Month: September 2026

By JoBeth Davis

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    KANSAS CITY, Missouri (KMBC) — A jury has found Fredrick Scott guilty of murder in four of six deaths, in a verdict Tuesday.

The jury announced guilty verdicts against Scott in four of the murder charges and four of the armed criminal action charges.

Scott was charged with six counts of first-degree murder and six counts of armed criminal action in connection with the deaths of David Lenox, Timothy Rice, Mike Darby, John Palmer, Karen Harmeyer and Steven Gibbons.

Scott was ultimately found not guilty in the deaths of David Lenox and Timothy Rice.

Most of the deaths happened along Kansas City’s Indian Creek Trail.

After a several-week trial, jurors received the case and began deliberating Thursday.

A long process led up to the trial, including work to establish competency so that Scott could face a jury in connection with the deaths.

“It’s been a long time coming, and while justice can sometimes be delayed, I’m very grateful for the majority of the families that today justice was not denied,” said Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson. “Of course my thoughts and prayers continue to be with the Rice and Lenox families, but this is the process, and I’m very proud of our trial team.

“I’m so proud of our trial team in this office for seeing every step of the way through over a decade, and now … to these families, maybe closing the chapter of this incident, but we understand that the chapter of grief is never closed.”

Johnson said prosecutors would ask for a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole for Scott.

The jury recommended a now-convicted serial killer spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of probation or parole.

The jury recommended the life sentences for each murder conviction and 15 years in prison for each of the four armed criminal action convictions.

“He will never be out again. He will never hunt again,” said Brian Darby.

Nine years ago, Scott fatally shot Brian’s father, Mike Darby, in the back of the head as Mike was walking his dogs along the Indian Creek Trail.

Prosecutors said Scott stalked, targeted, and then shot and killed five random white middle-aged men he didn’t know at or near the Indian Creek Trail in 2016 and 2017.

In his police interview, Scott said, “They never saw it coming.”

Scott also killed homeless woman Karen Harmeyer in Grandview who was also white.

He didn’t know her either.

When asked if these murders might be racially motivated, Jackson County Prosecutor Melesa Johnson said, “We have no evidence of that.”

The jury found Scott guilty of the murders of John Palmer, Mike Darby, Karen Harmeyer, and Steven Gibbons.

The jury found Scott not guilty for the David Lenox and Timothy Rice murders.

The jury deliberated for only a few minutes on the Scott sentencing recommendations.

Before the deliberations, seven family members of Michael Darby and John Palmer gave victim impact statements.

Darby’s brother Bob called Michael the best man he’s ever known and his best friend.

Palmer’s widow Catherine said she felt like she was torn in half after John’s murder and said it’s been a struggle to get back to a normal life.

The convictions come after years of legal wrangling.

Scott’s attorneys argued their client was mentally ill and not competent to stand trial.

Nearly a decade of rulings on that competency issue came before Scott went to trial.

Scott is scheduled to be formally sentenced November 23.

In the meantime, he’s being held in the Jackson County Jail without the possibility of release.

Count I: First-degree murder – John Palmer – GUILTY Count II: Armed criminal action in John Palmer death – GUILTY Count III: First-degree murder – David Lenox – NOT GUILTY Count IV: Armed criminal action in David Lenox death – NOT GUILTY Count V: First-degree murder – Timothy Rice – NOT GUILTY Count VI: Armed criminal action in Timothy Rice death – NOT GUILTY Count VII: First-degree murder – Michael Darby – GUILTY Count VIII: Armed criminal action in Michael Darby death – GUILTY County IX: First-degree murder – Karen Harmeyer – GUILTY Count X: Armed criminal action in Karen Harmeyer death – GUILTY Count XI: First-degree murder – Steve Gibbons – GUILTY Count XII: Armed criminal action in Steve Gibbons death – GUILTY

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 Elijah Skipper

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    BLACK MOUNTAIN, North Carolina (WLOS) — Nearly two years after Helene, a new concrete gate stands where an empty space had remained along North Fork’s auxiliary spillway.

The gate, known as P4, is designed to tip when the reservoir rises too high.

During Helene, it did.

The gate worked. The dam held. Asheville still lost water.

That contradiction now defines the next phase of the city’s recovery: one critical repair is complete, while two much larger projects intended to prevent another prolonged outage remain in design.

A gate designed to tip

P4 is the first of eight concrete fusegates designed to tip in sequence as the reservoir rises. The system is passive, meaning it does not rely on an operator, electricity or a motor. Water pressure beneath the gate eventually lifts and pushes it into the spillway, creating more room for water to escape.

“This space right here has been empty since about 9:30 in the morning on September the 27th, 2024,” Asheville Water Resources spokesman Clay Chandler said during a recent tour. “That’s when we think this fusegate tipped.”

To someone unfamiliar with the system, a missing gate could look like a failure.

Mark Landis, Schnabel Engineering’s project manager and engineer of record for the spillway project, said it was the opposite.

“Yeah, it did exactly what it’s supposed to do,” Landis said.

The city says the auxiliary spillway released enough water to lower the reservoir to a safe level and keep it from overtopping the earthen dam.

Crews began rebuilding P4 in June and reached substantial completion in early September, returning the auxiliary spillway to full operation. Asheville City Council approved up to $994,849 to replace the gate and repair other Helene-related damage to the primary and auxiliary spillways.

Protecting the dam did not keep Asheville’s water flowing.

Floodwaters destroyed the main distribution line carrying water from North Fork. At the same time, runoff and landslides pushed so much sediment into the reservoir that the water became too muddy for the plant to treat.

The city says the water would have remained untreatable even if the distribution system had stayed intact.

“[Helene] basically turned our entire reservoir completely upside down,” Chandler said. “It took everything that was on the bottom, shoved it to the top.”

North Fork was built around the unusually clear water produced by Asheville’s protected watershed. The plant uses direct filtration, sending water to filters without a permanent pretreatment step designed to remove extreme amounts of mud and sediment first.

“The bad part about that is our filters are designed to treat pristine water,” Chandler said.

Temporary pretreatment systems were installed after Helene to reduce sediment before water reached North Fork’s filters. Those systems stopped operating in November 2025 after FEMA operating funding ended and were removed in early 2026.

Asheville is now designing a permanent pretreatment system for North Fork. The project would add plate settlers and sediment basins that remove mud and other material before the water enters the plant’s existing filters.

Chandler estimates the project will cost between $130 million and $140 million.

“We’re working with FEMA through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program to design and build permanent pretreatment systems that will allow our filters to treat especially muddy water,” Chandler said.

Cleaning the water is only half the problem. Helene also washed out the 36-inch bypass that carried North Fork water into Asheville.

The city is now designing another transmission line that would be geographically separate from the existing bypass and, where possible, avoid the Swannanoa River floodplain. Asheville has begun contacting property owners along the proposed route about potential easements.

Chandler described the proposed line as about 6 1/2 miles long and estimated its cost at between $140 million and $145 million.

Together, the pretreatment system and alternate transmission line are expected to cost about $280 million.

For comparison, Asheville Water Resources brings in about $49 million in annual operating revenue, primarily through customers’ water bills. The two projects would cost nearly six times that amount.

The city says each project will require a mix of Water Resources funding and help from state and federal partners. It does not currently anticipate the projects affecting customers’ water bills, but final funding packages have not been completed.

Both projects remain in design.

The designs must reach 60% completion before they can be submitted to FEMA for review through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. The city’s current recovery page says it expects both projects to reach that threshold in spring 2027.

Even after funding and designs are approved, construction will take years.

Chandler said either project could take about three years under nearly perfect conditions. He described five years as a more realistic construction timeline once weather, supply-chain problems and other delays are considered.

“Installing a water line that runs for about 6 1/2 miles takes some time,” Chandler said. “There is no shortcut, unfortunately.”

Other recovery work has been completed. Debris removal at North Fork concluded in spring 2026, turbidity has returned to pre-Helene levels, and the auxiliary spillway is fully operational again. The city cautions, however, that North Fork and Bee Tree remain vulnerable to prolonged severe or extreme weather.

Chandler said the first year after Helene still felt like immediate recovery – rebuilding damaged infrastructure, removing debris and stabilizing the system.

Now, he said, Asheville has entered “the long game.”

“Other than our customers turning their faucets on and water coming out day to day, that is the thing that I think about the most,” Chandler said of the two projects. “It’s unfortunately the last thing I think about before I go to bed at night, and the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning. It’s an obsession because it has to be.”

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 Madison Adams

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    YANCEY COUNTY, North Carolina (WLOS) — Nearly two years after Helene swept away a Ukrainian family of four, investigators are searching a Yancey County debris pile for two family members who remain missing, including a 13-year-old boy.

The search began as crews started removing storm debris near the Toe River campground where the family’s home once stood along the South Toe River.

Yancey County Sheriff Shane Hilliard said two members of the family were recovered after the storm, but two others were never found. Yevhenii Segen, 13, and his grandmother, Tetyana Novitnia, remain missing.

“The big debris pile down here is being moved, and we are doing searches in the debris pile as it’s moved,” Hilliard said.

The sheriff’s office has searched the area repeatedly since Helene. Hilliard said the FEMA-approved debris removal gives investigators better access to search again.

“We are coming back out because this debris pile has been approved to move off the area, so we’re getting better access to search,” Hilliard said.

An SBI human remains detection K-9 named Sherry is searching the area as crews remove debris.

County officials said the cleanup project is expected to cost about $1 million. County Manager Lynn Austin said FEMA will pay the actual cost through its Public Assistance program.

Austin said crews will remove woody debris and construction and demolition debris. Some sand and sediment will remain at the campground for future repairs.

The cleanup is expected to take about 21 days if weather allows, Austin said. Southern Disaster Recovery, the contractor that has handled storm-debris cleanup in Yancey County since Helene, is doing the work.

Hilliard said investigators hope the renewed search can give the family answers.

“We want to give this family closure,” Hilliard said. “So if there’s a chance we can do that, that’s definitely what we want to do.”

The sheriff asked people along the river to report anything they believe may be connected to the flooding.

“If anybody, if they are up and down the river, see anything, definitely let us know and we’ll check it out further,” Hilliard said.

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 Aaron Parseghian, Tammy Mutasa

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    SCITUATE, Massachusetts (WBZ) — Residents and crews in Scituate are preparing early as a potential nor’easter threatens to bring strong winds, heavy rain, and possible damage to the Massachusetts coast this weekend.

At Scituate Harbor on Tuesday, one-by-one boat owners were already hauling vessels out of the water and securing them ahead of the storm.

“I saw the weather this morning, the news, and everything so I go, might as well get it out now before it gets worse,” said boater Larry Riley. “Better safe than sorry.”

The potential early fall nor’easter could linger along the east coast through the weekend, raising concerns about damaging winds and flooding in coastal areas.

“You just never know. Sometimes these storms take a turn for the worse. So, better off pulling [the boat] real quick and leaving it in the driveway, and then putting it back in once the storm passes,” said Kyle Austin, who was towing his boat from the harbor.

Preparations are also underway at the town level. Public works crews are fueling up equipment and cleaning catch basins, while also continuing projects aimed at reducing flooding in town, including ongoing work aimed at shoring up seawalls and renourishing existing beaches.

“Just get ready, get ready for a storm to come. We don’t know how bad it’s going to be. There’s going to be wind, there’s going to be rain,” said Scituate Town Administrator Jim Boudreau.

Officials are urging residents to prepare their homes and emergency supplies now rather than wait to see how the storm develops.

“Make sure that generator’s working. Make sure it’s gassed up. Keep it away from the house. Last winter we did have a lot of cases of carbon monoxide issues. So, make sure you have your kit ready. Get it ready to go. It’s better to have it and not need it than need it, not have it,” Boudreau added.

Boudreau says he’s holding meetings with emergency officials as they closely watch the forecast over the next several days.

The unique timing of the potential nor’easter earlier in the fall is adding to the concern. Boudreau says with trees still full of leaves they may be more susceptible to damage from strong winds.

“[Tree canopies] act like giant sails, so we do expect there will be power outages, things like that,” Boudreau said. “So, we’ll be making sure [crews] saws, equipment are all working, everything’s ready to go in case we do have to remove a lot of debris.”

On Plum Island on the North Shore of Massachusetts, people pay close attention when a nor’easter is brewing. The coast has already been battered with severe erosion, and another storm could make it worse.

“It could get pretty nasty here,” said Newbury resident Dale Williams. “There’s only so much a homeowner can do now.”

With the wind already whipping and the waves building, residents know the worst is still to come. The island is losing dozens of feet of sand during severe storms, threatening homes and businesses.

Dale Williams has lived there long enough to see how much the coastline has changed

“These houses that line these beaches have gone through a lot of winter storms. Some have actually washed into the ocean over the last 10 years,” Williams said. “And they’ve built up rocks and other ways to prevent what’s going to happen from happening again.”

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 Mike Sullivan

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    ROXBURY, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A Dorchester man says the Transit Police are charging him with a crime after he says he defended a woman on an MBTA bus who was being harassed by a man with a knife. He confronted the man and was left with numerous stab wounds.

Shane Vautour left his bartender gig Sunday night and took the 22 bus home. He says an older woman got on board and began kindly greeting the other passengers. That’s when he says a man on the bus started berating her.

“He started screaming at her, and making racial remarks, sexual remarks, things that just shouldn’t be said out loud, let alone to an older woman,” said Vautour.

As he went to get off at Humboldt Avenue and Seaver Street in Roxbury, Vautour says he turned to say something to the man about his behavior.

“I turned to look, and he was staring at her with a knife in his hand on his right side, so she couldn’t see it. It was behind the chairs, so that the cameras and things can’t see it,” said Vautour.

Having been trained in martial arts, he quickly reacted.

“I hit him, he stabbed me immediately. When he pulled it out, I immediately grabbed the knife because the first thing we were taught in martial arts is a knife in your hand can’t end up in your body,” said Vautour.

He says he grabbed the knife and twisted it out of the man’s hand.

“As soon as he let go, I came out and laid down right on this rock,” said Vautour, gesturing to a rock wall next to the bus stop. “I dropped the knife right beside me.”

He was left with a large incision on his stomach and cuts to both hands. Transit Police say they located the other man and placed him into custody.

“I know if I got off that bus and found out something happened to that little old lady, that is what would make me feel guilty and that’s what would bother me for weeks,” said Vautour.

He was shocked when investigators later told him that after watching surveillance video, he would be charged with assault and battery.

“The camera is at the halfway point of the bus, so everything is below seat level. You won’t be able to see it from that camera angle,” said Vautour. “They won’t review witness statements, the video has no audio, so they have no way of confirming that he was yelling. It’s just like well that’s not what we see on the camera, so we’re going to go with that.”

Transit Police said they will be seeking criminal complaints against both people involved, but they wouldn’t comment on the quality of the video evidence.

“The driver’s information is readily available, so I don’t know why they aren’t talking to him,” said Vautour.

Now, he will have to fight this fight in court.

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By John Blake

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    MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A Minnesota girl’s legacy lives on inside another woman she never knew.

Sandra Segebart received Autumn Paulson’s donated heart last summer after Paulson died in a fire. Segebart drove all the way from Oklahoma to thank Paulson’s mother, Stephanie Scharbach.

She also brought along a surprise: a stethoscope, so Scharbach could hear her daughter’s heartbeat once again.

“It’s different. You know, obviously, she’s got my daughter in her. So, I think of it all as kinda like Autumn. So, it’s just very confusing,” said Scharbach.

“Just living through me, I feel it’s keeping me alive,” said Segebart.

At the gathering, the group played the movie “Angels in the Outfield” on a makeshift screen, all to remember an angel in Autumn.

Scharbach estimates that hundreds of families could be impacted by her daughter’s donated organs.

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By Rina Nakano

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    IRVINE, California (KCAL, KCBS) — An Orange County family reunited with the Irvine police officers who saved their son’s life after he was underwater and unconscious for nearly 10 minutes.

The horrifying experience and the officers’ heroic actions happened on Aug. 1, when Erick Setiawan brought his 8-year-old son Kingsley to a pool party. The little boy wore his arm floaties and played with his friends in the shallow end, but walked over to the other side of the pool while his dad took his eye off him.

Setiawan said he took 14 steps before realizing Kingsley was missing. He searched the jacuzzi, bathroom and barbecue area and couldn’t find him.

“I heard a voice in my head, ‘Go walk. Make a left and look down,” Setiawan recalled.

He found his son face down in the deep end of the pool.

Believing his son’s arm floaties had slipped off, Setiawan dove in, grabbed the 8-year-old and started CPR.

Irvine Police Department officers Alex Mendoza and Ramon Lerma just happened to be across the street doing a security detail when they received the call. They immediately took over CPR.

“Lots of water. Lots of mucus coming out as well, and still pretty lifeless,” Mendoza said.

After five minutes, the officers found a pulse as paramedics arrived. As the ambulance took Kingsley away, Mendoza said a little prayer.

“He’s got so much ahead,” he said. “Please, he’s got to pull through.”

After three days in the hospital, Kingsley pulled through and went home without any brain damage.

“Even the doctor told me [that] it’s a miracle,” Setiawan said.

Days later, the Setiawans visited Lerma and later reunited with Mendoza. They learned that this wasn’t Mendoza’s first time rescuing a child. As a rookie, he pulled two kids out of a burning home.

“When I got to the top of the stairway, I saw a little hand,” he said. “I grabbed that little hand and walked out with two kids.”

His actions earned him a Medal of Valor and shaped the trajectory of his career. Now, he’s a dare officer at elementary schools.

Setiawan, who is an Army veteran, said this was by far the scariest moment of his life.

“I’ve been deployed, but when it’s happening to your own family — your own son. It’s a different feeling,” Setiawan said.

He said he will be forever grateful to the people who brought his son back to life.

“Thank you, IPD, for saving my life,” Kingsley said.

Irvine PD reminds everyone to always keep an eye on children in the water, even with safety gear. It’s best to designate a water watcher whose sole job is to keep an eye on them.

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 Chelsea Hylton, Dean Fioresi

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    LA VERNE, California (KCAL, KCBS) — Evacuation orders have been issued in La Verne after a hazardous lithium-ion fire broke out at the Metropolitan Water District on Tuesday afternoon.

The La Verne Police Department said the fire erupted at around 11:40 a.m. at the facility in the 3200 block of Wheeler Avenue. La Verne firefighters said that upon arrival, they heard a small explosion in a battery storage unit on the northeast side of the large facility.

Evacuations were briefly issued for everyone near Wheeler and Bonita Avenue, at which point police urged residents to gather their families and leave the area. Some orders were downgraded later in the evening, but as of 11 p.m., approximately 200 people were still under mandatory evacuation orders.

Aerial footage of the fire showed fire engines using their ladders to spray the area with water.

One injury has been reported by firefighters, but they did not say if it was a civilian or crew member.

The cause of the fire is unknown.

Residents east of Wheeler Avenue were also told to shelter in place and close all windows and doors until further notice. At the time, shelter-in-place orders were issued at Grace Miller Elementary School and Bonita High School, but students were released from their campuses a little after 3 p.m.

Grace Miller Elementary, which is less than half a mile from the water district facility, would be closed on Wednesday out of an abundance of caution, firefighters said.

La Verne firefighters said they believe they have the fire under control, but crews would remain on scene overnight to ensure they could address any issues that may arise. Late Tuesday night, they said that there were still some batteries inside the storage unit that were not damaged, meaning they were still energized and could pose a further threat if flames were to reactivate overnight.

Firefighters also said that a second storage unit near the spot of the fire was being monitored due to heat and smoke exposure.

Evacuations were temporarily issued for several neighborhoods in the surrounding area but were lifted at around 4 p.m.

As of 6 p.m., evacuation orders remained in place for:

LVN-E010-A

Evacuation warnings were also issued for:

LVN-E010-B LVN-E010-C

“We don’t want you in there until we get these completely under control,” said La Verne FD Battalion Chief Mark Savage. “Things are looking much better now, however, it’s batteries and they can have a mind of their own a little bit. So, we want to make sure we get people out of harm’s way and keep them out while it can still be hazardous.”

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.