Ten young people, including six Girard High School students, were arrested Jan. 17 on charges of selling marijuana. Comichista is a student.
Flu closes school today
YOUNGSTOWN -- Harding Elementary School will be closed today due to an excessive number of pupil absences because of the flu. The closing, which is for just one day, includes the school's preschool program.
Road rage escalates
CAMPBELL -- An apparent road rage situation escalated into an attempted armed robbery Wednesday afternoon in the 500 Block of Tenney Avenue. Police said a Dominion East Ohio Gas driver was westbound on Tenney at about 2 p.m. and started to turn his vehicle left into a driveway. At the same time, another westbound driver tried to pass the Dominion vehicle. There was no collision, but the second driver stopped, got out of his vehicle and began yelling at the Dominion driver. The second driver then threatened the Dominion employee with a knife and demanded his wallet. However, the Dominion driver got back into his vehicle without giving up his wallet and called 911 for help. The second driver fled the scene in his car. Police said they have some leads in the case.
11,000 house fire
YOUNGSTOWN -- A fire at 107 S. Jackson St. that started in the attic around 1 p.m. Tuesday spread to the rafters and caused 11,000 to the vacant structure, the fire department said. Firefighters recommended that the house, built in 1917, be razed. The cause remains under investigation.
Plane crash probed
BUTLER, Pa. -- The Federal Aviation Administration has been called in to investigate the crash of a Cessna Citation II at the Butler County Airport. Pennsylvania State Police said the plane crashed just after 9 a.m. Wednesday at the Penn Township airport. A preliminary investigation showed that the co-pilot was at the controls during the scheduled landing and traveled beyond the runway and crashed into a fence, state police said. All four occupants had minor injuries, police said. The pilot was identified as Stephen T. White, 62, of Warrenton, Va., along with co-pilot Angela Aman, 42, of Stephens City, Va.; and two occupants, Kerry Dudley, 43, of Winchester, Va., a flight therapist, and Vicki Carr, 50, also of Winchester, Va., a flight nurse. All four were taken to Butler Memorial Hospital.
Rally about schools
BROOKFIELD -- A rally billed as "Save Our Schools" will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday on the Village Green near the gazebo. The peaceful rally is meant to start talks in the community over recent problems with the schools, said one of the parent organizers.