true crime stuff

I don't know why i'm drawn to true crime stuff. Why? I don't know. While i'm watching more of this, i'm not sure. My mom was kinda freaked out at that point. While it's kinda weird to listening to it's also awesome. my friends had been like, "I'm stronger than they are" as many people wouldn't be able to do the things i do.

Suicide of Joyce Marilyn Meyer Sommers

Joyce Marilyn (Meyer) Sommers, also known as the Christmas Tree Lady, was a formerly unidentified American woman who died by suicide in a cemetery in Annandale, Virginia on December 18, 1996. She was identified more than 25 years later on May 11, 2022. Life: Sommers was born to Arthur Meyer and Margaret Meyer and had four siblings. She was raised in Davenport, Iowa and later attended Iowa State University. Sommers then relocated to Los Angeles to work at a magazine. After she left the magazine, she taught second grade at a local Los Angeles elementary school. In the 1960s, Sommers and her mother had an argument when she felt that her mother was treating her terribly. Sommers then moved to Seattle and married but later divorced in 1977. She then moved to Tucson, Arizona where her siblings visited her. This was the last time they saw her. Her siblings later hired private investigator to locate her, but this failed. In the early 1990s, Sommers's brother traveled to Tucson in an attempt to locate her, only to find the trailer she had lived in abandoned. In it, he discovered a book, "The Target Child", written by Sommers. In the book, she wrote about her supposed abusive upbringing. Suicide: On December 18, 1996, a little after 9 a.m., workers at the Pleasant Valley Memorial Park Cemetery in Annandale, Virginia, discovered the body of a woman. She was found near the section of the cemetery where infants are buried. They then called police. It was discovered that she put a bag over her head and secured the bag with tape. She was wearing a red shirt, a sweater, blue pants, and an Eddie Bauer jacket. An 8 in (200 mm) Christmas tree and her backpack were found next to her. She was also found to be listening to a cassette tape using a tape player and headphones. Two notes were found with one saying, "Now I lay me down to sleep, soon to drift to the eternal deep. And though I die and shall not wake, sleep sweeter will be than this life I forsake." The second message read "Deceased by own hand. Prefer no autopsy. Please order cremation, with funds provided. Thank you, Jane Doe." Two $50 bills were found with her. One of the bills was for the cemetery, and the other bill was for the coroner. Authorities determined that she committed suicide by suffocation, but were unable to identify her. Investigation: The then unidentified woman, nicknamed the Christmas Tree Lady, was reported to be a Caucasian woman, had a height of around 5 ft 0 in (1.52 m), and was between 50-70 years old. Alcohol and valium was found in her system. Hoping to find a match, authorities looked at many nearby cases which involved missing people, but they failed. In 2000, a colored sketch of the Christmas Tree Lady was released. In January 2022, the Texas lab, Othram, conducted tests using DNA. The tests were made possible by donations. In May 2022, Othram discovered that a man, David Meyer, could be the Christmas Tree Lady's brother. After David Meyer looked at the drawing of the Christmas Tree Lady, he was not able to say whether or not she was his sister because the last time he saw her was decades ago. The detectives were then told to go to his sister, Clough. After seeing the drawing, Clough said that she was definitely Joyce. DNA was taken from Clough, and the Christmas Tree Lady was identified as 69 year old Joyce Marilyn Meyer Sommers. She was not reported missing.

scary stuff

Last night during the zoom call i did with my family I said i hadn't gotten around to watching the Jeffrey Dahmer documentary. While i'm intrested in it I hadn't seen it as I've been trying to get used to the life post pneumonia. It's cool and i've basically listened to all the Jeffrey Dahmer stuff on youtube.

Getting out of my comfort zone

While I'll be "getting out of my comfort zone" I might be getting out of the "comfort zone" with a friend or different people since it'll be going out of the areas I'm comfortable with. It'll be great to do new things. While I'm excited my friends might be intrested in this as well as other things.

Holiday videos

Since the holidays are coming up on my youtube channel will be getting some holiday videos. They're awesome since those aren't the usual "all year round" type of videos I take. While I'll be doing my usual videos they will be a welcome addition since they're decent videos.

water weight loss

Since I got out of the hospital my brother had gotten me a water bottle i'd expressed intrest in getting as a present. While it's nice it also helped me lose a few pounds. While I'm still overweight as well as having some issues it's good to have. I like water bottles. I needed one before the yoga class I took before the pandemic shut things down. I'd gotten that 1 and then stopped using it temporarily during the early days of the pandemic. I hadn't realized I'd gotten dehydrated and why I was acting weird due to it. That caused my acting weird. Anyways, the way I used the water bottles helps with my health.

new diet

So once I'd gotten out of the hospital my mom and I have been trying in order to get healthy. I've been trying to eat as much vegetarian food as I can since I'm mostly a vegetarian. Much of this has been because I had severe pneumonia, which isn't good since I learned that I've got some iron issues.

Amtrak

I've used the Amtrak a few times. I've only used the dining car a couple times since i'd gone with my family. i'd actually gotten coffee once and then my family got some stuff. I've taken the amtrak twice on my own in order to get to and from job stuff and then once with my family for the vacation. It was kinda awesome since i'd gone places without my family and then with them.

scoliosis corrections

i know i've mentioned this a bunch but i'll correct a few statements: i was in pain when i got hurt i'm not "getting taller" i'm just "standing up straighter" and the accidents are actually a blessing in disquise since i'm able to walk around easier with a lot less pain and i'm having my clothes fit differently and am able to do a closet clean out. While it was annoying since i'm unable to see the muscle condition back again and that my muscles around my scoliosis is different since I got it "straightened out" a bit. While i was able to walk around a lot more made it better since i have gotten better about being stronger. Since i'm able to walk longer, it's amazing since it's because i'm having getting healthier.

water bottle

when i was in the ICU, i'd gotten intrested in the water bottles i'd seen my brother and dad had. they're cool looking. my mom and i were like "yay." I'd posted a little more while i was sick. I'd thanked my brother who'd kindly gotten me that water bottle on social media. 1 of my friends and neighbors said it was so sweet of him to get me that, which it was.

updating my friends

i'd updated my friends since i'd gotten worse but i'm better now. some of my friends know I'm getting to the seeing my friends as well as i'm feeling and way better.

Reading

I'm trying to get back into reading for pleasure. while I do read it was occasionally and not for very long. when I was in the ICU I had some time to read but I couldn't because most were out of arm's reach. I am "devouring" books since i'm super intrested in reading. Plus, since i've gotten the hand issue after my hospitalization i've been unable to get into physical writing due to my dominant hand being hurt. I've been reading like crazy. I've "finished" 3 books and am still "working" on another 3. That's kinda insane with the amount of books I've been reading. That's been helpful since it's "brain food" that i've been reading and has been making me "hunger" for the books i've been wanting to "get thru" since reading that much and "that fast" means my brain is wanting to get thru more of it and kinda getting my brain working for my writing later.

Getting out of my comfort zone

when I was in the ICU with pneumonia i decided to get out of my comfort zone and I'm going to do things I've never done before such as getting Gelato whlith my best friend and hopefully I'll run a 5k. it's hopefully going to motivate me to get off my butt and do things I'd never done before which is awesome and will get me out into the world.

vacation and illness

so a few days after the temple rededication, my family and I went on a vacation to virginia beach via public transportation. it was annoying to get up so early but whatever. we went and it was fun. unfortunately, at the tail end i'd started getting sick. i'd started having breathing issues, which wasn't out of the blue as a month prior i'd had bronchitis so maybe we thought, "oh no Jackie's got another case of bronchitis or something." My brother thought maybe i'd had asthma like him. No one expected i'd gotten pneumonia, which is what i'd gotten. i'd had to spend about 8 days there. luckily i'd had amazing friends and family to help support me.

church

today wasn't normal church. it was a rededication of the LDS temple in DC area. i loved it. my family isn't LDS but they're supportive of the religion.

sleep issues

i've been sleeping weirdly recently. granted, I had bronchitis a couple weeks ago. i'm trying to get back on a normal sleep schedule. also, trying to eat better since the sleep schedule being weird. since i've been up early-ish today i was able to get a good routine. hopefully, i'll be able to get back to a normal sleep schedule soon. Especially since i'm going on vacation next week and i'll need to be up earlier while i'm with the family.

hot chocolate

i made a hot chocolate tonight. it's not just that i'm cold but it's good. i needed this to help me sleep. while i'm happy about it it's great tasting.

vacation

i'm going on vacation next week. i'm so excited. we went on a family reunion trip last month and it was fun. this time we're using amtrak and a bus to get where we're going. it'll be awesome. the boys will kinda know what it's like to be me in terms of getting around places. anyways we're going to virginia, which is horrible in terms of traffic so we might be have a better time going there.

good tips

i got into this youtuber Jordan Page. She's a good financial guru. we've occasianally do her "challenges" once in a while. Especially since we're trying to save some money. While we're not following them to a T we do our own spin on them. they're good for us once in a while. we like them and it's great for the family budget. Also, if you use what you've got and then feed off them they'll be able to cut down your food budget. i literally ate vegetarian for a week that i had in the fridge, freezer and pantry i didn't even need to get anything from the store or ask a friend of mine to get something from the store aside from a bag from snacks and things when i went out, meaning i didn't need to do a weekly food shop as i'd had a decent amount of food in the house. once we'd done something similar to what Jordan calls "shelftember". She'd said try and spend as less as we can. that's pretty good that we did it, since we'd only spent about half of what we'd usually spent but had enough to feed us for that month. my family was able to save it during that month.

2016 shooting of Baton Rouge police officers

On July 17, 2016, Gavin Eugene Long shot six police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in an ambush attack, in the wake of the shooting of Alton Sterling. Three died and three were hospitalized, one critically; of the officers who died, two were members of the Baton Rouge Police Department, while the third worked for the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office. Long, who associated himself with organizations linked to black separatism and the sovereign citizen movement, was shot and killed by a SWAT officer during a shootout with police at the scene. Background: The shooting occurred during a period of unrest in Baton Rouge, though it is unclear if the events are related. Baton Rouge was experiencing ongoing protests following the officer-involved killing of Alton Sterling less than two weeks before on July 5. On July 7, the FBI's New Orleans field office issued a warning about "threats to law enforcement and potential threats to the safety of the general public" stemming from the death of Sterling. Within the previous week, four suspects were arrested in connection with an alleged plot to kill Baton Rouge police officers, which was described as a credible threat by law enforcement officials. Ten days earlier, five police officers were killed in a mass shooting in Dallas. Shooting: Long arrived at Hammond Aire Plaza, a shopping complex on Airline Highway, sometime before 8:40 a.m. CT and began scouting the area in search of police officers. He first spotted a police patrol vehicle parked at a B-Quik convenience store; it belonged to a sheriff's deputy who was working security in the area. Long parked his vehicle behind an adjacent building, got out, and prepared to shoot, but found that the vehicle was empty. He then drove north and noticed a police officer washing his vehicle a short distance away, but the officer left before Long could get close. By 8:40 a.m., police received a call about a suspicious person carrying a rifle near the plaza. However, due to Louisiana's open carry law at the time, the potential threat of Long was downplayed, with one dispatcher describing him as a "subject walking with a coat and an assault rifle." Authorities were going to question him and had no probable cause to take him into custody. When officers arrived at the scene, they found Long clad in black and wearing a face mask behind the Hair Crown Beauty Supply store on the 9600 block of Airline Highway. Shots were reportedly fired two minutes later. Another two minutes afterwards, there were reports that officers were down. According to investigators, Long fired upon the first responding officers, fatally wounding three. He first shot and killed a police officer, and shot and wounded his partner who fell to the ground. A third officer tried to help the wounded policeman, but Long engaged him in a gunfight as he approached, and killed him with multiple gunshot wounds. Long then shot the first wounded officer twice more, killing him as well. Long then turned around and shot another police officer standing outside a store and then moved to another part of the complex, where he shot and wounded two sheriff's deputies who were investigating his car. At 8:46 a.m., he was reported to be near Benny's Car Wash. Officers fired on Long from behind the cover of patrol cars. Eventually, a SWAT team responded to the scene; one member took aim at Long from about 100 yards (91 m) away and killed him at about 8:48 a.m. Louisiana State Police said Long was the only person involved in the shooting. The entire shooting lasted for less than ten minutes. Officers used a robot to check Long's body for explosives. A preliminary investigation determined that Long was targeting officers and ignoring civilians. A preliminary autopsy indicated that in addition to being shot by the SWAT officer, Long suffered multiple other gunshot wounds. Police recovered from the crime scene an IWI Tavor SAR 5.56x45-caliber semi-automatic rifle and a Springfield Armory XD 9mm pistol. A third weapon—a Stag Arms M4-type 5.56-caliber semi-automatic rifle—was recovered from Long's rental Malibu. Officials believed Long had intentions of attacking the Baton Rouge police headquarters and continuing to kill officers. Victims: Two Baton Rouge Police Department (BRPD) officers and one East Baton Rouge Parish sheriff's deputy were killed in the shooting, while three others, a police officer and two sheriff's deputies (Police Officer Chad Montgomery was grazed by a single bullet in the head, Sheriff's Deputy Cpl. Nicholas Tullier was shot and wounded three times in the head, abdomen and upper arm (Tullier later succumbed to his injuries on 05-05-2022), and Sgt. Bruce Simmons was hit once in the left arm) were injured. The injured were transported to Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, which said it received five patients from the shooting, three of whom later died from multiple gunshot wounds. Of the surviving two, one was in critical condition, being on life support as of August 3, and the other in fair condition. The third injured officer was transported to Baton Rouge General Medical Center and treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The critically injured officer was moved to TIRR Memorial Hermann, a recovery facility in Houston, Texas, on November 16. The officers killed were identified as: -Deputy Bradford Allen 'Brad' Garafola, 45, who had been with the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office since 1992. -Officer Matthew Lane Gerald, 41, a Marine who had been with the BRPD for four months. -Corporal Montrell Lyle Jackson, 32, who had been with the BRPD since 2006. -Sergeant Nicholas Tullier , 46, succumbed to his injuries on 05-05-2022, he was posthumously promoted to the rank of Sergeant by the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office. Perpetrator: Gavin Eugene Long was identified as the shooter. He was a resident of Kansas City, Missouri. In May 2015, Long filed papers in Jackson County, Missouri, to change his legal name to Cosmo Ausar Setepenra, but court officials there said he never completed the process of legally changing his name. Long was believed to have traveled more than 700 miles (1,100 km) from his hometown to Baton Rouge using a rental car. He was also believed to have been in Baton Rouge for "several days" prior to the shooting. Long committed the shooting on his 29th birthday. Long's body was released to his family on July 26, and a funeral was planned in Arkansas for a later date. Personal life: Long grew up in Kansas City and graduated from high school in 2005. His parents divorced when he was eleven, and his father was neglectful of Long, according to court records. He failed to appear on scheduled visits with his son while the divorce was pending, and did not deliver birthday or Christmas presents to him. Court records described one instance where Long was picked up by his father, but dropped off at a day care facility at a casino shortly after. Long served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a data network specialist from August 22, 2005, to August 1, 2010. He was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant. During his military service, he was deployed to Iraq from June 2008 to January 2009. He was also assigned to units in San Diego, California, and Okinawa, Japan. Long was awarded the Good Conduct Medal, along with an Iraq Campaign Medal, a National Defense Service Medal, a Navy Unit Commendation, and others. Following his military service, Long told relatives and friends that he suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He reportedly had prescriptions for Ativan and Valium, both anti-anxiety drugs; Lunesta, a sleep aid; and citalopram, an antidepressant. Health records from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reportedly indicated contacts with Long from 2008 to August 2013. The VA records said that Long told doctors that he contracted PTSD after a friend showed him photos of maimed and decapitated bodies while they were in Iraq. In November 2011, doctors contradicted Long's suspicions of PTSD and instead diagnosed him as having "adjustment disorder with depressed mood." They eventually concluded that he was mentally stable, with no evidence that he was a threat to himself or others. According to Long's mother, the VA then sent him a letter denying him further treatment on the grounds that his disorder was not related to his military service. Long's mental health and related combat experience may have been a factor leading to the shooting. Long graduated from Central Texas College, attending the college's San Diego site at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and via an online education program from fall 2007 to summer 2011; he received an associate of arts degree in general studies. Long studied at Clark Atlanta University during the 2012–13 academic year. Long also spent one semester at the University of Alabama, in spring 2012, with his name making it to the Dean's List as a general business major. According to local court records, Long had no criminal record and was married for two years before the couple divorced. Views and statements: Long was identified as a "black separatist" by a law enforcement official. Mass shooting scholars said that Long displayed hallmarks of a "disgruntled, paranoid loner" (a common type of mass killer), with a narcissistic and grandiose personality. Social media posts indicated that he was an active member of the anti-government New Freedom Group. According to CNN, a card was found on Long's body, suggesting that he was a member of the Washitaw Nation, a group of African Americans associated with the sovereign citizen movement that originated in Richwood. In addition to changing his legal name, he claimed his nationality was "United Washitaw de Dugdahmoundyah Mu'ur", and expressed his support for the Moorish Science Temple of America, another African American organization associated with the sovereign citizen movement. However, Long disavowed all prior associations in a recent video, saying, "Don't affiliate me with nothing. ... I'm affiliated with the spirit of justice." In April 2015, while in West Africa, Long also became a member of a group dedicated to helping "Targeted Individuals" suffering from "remote brain experimentation, remote neural monitoring of an entire humans body." He asked to be put on the group's "buddy list", but he unexpectedly deactivated his account a month later. His mother said he once believed the Central Intelligence Agency was following him. He appeared as a guest on an online show discussing "Targeted Individuals", but downplayed his belief that he was being tracked, saying, "That's just a small aspect of me. It's not a complete picture of who I am." However, the show's host, who had frequent phone and email correspondence with Long, claimed that Long was adamant about being tracked during their communications. In a "rambling" series of YouTube clips, Long claimed to be a former Nation of Islam member and referred to Alton Sterling, a black man killed by Baton Rouge police officers on July 5, in online videos. Long operated his YouTube channel under his new legal name, Cosmo Setepenra, making references to oppression against blacks and police protests. At one point less than two weeks before committing the shooting, Long called the shootings of five Dallas police officers an act of "justice". In one video, he said, "One hundred percent of revolutions... have been successful through fighting back through bloodshed." In another, he said the act of peaceful protesting was a futile method based on emotion and was easily forgettable. Long also maintained a personal website in which he described himself as a "freedom strategist, mental game coach, nutritionist, author and spiritual advisor." The website contained dozens of additional videos and podcasts. Long wrote and self-published (also under the name "Cosmo Setepenra") three books about "how to be a strong man" and self-empowerment for black males. which all appeared on Amazon.com in October and November 2015. The books were described by the Los Angeles Times as "bizarre" works featuring a "combination of New Age-style jargon, pseudoscience, motivational bromides, health tips and racial theory." In the books, Long harshly criticized Western medicine, denied the germ theory of disease, and asserted that "the abundance of Melanin in Black humans produces a superior organism both mentally and physically." The books were pulled from Amazon.com after the shooting. According to one of his books, he spent two years in several African countries studying their histories and cultures. In addition to the books, Long wrote two diaries—one in 2014 and the other in 2015—where he shared "rambling thoughts" about philosophy, religion, and politics. Sahib Taylor, a nephew of Long, told The Los Angeles Times that his uncle would teach him about the importance of self-reliance, share his views on racism, and assert that "only advanced survival skills and decisive action" could overthrow the U.S. government. Taylor said that Long recently began sharing his beliefs that international corporations, federal banks, and political organizations were influencing ethnic groups for their own gain; and that the government was using police to control and kill people. Before the shooting: Within the preceding six months, Long visited the shooting range of a gun shop in Olathe, Kansas, and purchased a target that he used in shooting practice, according to an employee. The same employee also said Long did not purchase any firearms or exhibit any strange behavior at the store. In a ten-minute video, Long claimed that he arrived at Baton Rouge not to protest Sterling's death, but to educate local blacks. He also expressed his distaste for white people and mentioned Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party, in a rambling, one-sided conversation. He had previously made a similar recording using a body camera while visiting barbershops in Dallas sometime after the shooting there, to promote one of his books. A friend said that Long visited him in DeSoto, Texas, two days after the Dallas shooting; during the visit, Long obsessively watched video footage of Sterling's death and praised the Dallas shooter Micah Xavier Johnson, saying "at least he did something". The same friend said that Long also showed him a Washitaw Nation card and unsuccessfully urged him to join. Long's mother said that he would get upset at news stories of black men being shot by police, often renting cars and using them to drive to locations where such shootings occurred to pass out his books. Less than an hour before the shooting, Long purportedly emailed a three-page, handwritten letter, self-described as a "manifesto", to a Columbus, Ohio, musician whose YouTube videos he commented on. In the letter, Long described his belief that the shooting was necessary to "create substantial change within America's police force." He also wrote his belief that there was a "concealed war" between "good cops" and "bad cops", and that he had to attack "bad cops" as vengeance for perceived destruction that they continued to inflict on blacks. Aftermath: Although Long was said to have acted alone in the shooting, police arrested and questioned two other people in Addis as part of the investigation. They were later identified as Damarcus Alexander, a cousin of slain victim Corporal Montrell Jackson, and Alexander's friend Den'Trell White. According to them, police held them for seven hours, barring them from making any phone calls and refusing to give Alexander diabetic medication even after they were made aware of his condition. Both were eventually released without any charges being filed. At the time, Alexander was unaware of Jackson's death during the shooting. A spokesman for the Louisiana State Police responded to Alexander's claim of police mistreatment, saying, "No complaints or concerns have been brought to our attention." Following this shooting and a previous one in Dallas, Texas, that killed five police officers and wounded nine others, local law enforcement agencies across the U.S. began readjusting response strategies, with more officers being paired up in patrol vehicles. On July 28, the victims of the shooting were honored at a memorial service in Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge. Hundreds of people were in attendance. Governor Edwards, Vice President Joe Biden, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, and the wives of the victims made speeches during the service. Louisiana's open carry law: The shooting renewed attention on Louisiana's open carry law, which some law enforcement officials have expressed discomfort towards, believing openly carrying citizens could complicate police matters. Some elected officials have made calls for a reevaluation of the state's open carry law. However, previous attempts at altering state gun laws have resulted in failure due to an amendment to the Louisiana State Constitution in 2012, which gave strong gun ownership protection laws and required limitations of any kind to be faced with strict scrutiny. State Senator Jean-Paul Morrell remarked that gun control bills filed every year in the state are "almost universally unsuccessful." James Gill, a columnist with The Advocate wrote an op-ed addressing the state gun laws and their legal complications on August 11. Reactions: -President Barack Obama condemned the shooting in a statement and added, "These are attacks on public servants, on the rule of law, and on civilized society, and they have to stop." Later that day, he ordered for all flags in the U.S. to be flown at half-staff in honor of the victims. On July 22, Obama met with law enforcement officials in Washington, D.C., and pledged solidarity in the wake of this shooting and the one in Dallas. -Governor John Bel Edwards released a statement immediately after the shooting, saying, "This is an unspeakable and unjustified attack on all of us at a time when we need unity and healing." On the day after, he called the shooting "pure evil" and "a diabolical attack on the very fabric of society." In an interview, Mayor Kip Holden recommended police agencies across the U.S. to put their officers on high alert and urged Americans to be "vocal about their support for law enforcement". Legal: -On June 30, 2017, district attorney Hillar C. Moore, III released a report, clearing the officers who killed Long of wrongdoing. -In July 2017, injured deputy Tullier filed a federal lawsuit against several leaders of Black Lives Matter for inciting violence. The lawsuit was later dismissed. Death of Nick Tullier: Following nearly six years of treatment, shooting victim Cpl. Nicholas Tullier died on May 5, 2022 from complications due to injuries sustained during the shooting. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of Sergeant.