Crime

The man accused of killing a Vietnam War veteran and grandfather of eight after an assault at a Rock Hill restaurant over the weekend lowered his head in court, cried and apologized to the dead man’s family, swearing he “did not mean for this to happen the way it did.”

A Chester City Council member was arrested Wednesday night and charged with two counts of threatening the life of a public official.

Odell Williams, who is 70 and African American, used racial slurs against the Chester City Police Chief Andre Williams and Assistant Police Chief Gene Gilmore, both of whom are also African-American, according to the arrest warrant.  The warrant says he met them in the Chester City Hall restroom after a council meeting on March 10.

Charlotte City Manager Ron Carlee officially "banned the box" on Friday. Applicants for city jobs will now no longer see a question about prior convictions on the initial application. The exception will be for public safety jobs – like police officers or airport employees.

Applicants will be asked about criminal history much later in the process -- in some departments after several rounds of interviews.

Despite an uptick in 2013, the number of homicides in Charlotte-Mecklenburg remained near historic lows. But some neighborhoods continued to struggle with the violence that has plagued them for decades.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police investigated 58 homicides in 2013, six more than in 2012. Taken together, however, the last five years reflect a sustained decrease in killings.

Four homicides occurred within a block of each other along West Boulevard, near a former housing project notorious for crime.

 Bond was set for about $500,000 each for the Monroe couple charged with child abuse for allegedly handcuffing an 11-year-old boy by the ankle to their front porch. Dorian Harper and Wanda Larson -- a supervisor in the county's department of social services -- had their first court appearance in front of a Union County judge Monday morning. On Friday, an animal control officer found the child while responding to a complaint about a loose animal. While looking for the animal, he followed a trail that led to the child's secluded home.