Pittsfield Man Charged in Murder

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Police have arrested a suspect in the murder of a Pittsfield man on Friday evening. 
 
Desmond Phillip, 42, is facing charges in the murder of 43-year-old Teddy Cepeda.
 
Police responded to a Goodrich Street address at approximately 6:30 p.m. Friday after receiving a 911 call and found Cepeda with a gunshot wound. Paramedics transported Cepeda to Berkshire Medical Center, where he died.
 
The Pittsfield Police and the Berkshire State Police Detective Unit assigned to the Berkshire District Attorney's Office established probable cause to arrest Phillip for the shooting. 
 
The investigation into the shooting remains ongoing. Anyone with information should contact Pittsfield Police Detective Ignacio  Matos at 413-448-9700, Ext. 576.
 
Phillip is expected to be arraigned on Monday.

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Former Miss Hall's Head Arraigned for Child Endangerment

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Warning: this article discusses sexual assault. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A retired head of Miss Hall's School was charged with reckless child endangerment in relation to sexual abuse allegations against a former teacher

Jeannie Norris, head of the girls' boarding school from 1996 to 2012, was arraigned on Monday for one count of reckless endangerment of a child. Now living in North Carolina, she appeared virtually before Judge James Manitsas in Berkshire Superior Court and pled not guilty. 

Based on evidence collected during the investigation into allegations of abuse that occurred at the school, the Berkshire County District Attorney's Office alleges she was aware of inappropriate relationships between a teacher, Matthew Rutledge, and students attending the school. The evidence collected demonstrated that she received numerous reports of Rutledge's alleged inappropriate conduct, according to the indictment. 
 
Rutledge, 63, was arraigned on rape charges in April of this year. Several women came forward publicly to accuse him of grooming them as teenagers and raping them. 
 
Norris, represented by attorney Thomas Hoopes, had her physical presence waived for Monday's arraignment and for Nov. 18, when the case goes to pretrial. Reckless child endangerment is a misdemeanor that carries more than 100 days of incarceration. 

The DA's Office, represented by Assistant District Attorney Joseph Yorlano, returned the indictment on July 22. 

Rutledge was indicted by a Berkshire grand jury following accusations dating back to the 1990s of sexually assaulting students at the girls' school. Standing in front of the Superior Court, former students Hilary Simon and Melissa Fares that day called out the school for failing to protect them. 

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