Month: November 2025

By Shaun Gallagher, WRAL reporter

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    North Carolina (WRAL) — Grinning ear to ear in photos from a decade ago are how Sean Brasfield will be remembered by his father.

“Sean was a great kid,” his father said. “Always smiling, just a great kid. Just great.”

But it’s hard to get the images out of his mind of the last six months of his son’s life.

“Knowing Sean was disabled and him watching his brothers and sisters die,” he said. “It hurts to know that he knew and he just physically couldn’t do anything.”

According to the Johnston County Sheriff’s Office, Brasfield was the last of four children to die at a home in Zebulon. His stepfather, Wellington Dickens III, is charged with murdering all four.

“He’s a monster.”

Brasfield’s biological father spoke with WRAL under the condition of anonymity. The what-ifs are constant in his mind right now. A father, filled with regret for not doing more.

“I should have fought harder,” he said. “I should have taken them to court. But who would have known?”

Eighteen years ago, Brasfield was born ahead of schedule. His father said, Sean was born at 30 weeks and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Life wouldn’t be easy, but he said his son was a fighter.

“He was barely two pounds,” he said. “He didn’t start walking and talking until you know, two or three years old. But he’s always been a very smart kid. He was, until he was seven years old.”

That’s when his relationship with Sean’s mother, Stephanie, soured. It was as amicable as could be. Co-parenting was something they were doing fine with.

Until about 10 years ago. The year Dickens and Stephanie married.

“Whatever influence this individual had over her just took control,” Brasfield’s father said.

Communication all but ended. The father said he hadn’t heard or seen his son during that time. He regrets not doing more, but felt he was being taken care of by his mother.

“She was a great mother,” he said. “She was a great person. I think it was more of [Dickens’] influence that finally broke her, and she was totally different.”

After Stephanie died from pregnancy complications in 2024, he didn’t hear anything from the family or the state about his son. Yes, he wishes he did more to try and get custody of his son but he never could have guessed what the next 18 months would hold.

The Johnston County Sheriff’s Office said Dickens killed his 6-year-old daughter in May. A few months later, his 9-year-old daughter was killed in August and later in the month or early the next month, his 10-year-old son.

Sometime in the middle, Dickens called Brasfield’s father.

“Me and him had it out over him taking a blind eye to me not seeing my son for 10, 11 years,” he said. “I let him know, you can’t just call me in the middle of whatever and expect me to do certain things. Y’all been in hiding, and now you want me to come fix an issue that you’re having?”

But ultimately, he put his feelings aside.

“[Dickens] said [Sean] was rebelling and something like that and the other kids were seeing it,” Brasfield’s father said. “He was reaching out to me to help with Sean’s care so I’m like, OK. I got you. Let’s figure it out.”

From birth, Brasfield’s father said his son needed extra medical care. A list of therapists specializing in speech, physical and occupational therapy.

But he feels Dickens didn’t do that because of a distrust he had in the government and medical systems.

“I always thought they were a little off because they went into total hiding,” he said. “I kept Sean on my medical insurance just to see if he’ll use it and pop up.”

That never happened. Any extra care Sean Brasfield needed was not being take care of in his medical insurance’s network. His father said, Dickens’ distrust in the medical system is likely why.

“He would say, I gave him these special things so he doesn’t have seizures anymore,” he said. “Bro, I don’t care about none of that. Why didn’t you take him to the hospital? Why didn’t you just take him to get the care he needed? Just so many other options you could have done. So many different options you could have done and not hurt these innocent children.”

After that call, about a month or two later, Sean Brasfield would be dead with his three siblings in the trunk of a car at that Zebulon home.

Now, all he has are lingering questions for which he’ll never get answers. They are ultimately the questions everyone in the community has.

Why? Why did this happen? Not just to Sean Brasfield, but the other three children as well.

“I know a lot of people are bringing light to my son,” his father said. “But there were three other children who died as well. And, you have a three-year-old with no family. How does that even happen?”

Unanswered questions about the unthinkable, with only pictures of his son as a child to fill the hole in his heart.

While only one outcome for Dickens would make him feel whole.

“I hope he gets the needle,” he said. “I don’t think rotting in prison is good for you. I’m not God. I can’t cast judgment. I let God do what God does but yeah, he deserves a needle.”

This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate partner and does not contain original CNN reporting.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Laura Fay

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    New Jersey (KYW) — The parent company of a New Jersey group home for people with people with intellectual disabilities and several of its employees are accused of abusing and neglecting an elderly resident, the state attorney general said Monday.

Elwyn Pennsylvania Delaware Inc., which is based in Delaware County, and multiple people who worked at a group home it operated in Vineland have been arraigned on charges related to elder abuse and neglect, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced.

The abuse allegedly happened at Strathmore Group Home, and the indictment says employees failed to care for a resident who fell multiple times in April 2023.

Elwyn and Gwendolyn Singletary were arraigned Oct. 20 on charges of neglecting an elderly person and conspiracy. Singletary is also charged with assaulting an institutionalized person.

Inkie Mars, director of operations; Michele Beirne, direct support professional; Bryan F. Firlein, clinical director; DeShay Dickson, operations manager; and Brenda Hichens Torres, direct support professional, were previously indicted on related charges.

According to the attorney general’s office, a resident fell on April 13, 2023, and employees failed to help her to her feet for more than three hours. Two days later, the resident fell or dropped to the ground again and was on the floor for nearly seven hours without help. During that time, Dickson and Singletary allegedly failed to check on the resident for more than three hours each, according to the attorney general.

CBS News Philadelphia has reached out to Elwyn for comment and is waiting to hear back.

“Failure to respond quickly and properly to a resident in need of care is not only wrong but may constitute a crime,” Platkin said in a news release about the case. “The behavior described in the indictment goes beyond mere neglect. We will not allow conduct like this in our care facilities.”

“Institutionalized people should always be treated with respect and dignity,” said Theresa L. Hilton, Division of Criminal Justice director, in the news release. “They need to be safe. The indictment alleges that this did not happen in this case.”

Beirne was admitted into a pre-trial intervention program and agreed to serve 100 hours of community service and not do direct-care work with elderly people, children, people with disabilities or other vulnerable groups.

Officials allege the group home, Mars and Firlein failed to put processes in place to prevent incidents like this and solve them if they happen.

This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate partner and does not contain original CNN reporting.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Mike Darnay

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    GREENE COUNTY, Pennsylvania (KDKA) — Multiple workers were taken to the hospital following a late-night incident that happened inside a mine in Greene County.

Greene County dispatchers confirmed to KDKA-TV that four or five workers were taken to the hospital following an incident that happened around 11 p.m. on Monday night at the Harvey Mine along Patterson Creek Road in Morris Township.

Dispatchers said all of the people were taken to the hospital by ground transport and their conditions are unknown at this time.

Details surrounding the incident are unclear at this time.

Dispatchers said the incident has been turned over to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Mine Safety Bureau.

KDKA has reached out to the DEP as well as Core Natural Resources, who operate the mine.

This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate partner and does not contain original CNN reporting.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Marissa Sulek, Darius Johnson

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    CHICAGO (WBBM) — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is firing back at a lawsuit detailing allegations of inhumane conditions inside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Broadview.

Last week, a lawsuit was filed claiming inhumane conditions at the facility in Broadview and how the people inside don’t have access to their attorneys. Now, it is up to a federal judge who has the power to close the facility if he sees fit.

Both sides were set to appear in federal court for a hearing on Tuesday.

The facility has been at the center of immigration enforcement, arrests, protests, and political pressure for nearly two months. Advocates say detainees lack clean spaces, legal access, and basic needs — while the government insists the facility meets standards.

In a new filing spanning dozens of pages, federal attorneys defended conditions inside, saying detainees get three meals a day, water, foil blankets, and phone access. The federal government also argued that shutting down the facility would paralyze ICE operations across six states.

“If the judge finds this is not a humane place, it’s inhumane — he has the power to actually shut it down,” legal analyst Irv Miller said.

Miller said the federal judge has all day to listen to live testimony, including two people recently detained who will be brought back to testify.

Miller said the judge has the power to stop all immigration enforcement actions on Chicago area streets if he sees fit.

“Homeland Security would have no place to process these detainees. So I’m sure tonight, just in case they lose, they are looking for alternative places that they could do processing of the people they are detaining,” he said.

On Monday night, dozens of people came to a Broadview Village Board meeting, only to be told to leave after they spoke out of turn.

Many protesters outside the Broadview facility attended and were upset that a tent they had up there for supplies was taken down by the village.

“Then you started firing chemicals at us. You left us defenseless, and then you opened fire like cowards,” Ian Perry said.

People who live and work in the village quickly fired back.

“None of you live in Broadview, yet you are going to demand your First Amendment rights contrary to my rights,” Matthew Ames said.

Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson was making her remarks at the end to clear the chamber and told everyone to leave after she said people continued to talk over her. It was the second time in two weeks that the meeting had to end early.

This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate partner and does not contain original CNN reporting.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.