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Man sentenced to 30 years after police officer shot friend

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:54 GMT

WETUMPKA, Ala. (AP) — LaKeith Smith was 15 when a police officer shot and killed his friend when the teens were caught burglarizing homes in Alabama, but it is Smith who will spend decades in prison for his friend’s death.A judge on Tuesday sentenced Smith, now 24, to 30 years in prison — a reduction from the more than 50 years he originally received, but a blow to his family and advocates who argued he should not spend decades in prison for a killing he did not commit.The new sentencing hearing was held after a judge ruled Smith’s original lawyer failed to present possible mitigating evidence about his home life and mental health.Circuit Judge Sibley Reynolds handed down the new sentence after a lengthy court hearing. Sibley gave Smith the same punishment he previously handed down — 30 years for the felony murder charge and 25 years for burglary and theft — but this time allowed the sentences to run concurrently, instead of stacked on top of one another. “What he received tod...

Families of Montreal fire victims facing agonizing wait

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:54 GMT

MONTREAL (AP) — Family and friends of the presumed victims of a deadly fire in Old Montreal faced an agonizing wait Tuesday as a recovery team worked to enter the charred shell of the building where two bodies have been found and five people remain missing.Yukun Zeng said the wait to hear about what happened to his friend An Wu was “so heartbreaking.” Wu is one of the people unaccounted for after a fire ripped through a historic building in Old Montreal that included Airbnb units Thursday. The body of one woman was recovered Sunday, but she had not been identified. Police announced late Tuesday that the remains of a second victim had been recovered from the rubble and sent to a forensics laboratory for identification.“I also talked with An’s other friends and other relatives. We still cannot totally understand why it takes so long,” Zeng told reporters near the building. Zeng described Wu as a neuroscientist doing post-doctoral work at the University California San Diego who was in ...

Arrestan a sospechoso de intentar secuestrar a un estudiante de una parada de autobús en Gaithersburg

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:54 GMT

Un presunto intento de secuestro en el condado Montgomery tiene a toda una comunidad en alerta y a padres de familia preocupados ante el hecho. Todo sucedió en una parada de autobuses escolares en la intersección de Towne Crest Drive y Towne Crest Road en Gaithersburg poco antes de las 8 a.m. el lunes, cuando aparentemente un hombre que ya fue arrestado habría intentado secuestrar a un estudiante de una escuela cercana. Residentes de la zona describen al vecindario como tranquilo y sin mayores incidentes, en el que ayer algunos estudiantes vivieron un episodio de terror. El sospechoso, un hombre de 31 años identificado por la policía como Jamal Germany, presuntamente arrastró a un alumno de Redland Middle School hasta un complejo de apartamentos cercano, y fue allí cuando otros estudiantes intervinieron, logrando que la víctima escapara. “Estaban todos ahí reunidos y pues entre ellos se tuvieron que ayudar. Dicen que los compañeritos lo ayudaron a él”, comentó Do...

Children on ventilators enjoy day at the beach

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:54 GMT

A group of children getting a much-deserved beach day, and this trip was more than just a breath of fresh air.Most of us take going to the beach for granted, but these kids definitely do not because for many of them, Monday was the best day ever.Fun is about to be had, as Gavin and a bunch of his friends are at Miami Beach for the day.Normally, that wouldn’t be possible for these kids with medical limitations.“They have a safe day at the beach and have a normal day like any other child, and they really enjoy it,” said Dr. Maria Fanco of Ventilation Assisted Children’s Center.Eleven children dependant on ventilators, getting in some salt air, warm sunshine and the ocean.Nancy is Gavin’s mom — they drove down from Buffalo for this.“We really can’t go to the beach unless we carried him, which he’s getting bigger now,” she said. “Gavin’s 15 now, so he’s getting bigger and we gotta carry the ventilator, the suction, the emergenc...

Police search for mother after newborn baby found abandoned in Springfield

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:54 GMT

A baby is recovering this week after police said he was abandoned at a home in Springfield in recent days.Police said the newborn was found wrapped in blankets in a car seat at a home on Entrybrook Drive.Speaking with 7NEWS, Juliannys Aviles said she found the baby when she came home on Sunday night with her family and noticed something strange at the front door of her home. Aviles said she heard a soft cry. She said she saw the newborn boy wrapped up along with diapers, pacifiers, baby formula and a note when she looked inside the car seat. “It said ‘Please take good care of me. My mom loves me but she can’t take care of me right now,’” Aviles said of the note.Avilis immediately brought the newborn out of the cold, and called 911. Police later determined the boy was likely outside for nearly two days based on surveillance video from a neighbor.Aviles said the boy’s feet were cracked, swollen and red. “It’s not something, as a mother, I wanted to see,” she ...

Police investigating after teenager shot in Lynn

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:54 GMT

An investigation was underway in Lynn Tuesday after witnesses said a teenager was shot in broad daylight while riding a moped. The incident happened on Fayette Street Tuesday afternoon, where one witness said he heard “five or six shots.” Billy Hukill, who lives close to the scene, said she raced out of her house when she heard the gunshots, only to find the victim bleeding on the ground. Hukill said she jumped in to help.“He was asking me, ‘Please don’t let me die. Can I please have some water? Please don’t let me die.’” Hukill said. Police were seen collecting evidence including shell casings and the moped itself later Tuesday afternoon. “I have four kids and it’s a kid,” Hukill said. “Cars were driving past and weren’t helping him. So I ran down here as fast as I could.” Hukill said she made it to the scene in close to a minute. There, she said she started applying pressure while waiting for an ambulance.  Hukill said the teen was still conscious when he ...

Linus Ullmark leads B’s to 2-1 win over Ottawa

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:54 GMT

In their first game back from a five-game road trip, the Bruins were predictably far from perfect on Tuesday at the Garden.Fortunately for them, Linus Ullmark was pretty close to it – and just hair better than his counterpart, Ottawa Senator netminder Mads Soogard.Ullmark (40 saves) turned away 21 shots in the second period to preserve a slim 2-1 lead and they hung on for the victory, killing a late Charlie Coyle penalty to survive.In a terrific goaltending duel, the B’s had many chances to notch the insurance goal in the third but Soogard (33 saves) did his best to keep his team in the game. But the desperate Sens could not get the equalizer.The first period smacked of the first-game-back blues for the B’s, who turned the puck over early and often, gave up the first eight of nine shots on net and fell behind 1-0. And they still came out with a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes.The Sens took the first lead of the game at 8:55 after Pavel Zacha tried to skate through two Ottawa p...

Column: Should MLB turn off the pitch clock in the postseason? Thrilling WBC games suggest time limits aren’t needed.

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:54 GMT

Former Chicago Cubs pitcher Steve Trachsel chimed in Monday night on Twitter after watching Japan’s epic comeback win over Mexico in a World Baseball Classic semifinal.“Another great WBC game with no pitch clock, shift bans, bigger bases or pick off rules,” Trachsel wrote.For the generation of baseball fans unfamiliar with the name, it should be noted that Trachsel was renowned for being among the slowest-working pitchers in the game, referred to by some as the “Human Rain Delay.” Writers loved talking to him because he always had something interesting to say, but we hated the days Trachsel started because his games took forever.Trachsel later told former Cubs media relations head and blogger Chuck Wasserstrom “there was probably a good five-year period where my infielders probably thought it was painful for them” to play whenever he took the mound,.“I know it was painful for some umpires as well,” he said. “There would be ...

Red Sox Notebook: Masataka Yoshida makes World Baseball Classic history

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:54 GMT

Major League Baseball and the World Baseball Classic are a Venn diagram, not a circle.There are plenty of differences between the league and the tournament, even more so now that MLB has instituted a pitch clock, shift restrictions, and larger bases, none of which are used in the WBC.But one thing has become clear throughout this year’s tournament, and that is that Masataka Yoshida lives up to the hype.He hasn’t just been good, he’s been historic.Entering the Tuesday night final, he’d already collected 13 RBI, setting a new record for most runs batted in by any player in WBC history. He also set a new Japan WBC record when he reached 10 RBI.The Red Sox drew criticism for signing Yoshida to a five-year, $90 million deal, the largest contract for a Japanese position player in MLB history.So far, he’s doing a good job of quieting that noise.Sale bested by BaltimoreChris Sale’s early struggles put the Red Sox in a hole from which they couldn’t c...

110-foot tree in Balboa Park topples amid gusty winds

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:33:54 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Strong and damaging winds are expected to continue into Wednesday from the coast to the deserts after a pleasant Tuesday afternoon that prompted many to exit their homes for a glimpse of some sunshine. Gusty winds did damage in Balboa Park, knocking down a 110-foot eucalyptus tree along the train tracks near the carousel.“We're just keeping an eye out on a lot of those trees especially the ones near heavily trafficked areas, either vehicle or pedestrian," said Jose Ysea with the City of San Diego. More rain moves into San Diego It's a place where 800 out of the park's 18,000 trees foreshadow a collapse like the one in Balboa Park, as saturated turf and gusty winds pack a punch. “We’re coming off the heels of a drought. During that time, a lot of tree roots will die, and that compromises the roots, they are dead now, and not holding onto the soil like a live root, so you got that coupled with very wet soil conditions along with heavy winds, it’s almost like a perfect ...