Tag: Death

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“Nick Ashford Passed Away Yesterday”

The ReadyWriter

The Motown legend had been undergoing radiation treatments for throat cancer, he was 69.

Ashford and Simpson wrote Motown’s two favorite “Ain’t” songs, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing,” along with “You’re All I Need To Get By.”

The couple also had a long singing career, scoring their biggest chart hit in 1984 with “Solid (As a Rock)” and later settling into a long run at clubs and cabarets. The couple also owned several restaurants and clubs, including the 20/20 on W. 20th St. and the Sugar Bar on W. 72nd St.

Ashford, a tall pretty dark man whose signature hair was long and well done, was known as a gentle presence in the music business and rumored to be gay. Besides songwriting, they also produced most of Diana Ross’s first three solo albums and worked with artists that included Teddy Pendergrass, Gladys Knight, Smokey Robinson and Chaka Khan.

Ashford also had a few acting roles, and I remember him best as Rev. Oates in “New Jack City.”

Ashford is survived by his wife Valerie and their two daughters.

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“MegaChurch Pastor Found Dead With Drugs On Him”

The ReadyWriter

Florida Megachurch Pastor Zachery Tims, Jr. was found dead in his upscale hotel room in New York City on Thursday, according to published reports.

Tims, 43, the pastor of an 8,000-member mega church in Orlando, Fla., was found dead on the floor of a suite in the Times Square W Hotel, according to WSJ.

A maintenance worker entered the room and found Tims lying on his back between the living room and bedroom of the $400-a-night suite. He was unresponsive.

According to WSJ, police found an envelope in one of his pockets containing a powdery white substance. The substance is being tested for cocaine.

Tims’ death is a sad end to his inspirational rise from a drug addicted teenage criminal on the streets of Maryland. Tims loved to recount the story of how he was “miraculously saved” and aspired to be a man of God, leading his flock to prosperity and riches.

According to his memoir published in 2006, Tims put down the guns and drugs in favor of Christianity. He earned degrees in accounting and theology and worked at a ministry in Baltimore. In 1996, he and his wife Riva moved to Orlando, where they founded the New Destiny Christian Center.

The couple divorced in 2009, after Zachery admitted to having an affair with a stripper.

Read more…

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“Police Academy Actor Found Dead At Home”

The ReadyWriter

Former NFL defensive end and longtime television and movie actor Charles Aaron “Bubba” Smith was found dead in his Los Angeles home today.

Coroner’s reports have not yet been released, but according to the Los Angeles Times, it is believed that Smith died of natural causes.

Smith was found at his home on Sunlight Place in Baldwin Hills by a caretaker, he was 66.

Although Smith was an NFL defensive end and tackle for the Baltimore Colts, Oakland Raiders and Houston Oilers, he later had a career in Hollywood as movie and TV actor. The NFL star will best be remembered as the silent but strong figure in the Police Academy movies.

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“Well The Devil Finally Killed Her” RIP: Amy Winehouse

The ReadyWriter

Amy Winehouse’s family, said the singer/songwriter’s death was not unexpected. It was “only a matter of time,” her mother, Janis Winehouse, was quoted as saying in the Sunday Mirror.

The singer’s body was found by British police yesterday around 8 p.m. London time after being called by ambulance services. Winehouse battled drug and alcohol addictions following the 2003 debut of her critically acclaimed album, Frank. Her follow-up album, Back To Black, garnered 5 Grammy awards.

Amy’s father Mitch Winehouse, had been vocal in the past about his daughter’s substance abuse, he talked about her possible demise just three years ago. “Doctors have told her if she goes back to smoking drugs, it won’t just ruin her voice, it will kill her,” Amy’s father was quoted as saying in 2008, while issuing an ultimatum to drug dealers to stay away.

Amy Winehouse now joins the list of other famous members of the so-called “27 Club” who all died at the age of 27—including Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and Janis Joplin. These singers all believed that artistic genius can coexist with or even be aided by addiction.

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“Missing Brooklyn Boy Found Dismembered”

The ReadyWriter

I was heart-broken, when I heard on the news this morning that the body of a 9-year-old Hasidic boy who went missing was found in a dumpster, but devastated to hear the boy’s body was dismembered.

Leibby Kletsky’s (pictured left), who went missing from a Brooklyn day camp on Monday, was found stuffed inside of a suitcase and just thrown in a dumpster, his body parts were found discarded in 2 separate locations in Brooklyn.

Acting on tips and credit card receipts, police raided a Kensington home on E. 2nd Street this morning and arrested 35-year-old suspect Levi Aron, who led them to the locations where he discarded Leibby’s body parts. Leibby’s severed feet were found in the man’s freezer.

Cops said Aron, who works as a clerk at the Empire State Supply Co. hardware  store on McDonald Avenue in Kensington, allegedly suffocated the boy before  chopping him up. Kelly said they also found three knives in a butcher block  inside of Aron’s apartment.