Author: CNN Newsource

By Lisa Rozner

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    New York (WCBS, WLNY) — Former NYPD Sgt. Erik Duran was sentenced Thursday to three to nine years in prison for throwing a cooler at a fleeing suspect who later died.

Duran, 38, was found guilty of manslaughter in February for the 2023 death of Eric Duprey. He’s the first member of the NYPD in a decade to be found guilty of causing the death of a civilian while on duty.

Duprey’s family was in tears during the sentencing. Duran apologized directly to them and asked the judge for a chance to be there for his wife and three children.

“It was unintended and tragic, but he should not spend years of his life, not even days of his life for a decision he made in 2.5 seconds. That is the very definition of excessive and disproportionate,” Duran’s lawyer said.

Prosecutors asked for him to be sentenced to three to nine years, saying he “recklessly caused the death of another human he did that while on duty there is no more serious gravity of offense than taking the life of another person.”

Duran’s lawyers are planning to file an appeal.

Black Lives Matter co-founder speaks out

Hawk Newsome, the co-founder of Black Lives Matter Greater New York, spoke outside the courtroom. Behind him were many people holding picket signs in support of Duprey.

“In New York’s history, it is a very seldom occurrence that justice prevails when a cop kills a Black and brown person, but today, in the Bronx, we got it right,” Newsome said.

SBA president issues statement

The president of the Sergeant Benevolent Association, Vincent Vallelong, called Thursday a dark day.

“It wasn’t only Sgt. Duran, a great cop who was on trial. Every law enforcement officer who makes a split-second decision in the performance of their duties to protect the public was also on trial,” he said. “And this sentencing, which has now sent a very chilling message to every cop in the nation- that the system that we have sworn to uphold can single-handedly destroy your career and your life for doing exactly what you are trained to do.”

Deadly NYPD encounter

On Aug. 23 2023, Duprey allegedly sold drugs to an undercover officer in the Bronx, then fled on a motorized scooter when officers tried to arrest him.

According to authorities, 30-year-old Duprey was traveling at 30 mph, driving on the sidewalk and not wearing a helmet.

Video from the incident shows Duran throwing a picnic cooler at Duprey’s head as he flees. Duprey then swerves and slides under a vehicle. He died from blunt force trauma to the head.

Duran was suspended after the incident and later charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.

Manslaughter trial

During his testimony at trial, Duran said he was worried Duprey was going to crash into other officers and was trying to protect them by throwing the cooler.

Prosecutors argued Duran was trying to “save an arrest,” not lives, and called his actions “reckless, unreasonable [and] unnecessary.”

Duran was convicted of manslaughter after a bench trial, meaning there was no jury and the judge rendered the verdict.

The criminally negligent homicide charge was waived.

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 Chantelle Navarro

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    PAULS VALLEY, Oklahoma (KOCO) — Parents in Pauls Valley are breathing a sigh of relief thanks to a high school principal who they are calling a hero.

Pauls Valley High School Principal Kirk Moore is being hailed as a hero after he tackled a would-be school shooter at the school, an act that has left the community in shock but grateful.

To jump in and confront a school shooter isn’t something that just anybody would do, but those who know Moore said this was a no-brainer for him.

“He would do anything to save those kids,” Madison Knighten, a former student, said.

The sentiment was shared by others in the community, including former students.

“If some student was to get harmed, he would definitely take a bullet for him. I believe that,” said Spencer Flinn, a former student.

Childhood friends also described who Moore is as a person and as a principal.

“He’s a hero. He wasn’t thinking about himself. He was thinking about the kids,” childhood friend Harold Marcum said.

The community is recovering from the shock of the incident but is grateful for what didn’t happen, thanks to Moore’s actions.

“I didn’t know this could happen in a small town, possibly, especially my hometown,” Knighten said. “I’ve lived here. I’ve lived in Pauls Valley for 19 years. So, I am super shocked that this happened.”

Investigators said the suspect entered the school intending to kill the principal but was stopped when Moore tackled him.

Moore is recovering in a hospital while the suspect is in jail.

Knighten, who graduated with the shooter, said Moore was always there for her and other students. She said she can’t understand why he would do something like this to someone as selfless as Moore.

“He helped me through mental health. When I was getting hurt really bad, he would help me through anything and everything that I needed help with, and every time I would come to him, he would always offer his help,” Knighten said.

Marcum, who has known Moore for 55 years, said Moore even honored his late son on campus, reflecting the kind of person he is.

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 Marc Liverman

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    BUNCOMBE COUNTY, North Carolina (WLOS) — An Asheville woman is sharing her story after she says she was scammed out of $5,000 by a person pretending to be with the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office.

The woman was so shaken up that she didn’t want to reveal her identity. She said it started with a phone call on Wednesday, April 8, when a man accused the victim of failing to appear for jury duty and said she was in contempt of court.

“Two warrants for my arrest were active, and that I needed to pay in order to get those dismissed and suspended,” she explained, adding that he told her if she did, “that it would be refunded once I showed up to the courthouse, that they would write me a check, and he kept convincing me of that.”

So, the woman said she transferred $5,000 through Apple Pay, which is like cash because the funds can’t be recovered.

“I feel really ashamed and embarrassed that this happened, but it was so convincing and so scary,” she said.

As it turns out, the Asheville woman isn’t the only local victim. She said a person with the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office told her she was the 10th person to tell a similar story that day.

She explained that her main reason for speaking out was to help prevent this type of scam from happening to someone else.

“It breaks my heart that it’s happening in my community that has already worked really hard to be in recovery,” she said, choking back tears.

The Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office confirmed it is working on multiple cases like this.

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 Madilyn Destefano

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    Florida (WESH) — Meet Charley the cow, a young 4-H steer who is highly trained, very social and well-groomed for competitions.

4-H, in cow-competition terms, is a development program for young cows focused on raising, judging, and showing cattle for animal science purposes. In other words, it’s a livestock judging contest.

At a recent weigh-in, Charley found out he was too skinny to continue with 4-H.

In the livestock world, that usually means the slaughterhouse.

Sending him to a sanctuary would allow him to live out the rest of his days “peacefully on an educational farm teaching kids about sustainable farm living,” a GoFundMe for Charley said.

A GoFundMe was organized to raise the $5,500 needed to send Charley to Bell Family Farm in Polk City.

The campaign is still about $2,000 short of its goal, but the organizer has paid personally so Charley wouldn’t get slaughtered while the community was still working to raise the remainder of the money needed.

Bell Family Farm has agreed to take Charley in, where he will become a certified cow cuddler and farm ambassador.

Charley was delivered for free from Florida Farm School in Dade City to Bell Family Farm, with several parts of the community stepping in to help.

The farm, which sustained damage from Hurricane Milton and has since faced financial difficulties, hopes Charley and their new cow-cuddling business will help sustain operations.

“Charley’s story is remarkable,” said the Bell family. “He managed to cross paths with all the right humans in our incredible community who would recognize his unique worth.”

The GoFundMe campaign remains active, and Bell Family Farm continues to seek support to ensure Charley’s care and the farm’s future.

All in all, Charley is safe, but the cost still needs to be covered.

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 Forrest Sanders

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    MURFREESBORO, Tennessee (WTVF) — We’re big believers in doing follow-up stories. This particular one dates back 20 years. It was then a family’s journey began.

It’s been a very long time since Amanda Carver has seen a NewsChannel 5 story from 2006. It was then she spoke to the station at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. Her son, 18-month-old Noah Perry, arrived after an E. coli infection.

“Never thought you’d miss your child crying cause you thought it would always be there,” Amanda said in the 2006 clip. “He does look better. He looks better than he did this morning even.”

“The doctor came in and said, ‘listen, we’re probably going to see him go down to zero kidney function,'” Amanda said, remembering the experience 20 years ago. “We started peritoneal dialysis. Shortly after that, he perforated his colon. He coded, stopped breathing a couple of times and probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done is sign DNR papers on my kid.”

DNR means do not resuscitate. It was just after that hardest day, Noah’s story started to change.

“He was happy even though he was so sick,” Amanda said, flipping through pictures in a photo album.

“There’s his doctor! Doctor Hunley!” she smiled.

“This is one of my favorites here,” Amanda continued, holding up the photo album. “He’s walking down the hallway for the first time. He just smiles so big, though he was dealing with so much.”

It’s been 20 years. Noah had been living on dialysis for two-and-a-half years when he got a call from Vanderbilt Health. He was going to have a kidney transplant and receive two infant kidneys from a child. Now, as is always the case in these situations, Amanda doesn’t know anything about the donor’s family. Still, she wants to tell them something.

“I would say to that mom and dad, you have given my son a chance at life that he might not have ever otherwise been able to have,” Amanda said. “I’m forever grateful to those people.”

The transplant surgery has been a success. It feels like the end of a chapter that started 20 years ago for Amanda and Noah.

“I only have the vaguest memory of laying in a child-sized bed in the hospital, and it was one of my very, very earliest memories,” Noah said. “I don’t remember anything other than that.”

Just like his mom, Noah has a message for his donor’s family.

“I want to tell them that I love them, and that’s it,” he nodded. “I love them. They gave me life.”

Noah’s ready to start building his future. Actually, he’s been playing punk rock shows.

“Your mom ever been to one of your punk shows?” I asked Noah.

“She has!”

“In the mosh pit?”

“She stood in the corner about the whole time!”

That’s not Noah’s only interest.

Most of his friends know Noah as Dock. He’s taken the name after his favorite banjo player, Dock Boggs.

“I love the sound of the banjo,” he said. “I feel like it gave me a voice.”

“It’s not everyday you find the banjo player in a punk show!” Amanda laughed. “It’s a journey full of sadness, and we’re finally able to close it with joy. That is what makes me so happy. He has a chance at a normal life, and that is a big deal. I want to see him spread his wings and fly. He is an a musician and an artist, and I’m ready to see what he’s made of.”

“I have a lot more energy,” Noah added. “My friends tell me I stand a lot taller.”

“I would encourage anybody to be an organ donor,” Amanda said. “You really don’t know what you can do to change someone’s life.”

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 Madilyn Destefano, David Jones, Hayley Crombleholme

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    SUMTER COUNTY, Florida (WESH) — The driver of the school bus that was clipped by a train in Sumter County April 2 is now facing 29 felony counts of child neglect as of Monday, according to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office.

SCSO responded to the scene at E Central Avenue and N Market Street in Bushnell last week.

While investigating, deputies were able to obtain the video from inside the bus at the time of the incident.

According to the arrest report, Yvonne Hampton, the driver of the bus, proceeded over a railroad crossing after the warning lights had already activated and the crossing arms had begun to lower, according to the arrest report.

The report said deputies reviewed audio and video from inside the bus, and that a voice believed to be Hampton’s can be heard saying, “not gonna stop for no train.”

Detectives said when they interviewed Hampton, she said she was already moving over the tracks when the train warning system turned on. But an arrest report says video from the bus shows otherwise.

On Tuesday, Hampton went before a judge on charges including culpable negligence, reckless driving, and 29 counts of neglect of a child without great bodily harm. In total, her bond was set at $30,000.

She bonded out of the Sumter County jail on Tuesday around 5:30 p.m.

Superintendent Logan W. Brown of the Sumter County School District issued a statement regarding the accident on April 2 and shared an updated post on Facebook on April 6.

Full statement below “This afternoon, one of our school buses (Bus 2517) was involved in an accident in which the rear of the bus was clipped by a train. I had the opportunity to visit the scene shortly after the incident.

I am grateful to report that there were no reported injuries to any students or staff. Student safety is our top priority, and we are incredibly thankful that everyone is safe.

The incident is currently under review by the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office and the Sumter County School District.

I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office and the Sumter County Fire Department for their prompt and professional response. Their swift action helped ensure the safety and well-being of everyone involved.

I also want to thank the administrators from South Sumter Middle School and South Sumter High School who responded to the scene and assisted with safely releasing students to their parents. Their leadership and care for our students were greatly appreciated.

We appreciate the patience and support of our families and community as we work through this situation. We will continue to provide updates as appropriate.”

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 Jonathan Ayestas, Maricela De La Cruz

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    PATTERSON, California (KCRA) — As a man remains in the hospital after a shooting involving federal agents in Stanislaus County, his attorney and family state they are not receiving updates on his condition and they believe ICE was working off bad information.

On Tuesday morning, immigration officers fired at Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez while they were along Interstate 5 at Sperry Avenue in the Patterson area.

According to Todd Lyons, acting director for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Mendoza Hernandez is undocumented and an alleged gang member wanted for questioning in connection with a murder in El Salvador.

However, Mendoza Hernandez’s fiancée, Cindy, and an attorney representing the family assert that he is not a gang member. During a Wednesday news conference, Patrick Kolasinski said he received an update earlier in the morning from El Salvador that he was initially accused of a murder but was acquitted, so there should not be an active warrant for his arrest there.

They said he has not had any criminal encounters since moving to the United States around 2019 or 2020.

They also explained that they have not gotten updates on his condition and are not aware if he is even conscious. A Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said Tuesday that Hernandez was in critical condition.

Cindy said that she got a call from the FBI, which is leading the investigation. She said she was told that his condition was stable, but she was not given details on how many times Mendoza Hernandez was shot or where on his body he was hit.

She also believes that a recent traffic stop where Mendoza Hernandez was pulled over for having a cracked windshield may have also led to him being targeted.

Kolasinski said right now, their priority is to get updates from the hospital. He is also unaware of whether he is detained because he is a suspect or a victim of a violent shooting.

“We just don’t know what is happening,” Kolasinski said, who also stated that Mendoza Hernandez might be in FBI custody.

Kolasinski also criticized ICE’s handling of the confrontation between federal officers and Mendoza Hernandez, explaining that the agency’s training methods and protocol put everyone—including the agents themselves—in danger.

“If this had been done right, it would’ve been done in a calm way, not a reason to take somebody down like they’re a horrible person because they’ve had no criminal encounters here,” he said.

Cindy and Kolasinski described him as a hardworking family man and father to a 2-year-old daughter.

KCRA 3 reached out to ICE for clarification surrounding Mendoza Hernandez, whether they were aware of any active warrants for him in El Salvador, and if they had documentation or evidence in support of the gang claim. They have not answered our questions.

Mendoza Hernandez’s immigration status is also not clear. His attorney is trying to verify if he overstayed a visa or entered the country unlawfully.

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 James Stratton

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    MADISON, Wisconsin (WISN) — New 911 calls and police reports detail the group-home escape of Morgan Geyser, the woman known for stabbing a classmate, nearly to death, to appease the internet character Slender Man.

12 News Investigates obtained calls that detail the group-home escape of Geyser in November 2025. Dane County 911 released 14 videos to 12 News through a public records request. The calls are from the group home and others who claim to know or have seen Geyser.

Geyser was placed in a group home in Madison after being conditionally released from a mental facility in the summer of 2025.

On Nov. 22, Madison police said she cut off her ankle monitor and left the home. Police photos, 12 News Investigates obtained through public records, show the monitor in her bed at the group home with the scissors nearby.

About 24 hours after the escape, police found her in Posen, Illinois, sleeping outside a gas station with a 43-year-old friend named Chad Mecca. “I’m calling about one of my residents. She left last night and took off her GPS monitor,” said the woman calling, who appears to run the group home where Geyser was staying. The woman tells dispatch that Geyser was last seen around 8:15 p.m. or 8:30 p.m. when she was given her medication.

Dane County Dispatch redacted the woman’s name in the call.

“So, last night around 11:30, the ankle monitor team called me and said that, you know, they want to check because there was some activities going on, on the monitor,” she said. “Then we found out that she left out of the window of her bedroom. Cut the monitor.”

“What is her first and last name?” The dispatcher later asks.

“Morgan Geyser,” the group-home leader responds.

“She has a friend that used to come almost every single day that didn’t come,” she said. “We think that he was also part of the thing that she was doing. He is from the church. She’s probably with him because he didn’t come today.”

“An officer will be dispatched as soon as possible,” the dispatcher responds, and then the two hang up.

Five callers claim to know who Geyser is with, and all seem to describe the same person. While the Dane County Dispatch Center redacted the names of who the callers are and who they’re talking about, all describe a person transitioning, who Geyser met at church. Police records point to that person being Mecca

“He’s a man transitioning to be a woman,” said a person claiming to be a friend of Geysers who met her while at Winnebago Mental Health Institute. “So, he’s got this long blonde hair and wears makeup, but it’s actually a man. Morgan befriends people on the fringes of society, that’s just who she is.”

“I’m really hoping it’s not, to be honest,” said another person. “My ex-boyfriend, who s a trans woman, I know has been hanging out with Morgan.”

“I am a church member where Morgan goes, and I said I may have contact information for Morgan’s friends,” another caller states.

Others, claim they saw Geyser.

“A woman just walked by my house who looks like the one in the surveillance photo, but I’m not sure,” said a person who lived down the street from the group home where she escaped.

“I mean every agency in Dane County is working on this right now,” a dispatcher says to another woman.

“This is wild,” the woman responds.

Madison Police interviewed Chad Mecca on December 3 over the phone. A police report says Mecca told MPD they met at a local church in September, traded numbers and became friends.

Geyser, per the report, told Mecca to google “Slenderman Waukesha 2014” and Mecca understood she was charged for the crime.

“Geyser asked Mecca, ‘do you hate me?’ To which Mecca replied, ‘no,’ the report states, saying Mecca would continue to be friends with Geyser.

“Mecca said his visitation was approved by Geyser’s group home,” the report states. “Mecca said their relationship with geyser was not sexual in nature, but that it was a plutonic relationship. The two of them hung out almost every day.”

Geyser said she would live the group home, Mecca told police in the report, and that Geyser would leave with or without Mecca.

“Mecca attempted to tell Geyser that Geyser was being irrational, but Geyser was not listening to any sort of reasoning. Mecca did not want Geyser to be alone, so Mecca chose to go with Geyser. Mecca said that Mecca did help Geyser escape, or come up with the plan. Only admitting that Mecca personally screwed up,” the report states.

Mecca said Geyser cut off her own bracelet and Mecca met her at a nearby park.

“Mecca then said the two of them made their way to downtown by bus, to eventually purchase bus tickets to Chicago–departing on the 1:30 AM bus from Lake Street, Madison,” the report states.

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.