Coronavirus News

With coronavirus spiking, Dallas-Fort Worth is urged to double down

Residents are really encouraged to stay diligent and wear masks.

Photo courtesy of Solbari

COVID-19 cases are rising dramatically in Fort Worth, in Texas, and across the country, prompting warnings from lawmakers and health officials to double back down on anti-virus practices.

On November 9, Tarrant County hit a record with 1,525 new COVID-19 cases, putting the total number of cases at more than 75,000.

Dallas County also saw a record number of daily new COVID-19 cases on November 11, with 1,401 — the largest number so far, with the exception of days when backlogs were recorded.

Hospitalizations across North Texas and Dallas County showed a comparable jump.

Texas, meanwhile, became the first state in the U.S. to top 1 million confirmed cases since the pandemic began, with a tally of 1,010,364 infections. Texas has the 10th largest number of cases in the world, and has surpassed the country of Italy.

Other states are seeing increases, too. According to the Associated Press, hospitals in Tulsa, Oklahoma, are full, and North Dakota has a shortage of qualified personnel. The U.S. has already logged one million cases in November, not even halfway through the month.

CNBC predicts that the U.S. is headed for a "dark winter," a "COVID Hell," the "darkest days of the pandemic."

At a press conference on November 12, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said that the COVID-19 outbreak is "spiking dangerously," and that Dallas County could reach its highest COVID hospitalization census yet if people do not begin to change their behavior.

Officials are especially concerned about the upcoming holiday and the likelihood that people are going to gather in groups.

"Small gatherings are some of the most problematic," Jenkins said. "People need to celebrate with their nuclear family, and celebrate at home."

He also cautioned against Black Friday and against big parties, and recommended limiting any kind of interaction with other people.

"Now is the time for those who have given into COVID fatigue and lost their resolve to wear a mask and avoid crowds to strengthen their commitment to public health and our economy by doing the things that we know will keep us safe," Jenkins said.

Health experts strongly recommend wearing a mask when around people who do not live in your home, maintaining a six-foot distance, washing your hands, avoiding crowds, and avoiding unnecessary trips.

Jenkins said we are entering "the most dangerous phase we have seen to date" in the COVID crisis.

health

Death Penalty

Tarrant County man gets death for murder of convenience store owner

Tarrant County Sheriff's Office

Christopher Turner

A man received the death penalty for his 2020 cold-blooded execution of a convenience store owner.

According to a release from the office of Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney Phil Sorrells, a Tarrant County jury sentenced Christopher Karon Turner, 48, to death on November 20 for executing convenience store owner Anwar Ali during a robbery. Tarrant County Assistant District Attorneys Charles Boulware and Allenna Bangs represented the state.

On March 27, 2020, at around 6:15 am, Turner, a convicted felon, wore a surgical mask and a glove and entered the Super Big Country Mart in an unincorporated area of Tarrant County south of Fort Worth. There, he held a gun to the back of Anwar Ali, the 62-year-old store owner, and walked him through the store.

Ali did everything Turner demanded, including opening the cash register to give him money. And yet Turner forced Ali into the bathroom and onto his knees, and shot him in the neck. Ali was discovered, dead in the bathroom, about an hour later.

Turner fled the store in Ali's Toyota minivan with the money from the register and Ali's wallet. In the van, he found more than $50,000 cash in a black bag. Over the next few days, Turner went on a shopping spree, buying cars, jewelry, drugs, clothes, and more. He and others used cash and a credit card that belonged to Ali.

Turner fled to Colorado where U.S. Marshals arrested him. On his body they found a firearm which was determined to be the murder weapon.

"This was a premeditated, cold-blooded murder," Boulware told the jury. "From the moment he was charged with this crime, he has tried to escape responsibility."

Bangs noted that before this trial began, Turner obtained the names of jurors and their telephone numbers, and gave them to an inmate charged with murder. At the trial on November 20, as Bangs addressed the jury, Turner tried to hold up a sign to the jury but was handcuffed by Sheriff's deputies who removed him from the courtroom, while he yelled out "she lied."

Ali came to the United States from Pakistan decades ago to pursue the American dream. Ali's son, Hussein, spoke in the courtroom after the death penalty was announced. "Thank you for giving us justice," Ali said. "I hope there are no more devils like this person."