Police arrest 2 teens in Ga. baby killing

This photo provided Friday, March 22, 2013 by Sherry West, of Brunswick, Ga., shows her son Antonio Santiago celebrating his first Christmas in December of 2012. West says a teenager trying to rob her at gunpoint Thursday asked "Do you want me to kill your baby?" before he fatally shot 13-month-old Antonio in the head. West was walking with Antonio in his stroller near their home in coastal Brunswick. The mother was shot in the leg and says another bullet grazed her ear. Police are combing school records and canvassing neighborhoods as they search for the gunman and a young accomplice a day after the slaying Thursday. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Sherry West)

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — The mother of a baby gunned down in his stroller says she has no doubt a teenage suspect jailed in the slaying is the man who killed her 13-month-old son, but family members say he wasn't anywhere near the scene.

"That's definitely him," Sherry West said when she saw the jail mugshot of 17-year-old De'Marquise Elkins, who is charged as an adult with first-degree murder. Police also arrested a 14-year-old who has not been identified because he's a minor.

"We're trying to determine which one actually was the shooter," police spokesman Todd Rhodes said Saturday.

But West said she was certain the gunman was the older suspect. "He killed my baby, and he shot me too," she said.

West was shot in the left leg above her knee, and she says another bullet grazed her left ear. She says the gunman then shot her son,Antonio Santiago, in the face.

But Elkins' older sister said her family knows he wasn't involved in the shooting.

"My brother wasn't anywhere near that area as far as we know — not the scene or the shooting," she said Saturday. She said she didn't know whether Elkins had a lawyer.

"He couldn't have done that to a little baby," she said. "My brother has a good heart."

She said that her brother had been living in Atlanta and returned to Brunswick only a few months ago. Typically, he would come by her house in the morning and they'd go to breakfast. But Friday morning, police came to her door as her brother was approaching along the sidewalk.

"The police came pointing a Taser at him, telling him to get on the ground," she said. "He said, 'What are you getting me for? Can you tell me what I did?'"

On Thursday morning, West had just been to the post office a few blocks from her apartment and was pushing Antonio in his stroller. She said a teen, accompanied by a smaller boy, asked her for money, and she said she had none.

"When you have a baby, you spend all your money on babies," she said. "They're expensive. And he kept asking and I just said, 'I don't have it.' And he said, 'Do you want me to kill your baby?' And I said, 'No, don't kill my baby!'"

One of the teens fired four shots before he walked around to the stroller and shot the baby in the face.

Police announced the two arrests Friday afternoon after combing school records and canvassing neighborhoods searching for the pair. The chief said the motive of the "horrendous act" was still under investigation and the weapon had not been found.

West said she hopes prosecutors pursue the death penalty in the case. At her apartment Saturday, she had filled several bags with her son's clothes and diapers to donate to charity.

"My baby will never be back again," West said, sobbing. "He took an innocent life. I want his life, too."

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Associated Press Writer Christina A. Cassidy in Atlanta and news researcher Monika Mathur in New York contributed to this report.

Suspect in Colorado killing had "bad streak": governor

(Reuters) - Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, a longtime family friend of a prime suspect in the shooting death of the state's prisons chief, said on Sunday that the now-dead suspect always seemed to suffer from a "streak of cruelty and anger."

Hickenlooper said he and Jack Ebel, the father of white supremacist ex-convict Evan Ebel, had been friends for more than 30 years and that he had spoken to him since the 28-year-old parolee from Denver emerged as a lead suspect in the shooting last Tuesday of Tom Clements, executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections.

"From the beginning, his son just seemed to have this bad streak, a streak of cruelty and anger," Hickenlooper told CNN's "State of the Union."

"They did everything they could," he said. "They worked with Evan again and again but to no avail. He had a bad, bad streak."

Evan Ebel was killed by police on Thursday after a high-speed chase through Decatur, Texas. He is also a suspect in the killing of pizza delivery man Nathan Leon in Denver, police there have said.

Hickenlooper said an investigation is continuing and that "all the signs" in the Clements killing seemed to point to Ebel, whom he confirmed had been connected to a prison-based white supremacist group.

"We can't see clearly what a motive was," he added.

The governor, who said his own personal security had been beefed up recent days, did not rule out the possibility that the Clements killing had been ordered by jailed white supremacist gang leaders targeting public officials from behind bars.

Lieutenant Jeff Kramer, a spokesman for the sheriff's office in El Paso County, Colorado, said on Sunday that Evan Ebel was definitely considered a suspect in the death of Clements, 58, who was shot on Tuesday when he answered the door at his home about 45 miles south of Denver.

Shell casings found at Clements' home were the same brand and caliber of the Hornady 9-mm bullets Ebel fired at Texas police, according to the search warrant filed in Texas for police to search Ebel's Cadillac.

"We're still waiting for the results of some ballistics testing that we're doing up here in Colorado ... to see if the gun used in Texas is the same gun used in the Tom Clements homicide case," Kramer said.

Ebel was a member of a white supremacist prison gang, the 211 Crew, and had been paroled in the Denver area, a law enforcement official said.

Authorities have said they were looking for ties between the death of Clements and the January killing of Mark Hasse, a prosecutor in the Kaufman County District Attorney's Office. Kaufman County is east of Dallas.

(Reporting by Tom Brown; Editing by Corrie MacLaggan and Christopher Wilson)

Trains carry millions of gallons of oil across ME

Trains carrying millions of gallons of crude oil across Maine; volume growing

Clashes at French anti-gay marriage protest

Video: Raw: 1000s Join Paris Anti-gay Marriage Rally

A protestor clashes with riot police officers during an anti gay marriage and gay adoption demonstration, in Paris, Sunday, March. 24, 2013. Thousands of French conservatives, families and activists have converged on the capital to try to stop the country from allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt children. The lower house of France's parliament approved the "marriage for everyone" bill last month with a large majority, and it's facing a vote in the Senate next month. Both houses are dominated by French President Francois Hollande's Socialist Party and its allies. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

PARIS (AP) — Paris police used tear gas and batons to fight crowds who pushed their way onto the landmark Champs-Elysees avenue and toward the presidential palace as part of a huge protest against a draft law allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt children.

Hundreds of thousands of people — conservative activists, schoolchildren with their parents, retirees, priests — converged on the capital Sunday in a last-ditch bid to stop the bill, many bused in from the French provinces.

The violence took protesters and police by surprise, and suggested that the anti-gay marriage protests have become outlets for anger and disappointment in the presidency of Francois Hollande's presidency.

The lower house of France's parliament approved the "marriage for everyone" bill last month with a large majority, and it's facing a vote in the Senate next month. Both houses are dominated by Hollande's Socialist Party and its allies.

Sustained protests led by opposition conservatives in this traditionally Catholic country have eroded support for the draft law in recent months, and organizers hope Sunday's march will swing the Senate debate against it.

The first few hours of the protest were peaceful. But as it was meant to be winding down, about 100 youths tried to push past police barricades onto the Champs-Elysees, a tree-lined avenue that cuts through central Paris and draws throngs of tourists daily. In an indication of the sensitivity of the issue, protesters had been barred from marching on the Champs.

Police officers wrangled with the youths, some with shaven heads and others wearing hoods or masks, and fired tear gas to force them back. Gaining momentum, more and more protesters took side streets to reach the avenue, blocking a key intersection — and some made it within 100 meters (yards) from the grounds of the president's Elysee Palace.

Police fired more tear gas, primarily at aggressive youths at the front of the crowd. Protesters of all ages were among those coughing and clutching their stinging eyes.

"Hollande, Resignation!" they chanted, before breaking into the French anthem, "La Marseillaise."

When Hollande took office in May, most voters supported the idea of gay marriage and few expected it to face much of a challenge. But disillusionment with the president's failure to stem rising unemployment or revive the economy — a much bigger concern for the French — have fueled resentment at the "marriage for everyone" bill.

An official with the Paris police headquarters said two people were arrested and no injuries were reported in Sunday's clashes. The police official was not authorized to be publicly named in accordance with police policy.

The official estimated that 300,000 people took part in Sunday's march, slightly less than a similar march in January. Organizers estimated some 1.4 million people took part in Sunday's march, more than in the January protest.

Polls indicate a shrinking majority of French voters back gay marriage, which is legal in about a dozen mostly European nations and some U.S. states. But polls show French voters are less enthusiastic about adoption by same-sex couples.

Frigide Barjot, the stage name of an activist who has led protests against the bill, insisted the anti-gay marriage movement wasn't a lost cause, declaring: "It's the second round, sir. It's not the last battle."

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Associated Press writer Angela Charlton and videojournalist Bastien Inzarrualde in Paris contributed to this report.

C. African Republic president overthrown by rebels

Associated Press/Ben Curtis, File - FILE - In this Jan. 5, 2013 file photo, government security forces in a pickup truck drive past a demonstration calling for peace as negotiators prepare for talks with rebels from the north, in downtown Bangui, Central African Republic Saturday. On Friday, March 22, rebels took the town of Damara, beginning a new march to take the capital, Bangui, said a rebel spokesman. Panic spread throughout the capital, with the neighborhoods closest to the northern gate of the city emptying out, as frightened residents locked up their shops, packed their bags and yanked their children out of school. Banks and government offices closed early.(AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 8, 2013 photo, Francois Bozize, president of the Central African Republic, speaks to the media in front of a map of the country in the colors of its flag, at the presidential palace in Bangui, Central African Republic. On Friday, March 22, rebels took the town of Damara, beginning a new march to take the capital, Bangui, said a rebel spokesman. In power since 2003, Bozize is himself the result of a rebel occupation. After years as a high-ranking military officer, Bozize launched a rebellion in 2001, taking Bangui two years later, when the then-president was out of the country.(AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — Rebels overthrew Central African Republic's president of a decade on Sunday, seizing thepresidential palace and declaring that the desperately poor country has "opened a new page in its history." The country's president fled the capital, while extra French troops moved to secure the airport, officials said.

The rebels' invasion of the capital came just two months after they had signed a peace agreement that would have let PresidentFrancois Bozizeserve until 2016. That deal unraveled in recent days, prompting the insurgents' advance into Bangui and Bozize's departure to a still unpublicized location.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the unconstitutional seizure of power and called for the swift restoration of constitutional order, U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

The U.N. chief appealed for calm and reiterated that the January peace agreements "remain the most viable framework to ensure durable peace and stability in the country," Nesirky said. Ban also expressed deep concern at reports of serious human rights violations.

Witnesses and an adviser to Bozize said rebel trucks were traveling throughout the town on Sunday hours after the palace was seized. Former colonial power France confirmed the developments, issuing a statement that said French President Francois Hollande "has taken note of the departure of President Francois Bozize."

"Central African Republic has just opened a new page in its history," said a communique signed by Justin Kombo Moustapha, secretary-general of the alliance of rebel groups known as Seleka.

"The political committee of the Seleka coalition, made up of Central Africans of all kinds, calls on the population to remain calm and to prepare to welcome the revolutionary forces of Seleka," it said.

Central African Republic, a nation of 4.5 million, has long been wracked by rebellions and power grabs. Bozize himself took power in 2003 following a rebellion, and his tenure has been marked by conflict with myriad armed groups.

The rebels reached the outskirts of Bangui late Saturday. Heavy gunfire echoed through the city Sunday as the fighters made their way to the presidential palace, though the president was not there at the time.

"Bozize left the city this morning," said Maximin Olouamat, a Bozize adviser. He declined to say where the president had gone.

The last public news of Bozize's whereabouts came Friday, when state radio announced he had returned from a visit to South Africa.

Coverseas Worldwide Assistance, a Swiss-based crisis management firm that has contacts on the ground, said it believed Bozize was headed toward neighboring Congo. Bangui is located along the Oubangui River that separates the two countries.

Congolese government spokesman Lambert Mende, however, said he had no knowledge of Bozize crossing into Congo.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement Sunday that the United States was "deeply concerned about a serious deterioration in the security situation" in Central African Republic.

"We urgently call on the Seleka leadership which has taken control of Bangui to establish law and order in the city and to restore basic services of electricity and water," the statement said.

Rebels from several armed groups that have long opposed Bozize joined forces in December and began seizing towns across the sparsely populated north. They threatened at the time to march on Bangui, but ultimately halted their advance and agreed to engage in peace talks in Libreville, the capital of Gabon.

A deal was signed Jan. 11 that allowed Bozize to finish his term, which expires in 2016, but the rebels soon began accusing the president of failing to fulfill promises made.

They demanded Bozize send home South African forces who were helping bolster the country's military. They also sought to integrate some 2,000 rebel fighters into Central African Republic's armed forces.

Earlier this month, the rebels again took control of two towns and threatening to advance on the capital.

Late Saturday, Bangui was plunged into darkness after fighters cut power to much of the city. State radio went dead, and fearful residents cowered in their homes.

An unspecified number of French citizens have taken refuge in the French Embassy, a French diplomat said on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to be publicly named according to Foreign Ministry policy. The diplomat said extra French troops were brought in to secure the Bangui airport.

Hundreds of French soldiers already were in the country, some of whom were sent in to protect French interests in the former colony. Bozize had appealed to Hollande for help, but the French president said he would not be protecting the government. Other French soldiers have been providing technical support and helping to train the local army, according to the French defense ministry.

South African Brig. Gen. Xolani Mabanga, the country's military spokesman, said there had been "intense" fighting this weekend between rebels and South African forces. "Our base was attacked by the rebels as they were advancing toward the capital," he said.

"We have suffered some casualties," he said. He declined to provide the number of casualties, pending the outcome of an investigation.

The peace deal also had created a prime minister post, which was given to opposition leader Nicolas Tiangaye, who had been sheltering at a military base for forces from regional neighbors known as FOMAC.

The United States urged the rebels to "provide full support" to Tiangaye, citing the "continued legitimacy" of the peace deal signed in January.

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Krista Larson reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writers Christopher Torchia in Johannesburg and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.