Around the state

Man held in wife's slaying commits suicide in jail

SANFORD -- A former nightclub manager charged with his wife's murder hanged himself while his cellmate attended church services, Seminole County Jail officials said.

Charles Edward Cowart, 52 and the former manager of the posh Citrus Club, used a sheet to hang himself Sunday from a pipe running along the ceiling, sheriff's Lt. Scott Ballou said.

Cowart confessed to strangling his 36-year-old wife, Cathy Ann Cowart, with his hands and a necktie during a Dec. 18 argument, according to court documents. The couple had an 8-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter.

"I think they held on to the hope that they would see their father in spite of what happened," said Marvin Powers, Cathy Cowart's father. "Now, they've lost both parents."

Children removed from unsanitary Miami home

MIAMI -- Six young children were taken into state custody Monday after police found them living in a home without running water or food and with human waste on the floor.

Miami police were sent to serve an eviction notice to Osvaldo Mendiluce, 37, and Anaisa Fernandez, 29. After entering the home, they saw the unsanitary conditions and charged the two adults with child neglect, Miami police spokesman Bill Schwartz said.

The six children, ranging in age from 7 to under 1, were delivered to officials from the state Department of Children and Families, Schwartz said.

Toilets were backed up with cigarette butts, a bathtub was clogged with filthy water and soiled mattresses were stacked in one of the rooms. The family had been living rent-free in the home for five months while the property was being sold, police said.

It could not be immediately determined Monday when Mendiluce and Fernandez will make their first court appearance.

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