ASSISTANT principal Left blind by delinquent student

By: Elijah Broom

The student, still enraged, threw a chair at her, which she then caught and used to block 2 more chairs that were thrown at her and another assistant principal. Then, before she could react, the student threw a wooden hanger at her, hitting her in the eye, and popping it out of the socket. Rogers was then quickly airlifted to Parkland Medical Center in Dallas for emergency surgery. The doctors were able to reinsert her eye, but they believed it would leave her permanently blind. 

After the inciting incident, the student was taken into detainment, where he would wait for his trial. However, the student has not faced any charges from the court, due to the fact that he has a mental disability.

"It's not the child's fault per se, but it is the child's fault. It has to be dealt with. You can't just say, "You know, this person has a mental condition so we'll let it go,’" commented attorney George Ashford. 

Ms. Rogers says that the root of the problem is that Texas schools are vastly underfunded, and called out Governor Greg Abbot for failing to pass a bill for public school funding.

"It's wrong to take money from grossly underfunded schools. I've been in education for 30 years, and I am a proud product of public schools. I believe in public school education, but what happened to me should never happen to another educator. Mr. Abbott, release the funds because you are also culpable for what happened to me."

DALLAS, TX - Dallas police arrested 83-year-old Willie Jones in the 1981 murder of Virginia White, a cold case that had remained unsolved for more than 40 years. Jones, who was already in jail on a parole violation charge for another sexual assault, is now also charged with capital murder in White's murder.

Virginia White, who was 81 at the time, was found dead in her residence on the 4100 block of Furey Street on December 14, 1981. She was reported to have markings on her neck that were “consistent with strangulation.” Her murder, along with sexual assault, baffled police for decades. When White passed away, her family became worried because she didn't respond to the phone. Members of her family visited her residence and searched for missing items like her wallet. They also removed bedding before the police arrived, which made it hard for detectives to obtain fingerprints from the crime scene.

The case was cold for decades with no new leads or suspects. That all changed in 2024 when Detective Andrea Isom reopened the case and discovered evidence from the 1981 original case that was never sent in for analysis. Investigators, with DNA technology today, were able to extract a male DNA profile from the evidence. The DNA was matched in November of 2024 to Willie Jones.

Jones denied knowing Virginia White or being a part of her murder when he was interrogated by the police. His denial notwithstanding, DNA testing found him guilty in a match with "probabilities of less than 1 in 10 trillion." The affidavit of the case said that "Suspect Jones denied that he would ever have sexual intercourse with a woman of that age and continued to deny any involvement in her death.”

Jones was already incarcerated on a parole violation for another sex assault when the DNA match was made. He is now charged with capital murder, and it is not immediately known whether he has a lawyer or when his bond will be set. The arrest is a significant break in the decades-old case, showing how new DNA technology is able to solve crimes that had been considered unsolvable.