Colorado shooting victim is great student, avid horse lover

 The parents of the Arapahoe High School shooting victim said, "she needs your continued prayers" in a statement that also offered details about the17-year-old girl's medical condition. By Becky Bratu, Staff Writer, NBC NewsThe 17-year-old senior in a coma after being shot point-blank at a Colorado high school was described by her family as a “woman of principle” and by a fellow student as “amazing and so sweet.”Claire Esther Davis is a senior at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colo.She was wounded Friday when student gunman Karl Halverson Pierson, 18, entered the school building armed with a shotgun and multiple rounds of ammunition that he purchased legally a week earlier, Sheriff Grayson Robinson said Saturday afternoon. Authorities said the attack lasted just 80 seconds."His intent was evil and his evil intent was to harm multiple individuals," the sheriff said.Upon entering the school, Robinson said, Pierson fired one round down the hallway. He then shot Claire, who just happened to be sitting nearby with a friend as he headed toward the library. Claire suffered severe head trauma and remains in critical condition at Littleton Adventist Hospital, her family said in a statement read by Robinson. The sheriff emphasized that authorities don't believe Claire and the shooter were friends. Robinson said Claire was an innocent victim who was in the wrong place at the wrong time."I believe Claire Davis is an innocent young lady," Robinson said, adding that the motive in the shooting was  seen "as some type of retaliation" against a school staff member. Robinson said that Pierson was subject to verbal disciplinary action from the school's debate team coach, but denied reports that he had been kicked off the debate team. "I choose to never use his name again in public," Robinson said about the shooter.Claire's family said in a statement Saturday that she is in a coma and is listed in critical but stable condition."The first responders got Claire to the right place, at the right time, and the doctors and hospital staff are doing a wonderful job taking care of her," the family said."We appreciate your continued good thoughts and prayers, and will provide updates as her condition improves."Fellow Arapahoe students Saturday held prayer vigils for Claire, who was known for being outgoing, a good athlete who loved horses and a great student, The Denver Post reported, adding that the teen had recently placed second in an equestrian competition and is a member of the Colorado Hunter Jumper Association.A neighbor told the newspaper Claire was also the best babysitter in the community. "She took care of our 5-year-old," the man, who did not want to be identified, told the Post. "She was well-loved. I believe she wanted to go into nursing — I know she had already been accepted to a number of colleges already."Fellow student Avery Griggs, a sophomore, told the newspaper that Claire is "one of the nicest people I've met at Arapahoe.""She is amazing and so sweet," Avery told the Post. Friends and well-wishers posted prayers on Twitter, and some students collected money to help pay for her medical expenses."I feel like it's going to make us a stronger senior class and school as a whole," Chris Davis, an Arapahoe senior who is not related to Claire but helped organize the fundraising effort, told The Associated Press. He said she has a lot of friends, always seems happy and loves horses. This story was originally published on Sun Dec 15, 2013 9:47 AM EST

Colorado shooting victim is a great student, Avid horse lover

 The parents of the Arapahoe High School shooting victim said, "she needs your continued prayers" in a statement that also offered details about the17-year-old girl's medical condition. By Becky Bratu, Staff Writer, NBC NewsThe 17-year-old senior in a coma after being shot point-blank at a Colorado high school was described by her family as a “woman of principle” and by a fellow student as “amazing and so sweet.”Claire Esther Davis is a senior at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colo.She was wounded Friday when student gunman Karl Halverson Pierson, 18, entered the school building armed with a shotgun and multiple rounds of ammunition that he purchased legally a week earlier, Sheriff Grayson Robinson said Saturday afternoon. Authorities said the attack lasted just 80 seconds."His intent was evil and his evil intent was to harm multiple individuals," the sheriff said.Upon entering the school, Robinson said, Pierson fired one round down the hallway. He then shot Claire, who just happened to be sitting nearby with a friend as he headed toward the library. Claire suffered severe head trauma and remains in critical condition at Littleton Adventist Hospital, her family said in a statement read by Robinson. The sheriff emphasized that authorities don't believe Claire and the shooter were friends. Robinson said Claire was an innocent victim who was in the wrong place at the wrong time."I believe Claire Davis is an innocent young lady," Robinson said, adding that the motive in the shooting was  seen "as some type of retaliation" against a school staff member. Robinson said that Pierson was subject to verbal disciplinary action from the school's debate team coach, but denied reports that he had been kicked off the debate team. "I choose to never use his name again in public," Robinson said about the shooter.Claire's family said in a statement Saturday that she is in a coma and is listed in critical but stable condition."The first responders got Claire to the right place, at the right time, and the doctors and hospital staff are doing a wonderful job taking care of her," the family said."We appreciate your continued good thoughts and prayers, and will provide updates as her condition improves."Fellow Arapahoe students Saturday held prayer vigils for Claire, who was known for being outgoing, a good athlete who loved horses and a great student, The Denver Post reported, adding that the teen had recently placed second in an equestrian competition and is a member of the Colorado Hunter Jumper Association.A neighbor told the newspaper Claire was also the best babysitter in the community. "She took care of our 5-year-old," the man, who did not want to be identified, told the Post. "She was well-loved. I believe she wanted to go into nursing — I know she had already been accepted to a number of colleges already."Fellow student Avery Griggs, a sophomore, told the newspaper that Claire is "one of the nicest people I've met at Arapahoe.""She is amazing and so sweet," Avery told the Post. Friends and well-wishers posted prayers on Twitter, and some students collected money to help pay for her medical expenses."I feel like it's going to make us a stronger senior class and school as a whole," Chris Davis, an Arapahoe senior who is not related to Claire but helped organize the fundraising effort, told The Associated Press. He said she has a lot of friends, always seems happy and loves horses. This story was originally published on Sun Dec 15, 2013 9:47 AM EST

Newly married couple found murder victim in Craigslist, says police

Mike Staugaitis / APMiranda K. Barbour is taken to the office of a district judge on Tuesday.SUNBURY, Pennsylvania - a couple married for only three weeks attracted a man to death with an ad on Craigslist because they wanted to kill someone together, police said.Elytte Barbour told officers before his arrest, on Friday night that he and his wife, Miranda, had planned to kill before, but his plans never worked until last month when Troy LaFerrara responded to an on-line publication that promised company in Exchange for money, authorities said.Elytte Barbour told investigators "they committed the murder because they just wanted to kill someone together", police said in the affidavit.Elytte Barbour, 22 and Miranda Barbour, 18, face charges of criminal homicide in the death of LaFerrara. His body was found November 12 in an alley in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, a small town about 100 miles northwest of Philadelphia. The couple had recently moved to Selinsgrove near Dunn, North CarolinaSunbury, Steve Mazzeo, police chief said on Saturday that did not want to comment on the case or the reasons for the couple since it was an active investigation.Larry Deklinski / APElyett Barbour is escorted by police on Friday in Sunbury, PA.Sunbury police said Elytte Barbour told investigators that she hid under a blanket in the back seat truck the couple as his wife collected LaFerrara at a mall on 11 November. He told police that, as a sign of his wife, wrapped a rope around the neck of LaFerrara, restriction you while Miranda Barbour stabbed him.The 42-year-old Port Trevorton man was stabbed about 20 times, police said.Miranda Barbour was charged Tuesday, a day when first contacted by the police. She initially denied knowing LaFerrara, but its history was developed as investigators gathered evidence, including the discovery that the last call received by cell phone from the victim became their number, according to an affidavit in his case.The affidavit said that Miranda Barbour acknowledged knowing the victim in Selinsgrove and driving with him to Sunbury, where they parked. He said LaFerrara sought him fumbling and took a knife between the front seats and stabbed him then put his hand around the throat, according to the affidavit.The police said that Miranda Barbour had told them that he bought cleaning products in a store Department after stabbing LaFerrara, then picked up her husband and did a striptease for her birthday club. On Friday, police said, Elytte Barbour told them that he was that he had bought cleaning products, an account the researchers said that it was supported by surveillance videos.Following the arrest of his wife, Elytte Barbour said that daily item of Sunbury to Miranda Barbour, who he married on 22 October, regularly hired out as a "Companion" to men who met at various web sites, a business venture that he supported because it does not involve sexual contact.Barbour said that his wife did anywhere from $50 to $850 for meeting with the men for activities such as dining together or strolling through a shopping mall. She placed on sites such as Craigslist all ads in advance that sex was not part of the deal, said."It is not a prostitute," he said. "What it does is to meet the men who have broken marriages, or do not have nobody in their lives, and she meets with them and have a nice conversation."Elytte Barbour does not have a lawyer at his appearance, on Friday night. Phone messages left by his wife public defenders Saturday not were returned immediately.The researchers also plan to investigate the death of a man with whom Miranda Barbour had a 1 year old son, Mazzeo said, but did not say if there is a suspicion of foul play.-The Associated Press