ODDLY ENOUGH | Pa. man shot teen over her last cigarette

ODDLY ENOUGH

Pa. man shot teen over her last cigarette

PITTSBURGH

Pittsburgh police say a 32-year-old man shot a teenage girl in the knee after she refused to lend him her last cigarette.

Lamarr Marshall remained in the Allegheny County Jail Wednesday on aggravated assault and weapons possession charges.

Police didn’t identify the 16-year-old victim but say Marshall encountered the girl in the city’s crime-ridden Homewood neighborhood about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Police say a witness saw Marshall shoot the victim, who police interviewed at a hospital. She’s expected to fully recover.

Lt. Dan Herrmann tells WTAE-TV that said Marshall became angry and argued with the victim because she refused to lend him a cigarette because it was her last one.

Marshall has a criminal record for robbery and other offenses, and also was charged with illegally possessing a weapon because he’s a felon.

Facing trial despite burned evidence

PITTSBURGH

A federal judge says a Pittsburgh woman can stand trial on drug charges even though police mistakenly burned her change purse and the heroin it contained.

Tiona Jones’ attorney had argued her defense depended upon showing the jury the purse could have been zipped closed with the drugs in it, which Jones claims it was during a May 2008 traffic stop.

The 32-year-old woman faces drug and weapons offenses because a city police officer says he saw the drug sticking out of the open purse. That led to searches of her vehicle and home that yielded nearly four ounces of heroin and two weapons charges.

Senior U.S. District Judge Gustave Diamond ruled Tuesday that police didn’t purposely thwart the defense by burning the items after cleaning out an evidence room due to a ventilation problem.

Purring penguin big hit on YouTube

CINCINNATI

A penguin that makes a laughing sound when its belly is rubbed at the Cincinnati Zoo has become one of the latest YouTube video stars.

The Little Penguin named Cookie can be seen on the video making a high-pitched purring sound when his handler tickles him. The website says the video was posted in January 2010 and has been watched more than 843,000 times.

Zoo spokesman David Oehler says Cookie hatched at the zoo about 8 years ago and that the noises are part of normal courting behavior. He says the video was made more than a year ago by a volunteer doing a blog.

Oehler says Little Penguins are about a foot tall and are from the coasts of New Zealand and Australia.

Associated Press