Day 323/365

     99% of the time I absolutely love my job. Every once in a while though, that 1% rears its ugly head, and being in a place like Saginaw it shows up much more than it should. I worked the day shift yesterday, but got called out to a double shooting later at night when all of the other photographers were either out sick or out on assignment. There was a botched robbery out in one of the more sketchier areas of the city, and it resulted in a man and his 5 year-old grandson being shot. When I got to the crime scene police were sending out K9 units. Being in a residential area at night, with flashing police lights, people screaming when they realized who had been shot, and dogs barking as they're being ran around the area looking for the shooter/shooters was a bit unreal. There's a very prominent "no snitch code" in Saginaw, but I'm really hoping it gets broken in this case. 

Day 276/365

     This morning I got to shoot a pretty fun assignment; the national "Shoes that Fit" campaign being hosted at two local schools. The campaign gets new pairs of shoes for children in need. I shot the shoes being handed out to elementary school kids this morning, and they were absolutely ecstatic. My ears were ringing for about a good hour after I left the school from their squealing and cheering. It was really such a great story to be a part of.

Day 191/365

     Today was an interesting day, to say the least. I took pictures of a thrift store in Saginaw this morning, one that sells everything from clothes and jewelry to food and fishing bait. The quirkiest thing they sell, in my opinion, is neon green nightcrawlers, so of course I had to post a photo. After the thrift store I covered the afternoon proceedings of the second day of Ken Bluew's murder trial. I had a bit of a mini stare down with Bluew when his trial went on break. The judge, jury, and some of the observers had left to the courtroom for the short recess, and Bluew had turned around to face friends and family of his that had come to support him. As he was talking to them, I took some photos since it was my only chance to get his full face today, as he wouldn't be taking the stand today and would have his back to me the entire time. He did not look too pleased with the fact that I was taking his picture, and every time I pointed the camera at hime he made sure to look away, so unfortunately I don't have any photos of the major league glare he seemed to be directing my way. Either way, today you get a double feature of worms and Ken Bluew! By clicking on the photos you can view them larger, and to see more pictures from Bluew's trial and links to articles on the proceedings you can go on MLive here. 

Day 190/365

     Today I covered the beginning of a murder trial in Saginaw. A, (currently suspended), police officer is accused of strangling his girlfriend who was eight months pregnant with his son at the time of her death. Kenneth Bluew, pictured above on the right, took longer than usual to respond to a routine roll call over police radio during a night shift. His friend and fellow officer went to look for him, and ended up stumbling upon what appeared to be an abandoned vehicle. After the officer got out of his car, Bluew suddenly appeared with his patrol car parked in the distance. Bluew proceeded to ask his fellow officer how he wanted to process the car, as if there had been a call on it, which there hadn't been. When they both checked out the car, they found pregnant Jennifer Webb hanging from the roof rack with an extension cord around her neck; an apparent suicide. 

     Bluew never acknowledged that he knew the deceased, not until later when another officer found her license. Shortly after that the officer also found Webb's phone, with recent calls between Bluew and herself. After another officer spoke to Webb's family and found out that she had not appeared to be suicidal, but ecstatic towards the prospect of soon being a mother, and that Bluew was in fact the father of the unborn child, Bluew was then considered a major suspect. Fast forward to today, and Bluew is now charged with first-degree premeditated murder, (a mandatory life sentence without possibility of parole if found guilty), and is also charged with assaulting a pregnant individual intentionally causing miscarriage or stillbirth of a fetus or embryo, as well as two counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony.

If you'd like, you can see more photos from today as well as find links to current articles surrounding the case on MLive here.