Man cleared in 2010 murder of Phylicia Barnes sentenced to life in prison for brutal 2024 attack of teen

CNN Newsource on June 23, 2026

By WJZ News Staff

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    BALTIMORE, Maryland (WJZ) — Michael Johnson, the man acquitted in the murder of Phylicia Barnes, was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences and another 25 years in a separate case Monday in Baltimore County.

Johnson, 42, was accused of raping and strangling an 18-year-old woman during an attack that lasted six hours in 2024. He was charged with multiple assault and rape counts as well as first- and second-degree attempted murder.

The trial began in April and lasted a few days before Johnson was found guilty in the Baltimore County Circuit Court.

Johnson stands trial for rape, assault The victim said Johnson, who was 40 at the time, was her boyfriend and they had met after she mistook his car for her Lyft and he took her home.

She told the court that the attack began after he had accused her of texting other men. She explained that she had kicked him out of her apartment in Rosedale after they began to argue, but he came back. She told the jury that she “thought [she] was going to die” during the course of the attack and said that he raped her.

“I let him do whatever he could just so he would stop hurting me,” she said.

The teen was so injured she was unable to speak following the attack and had to communicate with police using paper, according to court documents.

Phylicia Barnes trial Johnson was previously acquitted in the 2010 murder of 16-year-old girl Phylicia Barnes. He was convicted at his first trial in 2013 and served three years in prison. He stood trial three times before a judge acquitted him in 2018.

Barnes was a North Carolina high school student who was visiting her half sister in Northwest Baltimore for Christmas in 2010. She disappeared after the holiday and was found dead near the Conowingo Dam in the Susquehanna River in April of 2011.

Barnes’ father, Russell Barnes, said that the family “believe[s] she was asphyxiated and was strangled to death after she was raped.”

The Barnes family was present in court for several days during Johnson’s latest trial. They said they were hopeful that the justice system would “get it right” this time.

“To hear what happened to this young lady, I didn’t get a chance to hear from my sister what took place and what happened to her, and just to hear [this testimony], it just made me feel like I felt what my sister felt,” Barnes’ older sister Shauntel Sallis said.

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Hailstorm dents cars and tears up gardens in Fountain

KRDO on June 23, 2026

Michael Logerwell

FOUNTAIN, Colo. (KRDO) – Monday was a wild day for severe weather in Southern Colorado. In several Fountain neighborhoods, a hailstorm hit residents hard.

It wasn’t as bad as some of the historic hailstorms Fountain suffered in the past decade, but just about every car around the Fountain Mesa Park is polka-dotted with small dents caused by rock-hard hail.

More than a dozen small dents cover the hood of this car parked outside in the hailstorm.

“I was on a speaker-phone with my friend, and it ended up getting so loud that the phone actually picked up the hail instead of me talking,” Jace Mueller said. He was in the basement playing video games and talking to a friend over the phone, and still heard the hail hitting the home.

The Mueller family is relatively new to the Fountain area and tells KRDO13 this is the worst hail they’ve seen in their time here.

“We’ve only lived here for a couple of years, so I don’t think I’ve seen it [hail] that big before,” Lura Mueller said.

Even those who’ve seen some bad Fountain hailstorms say Monday’s storm was pretty bad.

“We just had to watch from the door and be like, oh, everything’s wrecked,” Holly Gillespie said.

“[My car’s] got a lot of dings in it, and I haven’t looked up on the roof. I can see it starting up there. So I imagine everybody’s car that was out looks like this,” Christy Gillespie said.

Monday could prove to be just the start of severe weather impacts Southern Colorado sees this week. StormTracker13 is following daily storm chances.

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Rockies outfielder Troy Johnston celebrated his birthday by helping us interview Mickey Moniak

KRDO on June 23, 2026

Rob Namnoum

On Monday, Rockies outfielder Troy Johnston celebrated his 28th birthday. He also played the role of reporter before the Rockies game against the Boston Red Sox. Johnston helped us interviewed Rockies outfielder Mickey Moniak.

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Rockies General Manager Josh Byrnes is amazed by Rockies fans

KRDO on June 23, 2026

Rob Namnoum

Rockies general manager Josh Byrnes spoke before the Rockies game against the Boston Red Sox on Monday. Byrnes says he likes the progress the team is making but feels they have a long way to go.

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Walter Clark Legal Group sponsors cab and rideshare rides on the Fourth of July to combat impaired driving

KESQ on June 23, 2026

Jesus Reyes

Rancho Mirage, Calif. – (KESQ) – The Walter Clark Legal Group’s Safe Ride Home Program will return for the Independence Day holiday.

The initiative offers free ride reimbursements to help prevent impaired driving and reduce motor vehicle accidents on one of the most dangerous nights of the year.

The Safe Ride Home Program will be in effect from 10:00 PM on Friday, July 4, 2025, through 3:00 AM on Saturday, July 5, 2025.

Residents and visitors are eligible to receive a reimbursement of up to $50 for a ride taken home via Uber, Lyft, or traditional taxi service in the Coachella Valley, El Centro, Victorville, Banning and Beaumont, Yucca Valley, and Morongo Basin.

“Our top priority is to save lives and keep our communities safe during high-risk holidays,” said Walter Clark, founder of the Walter Clark Legal Group. “The Safe Ride Home Program is a small but meaningful way to prevent tragedies caused by impaired driving.”

Participants must register for a free reimbursement coupon before the holiday at walterclark.com/holiday and will be sent instructions on how to submit their request for reimbursement after the holiday.

According to the Walter Clark Legal Group, reimbursement is limited to single one-way rides taken to a residence or hotel during the designated program window within the designated geographical areas. Participants must be at least 21 years of age and have a valid driver’s license. Reimbursements are available on a first-come, first-served basis while funding lasts.

The Safe Ride Home Program reflects Walter Clark Legal Group’s dedication to protecting the public from the dangers of impaired driving. Each year, alcohol-related crashes spike during the Fourth of July holiday, making this initiative a crucial safety measure.

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Devastating Drought: As heat intensifies, farmers are cutting back

KIFI on June 23, 2026

David Pace

MORELAND, Idaho (KIFI)  – This year’s severe drought is forcing farmers to hold back, planting less crops and restricting irrigation to 40 percent of their water rights.

Moreland farmer Adam Young says his farm has cut 200 acres from production, while neighboring farmers are leaving as much as 50 percent of their land unplanted to stay within their water limits.

“I’ve got several other neighbors who are facing similar situations that are, at least in the current year, more drastic – where they’ve had to fallow up to half of their ground just to be able to stay within the limitation that were that were placed under,” said Young, who raises wheat, barley and hay.

Young just harvested his first hay crop, but has had to adapt what he plants due to the drought conditions.

“On those acres that we are watering, we’re adhering to a very strict and quite a low limit of about 1.6 acre-feet per acre,” Young said. “… That’s less water than you need to grow a good crop of alfalfa. It’s a very tight supply of water for growing a crop of wheat, and it’s a sufficient supply for growing barley. So for us, we have made the decision to take water off of our more marginal ground so that we can take that very low limit and apply it to our most profitable and economical acres.”

Low precipitation this winter has accelerated dire conditions across the state.

“It’s been really tough. It’s tough to have successive years of dry weather like we’ve had. We came out of this winter with a historically low snowpack,” Young said. “We got precipitation, but most of it came in the form of rain. That’s a problem when we’re looking at filling reservoirs and on using that water throughout the season.”

The water scarcity is forcing hard decisions.

“In a year like this, every drop of water matters,” said Vice Chair of Idaho Ground Water Appropriators Lynn Carquist, a multigenerational Idaho farmer in a release. “Surface water users are feeling the effects of low snowpack right away, and everyone is working to adapt. Groundwater users are doing what Idaho farmers always do — tightening operations, making careful decisions and working together to use what water we have as efficiently as possible.”

On the ground in eastern Idaho farms, that means calculating the best use for water.

“Does it make sense to drop off some ground here so that it can apply that water to these other acres?” Young asked. “Some farmers have the opportunity to take canal shares that they haven’t been using up ’til this point,” he said. “Then when the water is available, irrigate using those canal shares and then switch back on the ground water when when the canal water dries up.”

With a super El Niño arriving next year, the dry conditions could further intensify.

“One of the frustrating things or discouraging things is that we may be looking at another dry year next year. I hope that the forecasts turn out to be incorrect and that we do get some snow on the mountains, but we have to be clear-eyed about the real possibility that we’re going to face a third dry year and all the challenges that that’s going to bring.”

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Buc-ee’s requests land use zoning designation in El Paso County

KRDO on June 23, 2026

Heather Skold

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) — In a late-night release Monday, El Paso County says Buc-ee’s EPCO, LLC has requested a C-1 zoning, which would classify it as a convenience store under the county’s land development code.

The plot of land along I-25 near County Line Road has been the source of heavy speculation and controversy for years now.

A consultant for Buc-ee’s confirmed that they are planning to build on this land, should the project be approved by the county.

“I think that is entirely accurate. The application was submitted for the use determination to the county, and so hopefully that’s the plan moving forward,” said Mark Waller, a consultant for Buc-ee’s.

Buc-ee’s originally tried to annex the property into the town of Palmer Lake and emphasized the potential for nearly $1 million in sales tax revenue.

However, the plan was met with heavy criticism from the community of Palmer Lake and the surrounding area. The idea of increased traffic, reduced business for locally-owned shops, and the erasure of their small-town identity was a turn-off for many. For months, community members voiced their opposition to the project in public settings.

Buc-ee’s later withdrew its offer for annexation. But the recent request made to El Paso County indicates that they’re not interested in changing their location. An idea echoed by Waller.

“It is a piece of already commercially zoned property that is on I-25. Literally on I-25 between the two largest cities in Colorado. If this isn’t the right spot, what is?” Waller said.

Many residents are still opposed to the project, and pledge to continue fighting against the development.

El Paso County underscored that the request does not approve construction or “approve a site development plan.”

The coding determination would be made by the Planning and Community Development Director and could take up to 14 days to make a ruling.

Other important items like construction, traffic access, utilities and more would still need to be approved by the county for Buc-ee’s to open its doors.

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Ventura Police arrest man for possesion of narcotics for sale

KEYT on June 23, 2026

Caleb Nguyen

VENTURA, Calif. (KEYT) – Ventura Police arrested a man for possession of methamphetamine in his car for sale just before 11:00 a.m. on Monday.

VPD officers received a call on suspicious circumstances involving a man with a gun at the 3100 block of Seaborg Ave.

VPD offices then conducted a traffic stop on the man’s black sedan and detained the man inside.

VPD officers then found a half pound of methamphetamine in his car alongside a large amount of cash and a pellet rifle.

VPD officers investigated then arrested the man on a possession of narcotics for sale charge.

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Indio Set to Host Groundbreaking Ceremony for New Police Headquarters

KESQ on June 23, 2026

Tommy Gallegos

INDIO (CNS) – The city of Indio will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for a $45 million police headquarters later this week.

The ceremony will take place at 8:30 a.m. Thursday at 46800 Jackson St.

The facility described by city officials as a state-of-the-art public safety campus will serve as a central hub for police department personnel and will feature locker rooms, workstations, offices, a gym, a training area, meeting and interview rooms and public spaces designed to enhance community engagement.

“Indio is a growing community, and we are committed to investing in the infrastructure needed to support that growth,” Mayor Elaine Holmes said in a statement. “This new police headquarters is a critical step in ensuring our city remains safe, resilient and well-prepared to serve our residents for generations to come.”

The project was expected to be competed by spring 2028.

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El Paso Electric proposes $70 million rate increase in Doña Ana County

KVIA on June 23, 2026

Rishi Oza

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA) — El Paso Electric hosted a public meeting where New Mexico residents expressed their frustration on a potential rate increase.

The increase would see the average home in Doña Ana County pay about $42 more per month next year. It’s the first rate increase since 2015, with El Paso Electric saying the increase is to recover costs from over $400 million in investments to New Mexico infrastructure.

“In the New Mexico case, the bulk of that what we’re talking about is local investment,” said Jim Schichtl, VP of Strategic Regulation for El Paso Electric. “That is investment into the poles and wires and substations and transformers that serve customers on the distribution side. There’s also been investment primarily in transmission, in this case, and that’s about it.”

Residents at the meeting were not happy about the increase.

“I think that that may sound like a little bit to a CEO whose company brings in $140 million in profit a year, but $42 is a couple bags of groceries,” said Israel Chavez, a local attorney in Las Cruces. “It’s a tank of gas to get to and from school or work. It’s a lot of money, and El Paso Electric stands to benefit immeasurably from what they’re calling a modest increase.”

El Paso Electric said that they likely won’t get a resolution on the rate increase until some point next year, but the process has officially begun with these meetings.

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