Aunt says she’s planning to adopt 9-year-old boy
Child’s mother killed; rescue crews search Ohio River for his brother, 3.
Neko Lattimore was watching TV in December when he heard his brother was reportedly missing and possibly thrown alive into the Ohio River in Cincinnati.
So he called his great aunt, Marcia Cooper, 59, who was at the grocery store.
“We just kept hoping he was alive,” she said.
On Sunday, rescue crews spent nearly six hours searching the Ohio River for the bodies of 3-year-old Nylo Lattimore and 6-yearold James Hutchinson, both of whom allegedly were thrown into the river. Neither boy was found, according to officials.
Neko, 9, is a third-grader at Miller Ridge Elementary School in Middletown, Cooper said. She plans to adopt him. Another of the Lattimore brothers has been adopted, she said.
Nylo and Neko, who have different fathers, are the sons of Nyteisha Lattimore, 29, who is believed to have been killed on or about Dec. 5 in her Cincinnati apartment, according to Cincinnati police. Her body was found about a week later near the Purple People Bridge, and the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office said she died of stab wounds.
Nylo’s blood was discovered on a blanket recovered with his mother’s body, and his stroller was found in the river.
Desean Brown, 20, has been charged with two counts of aggravated murder, abuse of a corpse and evidence-tampering. Hamilton County prosecutors have announced a death penalty indictment against Brown, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges. He’s being held without bond at the Hamilton County Justice Center.
Cooper said she was “devastated” when she heard what happened to Nylo.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she told the Journal-News Monday morning. ”It’s been tough.”
Then last week, she learned that James Hutchinson, 6, of Middletown, allegedly was killed by his mother, Brittany Gosney, 29, then dumped into the Ohio River near Lawrenceburg, Ind.
“Opened the wounds again,” Cooper said. “People talk about ‘closure,’ and while I want them to find Nylo’s body, I’m not sure that’s good. I hate to think that boy was thrown in the river.”
Ohio State men’s basketball hit mid-February on fire.
The Buckeyes have gone cold with the recent rise in temperatures outside, though.
Here are six things to know about Ohio State men’s basketball as the regular season gives way to the postseason:
1. The Buckeyes have lost four in a row and dropped to No. 9 in the Associated Press poll.
Ohio State went from unranked in early January to No. 4 in the first poll in February.
Since winning 92-82 at Penn State on Feb. 18 to run their winning streak to seven games, the Buckeyes (18-8, 12-8 Big Ten) haven’t tasted victory.
They lost a back-and-forth thriller at home to Michigan on Feb. 21 (92-87) then faded down the stretch at Michigan State four days later and dropped a 71-67 decision.
After being routed by Iowa 73-57 on the last day of February, the Buckeyes lost another close game to close out the regular season Sunday.
Ohio State led Illinois 68-64 after a 3-pointer by E.J. Liddell with 3:48 to play, but the visitors scored the last nine points to claim a 73-68 win.
2. The competition has been nothing to sneeze at.
The fourth-ranked Fighting Illini were the third top 10 team Ohio State played in the last four games.
Michigan was ranked No. 3 while Iowa was No. 9, and that trio is all in the top five this week.
Michigan State was unranked when they knocked off the Buckeyes, but the Spartans have won four of their last six and received a vote in the poll this week, so they could be poised to live up to their typically-high preseason expectations.
Ohio State has the No. 7 strength of schedule in the country per
came into the game the No. 4 scorer in the conference (17.3 ppg).
Baker scored 29 points in WSU’s 73-62 victory and afterwards Raiders coach Trina Merriweather minced no words:
“I maintain Angel Baker is one of the best guards in the nation and most definitely one of the most difficult to defend because she can score at all three levels (driving to the hoop, mid-range jumpers and from 3-point range.)”
Unexpectedly Hale — who made seven of 10 field goal attempts — was nearly as problematic for the Vikings.
Some of what she did can be seen in the box score — she finished with a season-high 16 points and nine rebounds — but her biggest contribution may be the way she energizes her team when she gets in. She talks and claps and Monday she added one visual that was perfect.
The game had been a back-and-forth affair for most of the first three quarters and was tied
53-53 with less than two minutes left in the third when Hale got the ball inside. In true Tank fashion, she overpowered her defender to score the lay-up and she got fouled in the process.
She let out a yelp of satisfaction as her pumped-up teammates congratulated her. As she stepped toward the free-throw line, she gave
a sudden muscleman — whoops make that Muscle Woman!!! — pose. And then, even though she’s not known for her proficiency at the foul line, she calmly made the free throw.
It gave WSU a threepoint lead that quickly turned into a 9-0 run, something Cleveland State never recovered from.
The Vikings would score
just nine points the rest of the game.
The victory put the 17-7 Raiders into the Horizon League title game against in IUPUI today at noon. The winner advances to the NCAA Tournament, something WSU has done two other times in program history.
In 2014, the Raiders ended up a No. 14 seed and were trounced by
Kentucky. Two years ago — after winning a program-record 27 games — they were a 13 seed and played Texas A&M at the Aggies’ home arena and lost by 23.
Hale was on that team, but was sitting the season out as an academic redshirt to work on her grades.
She had starred at Crete-Monee High School outside Chicago and once she got to play again last season, she showed her hoops prowess. She was named the Horizon League Freshman of the Year.
This season there were some times she struggled.
“She big and strong — she’s got a pro body — but she had to take everything up a notch this year,” Merriweather said “Sometimes a player will underestimate what things are going to look like the following year.
“She had to understand she couldn’t be the same player she was a year ago. She surprised people last season, but this year they knew she was coming so she was going to have play a little harder.
“Today she did just that. She rebounded. She focused on finishing and she hit some huge free throws.”
Hale credits a lot of her development to Frierson, who she goes against in practice every day.
Merriweather laughed when those confrontations were brought up:
“We have a drill called Beast Mode. I can’t take credit for it, I actually stole it from somebody, but it’s really good for both Ty and Tank.
“They’re in there against each other, one on one for 10 possessions, offense and defense.”
“They really go at it. Sometimes we get tears. Sometimes blood depending on how it goes.
“Usually when I mention Beast Mode, they’re PO’d. But I said, ‘Anything that makes you that upset, is going to make you better. You’ll see.’ ”
And that’s just how it worked out Monday.
It’s why the Cleveland State Vikings may well have been parroting a Chicago doctor from so many years ago.