Greene man charged with homicide in 2025 death
A Nemacolin man is charged with homicide after he was accused of severely assaulting a woman he lived with in May 2025. Several witnesses told investigators that Jerome Rafail, 51, had a history of assaulting 31-year-old Shayla Black before the assaults that led to her death in May, according to court documents. Charges against Rafail were filed Tuesday with District Judge Lee Watson. Police said Black had numerous visible injuries, a broken jaw and significant wounds on both shins when they responded to the report of a woman who had stopped breathing at 258 Grant St. in Nemacolin during the early morning hours of May 19. An autopsy on Black conducted by Dr. Jennifer Hammers ...
A Fayette County man is accused of sexually assaulting an underage girl earlier this year. According to court documents, Hunter Bankhead, 20, of McClellandtown, admitted to state police he had sexual contact with a 13-year-old girl sometime between January and March at his home in German Township. The investigation was prompted by a child welfare report to state police from Fayette County Children & Youth Services in June. Bankhead was charged Monday with statutory sexual assault and indecent assault. He was arraigned before Judge Daniel Shimshock Monday. Bankhead is free on an unsecured $50,000 bond. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 16.
A Grindstone man is accused of sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl at his home. Investigation into Ronald Martin, 29, began after the Pennsylvania State Police Belle Vernon Criminal Investigative Unit received a Childline Report on June 4. According to the criminal complaint, the assault occurred two to three years ago at his home on First Street. Martin was charged Monday with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault and unlawful contact with a minor. He had yet to be arraigned Tuesday morning.
A Westmoreland County man is accused of assaulting his ex-boyfriend after a verbal argument in Bullskin Township Saturday morning. Robert Shawley, 38, of Donegal, is charged with aggravated assault and simple assault. Joseph Bowersox told police Shawley got into an argument with him around 2 ...
Crews resumed the search Tuesday for three missing boaters involved in a collision with a barge Sunday night on the Monongahela River in Greene County. The collision occurred shortly before 9 p.m. Sunday in a remote area of the river near the Fayette County border. Officials said Monday ...
Albert Gallatin and Uniontown have plenty of incentive as both host home games during Week Two of the high school football season. They will be two of 15 area teams in action Friday night, all with 7 p.m. kickoffs. Beth-Center travels to Riverview for a noon kickoff on Saturday. All are ...
NAME: Brandon Meier GRADE: Sophomore SCHOOL: California SPORT: Football MEIER'S WEEK: It was a moment he'd been dreaming of for a long time: being the starting quarterback for the California football team. Meier made the most of his first impression by accounting for six touchdowns in the ...
Teagan Crouse is the early player to beat in the Herald-Standard Touchdown Club race for the 2026 high school football season. Crouse ignited a six-touchdown explosion for Waynesburg Central in a 43-0 victory over West Greene in Week One by accounting for five of those scores, including runs ...
The Civil War brought tremendous suffering. The death of Robert J. Brownfield is illustrative. Cpl. Brownfield of Fayette County was shot in the arm near Spotsylvania Courthouse in Virginia. Forgotten or simply overlooked, he went unattended for a full day. Taken first to Fredericksburg, ...
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Damon Sacco had never seen anything like the fish he and fellow anglers fought for hours in the waters off Massachusetts. As it rose from the depths, it looked like a glimmering blue spaceship. Sacco, a longtime Massachusetts charter fishing boat captain, saw the ...
