The beating occurred in a borough in surrounding Philadelphia on March 31. Law enforcement officials say the victim, whose name was not released, entered the wooded area near his home after he noticed smoke.

When the perpetrators saw him, they attacked the 31-year-old man and left him with broken bones, blurred vision, facial injuries and a punctured lung. Danielle Lauria, a passerby heard the man screaming for help, reports say. When she found him, he was bloodied and in terrible condition. She immediately dialed 911.

"Oh I felt so bad, he just looked horrible," she said. "There was blood all over his hoodie, blood coming down from the face, the right eye was almost swollen shut."

Neighbors carried the man out to safety before paramedics arrived on the scene. In the past, teens have been known to frequent the wooded area where the attack occurred, but it was never known to be the site of an attack as serious as the one that involved these 12 teens.

Law enforcement say they are still looking for the seven additional teenagers that participated in the attack. Police also say they will ask that the Delaware County District Attorney look over the case and try the assailants as adults for attempted murder.

No date has been set as to when the teens will be arraigned. If you have been accused of a crime like assault and battery, you may benefit from a consultation with a consultation with a defense attorney who can help you assess your claim and try your case in a court of law if necessary.

Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Minehart found Glen McDaniel, 25, of Straight Up Towing guilty of first-degree homicide at the end of March. Surveillance video shows that after getting into a physical altercation with Ray Santiago, he used his tow truck to repeatedly run the victim over, even after his wheels were locked because Santiago was caught in them.

This was not a jury trial and Judge Minehart viewed the video footage and visited the crime scene several times to help him reach a fair verdict.

The incident occurred on September 26, 2010 just before 3 a.m. The defendant was issued a public defender who said his client was drunk and attempting to drive his tow truck out of a small parking lot.

But, the prosecution had a different story of what happened.

''He (Santiago) got a split lip, and because he couldn’t beat him with his fists, he got in his truck and mashed him like a bug,'' Assistant District Attorney James Berardinelli said.

This is not the first incident in which someone has lost their life in Philadelphia over a disagreement related to towing. Prior to Santiago's death, a tow driver shot a rival driver at the scene of an accident over who should claim the wrecked car.

If you have been accused of homicide, you may benefit from a consultation with a defense attorney who can help you assess your claim and help try your case in a court of law if necessary.

Gregory Alston, 39, drove his Volkswagen Passat through six neighborhoods a little before 10 p.m. During the 15 minute chase, he drove on the wrong side of the street during which time pedestrians were forced to jump out of the way to avoid being hit.

The pursuit ended after Alston drive his vehicle into a 1995 Honda Accord at 10th and Ontario Streets. The driver was 26-year-old Jenny Santiago. Her son, Jaedan, was in the backseat. Both mother and son were taken to nearby hospitals. The man in the passenger seat, 36-year-old Danny Irizarry Roman, was pronounced dead at the scene.

After the accident, police went up to Alston's car and asked if they could see his drivers license. Instead of pulling out his identification, he pulled out a gun and said "No, but I got this." Authorities are still debating whether or not to charge him for pulling a gun on the officers.

Alston sped off after refusing to show his license. He then got out of his car and ran by foot until he was apprehended by officers on the 900 block of West Russell Street. As of right now, no court date has been set.

If you have been charged with homicide, gun possession or another offense, you may benefit from a consultation with a Philadelphia defense attorney. He or she can help you assess your claim and can help try your case in court if necessary.

Reports say Johnson allegedly beat and kidnapped his ex-girlfriend from her dormitory room. The 24-year-old student was reportedly upset that his former significant other was out all night and couldn't be found.

Johnson's ex-girlfriend was also a student at MU located in Millersville, Pennsylvania. Police documents indicate that Johnson punched the unnamed young woman 10 times, broke her teeth and split her lip.

The crime reportedly took place on March 24. Johnson is being held at the Lancaster County Prison on $200,000 bail. He is being charged with felony kidnapping, unlawful restraint, assault and reckless endangerment.

Before his arrest, Johnson was a member of the university's football team and was one of the team's leading rushers. He was working towards a broadcasting and communications degree. Growing up, he was a star football player at Pennsylvania's Germantown High School, located in northwest Pennsylvania.

A trial date for Johnson's alleged crime has not been set. Nor have lawyers for the victim's or defendant's side commented on the case.

If you or someone you know has been charged with assault and battery or any other crime, you may benefit from a consultation with a Philadelphia defense attorney. He or she can help assess your claim or help try your case in a court of law, if necessary.

At the time of his death, Khalil Wimes was just 28 pounds. Doctors he should have weighed double that when he passed away. Prosecutors are alleging that the the violence in the home and lack of food contributed to the little boy's death.

''He suffered from malnutrition because nobody's feeding him,'' said Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey. ''I mean like any six-year-old child, you're depending upon your parents to take care of you. Or some other adult.''

Because of the Wimes' turbulent past, the Department of Human Services (DHS) had previously removed six of the couple's eight children. At one point, Khalil was placed under the care of a foster family. However, he was returned to his birth parents after a custody battle.

"His parents fought us tooth and nail until they got him back and then they killed him," his foster mother told WPVI-TV.

''DHS is supposed to protect the children. He was in a very safe home; he was ripped from a safe home and taken back to squalor. I'm very saddened but I'll be honest with you, I'm extremely angry, I'm angry right now,'' Khalil's uncle, Sulaiman Hadi told the news station.

Police reports indicate that on the night of his death, Khalil's parents brought him to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia at around 10:45 p.m. on March 19. Just thirty minutes later, doctors pronounced Khalil dead. They also noted old and new injuries and determined his death resulted from blunt force trauma and malnutrition.

The Wimes say that their son fell out of a bathtub and that he seemed fine, but later fainted. They claimed that is when they rushed him to the hospital. No trial date has been set. The Wimes' daughter that was previously living in their home is now under the care of relatives.

If you or someone you know has been charged with homicide or a related crime, it may be beneficial to speak with a defense attorney. He or she can help assess your claim and try your case in a court of law, if necessary.

However, the prosecuting lawyer said Jones died as a result of gunfire that was "nothing short of an execution," according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Beckett's defense attorney said his client pulled and used his gun after another man shot the defendant's friend and was also attempting to kill him during a killing spree rampage.

Assistant District Attorney Brendan O'Malley said Beckett was not being threatened by anyone and that self defense did not justify eight bullets wounds found on the victim's body. O'Malley also said there was no reason that Beckett should have shot at police officers, which also happened during the incident. At the time the policemen were shot, they were searching for a suspect of a shooting that had taken place in the same vicinity 10 minutes earlier.

The defendant's attorney told the judge that his client shot at the law enforcement officers because he was nearsighted and could not distinguish between their uniforms and the clothes his purported attackers were wearing. The police officers were not injured. Beckett is being charged with two counts of attempted murder for shooting at the two officers.

Also in the line of fire was an unnamed 18-year-old woman carrying a baby. One of Beckett's bullets hit her in the face. She was not killed, but was severely injured. 

If you or someone you know has been accused of homicide, it may be beneficial to set up a consultation with a criminal attorney. He or she can help assess your claim and try your case in a court of law, if necessary.

Troutman was originally facing the death penalty. However, a plea deal struck with the prosecution eliminated possibility that he would be put to death.

"[The defense] indicated that he was willing to plead guilty to the charges, to all of the charges, and accept life in prison," said District Attorney Risa Ferman, in a report by 6ABC that aired late last week after the sentence was handed down.

According to Troutman's confession, after sexually assaulting Skyler Kauffman, he choked her and repeatedly banged her head against the basement of the apartment complex he shared with the victim's family. Once she was dead, Troutman then dumped her body in a trash bin.

"It's certainly not over for them," the Kauffmans' attorney told 6ABC. "Skyler is never coming back and they know that. They are living with that for the rest of their lives."

A few weeks before her daughter's murder, Mrs. Kauffmann alerted police to the strange behavior of Troutman. According to the testimony of Skyler and another girl, Troutmann had locked them both in his bathroom.

After the victim had gone missing, CBS Philly reported that police arrested Troutman for the murder of Skyler after they noticed blood on his shoes. After being questioned, Troutman confessed to the murder and rape.

If you or someone you know has been arrested for a crime, such as sexual crimes or murder, you may benefit from a consultation with a Philadelphia criminal lawyer.  He or she can help assess your claim and try your case in a court of law, if necessary.

Following deliberation, the jury found Keith Corley not guilty of sexual assault. However, he was convicted of indecent exposure and official oppression.

Corley, 28, told a jury of seven women and five men that the woman missed the bus and he offered to give her a ride. As a thank-you, Corely said the unnamed woman offered to perform oral sex on him in an empty parking lot.

"She wanted it, she asked to have sex," Keith Corley told the city Common Pleas Court jury, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer report.

Following the act, the 32 year-old woman purportedly called police while in a hysterical state and claimed that she had been sexually assaulted by a police officer. Officers arrived on the scene and concurred that a sexual act had taken place in Corley's police car.

When Corely's defense attorney asked his client if he thought his actions were illegal, Corely replied "no, sir."

However, despite Corley's claim, Assistant District Attorney Peter Lim questioned why the ex-cop didn't call police radio as rules mandated when he picked up the woman. Assistant D.A. Lim said this was evidence that from the start, Corley was attempting to cover up wrong doing.

Corley said he never called police radio because he never knew that having sex while on duty was a violation of the rules, even if it was consensual.

If you or someone you know has been accused of sexual crimes, you may benefit from a consultation with a Philadelphia defense attorney. He or she may be able to help discuss your claim and help try your case in a court of law, if necessary.

The Philadelphia area archdiocese suspended the priests until the investigation involving allegations of sexual abuse was over. The new Archbishop Charles Chaput, who was in charge of making the final decision, said he promised to make ''good judgments" as quickly as possible. He said the suspensions leave many people on hold – victims, priests and parishioners alike.

One of the most public cases involving the Philadelphia church involved Monsignor William Lynn. Earlier this year, he was charged with child endangerment and conspiracy for purportedly assigning priests who were molesting children to work in other churches.

Lynn and another priest accused of rape will face a judge together. Their trial is set to start at the end of March.

Monsignor Lynn, along with the archdiocese, is accused of protecting various child molesters over the course of several decades. The grand jury report states at least 41 accused priests still had their jobs between 2005 and 2010.

Still, despite the fact that the investigation into the alleged sex abuse is over, the archdiocese is no closer to arriving to a decision than when they started.

"It's not good for anybody to be left hanging," Chaput told The Associated Press. "It's not good for the victim, it's not good for the families of the victim, it's not good for the priests or the parishes that they serve." Due to a gag order, Chaput said he was unable to comment on when he and the archdiocese would be able to come to a final decision.

If you or someone you know you know has been accused of a sexual crime, drug possession, or something else, you may benefit from a consultation with a Philadelphia defense attorney who can help you process your claim and try your case in a court of law, if necessary.

Tamara Rhodes, her husband Michael, Steven Mills and an unnamed juvenile are being charged with attempted murder, false imprisonment, arson and related offenses. According to a police report the victim filed, the 20-year-old traveled from Pittsburgh to meet her attackers.

The defense attorney for the adults has not been made public yet, and nor has the juvenile's defense attorney.

Following the incident, the defendants put the unnamed badly burned victim back on a bus to Pittsburgh where she reported the incident to city police who then notified Philadelphia law enforcement. Once Philadelphia police got word of the attack, they obtained a search warrant of the Rhodes' residence and discovered a second victim who was a 21-year-old unnamed woman who was being held against her will.

Police say this victim was beaten and was convinced to make the trip to Philadelphia just as the victim who was burned was. As a result of trapping the 21-year-old in her home, the Rhodes were additionally formally accused of other crimes, such as aggravated assault.

No motive has been disclosed as to why both attacks took place. However, all four of the accused are being held in custody. Their bail is set at $750,000. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 9.

If you or someone you know has been accused of a crime and are in need of legal representation, consider hiring a defense attorney. He or she may be able to help provide you with legal guidance and help try your case in a court of law, if necessary.