Police

Famed civil rights attorney Ben Crump says evidence shows ex-NFL defensive lineman Glenn Foster was choked before he died in police custody earlier this month.

The renowned lawyer made the claim in a statement Friday ... saying an independent autopsy revealed that Foster's body showed "some evidence of neck compressions and strangulation."

Crump said he and medical experts believe it all reveals that Foster did not die of "natural causes" on Dec. 6 ... just two days after he was arrested in Alabama on Dec. 4.

"As we continue to investigate the case," Crump said, "we are learning that Mr. Foster's death in Pickens County appears to be part of a disturbing trend of Black men dying while in the custody of the Pickens County Sheriff's Office."

"Keeping people in your custody alive is literally the lowest bar we can set for a law enforcement agency," Crump added, "and is something that the Pickens County Sheriff's Office failed to do."

"Pickens County owes the family the truth relating to Mr. Foster's tragic death."

Law enforcement officials have been mum about the details surrounding Foster's passing ... with reps from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency only saying that Foster did, in fact, die while in police custody.

"Nothing further is available as the investigation is ongoing," officials said in a statement the day after Foster's death.

We've reached out to the ALEA for comment on Crump's claims ... but so far, no word back yet.

Foster -- who signed with the Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2013 and played two seasons for the team -- was just 31 years old.

Federal agents investigating Young Dolph's murder are hoping their informants can help them crack the case ... but so far, the information provided hasn't led to any suspects or arrests.

Sources with direct knowledge of the investigation tell TMZ ... federal agents recently interviewed informants about Dolph's shooting death in Memphis, resulting in a few new leads.

While we're told there are no solid suspects yet, the feds are hoping the information gleaned from their informants will lead them in the right direction to eventually make a probable cause arrest.

Meanwhile, investigators from the Memphis Police Department are also probing the case and talking to their sources on the street.

Memphis PD Sgt. Louis Brownlee tells TMZ ... cops have received quite a few tips on Young Dolph's murder, and while investigators have followed up on that info, there hasn't been anything to lead to an arrest.

Alec Baldwin's phone might contain crucial evidence in the "Rust" shooting investigation ... at least cops think so, and that's why they now have a warrant to comb through it.

The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Dept. got a New Mexico judge to sign off Thursday on a search warrant for Alec's mobile phone ... a move that comes nearly 2 months after the accidental shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

According to docs, obtained by TMZ, Alec told investigators about emails between head armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and himself, in which she showed him different styles of guns and knives for the film. He says he requested a bigger gun, and she showed him an antique Colt.

We know Alec was using a replica of an 1873 Colt 45 at the time of the shooting.

Remember, during his ABC interview ... Alec said he's sure he's not responsible for Halyna's death, although he wouldn't say who was. District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies begged to differ though ... saying neither Baldwin nor anyone else who had contact with the weapon was in the clear yet. She stressed the investigation was ongoing.

In the docs, cops say they're trying to gather information about the production from before filming started. They clearly feel Alec's emails and/or texts might contain some of that data. When they asked for his phone, they were told to get a warrant.

One interesting anecdote about Hannah -- during an interview with detectives, they say she said she didn't believe anyone on the "Rust" production would be malicious enough to bring live ammo on the set.

That's weird because, as we reported, her attorney told us he thinks someone sabotaged Hannah by intentionally mixing live rounds with dummy ammunition. The D.A.'s dismissed that theory.

Jenifer Lewis is calling on Congress to open an investigation into the death of Kendrick Johnson -- a 17-year-old black boy -- whose body was found rolled up in a gym mat years ago.

"The Mother of Black Hollywood" author and exec producer of the Starz documentary "Finding Kendrick Johnson" joined us on "TMZ Live" Wednesday and shared why she thinks his case is so important.

Jenifer told us, "This is the most important film I’ve ever worked on. What this family has gone through is unspeakable but we must speak it so the public knows the truth."

The controversial death was ruled "accidental" by the state of Georgia, although Kendrick's family hired a forensics specialist who said his death was caused by "non-accidental blunt force trauma." The case was closed, but reopened in March ... we're told the doc sheds light on new evidence in the case.

Jenifer's clearly outraged by the lack of action on the part of law enforcement, saying, "You know how much evidence the FBI has to have to storm somebody’s house with guns AK- 47s out? And then when they got in there and saw that it was an FBI agent, it was just pushed under the rug, just pushed under the rug. Another Black kid. So what?”

The actress also talked about her special connection to filmmaker Jason Pollock after his 2014 Michael Brown doc, since she grew up in a small town just outside of Ferguson ... and she now wants the people in Washington to do something about it.

Josh Duggar's sister, Jana, is sharing her side of her child endangerment case ... chalking it up to a babysitting mishap she says could happen to anyone.

Jana says the charge against her stems from one of the children she was babysitting wandering outside alone, with a passerby noticing the child and calling the cops.

Josh's sister says police gave her a written citation, but she claims a follow-up with child welfare concluded it was an accident and the child was unharmed. She claims child welfare "recognized it was a case of a child slipping out of the house when you turn your back for a moment."

Jana says everything unfolded very quickly and admits it was scary ... but she says she's "thankful it all ended safely." Still, she says she's upset at herself for what happened.

As we reported ... Jana, the oldest daughter of Jim Bob and Michelle, was cited back on September 9 and charged with endangering the welfare of a minor. She's due back in court next month.

Meanwhile, Josh was just found guilty on both counts by a jury in his child pornography trial ... though his legal team says they will appeal the verdict.

A train ride in New York turned violent for one woman, who got a hand to the face after getting into an argument with an alleged creep ... a guy NYPD's now trying to find.

The incident went down on a Brooklyn-bound subway line early Friday ... and as you can see in the video ... the man and woman were really going at it. The woman was seated and yelling at the guy who was standing over her and shouting back, "It's none of your business."

At one point, things escalate physically, with the guy smacking her right in the face ... and she lets out a scream.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... someone on the train reported this to cops shortly after it happened, and the victim suffered minor injuries and a pair of broken glasses. The man in question had fled by the time officers arrived.

As to what led up to this, we're told the woman allegedly saw the guy taking photos of women onboard, and she decided to do the same to him ... which apparently pissed him off.

Zac Stacy told cops the brutal attack on his ex was all "staged" ... claiming the woman set him up because she was "bitter" he didn't want to be with her.

The former NFL running back's conversation with officers was all captured on police video, obtained by TMZ Sports, just days after he ruthlessly beat his ex at her Florida home.

In the arrest footage, Stacy can be heard speaking with Orlando Police Dept. officers for several minutes about the events that led up to the Nov. 13 altercation ... insisting it all "was staged."

"It's just a case of just bitterness, man," Stacy told the policemen. "That's why she did this. The whole assault thing, she staged it. She set me up."

Stacy continued, "The whole thing was staged. All she's trying to do is get money out of me. She got a reaction out of me."

Stacy explained that he believes his ex -- the mother of his months-old son -- was upset with him because he didn't want to continue a romantic relationship with her.

The former St. Louis Rams and New York Jets player told officers the woman knew he wasn't in a good place mentally (he said he had just gotten out of rehab for anxiety and depression), and she used that to get "a reaction out of me."

"She knew I was down, she knew I was going through anxiety and depression," Stacy said. "She knew I was trying to close this gap that's between me and my son and she's just upset that she got caught and she's upset I'm not taking care of him like she expected. And now she took it this far."

Stacy added, "This is just a case of just girl is just bitter that I don't want to be with her and she's just trying to destroy my whole reputation 'cause of this s***."

Stacy then told the officers he knew his actions were "f***ed up."

"I don't know what man -- how any man could have handled that situation," Stacy said.

The 30-year-old was eventually taken to a local police station and booked on charges of felony aggravated battery and felony criminal mischief.

Stacy is currently out on bond.

Kylie Jenner almost got a surprise marriage proposal, but cops intervened before an obsessed fan could pop the question.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... they were called to Kylie's neighborhood Thursday for a report of a man who had hopped a fence and knocked on a door looking for Jenner. Only problem? The guy had the wrong house and was at Kylie's neighbor's place.

Cops spoke to the 23-year-old man -- armed with flowers -- who told them he was there to profess his love for Kylie, and ask for her hand in marriage.

Obviously, the whole thing didn't fly with police -- who arrested the guy for misdemeanor trespassing -- and took him in for booking.

"Home Alone" star Devin Ratray -- who played Buzz McCallister in the flick -- had a spat with his girlfriend that got so bad ... someone called the cops to get things under control.

Law enforcement sources tell us they were called to a Hyatt near downtown OKC earlier this week for a domestic dispute between Ratray and his girlfriend.

Ratray's rep says the two got into a verbal argument, nothing physical, and things were so nasty the two broke up. The rep would not say what the argument was about.

Cops tell us things were sorted out once Devin and his gf decided to go their separate ways for the night -- she got a separate room -- and no one was arrested.

Of course, Ratray will live in classic Christmas movie infamy as Buzz, who tormented his little brother Kevin (played by Macaulay Culkin) for years to come. The actor recently revealed to People that there was a possible "Home Alone" reunion in the works ... but unclear if this hiccup will derail that project.

For what it's worth, "Home Alone" fans looking to relive their childhood fantasies can participate in an upcoming raffle to stay a night in the famous McCallister home thanks to Airbnb.

LeBron James just gave a huge spotlight to somebody controversial in the rap world -- and that'd be one Tory Lanez ... who's embroiled in a legal fight with Megan Thee Stallion.

LBJ took to IG Saturday to do what he often does when he stumbles across some new tunes ... blasting it in the car and vibing out. In this case, he was playing TL's new album, 'Alone at the Prom,' and gave it a big endorsement ... showering Tory with compliments.

He captioned one of his Tory videos with, "MAN THIS BOY COLD AS HELL MAN!!! ALONE AT THE PROM IS 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥" Later in the clip, LeBron films himself, seemingly singing along to Tory's lyrics.

Normally, this would be NBD -- like we said, LeBron does this all the time. The difference here ... Tory is very polarizing right now, but that doesn't seem to bother the King.

It's interesting ... LeBron is outspoken over just about everything these days, but he's been mum on the drama between Tory and Meg -- and now, he appears to have shown he's cool with Tory (or at the very least, his music) despite the allegation against him ... namely, that he shot MTS in the foot.

The L.A. District Attorney has charged Tory with one count of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and one count of carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm ... also claiming he caused great bodily injury as it relates to Meg. He's pled not guilty and maintained his innocence.

Delonte West has just cut a deal with prosecutors -- agreeing to pay $100 and keep his nose clean in order to close out his police station meltdown case next month.

The agreement is all spelled out in new court docs, obtained by TMZ Sports, which show the former NBA guard is close to putting his most recent criminal case behind him.

According to the documents, prosecutors have agreed to stop pursuing the case if West forks over $100 to the court and avoids any new arrests or criminal law violations.

West had initially been hit with misdemeanor obstruction/resisting as well as misdemeanor disorderly intoxication after cops say he threw a drunken fit outside of a police station in Boynton Beach, Fla., on Oct. 19.

Video of his interaction with officers was disturbing ... West can be heard on camera hurling anti-gay insults at cops -- while also claiming he's "was better than LeBron James."

West, through his attorney, had initially pled not guilty to the charges earlier this month.

Slim 400 was the victim of what appears to be an ambush attack as he sat in a driveway ... only to be surprised and shot at multiple times.

Law enforcement sources confirm a video floating around online is the Slim 400 attack. You see the suspect walk up the driveway, gun in hand, and approach the driver's side of the vehicle, where Slim was seated.

It's unclear exactly what happens next, but you see a flash and hear a gun go off and Slim lunge at the suspect. Gunshots continue to go off as the rapper continues to move toward the street with the gunman.

As we reported, Inglewood PD responded to a call of shots fired Wednesday night, and discovered Slim in bad shape in a driveway. We're told he was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas -- a very smoky one -- after someone torched the tree outside the FOX News building ... and cops already have a suspect in custody.

NYPD arrested a homeless man they believe acted alone in setting the 50-foot tree ablaze early Wednesday morning. No one was injured, and FDNY put out the fire pretty quickly, still ... we're told smoke filled the office building.

The tree had been decorated with 10,000 ornaments, and its 100,000 lights were just turned on Sunday during an on-air lighting ceremony.

The flames damaged three other nearby trees decorated with Christmas lights ... but luckily, there were no injuries reported.

Crews are already taking down what's left of the burned-out tree, and FOX has plans to install and decorate a new one ASAP.

Not today, Grinch ... not today!!!

Armie Hammer's alleged rape investigation has wrapped up and law enforcement is sending its findings to the D.A. ... but we're told the actor isn't likely to face any charges.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the LAPD is forwarding the case to the L.A. County District Attorney's Office now that it's completed its probe, which launched way back in March.

We're told the case isn't strong, and will probably not result in any charges being filed against Armie. It's unclear if the reason behind that is a lack of credibility of potential witnesses or a lack of particular evidence backing up the claims. In any case ... the D.A.'s office will have final say over the matter.

As we reported ... Armie was accused of raping a woman named Effie, who filed a police report.

Effie went public with her accusations via press conference, alongside attorney Gloria Allred. The alleged rape occurred in 2017 -- and Effie claims it lasted for over 4 hours in what she characterized as a violent incident.

Armie has denied the allegations, saying Effie was sending him dirty texts as recently as 2020 ... which he says undermines her story. Effie's claims surfaced amid a larger scandal Armie was embroiled in -- where some of his sexual exploits were even painted as cannibalistic.

Some women have claimed Armie took things too far, to the point they felt violated and/or assaulted. He's vehemently denied all of their accounts, saying all sexual encounters he's had were fully consensual.

Jacqueline Avant's family believes she was awake at home when an intruder shot and killed her, as Clarence was nearby in the couple's bedroom ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to the situation tell us Clarence was asleep during the break-in last week at their Trousdale Estates home, but his wife was already up just after 2 AM -- as she typically is -- in another room.

We're told she and the suspect unexpectedly came face-to-face ... the family believes they startled each other and that's when he opened fire.

Our sources tell us security was patrolling the front of the house and the suspect appears to have entered from the side yard.

We're told a guard heard a gunshot from inside, raced over and then the suspect fired at him too ... before fleeing the scene.

As we reported ... cops took a man named Aariel Maynor into custody about an hour after the crime, and say he's the guy responsible for killing Jacqueline. They allege he was attempting yet another burglary in the Hollywood Hills, where he apparently shot himself in the foot.

The police say he's the sole perpetrator in the Avant killing, and they also say he used an AR-15 style weapon.

Maynor has since been charged with murder, attempted murder, felony with a firearm as well as 2 counts of residential burglary with a person present ... all in connection to the Avant shooting. We're told he's scheduled to have surgery on his foot Wednesday, so he won't be arraigned until after that.

Lil Wayne allegedly pulled an assault rifle on one of his own bodyguards during a dispute at his home, and now police are looking into the incident.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... one of the rapper's guards told cops he and Wayne got into a fight at Weezy's Hidden Hills, CA home, and cops say they were told the altercation escalated to physical violence and a brandished firearm.

We're told the guard claims Wayne told him to get outta the house after the initial dispute, but the guard went to the bathroom first and he claims that's when Wayne dramatically escalated things.

We've spoken with a source close to Wayne who strongly denies the incident even happened ... and tell us Wayne doesn't even have a gun.

That's not however, what the guard told cops ... our sources say the guard claimed Lil Wayne pulled out an AR-15 ... and that's when the guard booked it out of the house to the gated community's guard shack, where he called police.

We're told cops went to Weezy's place to get his side of the story, but he was already gone. The guard told police the fight started with Wayne accusing him of taking photos and leaking them to the media.

Other law enforcement sources involved in the case tell TMZ ... cops have issues with the guard's story, and they say he did not have any marks on his body or injuries from the alleged physical confrontation.

We're told the guard also does not want to press charges against Wayne -- and while police have doubts about some of the allegations, they will nevertheless investigate.