Author: CNN Newsource

By Jennifer Mayerle

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    MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A pool contractor at the center of a WCCO investigation, who promised a pool but never delivered, will spend five years in federal prison.

On Thursday, the judge handed down a higher sentence for Charles Workman than the recommended range. U.S. Marshals took him out of court in handcuffs to begin serving his sentence right away.

Workman was ordered to pay more than $1.1 million in restitution to victims.

This all started four years ago when families contacted WCCO saying Workman took their money but left their backyards in ruin.

The indictment for wire fraud says Workman spent some of what people paid him on child support, at the casino and on a horse and saddle.

“We were seen, we were heard. Finally, to hear it validated from a trusted source that like this was calculated deception. It was routine. It was repetitive, it wasn’t us being naive. None of that kind of stuff,” said Kyle Swenson.

In court, Workman choked up, admitting he thought he could fix this, and he was wrong.

Victims told the judge of the stress, anxiety, broken trust, savings drained and family dreams dashed.

“And it keeps me up at night. It still does, and it probably forever will,” said Swenson.

Judge Michael Davis called Workman’s crimes egregious.

“The judge looked him in the eye after we gave our impact statements, and after he sentenced him, and the judge said ‘I don’t believe you. I think you’re a very skilled manipulator.’ Called him a sociopath,” said Cassie Fisher.

The victims say they are grateful there is finally accountability.

“Physically feels better. Mentally, we’ll have some relief. But I mean, it will, it’ll carry with us, unfortunately. But we’re smiling,” said Swenson.

After he finishes his sentence, Workman will face an additional three years probation. He has 14 days to appeal.

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 Elyssa Kaufman, Jermont Terry, Sara Tenenbaum

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    FRANKFORT, Illinois (WBBM) — A mother has been charged with murder after her 2-year-old child was killed inside a home in Frankfort, Illinois.

Police said Corie Walsh, 38, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder.

Police said Walsh is in custody and was in the hospital for medical treatment. Friday afternoon she was transferred to the Will County Adult Detention Facility ahead of her detention hearing.

Court documents have revealed unsettling and disturbing details about the toddler’s death.

Frankfort police said officers were called to the home in the 22700 block of Brook Stone Court around 4 p.m. Tuesday after a 17-year-old neighbor called 911 for help.

When they arrived, officers found a 2-year-old being given CPR by the teenager. The toddler was taken to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

According to court records, the neighbor found the boy “hanging in the basement on a device from a rafter” and it was determined he “died from asphyxia.”

The court records also said “one other child, an infant, was present in the home at the time and unharmed.” Walsh, the documents say, was found in an upstairs bathtub in a pool of blood with “cuts to her wrists and thighs.”

Two other kids came home from school around the time police arrived. Their father was out of state at the time.

According to the court documents, Walsh told officers “she did this to her baby because he was a ‘devil’ and the ‘anti-Christ'” and even gave details of how she killed her son. Prosecutors say Walsh had “become very invested in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial.”

The Clancy trial ended Friday when the judge declared a mistrial after jurors remained deadlocked on a verdict. Prosecutors said Walsh was in a group text talking about the Lindsay Clancy murder case just hours before killing her son, while the jury was still deliberating. CBS Legal Analyst Irv Miller said those messages are key.

“That will be exhibit A by the prosecutors, it will be first thing said in opening statement, the first piece of evidence they introduce and last thing they say in closing argument that’s how important that is,” he said.

Prosecutors say Walsh planned out this murder, but Walsh’s attorney said in part in a statement, “It is also a tragedy that Corie herself was experiencing a psychotic episode at the time this happened. It is our hope that through a thorough presentation and investigation of the facts, that all of us will come to see this heartbreak for what it is.”

“You don’t want jurors who are so familiar with the Clancy case that will use that either for or against the defendant in Will County,” Miller said.

Walsh remains in custody at Will County Jail. Her first court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 8.

The Illinois Department of Child and Family Services told CBS News Chicago they have not had prior contact with the family until Tuesday. The agency said they are now involved in the investigation.

If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or a suicidal crisis, you can reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988. You can also chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline here.

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 Kristie Keleshian

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    STATEN ISLAND, New York (WCBS) — A man on Staten Island survived a lightning strike last week, and Friday, the kind stranger who helped him was honored.

On Aug. 27, Thomas Fahmy was walking back to his car on Todt Hill Road in Castleton Corners after a dentist appointment. He was walking near a tree on the sidewalk when he says he saw a bright white flash.

Video from Stefanie Homan’s front door shows the lightning strike and Fahmy falling to the ground.

“The initial sensation throughout my body was numbing, tinglingness, and pain in both of my feet,” he said. “I was beginning to scream, ‘Help, help, help,’ because of just, I was so confused and I was so much in pain, and I was very scared that I would be struck by lightning again.”

Homan came to the door, and video shows Fahmy asking if he can come inside. Homan can be heard replying, “Sure, yes, please, God, come. Are you OK? I’m calling an ambulance for you.”

When she called 911, Homan says, operators told her there wasn’t much she could do to help him.

“They said, ‘No water, no food. He can’t touch water,'” she said.

Even so, Homan said she was happy she was able to offer him a place to calm down while he waited for first responders to arrive.

“Just a harrowing, crazy, miraculous, every type of feeling emotion you could feel,” Fahmy said.

Fahmy says he was in the hospital for about 12 hours, where he was examined and underwent a series of blood tests before being released.

On Friday, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, who Fahmy is a caseworker for, awarded Homan with a Certificate of Congressional Recognition.

“Just a harrowing, crazy, miraculous, every type of feeling emotion you could feel,” Fahmy said.

Fahmy says he was in the hospital for about 12 hours, where he was examined and underwent a series of blood tests before being released.

On Friday, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, who Fahmy is a caseworker for, awarded Homan with a Certificate of Congressional Recognition.

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 Logan Hall

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    BOSTON, Massachusetts (WBZ) — A man who escaped a boat fire with his parents and spent two nights on an island off Cape Cod said a decision he made still haunts him to this day.

“There’s days where I wake up and I don’t want to get out of bed,” Tyler Sullivan told WBZ-TV Thursday.

Sullivan is telling his story for the first time nearly one year after the fire. They were anchored near Naushon Island off the coast of Falmouth, Massachusetts spending a long weekend on their boat last October. He said one of his dogs woke him up barking in the middle of the night, alerting him to the fire.

“Flames climbing up the windows and starting to creep through the wood in the window and also the door,” Sullivan said.

He jumped out of bed and helped carry his parents into the water, heartbroken that he couldn’t save their two dogs.

“I made a split decision, what I thought was the best decision to get my parents and myself out of there,” Sullivan said. “And it haunts me to this day, and it will haunt me for the rest of my life.”

Sullivan helped his parents swim 50 yards in freezing cold water to a nearby island with a farmhouse, where they would spend two days. Hypothermia was immediately a concern, and Sullivan worked to get himself and his parents out of their wet clothes and wrapped in thin blankets he found in the house. Even then, they were freezing.

“I searched for everything and anything,” he said.

While searching for food and supplies in the house, he came across a marine walkie-talkie. It took time to find signal, but as soon as they got through to the Coast Guard’s channel, they called for help.

The Coast Guard came to rescue the Sullivans, med flighting them to a hospital in Boston.

“They did absolutely everything and anything they could do to help us,” Sullivan said. “And again, my dad being ex-Coast Guard, we can’t thank them enough.”

Tragically, it was too late for his mother, Cici Sullivan, who died of hypothermia. It’s a loss that he and his family are still processing today.

“I wish I could have a true conversation with her, and I know she doesn’t hold that against me,” Sullivan said. “I know she’s watching down from above. She’s here with me right now.”

Sullivan said the cause of the fire still has not been determined.

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 Keenan Smith

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    DETROIT, Michigan (WXYZ) — A 71-year-old retired attorney climbed Mount Kilimanjaro less than 9 months after emergency back surgery — a journey that nearly ended before it began.

Carol Romej had spent months training for the climb when she fell while sprinting up a Lake Michigan sand dune with nearly 40 pounds on her back, just 8 days before her scheduled departure last fall. Her left leg went numb immediately.

“The left leg went numb right away. So I knew it was bad,” Romej said.

Walking became difficult. Standing up straight was impossible. She was forced to cancel the trip she had planned as a 70th birthday milestone.

“Yeah, I felt pretty bad because it was only a week, you know,” Romej said.

But she never stopped believing she would make the climb.

“But I still wanted to do it. I always viewed it as a postponement,” Romej said.

A Henry Ford Sports surgeon recognized a spine problem and referred Romej to Dr. Kevin Taliaferro, Division Head of Orthopedic Spine Surgery at Henry Ford Health.

“It wasn’t a huge disk herniation. It was just in the exact wrong spot and sitting on one of her nerves,” Taliaferro said.

The herniated fragment was pressing on the nerve serving her left leg. On October 6, Taliaferro removed the herniation through a small incision. When Romej woke up, the difference was immediate.

“After the surgery, that nailed it. As soon as I woke up,” Romej said.

“I almost felt like something biblical. Carol, stand up. And I did,” Romej said.

Taliaferro understood that moment in a way few surgeons can. On the first day of his spine fellowship, he needed the same operation urgently — making the relief he delivers to patients deeply personal.

“I can empathize with my patients what it feels like to have that pain and feel that there’s no hope and then wake up and feel instantly a changed person,” Taliaferro said.

Within an hour of surgery, Romej was walking without leg pain. Physical therapists rebuilt her training plan, and by January she began training again.

On June 22, less than 9 months after surgery, Romej summited Kilimanjaro — the tallest and highest free-standing mountain in the world, rising more than 19,000 feet above sea level.

Her guides kept a steady reminder throughout the climb.

“They were always saying, pole, pole, slow, slow. Baby steps, no full strides, especially the last day,” Romej said.

The summit itself offered a perspective unlike anything below.

“When you’re on top, it’s not, there’s no range of mountain. You are alone. You can do a 360. You’re above the clouds,” Romej said.

“It’s almost like you’re in heaven,” Romej said.

She had only 2 minutes at the summit, but the achievement didn’t fully sink in until the next day.

“I think it didn’t hit me until the day after, when you get your little certificate that you summited,” Romej said.

Henry Ford Health staff have taken to calling her “the mountain woman.” Romej credits Taliaferro and the team at Henry Ford Health for giving her the confidence to keep going.

“He gave me total confidence with that as well as all the other mountains I want to do,” Romej said.

The self-described gym rat who bikes, hikes, and chases the next adventure has no plans to slow down.

“I’m going until you can’t anymore, you know, I just feel I’m blessed,” Romej said.

Romej isn’t finished. Next week she leaves for Poland’s Tatra Mountains — a trip with special meaning because her grandparents came from Poland.

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 Amari Saxton

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    BERNALILLO COUNTY, New Mexico (KOAT) — The Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a man for stealing Flock cameras around town.

Jevon Martinez was arrested on Sept. 2, after investigators said he removed 10 Flock camera safety systems without authorization, loaded the equipment into his pickup truck and livestreamed his actions on social media.

Court documents reveal that Martinez admitted that he personally removed the cameras, poles and solar panels. The ten systems that he stole had an estimated value of $16,500.

Only two of these cameras were associated with BCSO, and the additional eight were managed by other neighborhood associations.

Martinez said that he was “returning” the cameras to BCSO as a political statement, but investigators watched him drive past BCSO headquarters multiple times with equipment in his truck. The cameras were recovered after deputies stopped his truck outside of the sheriff’s office.

BCSO wants to reiterate that they did decide to end their contract with Flock Safety, but the cameras were not abandoned property, and members of the public were not authorized to dismantle or remove them.

Martinez has a criminal history dating back to 2003 where he faced multiple charges of sexually exploiting a minor. He was also arrested less than three months ago by Rio Rancho Police in connection with the removal and damage of similar license plate reader equipment. Martinez is currently facing nine pending felony charges in Sandoval County arising from the alleged removal and damage of license plate reader equipment.

Martinez was booked on charges of larceny (over $2,500) and interference with communications.

This investigation remains active. Investigators continue to review the recovered equipment, digital evidence and Martinez’s conduct. Additional charges may be filed as the investigation continues.

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.