Life in prison for murder convict

A Hamilton County jury convicted Michael Carson Thursday of aggravated murder in the June killing of a 26-year-old man in Price Hill.

Coupled with convictions for having a weapon under disability and violating his probation, Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Robert Ruehlman sentenced Carson, 26, to life in prison. He'll be eligible for parole after 25 years.

Carson was convicted of killing William Wilson June 24 at a party on Grand Avenue. Prosecutors say Carson thrust a gun into Wilson's abdomen and fired.

Carson denied he fired the fatal shot Thursday as Ruehlman sentenced him.

Foster mother banned from seeing two kids

A licensed foster mother who tried to kill herself and her two children, including a boy she adopted last year from Hamilton County, was prohibited from seeing those children for the next five years, a judge ruled Thursday.

Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Norbert Nadel sentenced Tricia McClure to five years' probation and ordered her to get treatment recommended by the probation department after she was convicted of endangering the children, ages 3 and 4. She also must complete 100 hours of community service.

Fla. man indicted in rape-kidnap case

A Miami, Fla., man was indicted Thursday in Hamilton County on charges that he kidnapped and raped a female immigrant while the two visited Cincinnati last year after meeting on a bus.

Jose Martinez, 47, was indicted on 12 counts of rape and two charges of kidnapping in the Nov. 16 and Nov. 17 assaults in a Cincinnati motel.

Martinez, who came to the United States as part of the Mariel boatlift from Cuba in May of 1980, is being held by U.S. immigration authorities on an unrelated matter, according to Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen.

Former Enquirer critic makes age-bias claim

The Cincinnati Enquirer's former pop music critic claimed in a federal lawsuit Thursday that newspaper editors singled him out for unfair treatment and then fired him because of his age.

Larry Nager, a critic at the Enquirer for eight years, filed the age and gender discrimination suit in U.S. District Court. The suit accuses Enquirer management of targeting the 50-year-old Nager and other qualified veteran employees for reassignment or dismissal so they could be replaced with younger employees.

Nager was fired Jan. 9 after his editors told him he was "not aggressive" and "did not do his job," the lawsuit states. The suit says Nager was a productive reporter and a nationally respected authority on music.