Month: December 2025

By Caleb Califano

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    PALM CITY, Florida (WPBF) — Rowing coaches in Martin County say a group of teenage boaters put their young athletes in danger this week after circling their boats, creating large wakes and shouting obscenities during a training session.

The Treasure Coast Rowing Club tells WPBF 25 News its teenage girls’ team was out for routine practice when a boat full of teens repeatedly sped by. One of the coaches captured video showing the teens’ boat driving away moments after another pass.

“They circled around and waked us and then continued to wake us several times, shouting obscenities, filming videos, giving us the finger,” coach Shaun Ingles said. “It was pretty dangerous.”

Coaches say the girls on the rowing crew were young teenagers, and the sudden wakes caused them to panic. The club emphasized how vulnerable the athletes were inside their narrow racing shells, which sit low on the water and can flip with only a small amount of water inside.

“All it would take is that boat to have clipped or for the oar, which is made out of carbon fiber, to impale an arm or a leg or a sternum or a neck,” coach Stefanie Falkner said. “Then we have a much bigger disaster on the river.”

The club says a sheriff’s deputy responded to their boathouse, where they filed a report. They say they also submitted reports to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the U.S. Coast Guard.

Coaches tell WPBF 25 News the video posted by the boaters themselves helped them identify a boat registration number. They say what they want now is accountability and safer boating around rowers.

“We want that to be investigated. We want them to understand there’s consequences,” Falkner said. “We don’t want it swept under the rug.”

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By Jim Keithley

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    PORTLAND, Maine (WMTW) — A Maine man who has been charged with murder refused to appear in court for a bail hearing because he did not want to be seen on television in jail clothes.

Domingus Nobrega, 49, is accused of stabbing his roommate, Matthew Merrick, to death on Nov. 30, 2024 at the apartment they shared in Portland’s West End.

Nobrega told lawyers and court officials he would not participate in Wednesday’s hearing because he knew members of the media were there and he did not want the public to see him in a jail uniform.

The bail hearing was rescheduled for January, and Nobrega will be allowed to appear in civilian clothes.

During a discovery hearing held in March, an attorney representing Nobrega said a witness told a grand jury she saw Nobrega come into Merrick’s bedroom and stab Merrick in the chest. A motive for the murder, however, was not given.

Merrick’s mother, Debra Kelly, was in the courtroom for Wednesday’s hearing. For the first time since her son’s murder, Kelly spoke with Maine’s Total Coverage.

“Two police officers came to my house at 10 o’clock at night and told me, and I was shocked,” Kelly recalled.

Kelly said her son would have turned 44 on Oct. 1, 2025, and that he did not deserve to die.

“It shouldn’t happen to any parent. You don’t think: ‘I’m going to bury my child.’ You don’t ever think that,” Kelly said. “He loved his family. He really did, especially his aunts and uncles.

“I’m thinking: ‘I’m not going to see him again,’ and I just say that to myself. I’m never going to see him again,” she added.

The judge presiding over Wednesday’s hearing said a psychological exam should be ordered for Nobrega, who previously claimed that he is not a U.S. citizen.

Nobrega has been held without bail at the Cumberland County Jail since he was arrested at the Walmart Supercenter in Scarborough on Dec. 3, 2024.

The judge also said a trial in this case would likely not happen until August 2026.

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By Zach Rainey

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    SPARTANBURG, South Carolina (WYFF) — Police arrested a man who allegedly abducted a woman outside a Walmart in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and attempted to sexually assault her.

Around 4:45 p.m. on Nov. 29, officers with the Spartanburg Police Department responded to an incident at the Dorman Centre Walmart.

When officers arrived, they found a woman who was visibly upset and showed signs of experiencing a traumatic event.

Officers said the woman spoke limited English and initially communicated in what was believed to be Russian or Ukrainian. A Ukrainian-speaking officer was contacted to assist with translation.

Through translation, officers learned that the victim and her daughter had been placing shopping bags into their vehicle when an unknown man approached them.

The suspect allegedly displayed a handgun and demanded the victim’s cellphone. After she complied, the suspect forced her into his vehicle at gunpoint.

According to the report, the suspect then drove behind the shopping center, exposed himself, and attempted to force the victim to perform a sexual act.

The victim refused and despite the suspect’s continued attempts, she ultimately escaped and ran back to her vehicle, where her daughter was waiting. She then flagged down two bystanders and asked them to call 911.

Around 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Spartanburg police and the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office found and arrested the suspect at his home at 605 Dills Farm Way in Greer. The suspect was identified as 32-year-old Justin Alexander McKittrick.

This remains an active and ongoing investigation. Police urge anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-888-CRIMESC or the police department at (864) 596-2065.

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By Zach Rainey

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    MCDOWELL COUNTY, North Carolina (WYFF) — State and federal investigators responded to a home in Marion, North Carolina, after a deputy found a trip wire attached to an explosive device.

On Saturday, a deputy with the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office was conducting a property check at a home in Marion when he noticed several strands of fishing line that stretched across the road in front of the home.

Deputies said the line was connected to a device pointed toward the road, which prompted the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to respond.

Authorities determined it to be a destructive explosive device.

The homeowner, identified as 52-year-old Joe Cooper, has been charged with the following:

Three counts of possession of a weapon of mass destruction Possession of a firearm by felon Resisting a public officer Assaulting a government official

Cooper was booked into the McDowell County Detention Center under a $175,000 bond.

No other details have been released.

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By Kelcie Bolden

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    TUNICA COUNTY, Mississippi (WAPT) — An 82-year-old woman has been charged with murder in the death of her boyfriend.

The Tunica County Sheriff’s Office says the department received a 911 call at approximately 3:15 p.m. Tuesday about a shooting at a residence on Tibbs Road.

The department says the caller reported she had shot her boyfriend.

Deputies, along with emergency responders, were dispatched to the scene. There, deputies found a male victim with a fatal wound.

The victim was later identified as 75-year-old James Larry Jr. of Sledge, MS.

The caller, authorities identified as 82-year-old Mattie Crockett of Sledge, was taken to an area hospital for treatment and was later released. Deputies then transported her to the Tunica County Jail.

Crockett appeared before a judge Wednesday and was issued a $100,000 bond.

Anyone with information in this ongoing investigation can contact Tunica County Sheriff’s Office at 662-363-1411.

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By Brooklyn Joyner

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    VICKSBURG, Mississippi (WAPT) — A Vicksburg family is calling their 5-year-old boy a hero after he alerted them to a dangerous house fire that destroyed their home just two days after Thanksgiving.

Ranajai Hill may be shy — often hiding behind his hair and speaking softly to strangers — but when it mattered most, he acted with extraordinary bravery.

Ranajai was sitting on the couch watching TV early Saturday morning while most of his family slept. That’s when he noticed heat coming from nearby flames.

“He said he just saw the fire come up, and he went and got his grandmother,” said Jennifer Smith, his Gigi.

In the home at the time were Ranajai’s grandmother, his little sister, two uncles, and Ranajai himself. Thanks to his quick warning, all five escaped safely, wearing only the clothes they had on.

The Vicksburg Fire Department says the fire started from a gas space heater and declared the home a total loss.

“To me, it was very devastating losing everything that you have, that you’ve worked hard for,” Smith said.

But through the devastation, Smith says she’s overwhelmingly grateful — especially when she considers how differently the morning could have ended.

“I’m so proud of him,” she said. “Without him being the brave hero he was, it could have been worse. I don’t even want to explain.”

Although Ranajai is a boy of few words, his Gigi says his compassion for others is what makes him shine — and what helped save his family.

Ranajai’s family has created a GoFundMe to help replace essentials and clothing lost in the fire as they work to rebuild.

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By Taylor Lang, Lisa Crane

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    JEFFERSON COUNTY, Alabama (WVTM) — The Jefferson County coroner identified several human remains on Thursday that were found by neighborhood dogs in Birmingham.

A human skull and a long bones were found by a neighborhood dog starting back in August of 2024. More remains were discovered by a K-9 team, the coroner said.

Those remains belong to Curtis Taylor Jr., from Center Point, according to the coroner. He was reported missing on Feb. 21, 2024, from a family residence that was across the street from where the dog found his remains.

The timeline Aug. 20, 2024

A human skull was found on the shoulder of the road next to a home. It is believed the skull was found by a dog and moved from its original location. A search found no other remains.

Dec. 13, 2024

The coroner’s office performed an autopsy on the skull, which showed the victim had been shot. While the analysis developed a full DNA profile, the Jefferson County coroner said that it did not match anyone in the national database.

The same dog that found the skull found a long bone in the front yard of the same home. Deputies checked nearby vacant homes and doorbell cameras, but couldn’t find where it came from.

Dec. 20, 2024

The long bone was found to be from the same person that the skull was from, according to the coroner.

According to the owners, Birmingham police put a tracker on one of the dogs in December of 2024 to determine where they were finding these bones. Officials hope tracking the dog’s roaming patterns will help them figure out where the dog found the bones.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office worked with law enforcement to see if there were missing-persons cases that could be connected to the case.

March 4, 2025

DNA analysis confirmed all of the human remains are from the same person, but that person was not identified.

Multiple missing persons cases were ruled out.

The GPS locations of where the dogs from the residence travel were used to search more areas, but no remains were found.

Aug. 8, 2025

A K-9 search found more skeletal remains in the woods at the property of Taylor’s family.

Aug. 11, 2025

Another long bone was found.

Dec. 4, 2025

All the skeletal remains come from the same person who has been identified as Curtis Taylor Jr., 25. He was visually impaired and reported missing by his family, who lives across the street, on Feb. 21, 2024.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is investigating his death.

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By Ubah Ali

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    MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — In the heart of Minneapolis’ Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, DFL lawmakers condemned attacks on the Somali community while addressing the growing fear and arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“Almost every person living here is a citizen,” said state Sen. Zaynab Mohamed.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, data shows over 107,000 people identified as Somali across the state. A majority of them live in the Twin Cities.

Many Somali families fled civil war, seeking an opportunity and a brighter future for their children, including Sumeya Mohamud’s family.

“I was born in Kenya, grew up here, went through schooling from kindergarten to now college here in Minnesota,” Mohamud said. “This is all I know.”

She says her parents’ struggle paved the way for her to shine. Next semester, she will graduate college with her nursing degree, eager and determined to give back to the community.

Despite the political rhetoric, she’s grateful to be Somali and American.

“One thing my parents taught me was resilience, not letting others’ perception of you limit what you can do for yourself,” she said.

Ahmed Yusuf knows that resilience, too. He left Somalia in the late ’80s, unable to read. Today, he’s an author. In 2012, he wrote “Somalis in Minnesota,” a book detailing the experiences of Somali immigrants and why they chose Minnesota. Back then, he says about 50,000 Somalis called the state home. Today, that number has doubled.

But the stories he shared in the book are still the stories today. The challenges and triumphs of a community — each person with their own story of survival, perseverance and hope as they chase the American dream.

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