The body found in a park in Baytown, Texas, on Tuesday, December 28, identified as 15-year-old school track star Jania Tatum-Scott, reports say.
Details regarding her death haven’t been released yet, but according to the Baytown Police Department, they are investigating it as a homicide. Allegedly, young Jania had been shot in the chest and there was blood all around her at the time she was spotted, just three days after Christmas.
It was about 8:15 a.m. when police were called to Tejas Park in the 500 block of Hafer Ave, across the street from the girl’s mother’s apartment.
Jania’s mother, Angie Tatum, told ABC13 how her girl was loved by all her teachers at school and had big dreams of joining the Navy one day.
She added that her best friend had been taken from her.
In the meantime, she started a GoFundMe page to help her with the expenses. The page reads:
“Hello my name is Angie Tatum I am asking for help with financial responsibilities due to the brutal murder of my 15 year old daughter Jania.
“On the early morning of December 28, 2021 Jania was found deceased from a gunshot wound in her favorite park across the street from my apartment. Jania was a Sophomore at Sterling High School in Baytown Tx.
“She had many friends and she was loved by everyone including her teachers, coaches and the admin staff. This has devastated my family and the city of Baytown. I would greatly appreciate anything you can donate.”
Source: GoFundMe
According to the mother, she last saw her daughter on Monday, around 11 p.m. when she went to bed. She believes Jania left the house to meet up with someone that night because there was a half-eaten plate of food left behind.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Jania’s family. We hope the murderer would soon be brought to justice and receive the punishment they deserve. Rest in peace, Jania.
One of the reasons why some TV series are more successful than others are the characters of the show. Most times, it is because of this why more and more people tune in week after week.
People are eager to see how the characters’ lives unfold right in front of their eyes, and all the drama that follows. Of course, the actors behind those roles make the entire experience more attractive and more memorable.
Speaking of such shows, we can’t help but think of NCIS. Ever since September 2003, wide audiences from all around the world get to see how the lead investigators and their teams respond to intense criminal cases. The series was such success, that spin-offs followed.
Shutttterstock/Featureflash Photo Agency
One of the people who is in the core of this series is actor Eric Christian Olsen. Charming and talented, he had it all to make it big in the industry, and so he did.
Born on May 31, 1977, in Eugene, Oregon, to a father who was a professor of English, young Olsen became interested in storytelling. When he was in fourth grade, he took part in a school musical and that’s when his parents realized he could sing and act.
“I didn’t know he could sing. And he comes out on the stage, and I’m so nervous. And he turns around and faces the audience, and he puts his arms out, and he starts to sing,” Olsen’s mom told Entertainment Tonight. “I literally stood there with my mouth open because of his presence. And he wasn’t scared, he wasn’t nervous at all.
“His dad said to him, ‘If you’re a little nervous, that’s a good thing because that makes you better.’ And he got off the stage later and said, ‘I was really nervous, then I wasn’t nervous.’ He was just a natural. That’s when I knew there was something special about this kid.”
Photo by SGranitz/WireImage
His parents have always been very supportive and encouraged Olsen to pursue his passion.
While at university, he got enrolled on a 75 percent scholarship. In order to be able to pay for the rest, he turned to commercials which led to minor TV roles, including those in ER and Get Real.
What followed was his role in Pearl Harbor, which became a huge hit eventually and brought Olsen the recognition he deserved.
However, despite his success, he didn’t drop out of university. Although it took him some time, he graduated from Pepperdine University in Malibu, California in 2007.
“All those movies I did between ’98 and 2007, I was at the same time kind of juggling school. The reason that I finished, people kept saying, ‘Why are you continuing to go through school? You’ve done these movies, you’ve done this television, just forget about it.’ The reason I didn’t is because I think it’s probably the most important thing that we can do,” Olsen told LexDarling about his education.
“Especially right now in today’s job market, there’s nothing better than, I mean, whatever it takes. You take out the loans, we all do, we put ourselves in debt, but everyone that asks me, ‘I wanna be an actor, what should I do?’ I say, ‘Go to college.’ If you can go to college in Los Angeles or New York, where you can possibly do commercial work and audition at the same time, do it. Find something else that you love, that you’re passionate about, and major in that.”
Shutterstock/s_buckley
As he was in the process of making a good career for himself in Hollywood, he also put his knowledge from the culinary lessons he was taking into practice and worked as a chef at Le Cordon Bleu when he wasn’t filming.
“I knew I was going to be doing a pilot season, and the idea of just doing that without scattering in new information didn’t sound appealing,” he shared with Vulture.
“At culinary school, none of the things we use to define ourselves outside that world — actor, producer, student — none of that matters. It’s a magical art form.”
“I was only in there for six weeks of an eight-month course before I had to drop out to start filming, but I’ll go back,” he added. “You’re doing five hours a night, and you’re doing three entrees and two appetizers and side dishes and sauces, and you’ve got six stoves going, and there’s fire everywhere — and it becomes zen. It’s like a runner’s high.”
Shutterstock/Silvia Elizabeth Pangaro
Eventually, he landed the iconic role of Marty Deeks in NCIS: Los Angeles. And the rest…well, it’s history.
Besides building a successful career, Olsen also found time for love. He and his wife, Sarah Wright, tied the knot in 2012 and have three children together.
The story of how they first met is a great one. It was during the filming of The Loop in 2006 that they first laid eyes on one another. However, it wasn’t love at first sight. On the contrary, he believed that she only got the role because of her incredible looks, not her talent, and she thought he was a jerk. But soon after, he approached her and apologized.
The couple is one of the most adorable in Hollywood. They often share photos of themselves and their children.
Olsen shared a photo of him and his daughter having fun at the beach with the caption, “One of the benefits of heavy workouts during the pandemic is that you have the strength to huck your children higher into the sky…And that’s really the end goal of conscientious parenting, is it not?”
Sammy Davis Jr. was a versatile singer, dancer, and actor who shone to glory in a much different America than that of today. Being a black man in what many considered a white world forced Davis to overcome numerous obstacles throughout his life. Despite that, he still remains one of the greatest entertainers of all time. What Davis had to offer the world brought him international acclaim and he was awarded a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001.
Bert Verhoeff / Anefo
Davis was born in Harlem, New York, in 1925 by vaudeville performer Sammy Davis Sr. and vaudeville dancer Elvera Sanchez, who separated when Davis was just three years old. With parents who made a living from dancing, it wasn’t surprising he chose the same path and followed into their footsteps.
After the divorce, Davis lived with his dad and the two were touring around, with the public falling in love with then very young Davis who debuted by the name “Baby Sammy.” Soon after he experienced the world of entertainment, little Davis became part of the Will Mastin Trio consisting of him, his dad and ‘uncle’ Will Mastin.
Collections of the Black Film Center/Archive
Until he reached 18, Davis didn’t really experience any racism as his dad and Will did their best to protect him from the racist comments and people. But then, when the war started, Davis became part of the Army’s Special Services branch, which provided entertainment for the troops. Those years were filled with horror for young Davis. He was ridiculed by the soldiers because of his skin color. In his autobiography, Sammy: An Autobiography: with Material Newly Revised from Yes I Can and Why Me? he recalled how he was treated with disrespect. In one occasion, soldiers broke his nose and even painted him in white color.
Reddit
”Overnight the world looked different. It wasn’t one color any more. I could see the protection I’d gotten all my life from my father and Will. I appreciated their loving hope that I’d never need to know about prejudice and hate, but they were wrong. It was as if I’d walked through a swinging door for 18 years, a door which they had always secretly held open,” he wrote.
At that time, there was this sergeant Williams who stood by Davis’ side and taught him to use his talent and powerful vocal in the fight against those who disrespected him for who he was. “My talent was the weapon, the power, the way for me to fight. It was the one way I might hope to affect a man’s thinking,” Davis later said.
Wikipedia Commons
After the war was over, Davis turned to the Will Mastin Trio again which opened for Frank Sinatra at the Capitol Theater in New York. This performance would change the life of Davis forever as he would become a member of the famous The Rat Pack, a club of entertainers led by Sinatra.
Apparently, Sinatra was stunned by Davis’ talent and the two became best friends eventually, with Sinatra always sticking to Davis’ side and standing for him whenever Davis experienced racism. According to Davis, Sinatra would refuse to sleep in hotels where Davis wasn’t welcome because of his skin color and he would tear up contracts if Davis wasn’t allowed on stage.
“With all the racial tension I endured, I never turned around and hated right back,” Davis once said. “There was always some white guy like Sergeant Williams or Frank Sinatra, who helped me back up.”
Wikipedia Commons
Besides his huge success, Davis’ life was always followed by controversies. From converting to Judaism, to marrying the Swedish-born white actress May Britt, the singer of all-time hits ”What Kind of Fool Am I?,” ”Candy Man,” ”Mr. Bojangles” and ”I’ve Gotta Be Me,” had to overcome a number of obstacles. In 1954, Davis was involved in a car crash where he lost his eye. He also underwent a hip replacement surgery which prevented him from dancing on stage.
ABC Television
His interracial marriage wasn’t embraced by the wide public who believed back then that a black man wasn’t worth marrying a white girl. As a result, Davis’ performance at the President Kennedy’s inauguration was canceled as it was believed it would ruin the ball. This incident was later confirmed to be true by Davis’ daughter Tracy who published a book about her father. The book is based on conversations the father and the daughter had over the years. “He wanted me to keep it going. He wanted people to know his music and what he stood for and what he did and what kind of person he was. And I think he knew intuitively that I was the one to do it,” she later told CBC.
Tracy was Davis’ only biological child, but he had three adopted sons as well.
Davis died of throat cancer on May 16th, 1990 at 64. He refused to have a surgery because he wanted his voice to remain intact. Instead, he had undergone a number of chemotherapy treatments but the cigarettes that he enjoyed smoking, the alcohol, and the drugs took their toll. When he passed away, the city of Las Vegas turned off all its neon lights on the strip in his honor.
Wikipedia Commons
Davis will always be remembered as “Mr Show Business” and “the greatest entertainer ever to grace a stage in these United States,” and most of all, as someone who dedicated his life to make people happy and fight racism the best he could. Rest in peace, Sammy Davis Jr., you are a legend.
A Safe Haven law, or a safe surrender law, allows a parent to surrender their baby at a designated location without fear of being charged with abandonment. No question asked, the person surrenders their baby to someone who will know just what to do and how to act.
The law aims to prevent newborns from being dumped and placed in life-threatening situations.
Some five years ago, one desperate mother rang the doorbell of Station 75 fire department in Santa Ana, California. When Capt. Daryll Milliot who was on duty that day went out, he saw the woman holding a 15-hour-old baby. It was the first time for an infant to be surrendered at this safe heaven, that’s why this experience was unique for everyone involved, including firefighters Michael de Leon, Tyler Green, and Shawn Stacy.
YouTube / CBS Los Angeles
These men did their best to comfort the baby girl named Naomi while they were waiting for the social workers to arrive. Although they spent a very short time with the sweet baby, they still consider themselves “unofficial uncles.”
Shortly after Naomi was taken under the wing of the social services, she was adopted. Krysten and Kurt Snyder, who were in the process of adopting a 1-year-old boy at the time, were told about Naomi, and they didn’t hesitate before they said yes to adopting her as well.
“It’s so crazy — one moment we say, ‘Yes, we are taking a baby,’ and the next moment you are packing the car up, making the list for Target of all the things you need to get,” Krysten said.
YouTube / CBS Los Angeles
On the day of the adoption ceremony, the Snyders invited their daughter’s “uncles” to share the joy with them.
“It’s one of the highlights of my career by far, going to that ceremony and seeing her again because when it happens you don’t know what’s going to happen to the baby,” Michael de Leon told CBS LA.
YouTube / CBS Los Angeles
We are sad Naomi was surrendered just hours after she had been welcomed into this world, but we are at the same time happy she found a loving family to call her own.
George and Bonnie Miller are a loving elderly couple who has had a happy marriage. They were living independently from their son until old age took their freedom from them. Being 87 years old, both George and Bonnie have experienced health issues which make the living on their own quite impossible.
Among the rest, George suffers from memory loss, and Bonnie experiences difficulties walking on her own. On top of that, she has a broken shoulder. That is why their son Schon couldn’t leave his parents on their own.
As sending them to a nursing home wasn’t an option, this incredibly devoted man came up with an incredible solution that left his mom and dad in tears of joy. “One can’t live alone without the other and we didn’t want either one to end up in a nursing home,” Schon told StoryTender.
One of the things Schon and his wife Jennifer considered doing was buying an in-law suite, which is a small house located next to or attached to a single family home.
However, after they failed to find a suitable attachment, they did something even more amazing. They decided to clean their home’s basement and turn it into a refurbished suite for George and Bonnie. That way, Schon’s parents would be next to him and he could help them with their everyday tasks.
“We decided to blow a hole in the basement wall, get rid of our fun stuff like pool table, instruments, and karaoke area and move them in so we can take care of them,” Schon explained.
The moment the elderly couple realized what their son and their daughter-in-law had done for them, they just couldn’t hide their excitement. Luckily, the beautiful surprise, and even more beautiful reactions, were caught on tape.
Isn’t this how we all should treat and respect our parents? You can take a look at the heart-melting video below.
The attacks which took place on September 11, 2001, were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the militant Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda against the United States of America. 9/11 is the day no American will ever forget. It is one of the saddest events for the country because of all the lives lost and the panic and the terror which filled every citizens’ heart and life.
At the time the two hijacked American Airlines Flights crushed into the Pentagon, around 140 little children were at the Defense Department’s Child Development Center which is located approximately 200 yards from the Pentagon.
Among them were two sisters, Heather and Hanna Born, who were four months old and three years old at the time. Although they were way too little to remember that day, Hanna does have recollections of what was happening when they heard the crash.
On September 11th, 2001, terrorists hijacked American Airlines flight 77 and then flew it into the Pentagon. Hanna & Heather Born were in the Pentagon’s daycare center that day. 20-years later, they are carrying on the legacy of the members of the military killed in the attack. pic.twitter.com/UOJ5UOSIeK
Speaking to CBS News, Hanna said: “I was at the daycare facility playing and dancing with several of my classmates. We were having fun with the dancing ribbons, and the next thing I remember is standing in the hallway.”
All of the children were evacuated, and luckily, none of them was injured.
Remembering the brave service members entering the daycare center and making sure everyone was safe and sound inspired these two sisters to become members of the military themselves.
“I don’t think we know really any of the names of anyone involved,” Hanna said. “Despite not getting any public recognition for what they did that day, I just hope they know how their actions have inspired my sister and I and how we hope to pay it forward.”
2nd Lieutenant Hanna Born and midshipman Heather Born (Naval Academy’s class of 2023).
Today, Hanna is a Second Lieutenant. She’s also in graduate school at Georgetown University studying data science and analytics, dreaming of becoming a search-and-rescue pilot. Her sister, Heather is a midshipman in the Naval Academy’s class of 2023.
These two young ladies’ parents were part of the military as well, so they have role models to look up to and learn how to serve their country the best they can. Thank you!
When the time comes for expectant mothers to finally give birth to their new baby, the excitement involved in meeting this new form of life is overwhelming to many. For most mothers, it could also be a stressful period as nobody knows exactly how their labor is going to turn out. For Mercedes Casanellas, she went into labor 5 weeks earlier which required an emergency C-section.
The first time mother hailed from El Savador, and she was very excited to meet her newborn son. Like all mothers, she would endure anything in order to have a healthy baby. After giving birth to her new baby boy, she gave him a kiss before he was wheeled into the nursery. The next day, Mercedes instantly knew that something was wrong.
YouTube / ABC News
Her husband Richard Cushworth, from the U.K., was away in Texas at that time when his son was born. Therefore, he was not able to make it to the hospital in time for the delivery.
Thus, Mercedes had to endure her labor without him.
YouTube / ABC News
The morning after the C-section, a baby was brought back to her – but she noticed something different about him. She suspected that it was the wrong child. However, doctors insisted that it was the right baby, even blaming her suspicions on the medications she had been administered during and after her labor.
After a few days, Mercedes and her husband Richard flew back home to Texas with their baby. As the child grew older, he started to not resemble either of his parents.
DNA test
This led to Richard and Mercedes deciding to go for a DNA test to find out the truth – for once and for all. When the results came, their suspicions were confirmed to be correct. It was not their child whom they had been raising for 9 months, according to The Guardian.
YouTube / ABC News
An investigation was carried out to locate the couple’s biological son in El Salvador. After DNA testing all the mothers who were in the same maternity ward as Mercedes, the local authorities had managed to locate and contact the biological mother of the baby Mercedes and Richard took care of.
Reunited more than a year later
That mother on the other hand, raised Richard and Mercedes’ biological son. After some paperwork, Richard and Mercedes were able to finally bring their biological son, Moses, home to the United States. It was more than a year after she had given birth to him, and this story comes with a happy ending.
YouTube / ABC News
Watch this couple’s incredible story in the video below:
Never question a mother’s instinct – I cannot imagine how hard it must be to suspect that you’re raising the wrong child!
Dr. Younan Nowzaradan, also known as Dr. Now, is one of the best bariatric surgeons there are. Over the course of his long and successful career, he has helped many people change their lives drastically. He has also been part of the TLC reality show My 600-lb Life.
He is often times harsh with his patients only because he wants them to understand how serious their condition really is. Dr. Now is known as someone who has never turned any patient down, but sometimes, as he says it himself, there is nothing he could do for those who don’t want to help themselves.
Source: YouTube/TLC
One of those people who appeared on the show and clashed with Dr. Now is Marla McCants.
When she applied to be on My 600-Lb Life, she weighted staggering 800 pounds. She was morbidly obese and was eating practically all the time. She even had a small fryer that she kept next to her bed and fried chicken all the time. She wasn’t able to stand up and relied on her daughter Sierra for everything.
After undergoing the bariatric surgery, Marla refused to cooperate and stayed at the hospital longer than the rest of the patients. At one point, Dr. Now decided enough was enough and discharged her. However, Sierra begged the doctor to take her mother in again and a follow-up of Marla’s story was shot.
At this point, Marla already lost a significant amount of weight but she still refused to get out of bed and still had her fryer next to her. She was hoping to get an excess skin removal surgery, but she didn’t lose the desired amount of weight needed in order to be eligible for it.
Source: YouTube/TLC
Almost a year after she had undergone her bariatric surgery, Marla still couldn’t stand up.
“A couple of months ago, I was kind of depressed because things weren’t going as I thought they would go, but it is getting better,” she said. “I’m getting stronger.
“I came to Texas so I can get my life back and be here for my grandkids, but I still don’t feel like I am able to be in their lives like I should. So I can’t wait to get that surgery done,” she said in the follow up episode.
“I still have cravings, miss fried chicken,” she added. “I was trying to find a way that I can eat that, I tried using olive oil, but it don’t taste the same, and just eating meat is a little frustrating.
‘”All I can say is that I am human. You don’t have to starve yourself; you just have to make better choices.”
Source: Facebook/MarlaMcCants
The great thing is that everything turned out for the best for Marla eventually. She understood she had to let her daughter move on with her life and didn’t want to be burden any longer.
She even claimed that the production of the show manipulated with her case. Speaking to Rickey Smiley in a YouTube interview, she said, “Like, the scene where I was in the hospital. And I wouldn’t get up. You all don’t know why I didn’t get it up. First of all, they put it out there a year ahead, when actually it was only one month after I had the gastric bypass.
“I had lost seventy pounds the first month. I had my surgery February 13th of 2015; that episode aired March of 2015. So I had just lost seventy pounds. I was malnourished, I was in the hospital, and he wanted me to get up? Seriously? I’m bleeding on the bed and you want me to get up?”
Source: YouTube/SisterCircle
After the show, she lost 580 pounds and looks unrecognizable.
When she appeared on the show Sister Circle in 2019, she recalled the time she struggled with her eating disorder.
“I never want to go back to that place,” she explained. “The way I was treated. I never want to go back there. It’s lonely.
”I firstly want to get out there that food is an addiction. I’m always going to have that mindset. I struggled with it,” she added.
”The way I was treated…you never want to go back there. You should never judge a book by it’s cover. Everybody has a story, everybody has roots that they have to get to.
“For those people [who think it’s gross with people on the show], they are just ignorant,” she added. ”You can overcome your struggles and fears, you can do what I did.”
Marla regained control of her life and is now a true beauty and a huge inspiration for others who are about to go through the transformation she went.
