Crime
Executive Producer Dream Hampton Talks “Surviving R. Kelly”
NNPA NEWSWIRE — For Dream Hampton, who served as executive producer of the much-talked about “Surviving R. Kelly” documentary, the explosive revelations in the film were just the tip of the iceberg.
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia
For Dream Hampton, who served as executive producer of the much-talked about “Surviving R. Kelly” documentary, the explosive revelations in the film were just the tip of the iceberg.
Hampton said there were many things she couldn’t talk about and will never discuss because it’s “so dark and sad and traumatic.”
That’s saying quite a bit as the three-part Lifetime Television series not only has social media and the general public aghast but has celebrities like John Legend and Chance the Rapper expressing remorse for ever working with Kelly.
“Maybe he could’ve gotten help when he was 30, or you know, 29 when the Aaliyah stuff broke,” Hampton said in an extensive interview on The Karen Hunter Show on Sirius XM Radio.
Aaliyah was largely left out of the documentary, but Hampton said she didn’t want to devote an entire episode on the late songstress.
“For me, she’s actually his type,” Hampton told Hunter. “You know, what he targets are very regular, and you know, your audience understands this, like brown-skin black girls. You know, like he, we can talk about publicly, oh, that he targets black girls who aren’t famous. No, he has a very specific type, you know.”
Surviving R. Kelly — which aired on Lifetime from Thursday, Jan. 3 to Saturday, Jan. 5 — featured wide-ranging interviews with Kelly’s family members, former friends and colleagues, but most notably, women who claim that for decades, the hit-making singer and producer used his power and influence to sexually and physically abuse women and young girls.
PEOPLE Magazine editors said they reached out to Kelly’s representatives who offered a “no comment” about the series.
In 2002, Kelly, a Chicago native, was indicted after a video surfaced allegedly showing a man engaged in sex acts with a woman who some witnesses testified was 14 at the time of the recording. Both Kelly and the woman denied that the video was of them, and Kelly was never charged with assault. In 2008, Kelly was found not guilty on 21 counts of child pornography.
Several published reports said Kelly intends to counteract the documentary with lawsuits and the creation of a Facebook page to “expose the lies.” However, Hampton said there was plenty of truth attached to the story and much more remains untold.
“When I went into this project, I was clear that he was a predator and that he targeted young and vulnerable girls. I don’t think I knew he was an abuser, and I don’t mean to sound naive, but I just didn’t think physical abuse was a part of his repertoire,” Hampton said.
“I certainly didn’t know I would have to listen to a woman after woman talking about being denied food and movement. I mean, we about to get into a couple of episodes where you’re going to hear testimony of girls talking about having, you know, they couldn’t leave the room unless he told them to and all of them didn’t have bathrooms in the room. So, they used slop buckets. His runners would put slop buckets in the room. So, I don’t think I was prepared for his sadism.”
BayCityNews
Alameda Co. Coroner’s Bureau Trying to Identify Remains of 155 People From All Over Bay Area
The Alameda County Coroner’s Bureau needs help identifying one body and the cremated remains of 154 other people recently found in a Hayward warehouse. Five other bodies found in the space have already been identified. Authorities believe the remains were put in the warehouse between 2013 and 2021 by Oceanview Cremations, which has had its license suspended since March 2018, the coroner’s bureau said in a statement.

By Tony Hicks
Bay City News
The Alameda County Coroner’s Bureau needs help identifying one body and the cremated remains of 154 other people recently found in a Hayward warehouse.
Five other bodies found in the space have already been identified.
Authorities believe the remains were put in the warehouse between 2013 and 2021 by Oceanview Cremations, which has had its license suspended since March 2018, the coroner’s bureau said in a statement.
Oceanview Cremations was prohibited from storing remains on its premises. Nevertheless, it continued operations and kept remains in the warehouse, which was also prohibited.
The coroner’s bureau and county-contracted Grissom’s Mortuary recovered the remains March 1. Officials identified five bodies and contacted families, advising them of the investigation.
Family members said calls to Oceanview Cremations’ owner, Robert Smith, went unanswered. Many believed their loved ones were cremated or scattered at sea as requested.
No information was available on the unidentified body, though the coroner’s office said they came to the funeral home between 2020 and 2021.
Five of the deceased bodies came from Alameda County and the sixth from Sonoma County. The coroner’s office took possession of two of the deceased, Grissom’s Mortuary took four decedents and the cremated remains.
Grissom’s Mortuary has since sorted and alphabetized the cremated remains: 64 are from Alameda County, 23 are from San Francisco, 15 from San Mateo County, 10 from Contra Costa County, nine from Santa Clara County, one from Fresno Countv, nine from Marin Countv, two from Napa County, one from Placer County, one from Sacramento County, two from Stanislaus County, three from San Joaquin County, four from Santa Cruz County, two from Solano County, and eight from Sonoma County.
Officials say people who did business with Oceanview Cremations with final arrangements for a loved one between 2013 and 2022 and are uncertain of their remains should contact the Alameda County Coroner’s Bureau at (510) 382-3000.
Copyright © 2023 Bay City News, Inc. All rights reserved. Republication, rebroadcast or redistribution without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited. Bay City News is a 24/7 news service covering the greater Bay Area.
Crime
12-Year-Old Boy Suspected of Stabbing High School Student on Muni
A 12-year-old boy was arrested for allegedly stabbing a 15-year-old San Francisco high school student on a MUNI bus on Monday, said police. The victim is recovering from the life-threatening injury on Wednesday, police said.

A 12-year-old boy was arrested for allegedly stabbing a 15-year-old San Francisco high school student on a MUNI bus on Monday, said police.
The victim is recovering from the life-threatening injury on Wednesday, police said.
The unprovoked stabbing happened Monday afternoon on a bus near Stockton and Sutter streets, close to San Francisco’s Union Square, according to police.
The 12-year-old boy was arrested and booked on suspicion of attempted homicide, and for an unrelated stabbing and robbery incident from last week.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of March 15 – 21, 2023
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 15 – 21, 2023

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