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FORT LAUDERDALE - A judge cleared the way Thursday for a hearing Monday on whether convicted killer Lionel Tate should return to prison for allegedly robbing a pizza delivery man, after denying Tate's handwritten motion for a change of venue and a gag order.
Broward Circuit Judge Joel Lazarus said a change of venue is not appropriate in a probation case and he cannot prevent news media from covering the hearing as Tate, 18, wanted.
In 1999, when Tate was 12, he killed a 6-year-old family friend. He was convicted of first-degree murder and became the youngest person sentenced to life in prison in modern U.S. history. The conviction was overturned on appeal. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was given a sentence of probation.
Tate was arrested in the pizza robbery in May. Prosecutors also allege that he stole a gun belonging to his mother, a state trooper, and gave it to a friend.
Couple held in baby's fatal alcohol doseMIAMI - A couple accused of feeding their 3-month-old baby a lethal dose of alcohol surrendered to New Jersey authorities Thursday, police said.
Mardala Derival and Mackenson Dantus are charged with aggravated manslaughter. Authorities say they fed their daughter, Makeisha Dantus, a mixture of water, sugar and vodka in an attempt to quiet her on Feb. 13, 2004. The infant's blood-alcohol level was 0.47 percent, according to a medical examiner's report.
Derival and Dantus weren't charged until Oct. 28, a delay police attributed to their lack of cooperation.