Exodus Tyson was found Monday morning hanged from a cord that was connected to a treadmill in the family’s activity room in their Phoenix, Arizona home. She was discovered when her mother, who was cleaning in another room, sent the girl’s seven-year-old brother in to check on her.
Police are treating the case as an accident, saying it appears the child was playing on or near the treadmill and became tangled in the cord. The girl’s mother was administering CPR when paramedics arrived on the scene. Exodus died a day later of her injuries.
Tyson was in Las Vegas at the time of the incident but rushed to his daughter’s side upon being notified of the tragedy.
“Mike was very dedicated to that baby,'' said Sig Rogish, a longtime friend of Tyson and his former agent. “I think every parent's greatest fear is that they live beyond their children. I know Mike has had his troubles in his life, but he's always been a good father.”
The troubles Rogish refers to are numerous. Tyson’s father left the family when Mike was two; his mother died when he was 16. By the age of 13 he had been arrested 38 times, but was saved from a life on the streets after juvenile hall when a counselor discovered his boxing talent.
His short-lived marriage to actress Robin Givens ended amidst allegations of physical and emotional abuse and mental illness. He was convicted of raping a beauty queen and spent three years in prison for the crime. He was stripped of his boxing license for a year after biting off a chunk of Evander Holyfield’s ear during a match, went to prison again on new assault charges, filed for bankruptcy in 2003 after squandering nearly $300 million -- around the same time his second marriage ended due to his reported infidelities -- and was arrested again in 2006 on charges of DUI and felony drug possession.
Tyson knows his life has been one big tragedy of Shakespearean proportions. In 2005 he told USA Today:
"My whole life has been a waste -- I've been a failure. I just want to escape. I'm really embarrassed with myself and my life. I want to be a missionary. I think I could do that while keeping my dignity without letting people know they chased me out of the country. I want to get this part of my life over as soon as possible. In this country nothing good is going to come of me. People put me so high; I wanted to tear that image down."
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Mike Tyson's daughter dies after accident.
Cop without a badge
WILKES-BARRE – A former Kingston police detective didn’t have a license for a loaded pistol found inside his vehicle, city police allege in arrest papers.
Daniel Griffin, 45, of Swoyersville, was arraigned on Tuesday by District Judge Martin Kane in Wilkes-Barre on a charge of carrying a firearm without a license. He was released without bail awaiting a preliminary hearing in Central Court on June 3.
Police allege they found a loaded .25-caliber pistol in its holster inside the console of Griffin’s Ford Crown Victoria that had a “Police Interceptor” front license plate and a K9 sticker on the trunk. The vehicle, with tinted windows, was seized when it was found in a parking lot on East Northampton Street on May 13.
Griffin was arrested by city police on Public Square that day on an warrant obtained by Fleetwood police in Berks County accusing him of impersonating a police officer during a traffic stop.
“This started out in Berks County on the search warrant for my car,” Griffin said in a telephone interview after he was arraigned on Tuesday. “It’s true and correct to their beliefs; I don’t believe it to be true. I plan to aggressively defend myself. For me to make further comment right now, I really can’t. I just found out about these new charges this morning. I ask that you please reserve judgment until the deposition of this case.” Fleetwood police said in arrest records that they stopped Griffin, driving the Ford Crown Victoria, for traveling 55 to 60 miles per hour in a 35 mph zone on May 7. Griffin immediately got out of his vehicle waving a badge and identifying himself as a Kingston police officer, according to the criminal complaint filed by Fleetwood police.
Fleetwood police learned that Griffin was no longer an officer with the Kingston Police Department.
Griffin was arraigned by District Judge Gail M. Greth in Richmond Township, Berks County, on Aug. 20 on charges of impersonating a public servant and false identification to law enforcement. He was released on $25,000 unsecured bail.
Griffin has been embattled with Kingston officials since July 2007 when he was charged with forging the name of a former Kingston police chief for reimbursement of a shotgun he personally purchased. A Luzerne county jury convicted Griffin of criminal attempt to commit theft and forgery in September 2008.
Griffin is appealing his conviction.
A year after he was terminated from the Kingston Police Department in December 2007, Griffin filed a federal civil lawsuit accusing Kingston officials of conspiring against him.
