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Really? Someone shoots someone and police nab him. Headlines say “Armed man arrested for killing 12-year-old girl”. They would be in danger of libel? There’s no indication of guilt in such a statement. Maybe it’s just a flat-out practice so they don’t slip up? [for example, accidentally writing “Armed man arrested for murder of 12-year old girl”, the word ‘murder’ already determining that a crime has been committed, (albeit not directly accusing the ‘suspect’)]
It seems such a clumsy way of phrasing it. “Suspect arrested in killing of girl”, after surveillance videos clearly show it was him [directed @ujm. The individual’s identity can be known without the court’s conviction.] and the sole question is his guilt. It would make much more sense to write “Killer arrested,” and yes, we know that he faces a jury to determine his guilt.