King County prosecutors have charged Rene Fernandez, 31, with second-degree murder for the Oct. 3 death of his 9-month-old niece. Fernandez was babysitting the girl, Melissa Carranza, in her White Center home when he allegedly threw her to the floor after becoming frustrated with her crying.

When Fernandez' wife came home, she noticed the baby was struggling to breath.

The child reportedly died from injuries related to two skull fractures.

Fernandez is being held on $1 million bail in King County Jail.

Meat stolen at food bank

Tukwila Police are investigating the theft of $5,000 worth of meat products from the Tukwila Pantry food bank.

Between 10 p.m., Oct. 4 and 7:30 a.m., Oct. 5, someone backed up to the outdoor refrigerator that holds the meat products and stole 40 crates of bacon, hot dogs and packaged-lunch meats.

The non-profit group of volunteers serves the Tukwila, SeaTac and Burien communities.

Police are still investigating the theft.

Threatening pit-bull killed

A pit bull was killed by a Des Moines Police officer last week after the animal threatened several people.

On Oct. 10 at 8:17 a.m., a mother and her daughter were walking back from Pacific Middle School in the 22100 block of 28th Ave. S. after dropping off her son.

They saw three boys throwing pebbles and two pit bulls that were standing in the road. The kids ran off after the dogs became agitated.

As the woman and her daughter watched, the two dogs began to walk in their direction, barking and growling.

The mother and her daughter ran from the approaching dogs and managed to jump into a nearby fenced yard just before the larger dog, Kong, leapt at them.

The dogs continued to growl and bark at them.

Des Moines Police officers did an area check and noticed three people in the 22100 block of 28th Ave. S. with the dogs nearby.

The dogs were barking and closing in on the three adults. An officer immediately pulled his patrol car up to scene and got out. Two adults slipped behind the car, away from the dogs. The dogs cornered the third adult.

Kong was growling, barking and showing his teeth when the officer yelled at the dog, which began to walk towards the officer. The third adult then was able to get behind the car with the distraction.

The dog continued to threaten the officer, who, fearing for his safety, shot the dog three times, killing the animal.

The second dog was placed in the back of the patrol car and released to owner.

Man arrested after threat

A 7-11 store clerk called 911 on Oct. 8 at 3:37 p.m. after he saw a man outside brandishing a rifle.

The 21-year-old suspect stopped at the store at 2904 Kent-Des Moines Road and parked his car, taking up three spaces.

When he went inside, the clerk told him to move his car.

The man shouted obscenities at the clerk and walked back outside. He returned inside and stared at the clerk, and once again walked outside to his car.

The clerk then watched as the man opened his trunk, got a rifle and said, "I will kill you."

While the man was driving away, the clerk wrote down his license plate number and Des Moines Police were able to take the suspect into custody in the 22800 block of 24th Ave. S.

The man has a known history of criminal activity with police.

Beer theft leads to arrest

A man was arrested for allegedly trying to steal a case of beer at the Safeway store in the 21400 block of Pacific Highway S. on Oct. 6 around 1:50 p.m.

The suspect walked into the store and went straight to the beer aisle. A store security officer watched him enter, and then walk back outside, passing the checkout lines and not paying for the beer.

The security officer followed the suspect outside and asked him to return to the store. When the suspect refused, a struggle ensued. The security officer wrestled him to the ground, handcuffed him and waited for Des Moines Police to arrive.

Compiled by Sara Loken