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  A Tennessee pastor has been sentenced to life in prison without parole after being convicted of raping a 5-year-old girl, while his wife was also found guilty of helping facilitate the abuse.   Benjamin Garlick, 35, was convicted of seven counts of aggravated rape of a child, six counts of aggravated sexual battery, solicitation of sexual exploitation of a minor and other child protection violations following a two-week trial in Rutherford County. According to the Murfreesboro Police Department, Judge Barry Tidwell sentenced Garlick to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole on the aggravated rape convictions. He is expected to be sentenced on the remaining convictions on November 10.   His 32-year-old wife, Shaantal Garlick, was convicted of two counts of facilitating aggravated rape of a child and two counts of aggravated child neglect. She is also scheduled to be sentenced on November 10.   The investigation began in August 2023 after police received...

  Singer Vanessa Blanca, who rose to stardom as part of GMA's Sugarpop before achieving massive success as a solo performer with her hit Dota o Ako, has died.   She passed away on Wednesday, August 19, aged 30.   Her cousin Ivy Ann Salaum Jubelag broke the news with a heartbreaking Facebook post while honouring the artist, who became famous after starring on the television programme Pop star Kids.   She wrote: "It is with the heaviest heart that I share the heartbreaking news of the passing of my beloved first cousin and little sister, Vanessa Blanca Quillo Rangadhol, who tragically passed away today, August 19, 2026, following an accident at the condominium where she was staying in Manila."   "At this painful time, we humbly ask everyone to please give her immediate family, especially her mother and loved ones, the time, space, and privacy they need to mourn and grieve."   In a separate post featuring a statement, it was explained that the performer "...

  Prosecutors showed photos from Tupac Shakur's autopsy at the Las Vegas trial of Duane "Keffe D" Davis, who is charged with orchestrating the 1996 drive-by shooting that killed the rap star.   Some members of Tupac Shakur's family had to step out of the courtroom Tuesday, August 18, before prosecutors showed the photos which have now made their way to the internet.   Other family members remained in the courtroom to face the grim facts of what happened to his body.   Davis, 63, could get life in prison if he's convicted of murder with a deadly weapon with the intent to promote, further or assist a criminal gang. He has pleaded not guilty.  His lawyer in the defense opening called the prosecution's narrative "fiction."   Lawyer Michael Sanft told jurors Davis wasn't previously charged, despite implicating himself in interviews and his memoir, because law enforcement knew that he was "full of crap."   Dr. Lisa Gavin, a forensic pathologi...

The latest trial over the death of Argentine football legend Diego Maradona was suspended on Thursday, August 20, over claims that kidney test results presented to the court came from his father.   Seven health care workers are accused of criminal negligence over the care Maradona received before his death at age 60 in November 2020, while he was recuperating from brain surgery.   The first trial was dramatically annulled last year after two-and-a-half months of hearings, following revelations that one of the judges overseeing it took part in a clandestine documentary about the case.   A fresh trial commenced in April and was nearing its conclusion when it was once again thrown into controversy.   The defense claimed that kidney test evidence produced at the trial belonged to Maradona's father, also named Diego, who died in 2015, not the star of the 1986 World Cup.   The court adjourned until August 27 to check whether the tests "correspond to Diego Armando Mara...

  Miss Grand USA, Mekyla Li has been stripped of her title just one week after she was crowned amid revelations of an alleged 2024 hit-and-run and a previous marriage.   Li’s short-lived reign was terminated, and she was released from the “Miss Grand USA Title and all associated duties” for violating the pageant’s rules, the organization announced in a statement.   “This decision was made in accordance with contractual policies outlined by the Miss Grand USA organization,” Miss Grand USA officials said in a statement.   Li, 27, is facing two felony charges stemming from an alleged hit-and-run in Los Angeles in November 2024, according to court records obtained by People Thursday.     Li was married to Danny Ray Bedwell from Aug. 9, 2018 to Dec. 31, 2019 — a status that appears to conflict with Miss Grand International’s eligibility rules, records also showed.   Pageant rules state contestants “cannot be or have been married or pregnant” and “must have ...