Month: January 2026

By Penny Kmitt

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    FRAMINGHAM, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A Massachusetts man was reunited with the first responders who saved his life last month when a massive tree slammed onto his car, trapping him inside and leaving him seriously injured.

With his arm in a sling, neck in a brace, and gratitude in his heart, Eric Freeman helped honor those Framingham first responders on Wednesday along with Massachusetts Sen. President Karen Spilka during a small ceremony at the fire station.

“This could have been a very different outcome but we are here surrounded by Framingham’s finest,” Spilka said. “It was a random, freak accident that was just very unfortunate. Because of those that came, the public safety, because of their expertise, their fast action, their compassion, and knowing exactly what to do during this very difficult time helped save Eric.”

The 67-year-old Freeman was driving through Framingham on an early December night when a pine tree suddenly came crashing down. The tree crushed Freeman’s Audi and nearly killed him.

“I was driving along and all of the sudden my head was on the center console of the car, and I was looking out through my moon roof,” he said. “It took a while before I could finally say ‘Help!’ and put some volume into it which was scary.”

Freeman said it was the epitome of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but the right people at the right time is what saved his life.

“I just shook his hand. I can’t believe he’s standing,” Brewster paramedic Don Avery said.

Avery was on his way to a different call when he happened to come across the scene.

“I didn’t expect to see anybody alive,” Avery said. “The center part of the tree, we were able to get that off with some bystanders.”

Freeman said he doesn’t remember much. But he does remember the sirens, and people helping.

“It gives me a lot of appreciation for civilization, community,” he said. “It’s a lot of people working together. It’s delightful.”

Though Freeman said his recovery has been slow and frustrating, he added that he feels fortunate to be alive. He has a plate screwed into his skull and a bar that goes down into his spine.

Today, Freeman and his wife Kathleen say they have a new appreciation for life, and the community around them.

“It’s nice to hear the different accounts from the first responders and understanding how this all came together and worked so well,” Kathleen said.

Eric is an avid skier and hiker, two activities now on hold as he still faces a long road to recovery.

“Skiing, going back and letting Wildcat know whose boss,” he said. “I may not be able to do what I did before. But hopefully I’ll still be able to hit the mountains hard.”

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. 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 French

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    RICHMOND, Virginia (WTVR) — Nadia Ross remembers her younger brother Princeo Brooks as someone who was “always smiling.”

The 42-year-old loved his music, his family and above all, his 10-year-old son Kendrick.

“His only son, his world, like Kendrick, is his world to him,” Ross said. “All he looked forward to was doing his time and coming home, and all he kept talking about was reuniting with his son and getting on his feet so that he can get his son.”

Brooks was serving time at Greensville Correctional Center for assault and battery, grand larceny and shoplifting.

His family said he was scheduled to be released in 2026. Instead, he was just laid to rest after his 10-year-old son bid the final farewell.

Brooks was found unresponsive November 11 with his cellmate on top of him after an “apparent attack,” according to the Virginia Department of Corrections.

Sources exclusively told CBS 6 that cellmate was Nickolaus Brown, convicted in Southwest Virginia of attempted capital murder, attempted robbery and use of a firearm in those crimes. According to VADOC records Brown is now at Red Onion State Prison in Wise County.

Brown and Brooks were housed in the general population.

Sources said that after the alleged attack, Brown was talking to himself and stated that Brooks “didn’t know he deserved it.”

Sources described the attack as “brutal” and said it may have been prevented had the facility been properly staffed that evening.

According to a State Inspector General report conducted in July 2025, Greensville’s staffing has a vacancy rate of close to 50%.

At the time of Brooks’s death, sources said most security posts were left vacant in the evening because non-security staff were having to assist with rounds and checking on inmates during the day.

“It’s reasonable to understand that there may be situations that happen in prison, like fights or disagreements, that happens in life, that can happen even not in prison, but you don’t expect death,” Ross said through tears. “You don’t expect that.”

University of Virginia Professor Gerard Robinson is a professor of practice in public policy and law at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy and School of Law. He teaches a course called “Inside US Prisons.” The former Secretary of Education under Governor Bob McDonnell said the understaffing problem extends beyond Virginia.

“The problem of understaffing in prisons is not endemic to just Virginia. It’s nationwide,” Robinson said. “The largest state agency in Virginia is the Department of Corrections, approximately 11,000 employees. And so for a public institution to have that many employees and the millions of dollars we invest on face value, you would think, well, we should have enough money to pay people.”

Robinson said correctional officers make less than they probably should for the work they do, but noted that money alone isn’t the only issue.

“The suicide rate for American correctional officers is higher than the suicide rate for American police, then we realize we have a correctional problem,” Robinson said. “Professional development, mental and social health and support for correctional officers is needed, because even though they leave prison, they bring that home to their families.”

Brooks’s passing brings the total number of Greensville inmate deaths in the last three years to 68. According to the Inspector General report, about half died at the facility and the other half at local hospitals. Thirty-five percent of those deaths happened last year alone, and in two-thirds of those cases, the cause is still pending.

“You would think that the prison has certain protocols in place to protect the people in there, and they failed him,” Ross said. “They failed him. My next step is making sure this doesn’t happen to another family.”

Robinson suggests focusing on implementing existing laws and regulations rather than creating new ones, talking to formerly incarcerated people about their experiences, and interviewing outgoing leaders who may now be more willing to discuss barriers they faced.

“People do make mistakes in life. I’m not taking away from that. He never took away from that,” Ross said. “However, when a loved one goes to prison and they’re sentenced to a certain amount of time, you expect to see them again. You expect, he was on his way home.”

Brooks’s family said the Virginia Department of Corrections notified them of his passing but would not answer any questions about how he died.

They said they found out it was an alleged attack through media reports.

I reached out to the Virginia Department of Corrections for comment and as of this publication CBS 6 has not received a statement.

The Virginia Department of Corrections provided the following statement on alleged staffing shortages November 12:

“The security of VADOC facilities and the safety of our corrections team and inmate population remains our agency’s top priority. Staffing is a concern not just for the VADOC. Correctional systems and jails across the United States are experiencing staffing shortages. The Department aggressively recruits security and non-security candidates and utilizes new corrections technologies to help ensure safety and security.”

Robinson said there are two things Governor Spanberger can do. The first he said is to signal human dignity in prisons.

“Why the term human dignity? It’s a term that’s used internationally to talk about how we should treat people who are incarcerated. So, she’s at least extending this to a broader national and international conversation. And the number two is to lead by example,” he said.

He said Governor McDonnell did this by visiting inmates in prison because he said he was their governor too.

This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. WTVR verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. 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 Cameron Thompson

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    RICHMOND, Virginia (WTVR) — The Virginia State Senate is moving forward with legislation aimed at improving the independence of Virginians with visual impairments.

The Senate Finance Committee approved a bill Tuesday to allow a tax credit of up to $50,000 for Virginia-based companies to create a program that could put braille lettering on packages they ship to customers.

18-year-old Tate Jordan proposed the idea to his legislator, Sen. Danica Roem (D-Prince William), last year. He created an example of what a package label looks like to him, and one with braille letters to show the challenges about 184,000 Virginians like him face.

“For many blind people, they can’t independently look at their mail or look at the packages they receive and tell independently what that text says, who it’s addressed to, the address,” Jordan said. “I’ve heard horror stories from blind people who have packages sent to giant shipping rooms in their apartments where they’ll spend hours looking for a package.”

“If you are blind, visually-impaired, you’re online, you can click a little box that says ‘Send the label in braille,’ and then they can print it off and go do that,” Roem said.

The legislation now moves to the full Senate for a vote.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. 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 Emma Romano

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    STUART, Florida (WPTV) — Two Jacksonville women were arrested Tuesday night after authorities said they stole hundreds of cans of baby formula valued at around $8,000 during a multi-stop theft spree in Martin County.

Summer Bryant, 36, and Andrea Williams, 38, were taken into custody after detectives and road patrol deputies caught them leaving a Walgreens at Salerno Road and Kanner Highway with bags of stolen merchandise, according to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.

The crime spree began in the City of Stuart, where Stuart Police received reports of two suspicious women who suddenly left a retail store without paying for items. That alert was passed along to Martin County deputies, who quickly began searching for the suspects’ vehicle.

Deputies located the car outside the Walgreens. When they approached, detectives spotted Bryant and Williams exiting the store with bags stuffed full of baby formula. A search of their vehicle revealed even more stolen formula, totaling about 160 cans.

Baby formula theft has become an increasingly common offense across Florida and the nation due to the product’s high resale value and strong demand, often leading thieves to target multiple stores across several jurisdictions in a short period of time.

Both Bryant and Williams were arrested, transported to the Martin County Jail, and charged with multiple offenses. Authorities say the investigation is ongoing to determine whether the suspects are tied to other similar thefts in the area.

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By Travis Case

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    BALTIMORE (WMAR) — 30-year-old Eric Jones Jr. has been charged with first and second-degree assault of Dashond Johnson.

Jones is alleged to have also stabbed and killed Johnson.

On January 19, Baltimore Police arrived at 24 S. Bernice Street in response to a missing persons report.

Police spoke to Johnson’s sister, who said she had not seen or heard from him in over two weeks, as she was concerned for his safety, according to charging documents.

Officers also spoke to the roommate and resident at 24 S. Bernice Street, who said Johnson lived there with his boyfriend.

His roommate told authorities he had traveled out of town for the holidays and didn’t see Johnson at all since he got back.

Later, police facetimed Eric Jones Jr. Jones told them on the night of January 2, 2026, he got into a serious argument with Johnson; Johnson “stormed out” of the house.

Jones ended by saying he had not seen Johnson since the argument.

According to the Baltimore Police, the homicide unit was brought into the fold as the circumstances of the disappearance felt suspicious.

The preliminary investigation revealed a follow-up to a suspicious 911 call with a nearby resident.

Police say the resident stated that she heard a male outside screaming “Oh my God, Oh my God” multiple times.

Looking out the window, she saw a male stumble from 24 S. Bernice St., clutching his chest. The man then collapsed between two parked vehicles.

She said a second male would come out of the house at 24 S. Bernice St. and looked at the male who collapsed.

The second male retrieved a folding cart from the front yard and placed the unresponsive male in it.

The second male went back inside the house. Shortly after, he went back outside fully dressed and pushed the cart down the street towards an alley.

She says she saw the second male the following morning (Jan 3), scrubbing the front steps and sidewalk in front of 24 S. Bernice St.

Detectives later spoke with Johnson’s sister, who said her brother told her in recent conversations that his relationship with Jones had been on a downward spiral over the past year.

He told her their arguments at times had become physically violent. In addition, Johnson told his sister that if anything were to happen to him, Eric Jones Jr. would be responsible.

Detectives later obtained a search warrant for the house on S. Bernice St.

During their search, luminol was used to detect blood in the home.

The bedroom, living room, and front doorway yielded positive reactions consistent with the presence of blood and or cleaned bloodstain patterns.

Eric Jones Jr. was brought in by the homicide unit for questioning. Jones voluntarily waived his Miranda rights.

Jones confessed and admitted to getting into a physical altercation with Johnson and stabbing him multiple times, according to charging documents.

Police say he admitted to putting Johnson into a wagon, covering it with a suitcase, and taking his body to Leakin Park.

There, he said he covered Johnson’s body with stones.

Jones used Google Earth to show detectives where he dumped the body. Detectives with body-worn cameras, along with Jones, went to the said location.

Police recovered Johnson’s body. The scene was assessed by the Baltimore Police Crime Lab and the Chief Medical Examiner.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. 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 Miyoshi Price

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    ARCADIA, Florida (WFTX) — Elizabeth Alejo has been desperately trying to find her husband for weeks after what started as a routine traffic stop turned into an immigration detention nightmare.

Mario Garcia-Falcon was pulled over on Dec. 17 near Hillsboro Avenue and Palm Drive in DeSoto County. She said he did not come to a complete stop at a stop sign. His wife told Price that he’s not a U.S. citizen but has been in the legal immigration process since 2022. Alejo did say that he had a few misdemeanors from his past out of Manatee County, but said it was years ago.

“They just took him,” Alejo said, standing at the corner where her husband was arrested.

Despite Alejo posting bond that Wednesday afternoon, ICE picked up Garcia-Falcon the next day and transported him to a detention facility.

Now, it’s been a confusing maze of transfers and communication breakdowns that highlight the challenges families face when trying to find loved ones in ICE custody.

According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement website, information in their Online Detainee Locator System may be up to eight hours old. ICE policy requires systems to be updated within eight hours of any release, removal or transfer of detainees, though the agency notes that “people planning to visit a detainee should call ahead to the detention facility to confirm the detainee is still at that location.”

For Alejo, this delay has created significant confusion. After three weeks at one facility, Garcia-Falcon was transferred again. For five days, she had no communication with him.

“I was so scared. I thought maybe he had been sent to Mexico, but I wanted to hear it from him,” Alejo said.

When Garcia-Falcon finally called on Jan. 11, Alejo said he was in tears, calling from Oklahoma. However, the ICE locator system showed him at South Texas Detention Center.

“He said that’s where he was supposed to go. But then they changed direction and took him to Oklahoma,” Alejo said.

The DeMine Immigration Law Firm in Fort Myers, which Alejo hired to represent her husband, reports seeing similar problems across multiple cases. The firm said they are experiencing an increase in families having difficulty finding loved ones in ICE custody.

“It is taking weeks to know exactly where they are,” the firm stated. “We currently have a client that is showing the locator to be in Texas, but the client is telling us they are actually somewhere else.”

The attorneys also report cases where individuals are being detained at routine ICE check-ins, including people with pending spousal petitions who entered the country legally and have clear pathways to lawful status with no criminal history.

“They are detaining people who clearly qualify for a bond and have an attorney,” the firm noted.

The ordeal has taken a severe toll on Alejo’s family. Garcia-Falcon ran their landscaping business, and his absence has created both financial strain and emotional hardship for their three-year-old son and Alejo’s two older daughters, whom Garcia-Falcon has helped raise since 2015.

“He is the man that you need an oil change. You need your brakes done. You need help with the kids. You need someone to cook. He is that man. He takes care of us very well, and we all miss him,” Alejo said.

The family has paid $6,000 for immigration attorney fees to file a bond motion, which was submitted Jan. 8. They are still waiting for a court hearing.

“Not everyone is able to pay six grand to an immigration lawyer. It’s expensive,” Alejo said. “Some families do not have means to do so.”

Garcia-Falcon came to the United States at 15-years-old for a better future for his family. He and Alejo met in 2016 and married in 2019. Alejo filed immigration paperwork for his residency around 2022, and they were told they had about a year left in the process.

Price searched court records in DeSoto and Manatee counties. In Manatee County, Garcia-Falcon was arrested for three misdemeanors, including DUI. He pleaded no contest for that charge.

In DeSoto County, the most recent case, he was arrested for not having a valid driver’s license.

For now, Alejo continues to wait for a court hearing while maintaining hope that her husband will be granted bond and allowed to return home while his immigration case proceeds.

“I would say to trust God, he’s the only one that will help you through these tough times, and always stay positive, no matter how hard the situation may be,” Alejo said. “You can’t really do nothing being depressed. You have to keep pushing forward for your family because they hurt.”

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. WFTX verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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