Mark Twain
American author and humorist
Samuel Langhorne Clemens, known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States.
Mark Twain was an American humorist, novelist, and travel writer. Today he is best remembered as the author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885). Twain is widely considered one of the greatest American writers of all time.
Born: November 30, 1835, Florida, Missouri, United States
Died: April 21, 1910, Stormfield
Cause of Death: Angina pectoris
Stormfield was the mansion built in Redding, Connecticut for author Samuel Clemens, best known as Mark Twain, who lived there from 1908 until his death in 1910.
Net Worth
When he passed in 1910, Mark Twain’s estate was valued at around $500,000, translating to nearly $14 million in today’s currency.

Ernest Hemingway
American writer
Although Ernest Hemingway was a prolific author who won both the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize in Literature for his work, he led a life full of tragedy and frequently struggled with his mental health.
Born: July 21, 1899, Oak Park, Illinois, United States
Died: July 2, 1961, Ketchum, Idaho, United States
Cause of Death: Suicide by gunshot
Net worth of $1.4 million at the time of his death in 1961.

'They watched her die': Teen dies hours after arriving at juvenile detention center in front of employees who did nothing, lawsuit says.



Elbert Shaw Regional Youth Detention Center in Dalton, Georgia . Alexis Marie Sluder.

A 16-year-old runaway died after overdosing on methamphetamine in a youth detention center in Georgia hours after she was arrested, and authorities did nothing as they watched her convulse, writhe in pain and cry for help until it was too late, her family alleges in a lawsuit filed this week.

Alexis Marie Sluder died in 2022 at the Elbert Shaw Regional Youth Detention Center in Dalton, according to the lawsuit filed on Tuesday in a federal court in Georgia. Dalton is about 90 miles north of Atlanta.

“Instead of monitoring her health and safety, they watched her die,” said Sam Harton, the family’s lawyer, in a news conference . “No one even picked up the phone to call 911 until after Alexis stopped breathing.”

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The lawsuit names five Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice employees as defendants, including an officer, a cadet, a sergeant, a nurse, and the facility’s director. It also names Augusta University, the medical and mental health services provider for juvenile detainees at the facility.

In a statement , the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice said it “is committed to the well-being and safety of the individuals entrusted to our care. We remain deeply saddened by this tragic incident and continue to hold heartfelt thoughts and prayers for the family of the deceased.”

A media representative for Augusta University did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The events leading to Sluder’s death began after her arrest for possession of methamphetamine and shoplifting on Aug. 26, 2022, court documents said. She was issued a ticket and jailed before being transferred to Elbert, where she was booked at 9 p.m.

Upon booking, Gilmer County Sgt. Sharon Ellis “failed to note that methamphetamine or any other foreign substance was found on Alexis Sluder’s person,” even though she had noted she saw a white substance on the police vehicle seat next to Sluder earlier, the lawsuit said.

Notes in her medical screening indicated Sluder had “medical problems,” had previously been hospitalized, and was taking medication. Sluder had depression, bipolar anxiety, and schizophrenia, the lawsuit said.

In her mental health screening, when asked why she was at the facility, Sluder said, “because I ran away.” She also said she had attempted suicide, had recently been sexually abused, had been hospitalized for an overdose the previous month and “sometimes sees shadow people that are not there,” court documents said. Her answers warranted four “Warning” and four “Caution” notations.

Sluder’s answers about drug and alcohol use were “explicitly excluded from the ‘Warning’ and ‘Caution’ totals,” court documents said.

Sluder told authorities that just before she was about to be arrested before arriving at the facility, she “ate the meth she had on her when the cops came and she realized she might be going to jail” and “she had taken other unknown items earlier in the day as she felt suicidal over the last 3 weeks and currently feels this way,” court documents said.

Ellis declined to take her to the hospital, saying she wasn’t permitted to because she had already released her into the custody of the state of Georgia, “so she no longer had jurisdiction to transport Alexis Sluder,” court documents said.

Instead, Sluder was placed in a room equipped with a live video feed where she could be constantly monitored.

In her cell, Sluder began to suffer a medical emergency. She convulsed, writhed in pain, thrashed about, sweated profusely, and breathed heavily. The overdose symptoms lasted over four hours, court documents said.

Despite an employee, Rebecka Phillips, being with Sluder the entire time, a second employee, Maveis Brooks, being with her intermittently, and Cadet Russell Ballard watching via the video feed from a control room, no one did anything, the lawsuit alleges.

During the final two hours of the medical emergency, Sluder lay on the ground, nearly motionless. At one point, Sluder even reached out and grasped toward the ankle of Phillips, who stood over her, watched, and did nothing to help her, court documents said.

At another point, Sluder turned to the camera and said, “Someone please help me. I took something,” the lawsuit alleges.

The defendants talked about the girl’s condition but didn’t act, saying they did not have enough officers on staff to take her to a hospital without violating a policy, court documents said.

“There is no policy set forth by the State of Georgia, the Department of Justice, and the Dalton RYDC preventing State employees from calling 9-1-1 or another emergency medical services to transport juveniles to the hospital in a medical emergency,” the lawsuit said. “Alexis Sluder was not suspected of a violent crime. Alexis Sluder was not arrested for a violent crime. There was no legitimate penological interest in keeping Alexis Sluder from going to the hospital.”

At 3:12 a.m. on Aug. 27, 2022, Phillips advised over the radio that Sluder “was not breathing properly,” the lawsuit said.

Brooks went to the cell, assessed Sluder and advised Ballard in the control room to call 911.

“Soon after Sergeant Maveis Brooks advised Defendant Cadet Ballard to call 9-1-1, Alexis Sluder stopped breathing,” court documents said.

The 911 call was made, and Brooks and Phillips began lifesaving measures, but Sluder was pronounced dead from methamphetamine toxicity at 4:26 a.m. on Aug. 27, 2022, court documents said.

The five employees were terminated from their jobs stemming from the death. They were indicted on charges of cruelty to children a year later, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a statement . Their cases are pending.

The parents have shared their pain over the death of their daughter, who once won an award for “Prettiest Smile,” enjoyed playing softball and was set to graduate from Gilmer High School this year. Instead, her school reserved a seat for her at the ceremony on May 24, where she graduated posthumously.

“I didn’t get to watch her pick out her first car, go to the prom, or graduate this past year with her friends,” her mother, Melanie Hogan Sluder, said in a statement . “I am lost without her, and not a minute goes by that I don’t think about her and what she would be doing.”

1918 Nebraska serial killer poisons her first victim.

Della Sorenson kills the first of her seven victims in rural Nebraska by poisoning her sister-in-law’s infant daughter, Viola Cooper. Over the next seven years, friends, relatives, and acquaintances of Sorenson died under mysterious circumstances before anyone finally realized that it had to be more than a coincidence.

Two years after little Viola met her demise, Wilhelmina Weldam, Sorenson’s mother-in-law, was poisoned. Sorenson then went after her own family, killing her daughter, Minnie, and husband, Joe, over a two-week period in September.

Waiting only four months before marrying again, Sorenson then settled in Dannebrog, Neb. In August 1922, her former sister-in-law came to visit with another infant, four-month-old Clifford. Just as she had done with Viola, Sorenson poisoned the poor child with a piece of candy. The unfortunate Mrs. Cooper, still oblivious to what was happening, came back again in October to visit with yet another child. This time, Sorenson’s poison didn’t work.

Early in 1923, Sorenson killed her own daughter, Delia, on her first birthday. When Sorenson’s friend brought her infant daughter for a visit only a week later, the tiny infant was also poisoned. After an attempt on Sorenson’s second husband’s life left him sick–but not dead–authorities began to think that there might be a connection between these series of deaths.

Finally, in 1925, Sorenson was arrested when she made an unsuccessful attempt at killing two children in the neighborhood with poisoned cookies. She confessed to the crimes, saying, “I like to attend funerals. I’m happy when someone is dying.” Sentiments like this convinced doctors that Sorenson was schizophrenic, and she was committed to the state mental asylum.

"She said, "Don't call the doctor, I want to fall asleep peacefully, with your hand in mine." He told her about the past, how they met, and their first kiss. They didn't cry, they smiled.
They didn't regret anything, they were grateful.
Then she repeated softly, 'I love you forever!' He returned her words, gave her a soft kiss on the forehead. She closed her eyes and fell asleep peacefully with her hand in his.
Love is what matters because man comes into this world with nothing other than love and leaves with nothing other than love. Profession, career, bank account, our goods are just tools, nothing more. Everything stays here. Love, as if there was nothing more important in your life."
~ Author unknown

Word of the Day: Auteur.

NOUN
1. A filmmaker whose personal influence and artistic control over a movie are so great that the filmmaker is regarded as the author of the movie.

Example Sentences.
1. "Kathryn aimed to become an auteur whose films would be instantly recognizable."
2. "The movie's distinctive elements had critics calling the young director Hollywood's newest
auteur."
3. "Female filmmakers such as Sofia Coppola and Greta Gerwig are becoming more recognized as modern auteurs."

Word Origin.
French, 1960s

American film critic Andrew Sarris coined the term "auteur theory" in his famous 1962 essay "Notes on the Auteur Theory," and thus "auteur," which means "author" in French, was popularized in American English. As a result of this and other Sarris writings, more public attention turned to the overall craft of filmmaking instead of being focused solely on the actors.

Word of the Day: Epexegesis.

NOUN
1. The addition of words to clarify meaning.
2. Words added for the purpose of clarifying meaning.

Example Sentences.
1. "Sensing the audience's confusion, Alan quickly tacked on an epexegesis to the end of his
speech."
2. "The publisher encouraged the author to explain the ending with an epexegesis in the afterword."
3. "After stumbling over his words, Jamie needed to provide an epexegesis to explain to Shonda
that he was trying to ask her to prom."

Word Origin.
Greek, late 16th century

This complicated-looking word comes from the Greek word "epexēgēsis," a combination of "epi" ("addition") and "exēgēsis" ("explanation") — an "additional explanation." An epexegesis can take many forms, such as behind-the-scenes footage for films, postscripts on letters, and annotations in journal articles.

Word of the Day: Pleonasm.

NOUN
1. The use of more words than are necessary to convey meaning (e.g., "see with one's eyes"), either as a fault of style or for emphasis.

Example Sentences.
1. "Despite the author's tendency toward pleonasm, I enjoyed reading the entire series."
2. "Karen edited her papers carefully to cut out all pleonasm after receiving a critique on her
wordiness."
3. "To correct a tendency toward pleonasm in my writing, I read everything aloud as I edit."

Word Origin.
Greek, mid-16th century

"Pleonasm" comes from the Greek "pleonazein," which means "be superfluous." Purple prose is an example of "pleonasm" — it specifically refers to extravagant writing with superfluous words. While it's usually the sign of an overeager writer who hasn't yet mastered the art of editing, purple prose has its place.

Word of the Day: Accede

VERB
1. Agree to a demand, request, or treaty.
2. Assume an office or position.
3. Become a member of a community or organization.

Example Sentences.
1. "The authorities acceded to the thief's demands in exchange for the painting."
2. "The Vice President will accede to the presidency while the President is undergoing a medical procedure."
3. "When I acceded to the condo board, my first goal was to make more green space on the roof."

Word Origin.
Latin, 15th century

"Accede" developed in Middle English as a word that meant "come forward" or "to approach." Today, the word has a few usages: "to agree to a demand," "to assume an office or position," and "to become a member of an organization." The most familiar usage might be when a monarch accedes to a throne, but it can be used with other titles of nobility, too. ...

At 15, Danielle Vaughan was left in the care of her mother’s friend, who was then a 50 year old man. They became romantically involved, Danielle got pregnant, and Vaughan was a mother by the time she was 17. They married and eventually had four children. Their youngest was named Dennis. Dennis Vaughan Jr. was born in 2014, the fourth of Danielle Vaughan children.
Vaughan, now 33, has led a life marred by abuse. She remembered her mother, Sherry Connor, as erratic and prone to violent outbursts.
Danielle’s husband grew controlling and violent. Both of them started using drugs. Dennis Sr. has been repeatedly arrested for drugs. In 2016, police raided the family’s Laconia home, arresting Dennis Sr. — and Vaughan lost custody of her four children.
“That was the beginning of a horrible four years,” she said, but she was willing to move mountains to get her children back.
She kicked heroin. She went to her appointments. She found stable housing, away from Dennis Sr. She worked to piece together a life and prove she could care for her children.
In the summer of 2017, a court granted custody of the four children to Vaughan’s mother, Sherry. Vaughan had reservations about the arrangement, after the way she had grown up.
“I knew my mom had that mean bone in her body,” she said. But she wanted to believe she would love and care for her grandchildren.
Before long, Vaughan said, she started noticing the children had bruises on their wrists or their ears. One of the children was hospitalized with a concussion. Connor would always have an explanation, Vaughan said.
Then during one visit, Vaughan noticed finger-shaped bruises around her children’s chins. “I knew those bruises. I knew what they were from.”
Vaughan said her mother used to grab her by the chin, almost lifting her off the floor as she yelled, “Now you look at me.”
All the children were too skinny, Vaughan said. On a visit to Connor’s home for Christmas in 2018, she discovered their deplorable living conditions.
Connor’s home in Laconia was vile, Vaughan said, with human and dog feces on the floor. She kept the refrigerator and cabinets locked, so the children — 4-year-old Dennis and the three older children — couldn’t get food or drinks themselves. When they got too thirsty, Vaughan said, they drank out of the toilet — and were punished for it. They used a bucket to go to the bathroom.
After that visit, Vaughan figures she called DCYF every day.
But the division screened out her reports, or the cases were closed as “unfounded,” she said, meaning an investigation did not turn up abuse or neglect.
One day, Vaughan got a voicemail from her mother, who seemed to have dialed by mistake. Vaughan could hear a hand smacking flesh, her third-oldest child screaming, and her mother screaming back. “I hate you, you dirty dog,” she screamed, cursing at the 8-year-old, Vaughan remembered. “I can’t wait for someone to take you away.”
Vaughan made another report, she said.
In July 2019, Vaughan said, her mother duct-taped that same child to a chair and left him overnight in an Epsom campground. Other people in the campground called police. DCYF petitioned a court to remove the child from Connor on an emergency basis, and returned him to Vaughan.
Vaughan said she is still not clear about why the division removed only one of her children from Connor’s care in the summer of 2019 — but did not move to get her other three children, including Dennis Jr., out of Connor’s home.
By this time, Vaughan said she was calling for help multiple times a day. She called the Office of the Child Advocate, an ombudsman’s office, police, every authority she could think of. She was frantic.
“I was begging to put them anywhere else but her house,” Vaughan said.
On Christmas Eve 2019, Vaughan went into work early for her cleaning job at Elliot Hospital.
She was there less than an hour that Tuesday morning when a state police sergeant asked to talk to her. She felt a knot in her stomach as they walked into an empty room.
“He looks at me and says, ‘Dennis is dead.’”
3 years later, Danielle is still trying to get answers about how exactly her son died. In May 2020, an autopsy performed by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said Dennis died of blunt force trauma to the head and neck, and ruled the death a homicide.
No one has been charged, Associate Attorney General Jeffery A. Strelzin said the investigation is still open.
Vaughan is trying to understand how the child welfare system failed her family so utterly.