Kidnapped California boy found six years later

VALLEJO, Calif. — A boy kidnapped when he was just 2 weeks old was found six years later living with his mother's alleged killer.

Vallejo police Capt. JoAnn West said the child, Le-Zhan Williams, has been living under a false name and attending a Vallejo school.

"He was right under our noses," West said.

Latasha Brown, 22, was charged Friday with homicide and kidnapping. Her mother, Delores Ann Brown, 44, was charged with concealing a child.

The boy's great-grandmother, Riva Lee Boyden, said two detectives came to her house Friday night to tell her they had found the boy. "My life has completely changed in three hours," Boyden said. "I never thought this would happen."

The boy had been missing since May 17, 1996, the same day his mother, Daphne Boyden, 17, was killed and the home she shared with her grandmother was set on fire.

Man convicted in slaying of military sister-in-law

EL PASO, Texas — A man whose older brother asked him to kill his pregnant wife avoided the death penalty after a jury convicted him of murder rather than capital murder.

Rodney Reister, 26, was found guilty Saturday in the slaying of his sister-in-law, Fort Bliss Army Capt. Lynn Reister. He faces up to 99 years of prison when the punishment phase begins today.

Former Fort Bliss Sgt. Roger Reister, 28, was sentenced last year to life in prison for asking his younger brother and two soldiers to kill 30-year-old Lynn Reister. The pregnant woman was found in her home with her throat slashed in May 2001.

Rodney Reister told prosecutors his brother offered him $1,000 followed by more money from Lynn Reister's $250,000 life-insurance policy in exchange for killing the woman.

Prosecutors said Roger Reister was afraid his wife would get custody of their son in a divorce and that he might be punished by the Army for adultery.

Avian botulism taking big toll of birds on Lake Erie's shore

ERIE, Pa. — Researchers say they have counted more than 14,000 birds killed by avian botulism along Lake Erie this year, possibly the deadliest outbreak since the disease was discovered on Erie's shores four years ago.

Wildlife officials warned that the toll in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and Ontario is probably much higher because agencies are collecting only a fraction of the birds that die.

The worst of the outbreak should be over because colder weather has arrived and the birds most prone to botulism — such as loons and mergansers — are migrating, said Eric Obert, a researcher with Pennsylvania Sea Grant.

Scientists first discovered avian botulism on the shores of Lake Erie in 1999. Researchers believe they caught botulism by feeding on infected fish.

Two-house fire in Queens kills mother, 6-year-old son

NEW YORK — A fire ripped through two homes early yesterday, killing a mother and her 6-year-old son.

The blaze broke out in a two-story frame house in Queens, then spread to the neighboring home, police said. The houses are separated by a driveway.

It was not known what caused the fire or if the woman and child died in the house where the fire began.

The woman, in her 40s, and her son were taken to the hospital, where they were pronounced dead on arrival. Four firefighters were hospitalized and treated for minor injuries.