Author: CNN Newsource

By Hannah Kliger

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    NEW YORK (WCBS, WLNY) — Ismael Ox survived an attack that left him without a hand.

Now, the Brooklyn-based para athlete is celebrating a series of victories, from overcoming homelessness to getting his American citizenship.

“I never feel disability” You might walk by a park in Bed-Stuy and see Ox, 25, training in taekwondo. No stadium lights, no sponsors, just sheer determination. But look a little closer, and you’ll see what a fighter really looks like.

At just 11 years old, in his village in Niger, Ox tried to save his neighbors from a grenade launched by members of the militant group Boko Haram.

“I tried to find a way to throw it away from everybody, so everybody will not get like dying or injured. So before I throw it, it explode. But everybody survived. It’s just my hand,” Ox said.

He lost his right hand, but didn’t quit his sport. Instead, he learned to adapt.

“I never feel disability or maybe something missing or anything,” he said.

Rain or shine, he’s chasing a dream most people would have given up on long ago. Today he’s a para athlete in one of the most competitive adaptive sports: taekwondo.

In an interview translated from French, his coach Ali Amadou called him “a diamond in the rough.”

Paralympic dreams Then came another fight. Ox arrived in the United States alone at 17 and was homeless for weeks with nothing but a dream. That persistence paid off. He went through the foster care system, was adopted by a loving family, and last year became an American citizen.

“I just so happy. I don’t know how to express it. Just one big emotion to make you excited, make you feel good, make you feel like these great people and you are part of them,” Ox said.

Filmmaker Chris Chu has been documenting his journey.

“Every experience that he’s had, he’s never made it like a problem that holds him back. It only just motivates him. And he never used as an excuse,” Chu said.

Ox is supported by a loyal community of friends and athletes he’s managed to build in his new home.

“Not just that you have that dream, but that you commit to it through your actions every single day,” said friend Jan Avendano.

At tournaments across the globe, he’s raking in medals, preparing for his shot at Paralympic gold. He’s now qualified to compete for Team USA and is hoping to make his Paralympic debut in Los Angeles in 2028.

“It’s just amazing to be part of this big society and be with all these people and then be able to represent the country I wanted to be in since I was young,” Ox said.

Perhaps a reminder that the strongest fighters are often built off the mat.

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 Katie Morse

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    LOCKPORT, New York (WKBW) — A Lockport restaurant owner opened his doors on a holiday to fulfill a dying man’s last wish to feed the hospice nurses who cared for him.

Ken Ozimek recently lost his older brother, Frank Ozimek, to cancer. Frank spent six weeks at Niagara Hospice in Lockport, where he bonded with the nursing staff. Before he died, he asked his brother to make sure the nurses were fed for Easter.

Ken called around to find a restaurant that could fulfill the request, but everywhere was closed for the holiday. He eventually reached out to Tommy Milani, the owner of Sub Delicious on Locust Street.

When Milani heard the request, he agreed to help.

“I said absolutely, whatever you need, Ken,” Milani said. “They do an amazing job there. They’re all saints.”

Milani put his own holiday plans on hold, opened the restaurant, and sent pizzas to the entire nursing staff at the hospice facility.

“He was kind enough to push back Easter to him, put everything aside, open his restaurant, and make us food for the whole building down there,” Ozimek said.

Ozimek described his brother as someone who looked like a “big bad biker guy” straight out of the band ZZ Top, but who had a generous heart.

“But you could come up to him, say I’m cold, he’d take the shirt off his back and give it to them,” Ozimek said.

Ozimek said his family is incredibly grateful for the way Milani helped honor his brother’s memory.

“To me, it means the world to see that kindness, that greatness spread,” Ozimek said. “And I hope when people see this story, they take it and say, why can’t we do this, and spread joy and kindness to each other.”

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. WKBW’s editorial team 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 Taylor Epps

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    CECIL COUNTY, Maryland (WMAR) — April is Autism Acceptance Month, and one Cecil County family is celebrating by marking a major milestone.

As of Easter 2026, Tiffany and Caleb Brown have visited all 50 states, spreading autism awareness along the way.

From Maryland to Montana to Minnesota, the adventurous mother-son duo has been sharing their journey on social media along the way.

They’ve been traveling since Caleb was a baby and realized this was an attainable goal and went for it. They’re also aiming to hit 50 countries this year.

“I’m here to encourage others because autism doesn’t stop the show; he goes and travels and lives his best life with autism,” Dr. Tiffany Brown said.

Caleb was diagnosed with autism in 2019 at 3 years old.

“I was devastated to hear the news. I remember the doctor telling me, I couldn’t believe it,” Tiffany Brown said.

Tiffany had always been a big traveler, and that didn’t stop when Caleb was born or diagnosed. She kept traveling with him, learning how to pivot and adapt to his needs.

“He can be overstimulated; I have to take that into account, and that happens whenever. It happens, so you just have to be prepared,” Tiffany Brown said.

They’ve written a book and started Autism Spectrum Adventures on social media to inspire other parents to travel.

“I want parents to understand that they can do it; take your time and plan the trip,” Tiffany Brown said. “We love to cruise; we’ve been on about 16 cruises. That’s an easy way.”

Caleb also wears a sunflower lanyard when traveling to let people know he’s living with autism. He’s also a fan of upgrading to first class.

“The comfortable one, it was so nice. I was so happy for that! It was really good for me,” Caleb Brown said.

The family travels to see the world and show others what is possible for a child like Caleb.

“You can travel with an autistic person; autistic people have feelings. They are so special, very special people, and I wouldn’t change anything about my child,” Tiffany Brown said.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team 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 WRAL News staff

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    WENDELL, North Carolina (WRAL) — A Wendell woman was accused of failing to notify the state about the death of a child who was under her care in 2024, according to arrest warrants.

Tamika Jones Fowler, 47, was arrested Tuesday after Wendell police said she failed to report the death of a child in December 2024 to the Department of Health and Human Services, while also running an unlicensed child care facility at the same time.

Wendell police said their investigation into Fowler began after a report of an unresponsive child on Dec. 5, 2024. Officers determined the five-month-old child died in their sleep.

A further investigation found that Fowler was operating a daycare with a license, along with other child welfare violations, but she was not charged in the death of the infant.

WRAL News reached out to Fowler’s employer, Holly Hill Hospital in Raleigh, to ask about her employment status.

A hospital spokesperson said Fowler was placed on administrative leave after learning of her arrest.

“There are no records of any incidents, allegations or complaints involving this individual at Holly Hill Hospital, and the matter you are referencing did not occur at a Holly Hill facility,” the hospital spokesperson said.

The arrest warrant also indicates that in April 2024, Fowler was caring for more than five children at the home, all younger than the age of six.

In the same month, she allegedly failed to make records, other than financial records, of that child care facility available to the DHHS.

The warrant also stated that in April 2024, neither Fowler nor a licensed caregiver was present at the home.

Wendell police charged her with three misdemeanor counts of child welfare violation and two counts of child welfare unlicensed violations.

Fowler’s bond was set at $10,000, and she is expected to appear in court on May 5 in Wake County.

WRAL News reached out to the DHHS for comment. The department said that it is aware of the situation and cannot comment on investigations or possible investigations.

The statement continued:

The department said child care facilities licensed by the DHHS-DCDEE follow applicable child care requirements and are visited, at a minimum, once annually, during visits by DCDEE consultants.

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 Tracy Johnke

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    LAUREL, Maryland (WTOP) — A Maryland man faces sex trafficking and prostitution charges after his April 1 arrest at a Laurel home.

Robert Eakins, 31, was also wanted in connection with an armed robbery in Charles County.

Police said the sex-trafficking investigation started two to three weeks earlier, when an anonymous tipster said a woman at the house was being pressured into sex work.

They also said Eakins was taken into custody without incident, but that he first attempted to evade officers by ducking into a crawl space under a porch.

Footage from a body camera shows officers removing a panel from the porch, and Eakins emerging from the opening to be detained.

An emergency response team made up of Laurel and Greenbelt police officers received assistance from a drone while executing a search warrant on Eakins’ home and locating the alleged victim.

Prior to the April 1 raid, the drone’s infrared camera recorded someone leaving the house and heading to a nearby parking lot, Capt. Stephen Ivory told WTOP.

A detective sent to talk to the person identified her as the alleged sex-trafficking victim who was there to meet a client. Police said they got her away safely and reunited her with her family.

The video the Laurel Police Department released to the public includes drone footage showing several officers approaching the house and eventually taking Eakins away.

Drones are “relatively new technology for us,” Ivory said.

He said that as more operators are trained and receive FAA certification to pilot the drones, police in Laurel are beginning to use them more frequently. But right now, they are used only for preplanned operations, providing an additional vantage point for the officers on the ground.

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 Tom Dougherty

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    PHILADELPHIA (KYW) — One person has died and at least two people are missing after a partial parking garage collapse in Philadelphia’s Grays Ferry neighborhood Wednesday afternoon, police said.

Police said emergency crews are searching for at least two people trapped. One construction worker was rushed to an area hospital, where police said he later died.

Reports of the building collapse came across dispatch shortly after 2 p.m., Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Jeffrey Thompson said.

The seven-story parking garage is located at 3000 Grays Ferry Avenue. Thompson said the building is compromised and crews are working on stabilizing the structure before resuming search and rescue operations.

“We have the right people on location to get this job done,” Thompson said. “It’s going to take some time because we have to stabilize this building for the safety of everyone involved.”

Thompson would not comment on how many people are missing when asked during a press conference.

Chopper 3 was live over the scene, showing part of the garage that had collapsed. The collapse appears to have happened on the first floor of a parking garage under construction.

A witness who was on her lunch break told CBS News Philadelphia that the collapse “sounded like a train falling.”

“It was just a whole bunch of noise, and then I turned around, and there was a whole bunch of debris,” she said. “You just see everybody running over, all the construction workers. … Looked up and you see the crane halfway up, and it started to come back down. But there was nothing on the crane.”

According to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia website, the garage is being built to expand employee parking. Before its construction, however, many people in the community sought to stop the project, citing issues with traffic, pollution and health risks to the neighborhood.

CBS News Philadelphia has reached out to CHOP and is waiting to hear back.

A spokesperson for the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections said they have an inspector headed to the scene.

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 Scott Noll

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    CLEVELAND (WEWS) — Newly released videos and records raise more questions about how life and death emergencies are handled inside the Cuyahoga County jail.

According to county records, Jennifer Wade was found unresponsive and naked inside her cell in the jail’s mental health unit on Feb. 23, 2025.

According to a report on the incident, a corrections officer noticed Wade in the same position on the floor of her cell just before 4 a.m.

The officer wrote that she called Wade’s name and believed “I saw movement.”

About nine minutes later, two officers walked to Wade’s door, called a nurse and said Wade may have been pretending to be unconscious.

According to a county report, Wade had a history of acting unconscious or sleeping when she wasn’t.

Records show the nurse arrived three minutes later, entered Wade’s cell and called for additional help.

On the body camera video, a nurse is heard asking for help rolling Wade over.

“She’s just not responding right,” the nurse told officers.

One minute later, someone is heard on the recording saying Wade is “ice cold.”

Officers and nurses look for a pulse.

“I don’t feel one,” someone said.

“Something’s not right,” said someone else.

Video showed that 10 minutes after corrections officers found Wade, the jail’s master control was notified to call 911.

“I can’t feel a pulse,” someone said on the body cam recording. “I don’t know if it’s because she’s so cold.”

Despite not having a pulse, a county timeline of events showed it took more than 15 minutes from the time Wade was found until she received chest compressions.

The 41-year-old was rushed to the hospital but died just after 5 a.m.

Wade’s death came one month after a joint News 5, Marshall Project-Cleveland investigation raised questions about the length of time it took jail staff to begin CPR.

In the 2023 death of Fred Maynard and the 2024 death of Glen Williams Jr. video showed it took nine minutes before the men received CPR.

Too long, emergency response expert Eric Jaeger said.

“We know that any gap in CPR longer than 10 seconds is potentially disastrous for a patient,” said Jaeger.

Records show Wade had been in jail since September, charged with harassment by an inmate stemming from an incident at Marymount Hospital nearly two months earlier.

A county report showed she bounced between mental health treatment, the jail and hospital emergency departments because of what the county called “change in mental status and chest pain.”

An autopsy found she died of heart failure.

Following Wade’s death, an associated warden at the jail wrote that there was a need for training for both jailers and medical staff on how to address medical emergencies.

A county report following Wade’s death found four different areas of potential improvement.

Among them, the need for immediate vital checks in a medical emergency, scenario-based medical emergency training to improve skills and response more effectively and requiring staff to remain with someone during medical emergencies.

A county spokesperson has not responded to questions asking if those improvements have been implemented in the jail.

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 Alex Null

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    CINCINNATI (WCPO) — A Cincinnati man was sentenced to life without parole Tuesday for shooting and killing a man while he was getting a haircut.

In October 2024, Cincinnati police found 25-year-old Joshua Sherman shot inside his East Price Hill home. Sherman later died at the hospital.

Police said Sherman was getting a haircut in his home when Djuane Ferguson shot him in the back of the head.

Ferguson was found guilty of Sherman’s murder in March.

During his sentencing Tuesday, Hamilton County Judge Jody Luebbers tried to make sense of what happened.

“This crime is so senseless,” Luebbers said. “A young man’s life taken, for what?”

Sherman’s aunt, Romona Sherman, spoke about her nephew’s death in court.

“The loss of Joshua has left a permanent void in our family,” Sherman said. “One that cannot be filled, repaired or forgotten.”

Ferguson has a lengthy criminal record, including convictions for aggravated robbery.

He served a 20-year prison sentence and had only been out of prison for 11 days when he killed Sherman.

“You get out, and you’re out for 11 days, and this happens?” Luebbers said. “It’s just so terribly sad.”

Ferguson also spoke during his sentencing. He apologized to Sherman’s family for their loss, but claimed he didn’t know Sherman and maintained his innocence.

“I’m not saying I’m a perfect individual, I’m just saying I didn’t murder nobody,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson’s attorneys said he was sexually abused by his siblings at a young age.

Ferguson claimed his family set him up for Sherman’s murder.

However, Luebbers didn’t buy it.

“You show absolutely no remorse,” Luebbers said. “Your explanation of you not being there, that your brother set you up, makes absolutely no sense.”

Lubbers said she believes Ferguson has proven to be a dangerous criminal.

“I have to err on the side of society, you’re a danger to society,” Luebbers said. “You’re scary. I’m afraid you’re going to do this again.”

While Sherman’s family did not want to be interviewed after the sentencing, Sherman’s father told us the sentence imposed was the one they’d hoped for.

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 Cecelia Koparanyan, KOMU 8 Reporter

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    NETHERLANDS (KOMU) — Owen Ramsingh, the Columbia man deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in February, is now living in Utrecht, Netherlands, with his father.

He arrived in the Netherlands in February and has been adjusting to his new life since then.

“Getting off the plane… I mean, I was in shock,” Ramsingh said. “I had so much going through my mind, just starting from zero, everything being taken away from me, my family. Luckily, I have my father here, you know, in the Netherlands, and he’s a big support system, and he is keeping my head above water.”

Coming to the United States

Ramsingh was born in the Netherlands in 1981, but his mother took him to the United States in 1986 when he was 6 years old.

“During that time, my mom told me my dad was deceased,” Ramsingh said.

Ramsingh believed that his father was gone and that he was left to take care of his mother and sister, both of whom he does not speak to anymore.

Ramsingh said his mother was a drug user, often leaving he and his sister with limited food in the house. Ramsingh turned to dealing drugs when he was a teenager to support his family.

“We had lack of food in the house, so I joined the streets,” Ramsingh said. “I had to make sure that I was able to put food in the fridge for my family (and) my mom as well.”

In 1997, he was charged with cocaine possession at age 16 and tried as an adult at 17. When Ramsingh was released in 1999, he found out his father was actually alive.

“Two weeks before my release date out of prison, I got a letter from him,” Ramsingh said. “When I looked at the letter, it said the last name Ramsingh on it, which shocked me. So I opened it up and it said, ‘Hey, I’m your father.’”

His father worked in law enforcement in the Netherlands and found his son through the system. They’ve maintained phone contact since then, and in 2009, his father came to the U.S. to visit his son for the first time.

“We realized that we are the same, basically,” Ramsingh said. “Just the way we are with people, our work ethic — we are father and son, for sure.”

Despite the circumstances that brought this father and son together, Ramsingh is happy to be back with his father.

“We’re able to make up the time from being separated for all those years,” Ramsingh said.

Time spent in ICE detention

When Ramsingh returned to the U.S. from a trip to the Netherlands in September 2025, he was questioned about his green card in the Chicago O’Hare International Airport and then detained for his juvenile criminal background.

Ramsingh first obtained a green card when he was brought to the U.S. as a young boy. In 2025, when he was preparing for his last trip to the Netherlands to visit his father, he renewed his green card in February. His green card was renewed for 10 years, according to documentation obtained by KOMU 8.

Ramsingh has two prior drug-related incidents on his record, including the cocaine possession charge from 1997. He also had a 2011 marijuana possession conviction in Boone County, which has since been expunged.

The Department of Homeland Security cited the prior convictions for cocaine and marijuana possession as justification for his detention. The immigration policy allows officers to detain a legal resident who has a former drug-related conviction upon reentry into the country.

Ramsingh was taken to an ICE detention center in El Paso, Texas. He spent over three months at Camp East Montana. In a Facebook post, Ramsingh described horrific living conditions, starvation and said he witnessed a murder.

“What I went through from the minute I was detained … I had went through a lot of trauma,” Ramsingh said.

In the Facebook post, Ramsingh described how Akima security, the security force that ran the facility, was unprofessional and dangerous. Ramsingh said he remembered hearing security guards take bets on who was going to commit suicide.

He also said he witnessed the security force use excessive force on detainees and witnessed how the security force shackled, cuffed and strangled a 55-year-old man to death. Ramsingh said Akima security reported the death as a suicide to the press and law enforcement.

Ramsingh said he was given three meals a day, about 12 ounces of food each. He added that the food they got was only enough to survive. Ramsingh’s Facebook post said there were five round tables with six seats each in his pod, but detainees were only allowed to eat in the tents or near the bathrooms.

“With the whole ICE situation and being in holding cells with one meal a day, just lying on concrete floors… it was just too much,” Ramsingh said. “I’ve been through a lot of stuff in life, and this was very difficult for me.”

During his detainment, Ramsingh was also abruptly moved from the Texas facility to the Cibola County Correctional Center in New Mexico on Nov. 14. Ramsingh’s family only found out about the transfer from the wife of someone

Ramsingh is currently working on getting insurance so he can go to therapy to help with the trauma from his detention.

“I have a lot of trauma and major nightmares from everything that I went through in the detention,” Ramsingh said.

Ramsingh is no stranger to adversity, but admitted the detention was a challenge for him.

“I’m okay, but I’m not okay,” Ramsingh said. “Having that pressure on me the whole time in the detainment, (my) frustration level was very high. I just felt like (I was at) a blowing up point. But I kept my cool and just fought through it and just prayed.”

Ramsingh’s wife and daughter still in Columbia

Right now, Ramsingh’s wife and teenage daughter are still living in Columbia. They went to the Netherlands in February to visit Ramsingh after he was deported.

“It’d been almost six months since (I’d) seen them,” Ramsingh said. “(Being) ripped apart from them, it was all tears. Just being separated for so long… it was very hard.”

Ramsingh is currently working on finding housing for his family. His wife and daughter are working on passports and visas to eventually move to the Netherlands.

“I have to build my foundation here, starting with getting a house and then working on getting my wife and daughter here,” Ramsingh said.

Throughout his detention, Ramsingh’s wife, Diana Ramsingh, updated a Facebook group dedicated to Ramsingh, spoke to the media and advocated for her husband.

“She’s strong, I’m strong. And we just, we just fight this battle together,” Ramsingh said.

Since his deportation, Ramsingh and his wife speak daily, even with a seven-hour time difference between them.

“That’s super difficult, but we make the best out of it,” Ramsingh said.

Ramsingh’s daughter will graduate from a Columbia high school in May. He plans to FaceTime his wife so he can watch his daughter walk across the stage, and his friend Robert Olsen will bring the cardboard cutout that he made of Ramsingh to the graduation.

“It’s very hard… that she’s going to graduate and I can’t be there,” Ramsingh said. “It sucks not being there to be her support.”

Putting together his new life

A big part of reuniting Ramsingh’s family is settling the logistics of his new life, both physical and emotional.

“It’s a lot that runs through my mind right now,” Ramsingh said. “Just getting, filing, all my identification (and) everything here now, setting up doctor appointments, and looking for work — it’s a lot.”

In Columbia, Ramsingh worked as a security guard at Blue Note and Rose Music Hall, along with being a property manager and power washer.

After Ramsingh can get into therapy, he said he wants to look for similar work.

“I want to get back into security, because I always want to make sure people are safe,” Ramsingh said. “Giving other people that feeling of, you know, that they’re in good hands and that they don’t have to worry, and they could enjoy themselves means a lot to me.”

In addition to the big tasks— like looking for housing, insurance and a new job— even the small things in Ramsingh’s life have changed.

“The TV is in Dutch (and) I don’t understand no Dutch, which is going to be another learning thing for me,” Ramsingh said.

Even learning how to ride a bike in the Netherlands, the rules of the bike lanes are different.

“The bikes are insane,” Ramsingh said. “When you’ve got 40 people in front (and) you’ve got 20 people in the back… I hit the brakes a lot.”

When the stress is just too much and he needs to clear his head, Ramsingh said he goes on daily walks, listens to music and takes his e-bike out for a ride.

“When I get frustrated or something like that I take a nice little ride and learn new streets and everything,” Ramsingh said. “I get lost and then I find my way back.”

For Ramsingh, this time outside helps him get through his day and adjust to this new normal.

“I was taken away from the Netherlands at a young age,” Ramsingh said. “(So) just exploring… it helps with my mental as well, because it gets me out of the house and in fresh air.”

Moving forward

As Ramsingh starts to slowly adjust to his new life, he said he still hasn’t accepted the ruling New Mexico Judge Brock Taylor made back in December.

“I’m still in shock,” Ramsingh said. “I’ll never get over it, but it’s gonna take a long time for me to get it all processed.”

Even in Ramsingh’s shock and hurt, he said he’s keeping a positive and hopeful outlook to the future.

“I raised myself and I just knew a lot of negative energy that was around me,” Ramsingh said. “Once I started getting rid of that negative energy, it kept me lifted up. And that’s just the way I continue with my life.”

Ramsingh said he’s experienced what he calls “keyboard warriors” who believe being deported was what Ramsingh deserved.

“All the people that are negative about my situation, when it could be one of their family members going through the same thing,” Ramsingh said. “I didn’t do it to build a life in the drug business. I did it for survival, and this is what I got out of it.”

Despite the challenges in his past and future, Ramsingh said the Netherlands feel safer for him.

“I just got to keep pushing, no matter (what)” Ramsingh said. I’ve been through hell and back my whole life. There’s no stopping in me. I just have to keep moving.”

There is a possibility of applying for a waiver in eight to 10 years that could let Ramsingh reenter the United States. He said this is an option, but in the present moment, he is not focusing on it and instead taking it one day at a time.

This report was conducted in collaboration with KBIA as a part of the Missouri News Network.

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 John Murphy, KOMU 8 Anchor

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    JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri (KOMU) — Missouri Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe signed three bills into law Tuesday afternoon.

The first was an expansive criminal justice bill that raises minimum time-served requirements and allows prosecutors more involvement in juvenile cases. The second adds new offenses and penalties for sex trafficking. The third allows pregnant women to get a divorce. Previously, that was not allowed, and this bill was designed to help pregnant women get out of abusive relationships.

Two Democrats, including Minority Floor Leader Ashley Aune, D-Kansas City, stood by Kehoe’s side as he signed the divorce bill into law. The law expanding criminal offenses for sex trafficking also received mostly bipartisan support.

However, the criminal sentencing bill did not.

Many Democrats expressed concern that this will put more people in prison and keep them there longer. It raises the minimum sentencing and the minimum percentage of a sentence prisoners must serve for several crimes.

It also allows prosecutors more involvement in juvenile cases.

Previously, juvenile cases were handled completely separately from a prosecutor’s office, with a separate juvenile court handling a certification hearing to determine whether someone under 18 should be tried as an adult. This new law allows prosecutors to present evidence before that point.

“If a juvenile is going to act like an adult and commit a crime like an adult, they need to understand that those, unfortunately, have consequences,” Kehoe said.

Some Democrats argued this could lead to juveniles being tried as adults who shouldn’t be. State Rep. Kimberly-Ann Collins, D-St. Louis, has sponsored several bills to try to establish more oversight for the Missouri Department of Corrections. She said she does not want prosecutors involved in a juvenile case until the juvenile court determines the offender should be tried as an adult.

“Of course, we always have concerns about that,” Collins said. “And I don’t think that prosecutors should be allowed to be inserted or be involved in that type of step.”

She also expressed concern about costs the bill would bring. A fiscal note shows an estimated general revenue cost of more than $869 million in the fiscal year ending in 2029, which includes costs to build a new prison.

Collins said this is not how she would invest in corrections, especially since Missouri’s surplus revenues are running out and revenues are decreasing.

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.