Author: CNN Newsource

By Cren Rosenbaum

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    STOKES COUNTY (WXII) — A happy update in the story of a local girl who got support from the world’s biggest pop star.

Two-year-old Lilah Smoot of Stokes County is now cancer-free, according to her mother.

The toddler’s cancer fight made headlines after singer Taylor Swift donated $100,000 to her family.

Lilah’s mom says Swift’s music has helped their family push through tough times. Her mom shared that the family is so happy to be celebrating the holidays knowing that Lilah’s okay.

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 Raquel Ciampi

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    MARIENVILLE, Pa. (WTAE) — An inmate at a Western Pennsylvania prison is accused of soliciting another inmate to stage a home-invasion robbery at his mother’s home.

Officials say Keegan Baker, 28 of Erie, asked another inmate at Forest County State Correctional Institution to commit the armed robbery using the inmate’s contacts outside of the prison.

According to officials, Baker wanted to steal $68,000 from his mother. He allegedly ordered his mother and stepfather to be tied up and tased and agreed to give the inmate and any other co-conspirators a share of the money.

“This defendant showed a callous disregard for the wellness of his own family by propositioning another inmate to do his relatives harm,” Attorney General Dave Sunday said.

The inmate who Baker tried to solicit informed prison staff of his plan, and troopers opened an investigation.

Baker has been charged with solicitation for kidnapping, robbery, burglary, aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, and theft by unlawful taking.

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By Madeline Montgomery

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    ATLANTA (WUPA) — A man who once had no job and nowhere to sleep is now giving back to the shelter that helped change his life, spreading hope during the holidays for others facing homelessness.

Gregory Ellis knows firsthand how hard life on the streets can be. From 2001 to 2013, he did not have a place to call home. That changed when he found help at Clifton Sanctuary Ministries, a shelter in Atlanta that serves men over the age of 35.

“In 2008 I ended up at Clifton Sanctuary Ministries here, and this is one of the best ministries, best shelters in Atlanta,” Ellis said.

Clifton Sanctuary Ministries provides emergency and transitional housing, along with help finding jobs, benefits, and permanent housing. The shelter also offers a clothing closet and other resources aimed at helping men get back on their feet.

“Support for getting benefits, getting employment, getting housing — we have a fully stocked clothing closet,” said Kristi Panter, the shelter’s executive director.

screenshot-2025-12-24-at-9-05-18-am.png Gregory Ellis returns to Clifton Sanctuary Ministries to help others facing homelessness during the holidays. Ellis credits the ministry with helping him turn his life around. After leaving the streets, he reached a milestone he once thought was out of reach.

“I got out of homelessness and then in 2015 I bought me a house,” Ellis said.

Now a homeowner living in Riverdale, Ellis drives several times a week to the East Lake shelter to volunteer. Since 2016, he has been serving meals and offering encouragement to men who are where he once was.

“I try to let them know that I went through what they went through and God can do what he did for me for them,” Ellis said.

Panter says Ellis’ presence makes a powerful difference.

“Being an example in their presence of somebody who’s been in their shoes, has slept in the same room, come through the same program, and now has this level of stability we all strive to achieve,” she said.

For the men still searching for a way forward, Ellis is more than a volunteer, he is living proof that change is possible and that hope can grow even after the hardest seasons.

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By Madilyn Destefano

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    POLK COUNTY, Fla. (WESH) — Just three days before Christmas, a man shot and killed his wife, shot his 13-year-old stepdaughter and then shot and killed himself, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

PCSO is investigating the incident as a murder-suicide.

Deputies responded to a home on Lemon Avenue in the Highland City area of Lakeland after receiving a 911 call around 11 p.m.

The caller said her 12-year-old neighbor ran to her house and asked her to call 911 because his stepfather and mother were fighting, according to deputies.

He told the woman his mom, Crystal, asked him to call 911 as the argument was escalating, PCSO said.

Deputies arrived minutes later and said they located Crystal with a gunshot wound to the head. She was pronounced dead on the scene.

PCSO also located a 13-year-old girl, the victim’s daughter, in her bedroom with two gunshot wounds. She was taken to the hospital, where she is in critical but stable condition.

Deputies also found their 1-year-old daughter asleep in her crib, unharmed.

Investigators determined 47-year-old Jason Kenney was in his shed when he decided to go back inside the house to watch the end of an NFL game in the living room, where his wife was.

Crystal told him that she didn’t want to watch football, and an argument ensued, PCSO said.

Deputies said she then shouted to her son, asking him to call 911, which is when he ran from the house and said he heard a single shot go off.

Kenney fled the scene in his truck after shooting his wife. He called his sister, who is not in Florida, and told her he had done something bad, and he was not going to jail.

Kenney told his sister she would “see it on the news.”

After deputies found Kenney at his father’s home in Lake Wales, they told him to come outside. That’s when they heard a single gunshot, PCSO said.

PCSO entered the shed on his father’s property to find Kenney had shot himself in the head. Kenney was pronounced dead at the scene.

“Three days before Christmas, this man shot and killed his wife, shot his stepdaughter, and then shot and killed himself. This is horrific, but destroying a family and the mental health of these children so close to Christmas is especially horrific. We will do everything we can to help this family get through this difficult time,” said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.

The 13-year-old remains in critical condition, and the other two children are with their grandparents.

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By WBBH Staff

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    DESOTO COUNTY, Fla. (WBBH) — Video was released Tuesday in an update on a Dec. 13 incident that led to a DeSoto County corrections sergeant being fired and arrested.

According to the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office, Luis Tovar, 29, is accused of an unlawful use of force against two inmates in the DeSoto County Jail. The incident happened just before 1 a.m.

In the video, Tovar and two deputies escort an inmate to a cell where another inmate was. They told the second inmate that he would be moved from the cell.

The sheriff’s office said the second inmate did not comply with instructions and that led to a use of force. In the video, there is a scuffle between Tovar, a second deputy and the second inmate, which leads to Tovar’s camera falling off.

The first inmate is then moved into the cell and was being held by another deputy. Tovar is accused of shoving that inmate to the floor.

According to the sheriff’s office, in the video, the second inmate continues resisting after being taken out of the cell by another deputy. That deputy then hands the inmate to Tovar. The inmate appears to spit on Tovar, and Tovar is then accused of punching the inmate, according to the video.

Deputies were able to restrain the second inmate to a chair before Tovar is accused of attacking again.

The sheriff’s office said Tovar reported using force against two inmates and it led to an administrative review. It also was looked into criminally for any violations.

It was determined that Tovar would be arrested on two counts of battery and he was fired, according to the sheriff’s office.

Deputies said no inmates had any significant injuries, and that this is still under investigation.

Gulf Coast News is working to identify the inmates involved in the incident.

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By Rachael Lardani

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    LOWER SWATARA TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WGAL) — A woman faces charges after attacking a relative with a curtain rod in Dauphin County, according to the Swatara Township Police Department.

Officers responded to a home on Delmont Avenue at 9:29 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 21, for a domestic assault.

Police said Kristen Zawacki, 42, of Middletown, had bitten and attacked a family member with a curtain rod, leaving them with injuries.

Zawacki was taken to a local hospital for medical clearance before she was transported to Dauphin County Central Booking Center for arraignment.

She was arrested and charged with simple assault and harassment.

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By KABC Staff

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    LOS ANGELES (KABC) — A federal grand jury indicted four people on Tuesday in connection with a suspected terror plot to bomb targets in Los Angeles and Orange counties on New Year’s Eve.

The four suspects are Audrey Illeene Carroll, 30; Zachary Aaron Page, 32; Dante James Anthony-Gaffield, 24; and Tina Lai, 41. They are all from the Los Angeles area.

Each of them is charged with one count of providing and attempting to provide material support to terrorists and one count of possession of unregistered firearms, the Department of Justice said in a statement.

Carroll and Page also are charged with one count of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, the DOJ said.

According to the indictment, the defendants are part of the Turtle Island Liberation Front (TILF), an anti-capitalist and anti-government group. They also are alleged members of what Carroll characterized as a “radical” TILF faction that communicated using an encrypted messaging group called “Order of the Black Lotus.”

In November, Carroll drafted an 8-page, handwritten document titled, “Operation Midnight Sun” that described a bombing plot targeting U.S. businesses across Southern California this upcoming New Year’s Eve, according to the DOJ. Among other things, the plot included details on the co-conspirators’ intended targets, instructions on how to manufacture bombs and source the bomb-making materials, and guidance for the co-conspirators to avoid leaving evidence behind that could be traced to them.

The DOJ said the New Year’s Eve bombing plot was designed to “completely pulverize” the targets, which included technology and logistics companies with offices across Southern California. After drafting the bombing plot, Carroll allegedly recruited others – including Page, Gaffield, and Lai – to join the attack plan.

“The charges a federal grand jury returned today reflect the seriousness of the conduct: a planned terrorist attack on American soil on New Year’s Eve,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “If convicted, this group of self-professed left-wing radicals will face decades in federal prison. We will continue to investigate and prosecute any and all terror groups and bring them to justice.”

According to authorities, throughout early December, the suspects procured bomb-making materials to build and test explosive devices in the Mojave Desert on December 12, including by obtaining bomb-making materials such as potassium nitrate, sulfur, charcoal, and pipes.

On December 12, they traveled to the Mojave Desert to build and test explosives that they planned to use as part of the New Year’s Eve plot, said the DOJ. The FBI arrested them before they could make functional explosive devices.

All four suspects are in federal custody without bond. All the defendants will be arraigned in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles. Lai’s arraignment is scheduled for January 2, 2026. Carroll and Page are scheduled to be arraigned on January 5, 2026. Gaffield’s arraignment is scheduled for January 20, 2026.

If convicted, Carroll and Page would face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison, and Gaffield and Lai would face a statutory maximum sentence of 25 years in federal prison.

A fifth person, believed to be linked to the group, has been arrested in New Orleans for allegedly planning a separate attack.

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