Robbie and Allisa Parker took the mound for the ceremonial first pitch.
A 12-year-old girl says she bit a man who tried to abduct her outside her...
Two Terrell men accused of threatening county officials in unrelated cases both...
Grand Prairie police are searching for a bank robber who targeted the Grand...
Longtime Texas Rangers fan Robbie Parker, who lost his daughter Emilie in the the mass school shooting in Newtown, Conn. threw out the first pitch at the Texas Rangers home opener at the Ballpark in Arlington. (Video courtesy MLB and Texas Rangers)
The parents of a 6-year-old Texas Rangers fan who was killed in the Newtown, Conn., school shooting threw out the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day.
The Rangers lost one of their biggest fans in the shooting, when 26 children and adults were killed on Dec. 15. Emilie Parker was only 6, but she watched the Rangers with her father and even got to see them play in person at Fenway Park.
During batting practice at that game, Emilie caught a home run ball from David Murphy, who immediately became her favorite player.
On Friday, Murphy accompanied Emilie's parents and sister to the mound for the ceremonial first pitch.
As Robbie and Allisa Parker headed to the pitcher's mound, there were plenty of cheers, but those cheers quickly turned to tears in one of the more emotional moments in the history of Rangers Ballpark at Arlington.
"It was really tough to keep my emotions under control out there," Robbie Parker said. "It was pretty amazing."
Parker and his family have not accepted appearance requests since the shooting. They said they didn't think it was appropriate, but said Friday was different because of all the support they've gotten from Texans and Rangers fans.
"We just really thought that this would be a really neat way to express our gratitude and sincere appreciation for everyone who has supported us and with everything you've done with prayers and cards and kind words and gestures," he said.
Twice on the mound, there were moments where even the stadium itself seemed to shed a tear -- first when there Allisa Parker received a hug from her daughter's favorite player and then during the hug between Robbie Parker and Rangers legend Pudge Rodriguez.
Parker said he told him, "'I just want you to know how much I love you and your daughter. She is a great example to so many people.'"
"And he pointed to the crowd and said, 'all these people are here for you and here because of her,'" he said.
Parker said he hopes that kind of moment -- the hope people feel at the start of a season and the love they share with his hurting family -- can keep his daughter's legacy alive.
"My daughter is an amazing person and what she was able to do in my life and change the way I look at the world and the way my wife and I look at the world and treat each other -- I just want to make sure she continues to inspire other people to do that," he said. "She's an amazing person, and she's going to continue to do great things."
The Parkers have started a charity, the Emilie Parker Art Connection. Art was a way that Emilie expressed herself they decided to give back to local and school art programs.
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© 2013 Pheedo, Inc. All rights reserved.
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© 2013 Pheedo, Inc. All rights reserved.
Two Terrell men accused of threatening county officials in unrelated cases both say they are upstanding citizens who would never hurt anyone.
Investigators say Nick Morale, 56, phoned in a threat to a tip line established for the investigation into the deaths of the Kaufman County district attorney and his wife.
Morale told NBC 5 that he called the Crime Stoppers tip line with a warning, not a threat. He said he wanted to report a conversation he had with a member of the Aryan Brotherhood of Paris, Texas, but ended up leaving a partial message because his dog knocked his phone from his hand.
He said the gang member told him that a judge and Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland were the targets of the Jan. 31 shooting that killed Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse. Morale said he chalked up the conversation to boastful ranting until McLelland and his wife were found shot to death in their home.
Morale said he then decided to call Crime Stoppers to tell someone what he had heard. He said he called the tip line and said, "The next victim is judge" before his dog knocked the phone out of his hand. The phone fell two stories and broke, he said.
Robert Miller, 52, was arrested Thursday on a charge of a terroristic threat in connection with a Facebook posting and an email. Investigators said the posting made a threat to the safety of an assistant district attorney.
Miller said he sent what he called an op-ed of the Kaufman County courthouse and members of the district attorney's office to news media, including NBC 5. In an interview, he denied that the post was a threat of any kind.
The Facebook post contains harsh words for courthouse employees and warns that a specific assistant district attorney could be the next prosecutor targeted.
Miller said he only referred to the prosecutor by name because the person was listed third on the Kaufman County District Attorney's Office's website, beneath the names of McLelland and Hasse.
In the post, Miller suggested that the assistant district attorney seek other employment, perhaps in another state.
He said the post was his opinion and that interactions at the courthouse prompted him to write the post. It was only intended to be an expression of his First Amendment rights, he said.
Neither Miller nor Morale are suspects in the McLellands' deaths or are connected to them in any way, say authorities investigating the case.
Both say that the current climate of fear and a zero-tolerance stance for anything that can be construed as a threat against the courthouse is what landed them behind bars.
Miller and Morale are each being held on a single count of making a terroristic threat, which can carry state and federal penalties. Bond for each was set at $1 million.
Two men in Terrell, Texas accused of threatening county officials in unrelated cases both say they are upstanding citizens who would never hurt anyone.
Investigators say Nick Morale, 56, phoned in a threat to a tip line established for the investigation into the deaths of the Kaufman County district attorney and his wife.
Morale told NBC 5 that he called the Crime Stoppers tip line with a warning, not a threat. He said he wanted to report a conversation he had with a member of the Aryan Brotherhood of Paris, Texas, but ended up leaving a partial message because his dog knocked his phone from his hand.
He said the gang member told him that a judge and Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland were the targets of the Jan. 31 shooting that killed Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse. Morale said he chalked up the conversation to boastful ranting until McLelland and his wife were found shot to death in their home.
Morale said he then decided to call Crime Stoppers to tell someone what he had heard. He said he called the tip line and said, "The next victim is judge" before his dog knocked the phone out of his hand. The phone fell two stories and broke, he said.
Robert Miller, 52, was arrested Thursday on a charge of a terroristic threat in connection with a Facebook posting and an email. Investigators said the posting made a threat to the safety of an assistant district attorney.
Miller said he sent what he called an op-ed of the Kaufman County courthouse and members of the district attorney's office to news media, including NBC 5. In an interview, he denied that the post was a threat of any kind.
The Facebook post contains harsh words for courthouse employees and warns that a specific assistant district attorney could be the next prosecutor targeted.
Miller said he only referred to the prosecutor by name because the person was listed third on the Kaufman County District Attorney's Office's website, beneath the names of McLelland and Hasse.
In the post, Miller suggested that the assistant district attorney seek other employment, perhaps in another state.
He said the post was his opinion and that interactions at the courthouse prompted him to write the post. It was only intended to be an expression of his First Amendment rights, he said.
Neither Miller nor Morale are suspects in the McLellands' deaths or are connected to them in any way, say authorities investigating the case.
Both say that the current climate of fear and a zero-tolerance stance for anything that can be construed as a threat against the courthouse is what landed them behind bars.
Miller and Morale are each being held on a single count of making a terroristic threat, which can carry state and federal penalties. Bond for each was set at $1 million.
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© 2013 Pheedo, Inc. All rights reserved.
As students take the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, tests this spring, they are part of a program that is on-track to cost Texas taxpayers almost half a billion dollars over five years.
An NBC 5 investigation looking at STAAR testing budget documents and receipts reveals millions of testing dollars are spent on meetings, travel and consultants who charge the state as much as $5,300 for three days of work.
The Texas Education Agency has a five-year contract worth roughly $90 million per year with Pearson Education -- a London based education Services Company that helps write, distribute and grade the STAAR tests.
NBC 5 Investigates filed an open records request to review documents and see exactly how the money is spent.
In response, the TEA provided a general budget and listed items like "graphic design and art" for $1 million and software "system set-up and configuration" for $1.6 million. Records show more than $1.5 million was spent on "educator travel and meetings" in just one year of the contract.
NBC 5 Investigates took the travel and meetings line item, and filed another open records request asking for a more details of how much each meeting, or trip, cost Texas taxpayers.
In their response, the TEA initially said there were "no documents found" that could answer the request.
Gloria Zyskowski, who manages the STAAR testing program for the TEA, explained that the state contract requires Pearson to keep receipts in case the TEA wants to see them. But the TEA had never asked to see the actual receipts that account for more than $1.5 million in travel expenses.
"We don't have the capacity here to keep all of those receipts. We don't have somebody who -- the reimbursement is done through Pearson. If I wanted to see them, I could certainly see them," said Zyskowski.
Former Texas Board of Education member George Clayton believes taxpayers should be able to see, in detail, how $90 million are spent.
"That is a huge number. It's astronomical," said Clayton. "Follow the money and you'll finally come to the truth. Well, it's very difficult to follow the money sometimes."
During an interview with NBC 5, Zyskowski agreed that taxpayers should be able to see the travel receipts.
"Certainly. We live in an open records environment, so yes, they can see them," Zyskowski said.
Remember, though, when NBC 5 Investigates first asked the TEA for those records the agency said there were "no documents found."
During the interview, Zyskowski agreed that the TEA would request that Pearson release the information previously denied. Pearson quickly offered to release a database that showed exactly how much each meeting cost and the state went back to Pearson asking them to give us the actual travel receipts.
"I think last year we brought in just over 2,000 educators to attend around 130 different meetings," said Zyskowski.
The receipts show most of the meetings bring Texas teachers to Austin to help develop test questions for the STAAR tests. Some three-day meetings include up to 20 teachers and cost as much as $19,000 each.
The most expensive meeting was a two-day event for 12 people that cost $57,000. That particular meeting involved out-of-state consultants, mostly college professors, who sit on a technical advisory committee. In addition to travel expenses, those consultants are being paid as much as $5,000 for just three days work.
Here's how it adds up: The consultants are paid an honorarium of $1,400 a day. For a two-day meeting, that totals $2,800. On top of that they get $800 for meeting preparation time. Some are even paid for the hours spent traveling to the meeting, with some consultants being paid as much as $1,700 just for time on an airplane. The total adds up to about $5,300 for two or three days worked.
Pearson said the use of paid consultants is common in the testing business and that most states have technical advisory committees to advise and validate the assessment practice.
The company said it surveyed advisory committee members from other states to determine how much to pay and that the Texas stipends are "...in-line with other states for preparation time and travel."
Pearson and the TEA said they're always looking for ways to curb travel expenses and to keep them under budget. At one time, the teachers and consultants would meet at hotels in downtown Austin. In 2012, Pearson created a meeting facility in north Austin, at Pearson's own expense. Since that meeting center opened last year, it has saved money on renting hotel meeting rooms and facility costs.
Clayton believes the state should make it easier for people to see how tax dollars are spent on testing and argues the program is not worth the cost.
"I don't know what the benefit is to education is. It's a huge benefit to the company that publishes the test, but I don't think its benefited education in Texas at all," said Clayton.
However, there are some who think the costs are a worthwhile investment. Texas Association of Business President Bill Hammond believes testing is worth every penny and is necessary to hold schools accountable.
At an average cost of about $20 per student, per year, Hammond said it's worth it.
"If one thinks of it as a quality control test, it's a bargain. Twenty bucks to make sure more kids are going to graduate, career or college ready, over time that's money well spent," said Hammond.
Hammond said he's not opposed to making the expenses more easily accessible to the public so people can judge for themselves.
"In the future we should have a contract that has more transparency, if that's what's needed," said Hammond.
Transparency might be one thing both sides of the testing debate can agree on.
"I'm as big a capitalist as anybody. But we're dealing with the minds of children and public money and so it's a little different story. So I think their books should be open to anyone who cares to see them," said Clayton.
Currently the future of the STAAR test is up in the air. The current Texas Senate budget proposal includes money for testing but the House budget does not. There are a number of other bills pending that would change some, or all, of the testing program.
The owner of the gun shop Kaufman County's slain district attorney visited less than 24 hours before his death says he showed no sign of fear.
Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, were found shot to death in their home Saturday.
O'Neil Kidwill, owner of Helz Firearms in Forney, said Mike McLelland was a regular customer. He stopped by the shop on Friday.
"He was basically there to shoot the bull with us," Kidwill said.
Kidwill said he never imagined their conversation on Friday would be their last.
"I didn't know it would be the last time I'd see him," he said. "I would have never thought that."
Kidwill said McLelland came in a few times per week to chat.
"When he came in there, he was like he was a kid in a candy store," he said. "I mean, he was at home with us."
When he visited Friday, he showed no sign of concern, Kidwill said.
"I asked him straight out, I said, 'Are you scared? Do you think something's going to happen?'" Kidwill said. "And he was like, 'No, I'm more worried about my co-workers because they won't come to work.'"
Kidwell said he remembers asking McLelland about the slaying of Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse, who was gunned down near the county courthouse in January.
"Of course, we would always question him, and he said he didn't have any leads," he said. "He had some suspicions, but he couldn't talk about it."
Thousands of mourners attended a memorial service for McLelland and his wife in Sunnyvale on Thursday. Gov. Rick Perry and law enforcement officials from around the state joined family and friends of the couple to remember the couple.
They will be laid to rest Friday in McLelland's hometown of Wortham.
Ben Russell, NBC 5 News
DNA evidence links the suspect Dallas police have in custody to three attacks on women in the Lake Highlands area, according to investigators.
DNA Match Links Benitez to Lake...
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DNA evidence links a man Dallas police have in custody to three attacks on women in the Lake Highlands area, investigators say.
Officers arrested Cesar Benitez Tuesday, charging him with aggravated sexual assault and sexual assault in the first two incidents.
Charges are still pending in the third attack, police said.
Upon his arrest, Benitez admitted to all three incidents, police said, and his palm print had been found at one of the scenes.
On Thursday, police confirmed that a DNA sample provided by Benitez matches with DNA evidence collected from each of the three victims.
"I'm so relieved. My shoulders have dropped. I'm not crying at night. I'm just so happy that he's been found," said Lea Papanicolu, who told NBC 5 she lives five houses down from where one of the attacks happened.
Papanicolu was out celebrating her birthday Thursday night at a restaurant with her family when she spoke with NBC 5. Seated two tables away, Noel Walling said she and her family were breathing a sigh of relief since the arrest. Walling said the DNA match confirms that feeling even more.
"Everyone's feeling a little bit of relief," Walling said. "And [we're] obviously just so happy that the police acted so quickly."
Benitez is being held on $4.5 million bond.
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Wendy and Randall Casey don't talk much over breakfast these days. Or lunch. Or even dinner.
Truth be known, even though the mother and son share a home in Dixmoor, a village south of Chicago, they usually just pass each other in the night. After all, one doesn't want to reveal too much campaign strategy to your opponent.
The two Caseys are running against each other for Village President in Dixmoor. Although Randall said he prefers to put it this way: "I'm not running against my mom. I'm running for the people of Dixmoor."
"Our relationship hasn't been as strong as it normally was," Wendy Casey conceded, in a room festooned with family photos of Randall at a much younger age. "We just interact, saying, 'Good morning,' and 'Good evening' when he comes in from work."
By all counts, the very poor south suburban community could use some help. Abandoned buildings stand like rotting trees citywide. The elder Casey says a fire engine was recently repossessed. The community famously missed payroll for city employees not once, but twice.
Against that backdrop, mother and son say they both want the job. And they both want to win.
"I feel, in my honest opinion, that he is not mature mentally to take on the responsibility of running a community," she says. "If I win, I think he will be very supportive."
Randall prefers not to talk about the contest against his mother, saying he doesn't want what some might perceive as a humorous sideshow to detract from the genuine problems Dixmoor faces.
"I don't want to embarrass the people of Dixmoor," he said. "The people of Dixmoor have had enough embarrassment."
Indeed, Dixmoor seems almost comically at odds with itself. Incumbent mayor Keevan Grimmett was thrown off the ballot earlier this year after he was accused of being effectively homeless and living in his city hall office.
"He has no gas, no electricity, and no running water," the elder Casey said.
Grimmett denies that, and after an appeal managed to get reinstated to the ballot.
"I have all the amenities that anyone would have," he said. "And I guess the biggest thing I have is a lot of electricity for the Village of Dixmoor."
The town could use more than electricity. Stories of unpaid bills are legendary. A would-be community center, started with a federal grant, sits half finished and open to the elements, seemingly abandoned. Per capita income for the town's 3,500 residents is just under $13,000. Warring factions have led to walkouts by trustees during village board meetings.
"The town is split," agrees write-in candidate David McWilliams, a local merchant. "I'm here to pull both sides together."
At times, it's difficult to tell the players without a scorecard. Trustee Dorothy Armstrong is also seeking the post. Michael Smith, a former trustee, is running for his old job on the village council. He lost it after he was accused of stealing gasoline, and it was Smith who initiated the investigation of the mayor's residency.
Even Randall Casey brings a complicated linage. His father, Donald Luster, is a former mayor who was forced to step down after he was convicted of fraud. Luster has endorsed his son.
Wendy Casey says if her son wins, she will be respectful.
"I will hold him accountable," she says.
For now, that accountability includes collecting rent from her son, once a month.
"Of course," she says. "I can't let him live here rent free. I wouldn't be a good mother if I did that."
A federal judge has ordered the FDA to make the so-called "morning-after pill" available over the counter to girls regardless of how old they are.
The ruling in federal court in Brooklyn changes the order that now requires girls 16 and under to have a prescription.
The purpose of the morning-after pill is for emergency contraception. It prevents pregnancy after unprotected sex.
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Reilly Explains Police Protection Proposal
With the city budget stretched, Ald. Brendan Reilly wants to make it possible for philanthropists and businesses to sponsor beats and put off-duty cops on the streets.
Emanuel, McCarthy Respond To Weekend Mob Violence
It was a good news-bad news day for City Hall as Chicago announced improved homicide numbers but saw them overshadowed by the weekend melee on Michigan Avenue over the weekend. Phil Rogers reports.
A philanthropist or business could sponsor a police beat and put more off-duty cops on the streets under a plan being put forth by a downtown Chicago lawmaker on the City Council.
Alderman Brendan Reilly originally pitched the idea last October but is pushing it again following weekend incidents of teen mob activity on the Magnificent Mile, an upscale area of the city.
Under his plan, off-duty officers would work minimum six-hour shifts and make $30 an hour. The money would be paid by businesses, civic groups and churches at a time when city finances are stretched thin. The officers would be in full uniform and under the command of police supervisors.
"This is a way to make use of well-trained police officers who are moonlighting doing other things, bringing them back on the street to do what they do best, which is great police work," Reilly said.
And he said his plan wouldn't just apply to the city's more affluent neighborhoods. There would be nothing in his proposal preventing an organization from sponsoring police protection anywhere in the city.
"You don't need to live in the ZIP code where you want to provide some additional stability and public safety," he said.
Still, he pressed that his plan is little more than a "creative tool" and isn't a long-term solution to the department's and the city's woes.
"This is a stop-gap measure," he said."A long-term solution is we need to add more on-duty cops to the police department."
More than two dozen teens were arrested Saturday night after dozens of mob groups began attacking pedestrians.
One community activist told NBC Chicago 300 to 400 teens were involved, with some of them "jumping" on people.
Supt. Garry McCarthy said incidents of mob activity like the ones that happened over the weekend occur every year as the weather gets warmer. But Reilly says police presence makes a difference.
"This is something that, unfortunately, the city's had to struggle with on a seasonal basis for the last several years. But you'll notice that those headlines went away just like that as soon as we saw a surge in police visibility," Reilly said.
He said he hopes the budget committee will pass his bill and put it before the full Chicago City Council in an upcoming meeting.
Randy McIlwain, NBC 5 News
The Kaufman County Sheriff's Department has arrested 56-year-old Nick Morale of Terrell, they say left a threatening message on a tipline.
Man Arrested After Threat Left on...
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The Kaufman County Sheriff's Office has arrested a man they say left a threatening message on a tipline.
Lt. Justin Lewis said Nick Morale, 56, of Terrell, was taken into custody Tuesday by Texas Rangers on a charge of terroristic threat. He was arraigned Wednesday morning and is being held in the Kaufman County Jail on a $1 million bond.
"During the course of the investigation into the murders of Mike and Cynthia McLelland, a threat against the safety of a county official was received," Lewis said. "The threat was then investigated, leading to the arrest of Mr. Morale at a location in Kaufman County."
Lewis said the threat was phoned in to the tipline established for the case.
Specific details of the threat were not revealed, but a complaint affidavit released to the media said "the caller stated [name redacted] would be the next victim."
Investigators tracked the number to Morale and said he had attempted to block his number when calling the tipline in an effort to conceal his identity.
Police said threats against officials come with state and federal criminal penalties and that all threats would be taken seriously, investigated and prosecuted to ensure the safety of citizens and public officials.
Investigators have not found any evidence that suggests Morale had anything to do with the McLelland or Hasse murders.
Officials have revealed no persons of interest or suspects in connection with the killings of the McLellands or Hasse. They also have not said if the slayings, which came nearly two months apart, are connected.
The Kaufman County Sheriff's Office, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Texas Rangers and the FBI are jointly investigating both cases.
Anyone with information on the cases is asked to call 877-847-7522. Tips can also be left online at KaufmanCountyCrimeStoppers.org.
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Escaped Dallas County inmate Donald Greenlee was recaptured on April 4, 2013.
The Dallas County Sheriff's Department says an inmate that escaped from the Lew Sterrit Jail on Wednesday has been caught.
Donald Greenlee, 38, was re-booked into the Dallas County Jail at 1:42 a.m. Thursday morning.
Greenlee jumped over a fence and escaped while taking out trash around 2:40 a.m. Wednesday morning.
The sheriff's office says they plan to release more information on Greenlee's capture later Thursday.
He is being held in jail on a $500,000 bond for the escape and faces charges of burglary of a habitation and burglary of a building, according to jail records.
Greenlee has been previously convicted of burglary, fraud, and evading arrest.
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NBC 5 News
People who knew Mike and Cynthia McLelland say the two were not only great citizens in Kaufman County but strong leaders in their faith.
Texas governor Rick Perry and law enforcement officers from as far away as Britain are expected to attend a public memorial for a slain Texas prosecutor and his wife.
Officials with The Honor Network say an overflow crowd is expected in a suburban Dallas church for the ceremony to honor Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia.
The public memorial will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at First Baptist Church of Sunnyvale. The funeral will be 10 a.m. Friday at First Baptist Church in Wortham. Burial will be at Wortham Cemetery.
Wortham, where McLelland grew up, is 75 miles south of Dallas.
Authorities are forming theories related to the death of McLelland and his wife. Both were found shot to death Saturday in their house near Forney, about 20 miles east of Dallas.
Former Judge Says He Was Questioned in DA's Murder
A former Kaufman County judge says he was questioned by agents just hours after the slain district attorney and his wife were found but insists he had nothing to do with it and doesn't even own a gun.
Man Arrested After Threat Left on Murder Tipline
The Kaufman County Sheriff's Department has arrested 56-year-old Nick Morale of Terrell, they say left a threatening message on a tipline.
Authorities do not have a suspect in custody and are not ruling any possibility out. No arrests have been made.
Some investigators that spoke to NBC 5 are downplaying earlier theories of a connection between the killings and the Aryan Brotherhood gang. One theory believes the suspect could be described as a "lone wolf" with a "grudge" against the their victims.
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Ray Villeda, NBC 5 News
The hunt continues for Brian Allen Tucker and John Marlin King, the men escaped from the Hopkins County jail Tuesday morning.
Manhunt Continues for Two Escapees
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The search for two escapees from the Hopkins County Jail enters its third day Thursday morning with no new sightings.
Brian Allen Tucker and John Marlin King escaped from the jail Tuesday morning by slipping through a hole in a fence. They were only in a t-shirt and boxers after leaving their jail clothes near railroad tracks close to the jail.
Overnight, police continued to look for a 2010 Saturn VUE that was stolen Wednesday from a home about two miles from the jail. Inside the SUV was a .22 caliber handgun.
There's no direct evidence that the two escapees are responsible for the theft, but the department is very interested in finding that car, said Hopkins County Sheriff's Deputy Sergeant Brad Cummings.
The SUV has Texas license plates CR6-D425.
Escapee Search Focuses on Stolen SUV
Authorities searching for John King (left) and Brian Tucker (right) and are looking for an SUV with a gun inside that was stolen from a home near the Hopkins County Jail.
Search Continues for Sulphur Springs Escapees
The hunt for a capital murder suspect and a convicted drug offender who escaped from a Hopkins County jail has turned to a missing crossover sport utility vehicle.
Dozens of tips about the stolen car came in overnight, but none have panned out so far, Cummings said.
The department continues to invite and tips from citizens.
Cummings emphasized that if anyone is helping the pair, they face a third degree felony and will go to jail.
The search will resume, despite wet conditions. Several agencies are involved, including the Department of Public Safety and a number of area police departments.
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Rescued Teenage Hiker in Serious Condition After Spending 3 Days in Canyon
Nicholas Cendoya, 19, was found alive in Cleveland National Forest late Wednesday. He was discovered weak, severely dehydrated and slightly confused, according to Orange County Fire Authority s Kris Concepcion. As Cendoya was being treated, crews continued to search his 18-year-old companion Kyndall Jack. Robert Kovacik reports from Mission Viejo for the NBC4 News at 11 p.m. on April 3, 2013.
Experienced Hikers Join Search for Teens in Trabuco Canyon
Dave Ward prepared to go deep into the brush of Trabuco Canyon in search of the two missing Orange County teens Wednesday. Even for experienced hikers, the trail may be difficult to navigate. Hetty Chang reports from Trabuco Canyon for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on April 3, 2013.
A 19-year-old hiker who along with a friend has been missing in southern California's Cleveland National Forest for three days was found alive late Wednesday, Orange County Sheriff's Lt. Jason Park said.
Rescue crews ratcheted up their search of the rugged terrain about 7:50 p.m. after receiving a tip from a hiker who said he had spotted Nicholas Cendoya. The whereabouts of Cendoya's hiking companion Kyndall Jack, 18, were not immediately known, Park said.
As the search continued for Jack, Cendoya was airlifted from the canyon and taken to a hospital where he was listed in serious condition. Hospital officials told NBCLA Cendoya was "forging for food off the land" to survive.
"He is weak, severely dehydrated and slightly confused," OC Fire Authority's Kris Concepcion said.
Waiting at the Trabuco Canyon Fire Station, a command post during the search, Cendoya's friends and family erupted in cheers when they were told the teen had been found alive.
The young hikers, both from Costa Mesa and pictured below, had called 911 at 8:30 p.m. Easter Sunday to say they were lost, but their cell phone batteries died and authorities could not locate them.
Since Monday, searchers on foot, dogs and helicopters have been combing over a network of trails in the Holy Jim Canyon area, trying to find the two teens.
On Wednesday, dozens of volunteers joined official search crews that began work at 6 a.m. -- so many extra searchers that some were turned away.
A couple of volunteer searchers had gotten lost in afternoon and were in cell phone communication with authorities, who had not been able to track them down as of 6 p.m., according to authorities on scene.
And in a separate incident in a nearby canyon, a hiker unrelated to the search was also being airlifted out -- as shown below at right -- of the area after one had injured his back after slipping and falling near a waterfall.
Russ Jack, Kyndall Jack's father, begged volunteers to stay away from the search area unless they're experience hikers. He called the scene a "modern-day circus," but assured volunteers he was grateful for their efforts.
"We don't need lookey-loos up here just hanging out and not helping. If you're not an experienced hiker or a mountain biker, then please stay home," Russ Jack said. "There's just too many people and it's hurting the efforts that the authroties have put into this right now."
Dawn Jack, Kyndall's mom, teared up in front of news cameras when the pair spoke.
"We just need our children to come home safely," Dawn Jack said. "We need for everybody else to leave here safe, so please help us out now by not coming up just to hang out … we know you love us and are supporting us."
Officials with the Orange County Sheriff's Department said enough personnel had been scheduled to continue the search through the weekend.
"We're going to increase the number of our ground searches. We're going to commence with air operations in strategic areas with high terrain that's difficult to traverse," said Orange County Fire Authority spokesman Capt. Jon Muir. "It's going to be a combined effort, and we're not going to stop until we have a good resolution."
Authorities have said the fairly mild conditions in the area are survivable, even when temperatures drop overnight. But the terrain off-trail can be difficult, and it's possible one or both of the hikers were injured, search officials said.
Russ Jack, father to 18-year-old Kyndall, had spent two nights near the search area and was clearly emotional Wednesday. He said he thought he had seen sparks of light on the hillside, but the searchers found nothing.
"After three days, you gotta say no water. The kids are dehydrated. Hopefully none of them are hurt," Russ Jack said. "At this point, everybody is still upbeat, optimistic about finding the kids in good shape and alive."
Megan Shounia, a clerk in the Trabuco Canyon general store that on Sunday sold the pair a National Forest Adventure Pass needed for parking at the trailhead, said she warned them about conditions.
"They were excited about going out. I told them to take it slow because the road is a little rocky," Shounia said. "I remember looking at their car -- it was like a green BMW. I told them to take it slow. He said he was worried about scraping up his car a little bit."
She said Cendoya wore tank top and Jack, a V-neck T-shirt.
"From what was on them, they just had the clothes on their back and a small water bottle," Shounia said.
The OC Hiking Club, which has some 2,700 fans on its Facebook page, called for "strong hikers" among its members to join in a noontime search in the Trabuco Canyon area Wednesday.
Updates were being posted Wednesday on another Facebook event page that had organized friends to search for the hikers the previous day.
Overnight Tuesday, Cendoya's car was towed under the family's direction.
A message had been drawn into the dust on the car's rear window, reading "Kyndall – we r looking, won't stop. Love you, mom."
Grief counselors were at Costa Mesa High School -- the pair's alma mater -- for the first time on Wednesday. Cendoya played football, while Jack was known as "the jackhammer" on the volleyball team.
On Tuesday, the Sheriff's Department had cautioned the many volunteers -- family, friends and others who wanted to help -- to be prepared for the search with extra food, water, clothing and navigation tools.
Authorities had said fresh spring growth was making it difficult to search off-trail through dense brush -- and to spot people from helicopters searching overhead.
"If you get off trail, you will quickly be between waist- and head-high brush...It's very difficult travel. It's hard and it's exhausting," sheriff's reserve Lt. Chuck Williams said Tuesday.
NBC4's Vikki Vargas contributed to this report.
Kevin Cokely, NBC 5 News
Cesar Benitez, 30, has been charged in two sexual assaults in the Lake Highlands area.
Dallas Police Make Arrest in...
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Dallas police said that a man who has admitted to three sexual assaults in the Lake Highlands area was arrested Tuesday.
Three women were sexually assaulted by an intruder in their homes in less than one month.
Police Chief David Brown said Cesar Benitez, 30, has been charged in the Feb. 22 attack and the March 15 attack.
The third attack, which occurred on March 19, remains under investigation to determine the most applicable charges, Brown said.
Benitez admitted to all three offenses and voluntarily provided a DNA sample, Brown said.
The police chief said investigators received an anonymous Crime Stoppers tip on March 25 with specific information about a man the tipster believed resembled one of the police sketches that were released three days earlier.
Dallas officers saw Benitez at about 1 p.m. Tuesday on North Central Expressway and tried to conduct a traffic stop, Brown said. Benitez exited the freeway and abandoned his car in a parking lot. Officers pursued him on foot and arrested him.
Benitez is charged with one count of aggravated sexual assault and one count of sexual assault. He is being held on a $4.56 million bond.
Police said Benitez's photo would not be released while the March 19 attack is being investigated.
Timeline of Attacks
Feb. 22 attack on Ferndale Road: A woman was assaulted in her home after a man broke in at about 12:45 a.m. and assaulted her in her bed at knife point. Police said the attacker entered the home through a window and was described as 35-years-old, black with bald or short hair and that he spoke with an African accent. He is estimated to be about 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs about 180 lbs.
March 15 attack on Ferndale Road: A woman was assaulted at about 10 p.m. inside her home on Ferndale Road after a man entered the home through a window. The man was described as Latino and in his 20s with a round, chubby face and a buzz cut. He was clean-shaven and spoke English with a Spanish accent. He is estimated to be about 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs about 200 lbs.
March 19 attack on Aldwick Drive: A woman was assaulted at about 6:45 a.m. inside her home on Aldwick Drive after a man kicked in the front door. The man is described as Latino, in his early 20s with light skin, a thin build and a thin mustache. He is estimated to be 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs about 140 pounds. The man spoke English with a Spanish accent and wore a gray hoodie and black leather gloves. Police said the man may have a scratch on his body.
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Police are searching for the killer of a truck driver found dead at a travel center in Dallas.
Police are searching for the killer of a truck driver found dead at a travel center in Dallas.
Dallas police found a man lying dead at the edge of the USA Travel Center parking lot at 2:25 a.m. Wednesday morning.
Police say there is obvious trauma to the body and they are treating the incident as a homicide.
Detectives say the victim's 18-wheeler had run out of fuel on Interstate 635 at Lancaster Road. The man was seen pumping diesel fuel into a five-gallon bucket at the truck stop.
The man paid for the fuel and started walking back toward his vehicle, but was seen lying in the parking lot shortly after leaving by a security officer.
Investigators are reviewing video from surveillance cameras to gather more suspect information.
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Catherine Ross, NBC 5 Collin County Reporter
A group of homeowners along Barclay Drive in Carrollton say it's a matter of time before a neighborhood creek claims their backyards and homes.
Carrollton Homeowners Concerns About Creek
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A lawsuit filed against Carrollton by a group of homeowners over erosion in their backyards is heading to federal court.
Homeowners on Barclay Drive say they have been fighting erosion for years because the city was negligent in maintaining the drainage of Dudley Branch Creek, which borders their property.
The lawsuit says the city's actions caused undue stress to the homes' walls, causing them to crumble and fail.
The suit names slope failure as the cause of the severe erosion.
The homeowners say they have seen their backyards disappear and drop off into the creek bed and are having issues with sloping floors and cracked tiles as the homes settle.
"We don't know what would happen if our house moved so much that it got separated from the gas lines," Laura Brewer said. "It's a terrifying situation."
The city of Carrollton has maintained that the issue sits on private property, thus making it illegal by Texas law to spend municipal dollars on privately owned land.
The homeowners say they have already seen two major washouts following big rainstorms and are fear of losing their homes completely during the spring rainy season.
"Nobody likes when it rains, nobody likes to drive in the rain," Brewer said. "I mean, we worry about losing our house."
Neighbor Petra Chudejova agreed, saying she gets anxiety every time rain is in the forecast.
"It's just scary, that we could wake up one day and our house could be in the creek," she said.
Bruce Turner, the attorney for the neighbors, said the move to federal court may speed up the legal process, which the neighborhood is taking as positive news.
The homeowners say their homes have taken major hits in value since the erosion issue began, losing anywhere from tens of thousands of dollars in value to about $100,000.
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A student from the University of Pennsylvania died in a rock climbing accident in Namibia, southern Africa on Sunday. Oliver Pacchiana, an Engineering major and Junior at the school, was studying abroad at the University of Cape Town in South Africa this semester. He was 20-years-old.
While on Spring Break, Pacchiana, originally from Greenwich, Connecticut, went on a trip to Victoria Falls and Botswana, according to the Daily Pennsylvanian. The DP reports he then went off on his own to visit Namibia, a country 1,000 miles north of Cape Town, to go rock climbing on Sunday. While climbing with the group, Pacchiana slipped and fell to his death.
The American consulate in Namibia contacted Pacchiana's family Sunday morning by phone and informed them of his death. UPenn students found out Monday night through email.
Oliver was an Eagle Scout and an altar server at his local parish, according to his brother Nolan Pacchiana.
"The cliche that appears in every obituary is that the world mourns the passing of a good kid, taken before his time," said Nolan. "That is absolutely the case for Oliver. Oliver had a strong moral compass and a good heart."
Nolan also says his brother had a passion for traveling.
"He was always looking for a new experience, a new part of the world he hadn't seen," said Nolan. "He hiked the deserts of New Mexico and climbed the trails of Alaska. He had visited over 15 countries and five continents."
Pacchiana was also a member of the UPenn band.
"Oliver was a mainstay in the band as a freshman tuba player," said Penn band director Greer Cheeseman. "I don't think he missed an event, the whole year, rehearsal, game, anything. He was one you could always count on. He was a good kid. And he'll be missed."
David Kaiser-Jones, the president of the band, described Oliver as "cheerful, funny and instantly likable."
"He was enthusiastic and unabashedly quirky," said Jones. "So naturally, the band loved him. The Penn Band is a particularly tight-knit group, so his loss impacted us deeply."
A support meeting was held Tuesday afternoon inside a UPenn auditorium. A memorial service will be held in Greenwich this Saturday. UPenn will host a separate service on Monday.
Jeff Smith, NBC 5
The Dallas Sheriff's Office says an inmate escaped from the Lew Sterrett Jail early Wednesday morning.
Prisoner Escapes From Dallas Jail
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The Dallas Sheriff's Office says an inmate escaped from the Lew Sterrett Jail early Wednesday morning.
Donald Greenlee, 38, jumped over a fence and escaped while taking out trash around 2:40 a.m.
Greenlee has been described as a 5'11" white male that weighs around 200 pounds. He has a tattoo on his right arm and hand and was last seen wearing a black and white jumpsuit.
Greenlee has been convicted of burglary, fraud, and evading arrest.
An active police search continues on the ground, but police say they cannot launch their helicopter due to weather conditions.
As this is a developing story, some details may change as we receive more information.
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© 2013 Pheedo, Inc. All rights reserved.
State Sen. Malcolm Smith is accused of a plot to bribe his way onto a New York City mayoral ballot.
A prominent Democratic New York state senator and a Republican city councilman were arrested Tuesday in an alleged plot to get the senator onto the New York City mayoral ballot by paying off GOP county chairmen, authorities said.
Democratic State Sen. Malcolm Smith, City Councilman Dan Halloran and four others were arrested by the FBI Tuesday morning.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said Smith "tried to bribe his way to a shot at Gracie Mansion."
Bharara said Smith conceived the plot and Halloran "quarterbacked that drive by finding party chairmen who were wide open to receiving bribes."
NBC 4 New York's calls and emails to offices and attorneys of those arrested were not immediately returned.
Any candidate seeking to be added to a ballot needs to be approved by three of the five county chairmen for a particular party.
Two Republican county chairmen -- Joseph Savino, of the Bronx, and Vincent Tabone, of Queens -- were among those arrested Tuesday.
Halloran assumed office in 2010 and represents the 19th district in Queens, succeeding Tony Avella.
He garnered widespread attention that year when he said five municipal employees told him that workers had engaged in a deliberate slowdown in clearing snow following the Christmas blizzard.
Federal officials announced other arrests Tuesday; those expected to be charged are Democrat Noramie Jasmin, mayor of Spring Valley in Rockland County, and her deputy mayor, Joseph Desmaret.
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The Texas Department of Public Safety has made big changes since last summer's NBC 5 investigation showed customers waiting three hours or more in line; and revealed that the DPS wasn't even counting and reporting the full amount of time people spend waiting.
This winter, DPS opened two new license Mega Centers in the DFW area, one in Garland and another in Fort Worth. During the typically busy spring break week of March 11-15, NBC 5 Investigates visited area offices and found customers pleased with their experiences at the Mega Centers.
"My experience was excellent," said John Jackson, a Dallas attorney who recently got in and out of the Garland Mega Center in 30 minutes.
"I'm still shocked that I just got in and out of there as fast as I did," said Ronald Phillips, who was taken care of in about five minutes.
But on the same day - not far away – NBC 5 Investigates found people still waiting for hours at old license offices.
George Martinez waited two hours at the Dallas Northwest Highway location. And at the office on Red Bird Lane, Marckus Scott said he waited about 1 hour and 25 minutes.
NBC 5 also sent staff members needing to apply for a Texas license, or renew an old one, into both traditional and DPS Mega Center license offices to see firsthand how long the waits were.
At the Fort Worth Mega Center it took one staffer only about 20 minutes.
The DPS said the average wait at the Fort Worth Mega Center from March 11-15 was just 12 minutes and 53 seconds. At the Garland Mega Center the average was 17 minutes and 8 seconds.
Meanwhile, at the old Red Bird Lane office, one of our staffers waited about 30 minutes during the same week.
At the old Garland office off Northwest Highway, NBC 5 investigative reporter Scott Friedman waited a little more than an hour.
The two busiest days at the Mega Centers, since they first opened, were on Dec. 27 and 28, when people flooded license offices after the Christmas holiday.
A DPS database obtained by NBC 5 Investigates shows some of the Mega Centers didn't do as well on those days, with the average wait time being 1 hour and 15 minutes at the four Mega Centers that were open statewide. More than 1,500 people waited an hour or more at the Mega Centers on Dec. 27 and 28. More than 600 people waited for two hours or more at the two Houston-area Mega Centers.
Mega Centers in Fort Worth and Leon Valley didn't open until January.
The long wait times on those days raise questions about what to expect when the summer rush hits this year. In a written statement, DPS spokesman Tom Vinger said, "Given their performance thus far, we believe the Mega Centers will continue to be effective in processing customers during the peak summer months, and the addition of these six new offices position the department to serve customers in those metropolitan areas with substantially more capacity that simply was not available last summer. "
In a January interview, DPS director Steve McCraw recently said the Mega Centers are just one step in fixing the problem.
"We're not declaring victory yet. Keep in mind right, we've got a long ways to go," said McCraw.
It will take more staff, new technology and money to improve the old offices. Right now, funding is up in the air. The Senate appropriations committee has funded a $50 million request to improve license offices, but the House committee has approved only $10 million, one-fifth of what DPS said it needs.
In one budget document NBC 5 Investigates discovered, DPS said that with current baseline funding only 38 percent of customers will be able to renew licenses in 30 minutes or less by 2015.
That means that without additional money more people could be waiting in line instead of celebrating a quick trip to the DPS.
DPS stats obtained show improvement at some of the older offices too, when compared to last year. But, as NBC 5 Investigates reported last summer, those stats are not very reliable because at the old offices the state doesn't count the amount of time people spend waiting in line to get into the building to the check in desk. That time is defined by the DPS as "pre-wait."
State budget documents also show the Texas population is expected to grow by 7 million people over the next 20 years, further adding to the challenge of keeping up with demand at license offices.
There are currently six DPS Mega Centers in Texas, four in the Houston area, two in DFW, one in Austin and one in San Antonio.
AP
In this March 28, 2012 photo provided by Apple, Inc., Apple CEO Tim Cook, center, visits the iPhone production line at the newly-built manufacturing facility Foxconn Zhengzhou Technology Park, which employs 120,000 people.
Apple's CEO Tim Cook apologized to customers in China on Monday after an investigative report slammed the company for the way it treated its customers.
China's state-run media outlet China Central Television chastised Apple for giving customers a one year warranty on the iPhone when Chinese law requires two years, according to The New York Times. The Communist Party newspaper The People's Daily and other state publications jumped in the fray with a series of articles, including one entitled "Defeat Apple's Incomaprable Arrogance," the Times reported.
The government news broadcasts suggested that Apple does not treat its Chinese customers as equals to, say, iPhone users in Europe or the United States.
Cook apologized for any such cavalier appearances towards China and promised to shore up warranty information and repair policies for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S.
Apple stock has lost nearly 40 percent of its value since September, when the iPhone 5 was released and also when Cook was forced to apologize for replacing iPhones' Google Map with an Apple product deemed "inferior."
Apple stock is down from $705.07 per share at its peak to $435.03 on Monday. Apple saw a 67 percent growth in sales in China in 2012.
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The biker dressed as a giant, white Easter bunny and pulled over this past weekend in southern California has been unmasked.
Ed Bell, was found by an NBC 7 San Diego news crew at a BMW motorcycle shop Monday, hours after photos swept the Internet showing the bunny pulled over on a freeway for not wearing a helmet.
The man behind the mask would only publicly admit that he may have an alter ego that involves that red bike.
"I was kind of taken aback by the huge response it's gotten," he said.
Bell said the bunny was simply on the way to a charity event Saturday to cheer up a sick friend. He attached a bungee cord to the helmet to it could fit on the costume's head.
"If we felt it was an unsafe action, we wouldn't have done it in the first place," he said. "Because the last thing anyone needed was a wounded Easter bunny the day before Easter."
While Bell was riding down a freeway he was stopped by a California Highway Patrol officer. Fortunately for him, the CHP had some holiday spirit and gave him a written warning.
"So, the Easter bunny pulled over, straightened his ears out so he could hear the officer," Bell said. "They were all professional, polite, courteous. They got into the mood real quick. Gave him a stern warning."
Bell said the reason he donned the costume was purely comical.
"There's a lot of bad stuff going on this was something people could point to and get a good laugh," he said.
As for whether this will become a holiday tradition, he says never lose faith in the Easter Bunny.
"Never say never to the Easter Bunny," he said. "If the Easter bunny does come back, they'll probably have a better helmet, or one more recognizable."
Beaver County Times
Elsie Thompson died just eight days short of her 114th birthday.
The oldest living person in the U.S. has died at the age of 113, just weeks before her 114th birthday.
Elsie Thompson, who was from Beaver Falls, Pa., became the nation's oldest living person in January.
"She was always happy," her longtime caretaker, Susie Harper, told the Beaver County Times. "She always had a very positive attitude."
She died March 21, according to a spokeswoman from her church in Clearwater, Fla.
A memorial service for Thompson was held at Skycrest United Methodist Church on March 26.
Thompson was born on April 5, 1899.
Her husband, Ronald Thompson, was a Republican state senator in Pennsylvania and in 1971, the couple moved to Clearwater, Fla.
Mr. Thompson died in 1986.
Mrs. Thompson is survived by her son, who is in California, and four grandchildren.
She said that the secret to her longevity was the fact that she loved people and greeted each new day with a smile.
"I know everyone that knew her will have her happy spirit in their hearts forever," Harper said.
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The North Texas Tollway Authority is filing lawsuits against drivers with unpaid toll bills.
As of the end of February, attorneys have filed approximately 75 lawsuits against violators who owe unpaid tolls and fines, the agency said.
The NTTA said it was in the beginning stages and expects to the number of lawsuits to "significantly" increase.
"The decision to file is based on whether filing a lawsuit is in the NTTA's best financial interest," the agency said in a statement.
Many drivers aren't happy that the NTTA is taking people to court.
"Maybe it would be justified if they were on the ball, getting their bills on time," said Eric Domuret of Houston. "The fact that they are taking people to court when they can't stay on the ball upsets me. Probably makes things easier for them; taking us to court seems backhanded to me."
Domuret said he's gotten a second late notice on more than one occasion after never receiving a first bill.
"It's ridiculous," he said.
The move is the agency's latest effort to collect unpaid tolls.
Last year, the NTTA began posting a list of its top toll violators. Since the list's inception in July, the agency has collected $2.8 million from 12,808 people who paid in full or made payment agreements.
As of March 1, the list contains nearly 25,000 names. It can be found on the NTTA's website.
According to the list of top 100 toll violators, the top 100 collectively owe millions in unpaid fines and fees. As of March 1, each person on the list owes more than $78,000.
The top 100 toll violators list names Melissa S. Martinez, of Sachse, as the top violator with $153,000 in unpaid tolls and fees.
The NTTA referred 6,000 randomly chosen offenders from the top toll violators list to six different law firms last fall.
"Firms have been contacting and, in some cases, negotiating with people assigned to them," the NTTA said in a statement.
In a list of the referred names on its website, the NTTA said that all of the violators had accumulated more than 100 unpaid tolls, received more than 16 invoices and had cycled through more than 180 days of requests for payment.
The list of drivers that were referred to attorneys can be found on the NTTA's website.
The agency is encouraging those contacted by law firms to work out a settlement.
Everyone on the list should contact the NTTA to resolve their outstanding tolls, the agency said.
Toll violators are also subject to criminal citations, the NTTA said.
The NTTA said it is currently asking the state Legislature to block the vehicle registration for an owner who has a significant amount of outstanding tolls.
NBC 5's Ray Villeda contributed to this report.
More: Top Toll Violators Referred to Law Firms
After a week of legal twists and turns, James Holmes will find out Monday if he could face execution if convicted in the Colorado theater attack that killed 12 people.
Behind-the-scenes maneuvering erupted into a public quarrel between prosecutors and the defense over Holmes' public offer to plead guilty, but the two sides could still come to an agreement that would spare Holmes's life in exchange for spending the rest of his life in prison.
For full U.S. news coverage, visit NBCNews.com.
"Even if they give notice on Monday that they are seeking the death penalty, they can come off that and enter into a plea bargain any time," said attorney Dan Recht, a past president of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar.
As the tangled and bloody case returns to court, survivors and families of the victims are uncertain about what happens next.
If the case goes to trial, "all of us victims would be dragged along potentially for years," said Pierce O'Farrill, who was shot three times.
"It could be 10 or 15 years before he's executed. I would be in my 40s and I'm planning to have a family, and the thought of having to look back and reliving everything at that point in my life, it would be difficult," he said.
Holmes is accused of a meticulously planning and brutally executing a plan to attack a Colorado movie theater at midnight during a showing of the latest Batman movie, killing 12 people and injuring 70.
Defense lawyers revealed in a court filing last week that Holmes would plead guilty if prosecutors allowed him to live out his days in prison with no chance of parole instead of having him put to death.
That prompted an angry response from prosecutors, who called it an attempt to gin up public support for a plea deal.
Prosecutors also said the defense has repeatedly refused to give them the information they need to evaluate the plea agreement.
Prosecutors want to know how persuasive an insanity case Holmes could make before they agree to give up the death penalty, said Mimi Wesson, a professor at the University of Colorado Law School.
"To the prosecution, it's clear what they're giving up, but less clear what the defendant is giving up, because it's hard to know how strong his claim of insanity might be," she said.
If prosecutors do accept a deal, they will want to ensure that it's air-tight, said Karen Steinhauser, a former prosecutor who is now an adjunct professor at the University of Denver law school.
Holmes would give up his right to appeal by pleading guilty, she said. And although he could ask to change the plea if new evidence surfaces or if he claimed his lawyers were ineffective, "it's very, very hard to withdraw it," she said.
District Judge William Sylvester would want assurances from defense lawyers that Holmes is mentally competent to plead guilty and accept a life sentence with no parole, Steinhauser said.
The judge could order a mental competency evaluation before accepting a guilty plea, but Steinhauser said that's unlikely unless Holmes showed some sign of incompetence.
She said Sylvester would probably accept the word of Holmes' lawyers.
If Holmes is sentenced to prison, the state Department of Corrections would determine what kind of mental health care he gets, said Alison Morgan, a department spokeswoman.
A third of the state's inmates have moderate to severe mental illness, and the prison system has an extensive mental health division with a 250-bed facility for the acutely mental ill, she said.
Inmates can be sent to the state mental hospital in Pueblo — where people found not guilty by reason of insanity are committed — but the stay is temporary, and they are returned to the prison system after treatment, she said.
After one of his assistant prosecutors was gunned down in January, Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland carried a gun everywhere, even when walking the dog.
He was extra careful when answering the door at his home outside of Forney, about 20 miles east of Dallas. And a neighbor said a sheriff's deputy was stationed outside the home for about a month after the killing.
Kaufman County DA And Wife Murdered In Forney
Authorities are investigating the deaths of a North Texas county district attorney and his wife who were found dead in a rural Kaufman County home.
Kaufman Co. Sheriff Unsure of Connection to Hasse Murder
Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife Cynthia were found shot to death inside their Forney home Saturday.
On Saturday, McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, were found shot to death in their house. Authorities haven't said much about their investigation, including whether they have any leads or a theory about why the couple was killed. But law enforcement throughout Texas is on high alert, and steps are being taken to better protect other DAs and their staffs.
"It's unnerving and it's unnerving to the law enforcement community," said Kaufman County Sheriff David Byrnes. "It's unnerving to the community at large and that's why we're striving to assure the community that we are still providing public safety. And we'll continue to do that. We're meeting all of our obligations plus the investigative responsibilities."
Tarrant County District Attorney Joe Shannon said his staff has been cautioned, but he declined to discuss the specific security measures that have been taken. Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins declined to comment on the issue, citing safety concerns.
Harris County District Attorney Mike Anderson said he accepted the Houston sheriff's offer of 24-hour security for him and his family after learning about the slayings, mostly over concerns for his family's safety. Anderson said he also would take precautions at his office, the largest one in Texas, which has more than 270 prosecutors.
"I think district attorneys across Texas are still in a state of shock," Anderson said Sunday.
Kaufman County Sheriff David Byrnes said little at a brief news conference Sunday about the McLelland investigation, and he deflected questions about possible suspects. He said security would be stepped up at the courthouse in Kaufman, but he declined to say what other steps might be taken to protect the other prosecutors in McLelland's office. The DA's Office will remain closed Monday.
Sources told NBCDFW that the couple was killed with an assault weapon.
The FBI and the Texas Rangers joined the investigation into the McLellands' deaths.
There will be heavy security at the Kaufman County courthouse on Monday. And while members of the District Attorney's staff will be there, the office will be closed to the public.
Questions After Other Killings
The couple's slayings came less than two weeks after Colorado's prison chief was shot to death at his front door, apparently by an ex-convict, and a couple of months after Kaufman County Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse was killed in a parking lot a block from his courthouse office. No arrests have been made in Hasse's slaying Jan. 31.
Byrnes would not give details Sunday of how the killings unfolded and said there was nothing to indicate for certain whether the DA's slaying was connected to Hasse's.
El Paso County, Colo., sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Joe Roybal said investigators had found no evidence so far connecting the Texas killings to the Colorado case, but added: "We're examining all possibilities."
Colorado's corrections director, Tom Clements, was killed March 19 when he answered the doorbell at his home outside Colorado Springs. Evan Spencer Ebel, a white supremacist and former Colorado inmate suspected of shooting Clements, died in a shootout with Texas deputies two days later about 100 miles from Kaufman.
McLelland himself, in an Associated Press interview shortly after the Colorado slaying, raised the possibility that Hasse was gunned down by a white supremacist gang.
McLelland, elected DA in 2010, said his office had prosecuted several cases against racist gangs, who have a strong presence around Kaufman County, a mostly rural area dotted with subdivisions, with a population of about 104,000.
"We put some real dents in the Aryan Brotherhood around here in the past year," he said.
In recent years, the DA's office also prosecuted a case in which a justice of the peace was found guilty of theft and burglary and another case in which a man was convicted of killing his former girlfriend and her 10-year-old daughter.
McLelland, 63, is the 13th prosecutor killed in the U.S. since the National Association of District Attorneys began keeping count in the 1960s.
McLelland said he carried a gun everywhere around town, a bedroom community for the Dallas area. He figured assassins were more likely to try to attack him outside. He said he had warned all his employees to be constantly on the alert.
"The people in my line of work are going to have to get better at it," he said of dealing with the danger, "because they're going to need it more in the future."
The number of attacks on prosecutors, judges and senior law enforcement officers in the U.S. has spiked in the past three years, according to Glenn McGovern, an investigator with the Santa Clara County, Calif., district attorney's office who tracks such cases.
For about a month after Hasse's slaying, sheriff's deputies were parked in the district attorney's driveway, said Sam Rosander, a McLelland neighbor.
Remembering the McLellands
On Sunday, Easter Celebrations ended with prayers of desperation in Kaufman County.
"This was his office, this was his place of employment," said Donald Kile, whose River Life Church of Kemp held a prayer vigil outside the courthouse Sunday night. "This is the place that we're supposed to come and we're supposed to say 'okay, Lord, we're putting it in your hands'."
McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, 65, were the parents of two daughters and three sons. One son is a police officer in Dallas. The couple had moved into the home a few years ago, Forney Mayor Darren Rozell said.
"Real friendly, became part of our community quickly," Rozell said. "They were a really pleasant, happy couple."
The evening after the bodies of the Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife Cynthia were discovered in their home in Forney, family and friends shared fond memories of the couple.
Tonya Ratcliff, the Kaufman County Tax Assessor and McLelland family friend of nearly a decade, said there is an enormous sense of loss in the area.
"They lose a very strong agent for justice and they lose a woman who wouldn't step on a bug," Ratcliff said.
"Cynthia and Mike were a lot of fun," she added.
"They were funny people, they were witty. They had lots of stories."
Ratcliff said the McLellands were welcoming and hospitable, opening their home for a massive party every December.
She said both were very involved in county political clubs, adding Mike McLelland was also a member of the Lions Club and Cynthia McLelland, a psychiatric nurse at the Terrell State Hospital, spent much of her time with the Kaufman Quilt Guild.
She added that after Mike McLelland's election to district attorney, he began "making a difference" for the county.
"His office handled a lot of cases that came out on the guilty side. We were winning cases with him as our district attorney."
However, what Ratcliff said was most apparent about the McLellands was their devotion to each other.
"They were deeply, deeply in love and so attached to each other," she said.
"Not just in front of each other, but apart from each other. You would never hear one of them say an ugly word about the other one."
"They were just a wonderful couple and it was a pleasure to be around them – and I will miss them."
Multiple NBC 5 reporters and editors, as well as Nomaan Merchant and Nicholas Riccardi, contributed to this collaborative report.
Several teens were arrested Saturday night after dozens of mob groups began attacking pedestrians in the Mag Mile.
Mag Mile Mob Attacks Pedestrians
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Daily 5: Flash Mob Proposal
Hundreds Flee Ford City Mall
Two people were injured and dozens arrested after chaos broke out at Ford City Mall.
More than two dozen teens were arrested Saturday night after dozens of mob groups began attacking pedestrians on the Magnificent Mile, an upscale area in Chicago.
Police said 28 teens were arrested after reports of disturbances near Michigan and Chicago Avenues, and no serious injuries were reported.
The teens were charged with misdemeanor reckless conduct and battery and later released, according to Police News Affairs. Eleven other teens were charged with misdemeanor charges after they allegedly attacked a group of women on the CTA Red Line, police said.
"You have over three to four hundred teenagers with mob action, jumping on individuals that are downtown," said community activist Andrew Holmes. "Multiple people have been arrested and I caution those parents that get this call about your child being arrested--maybe you need to check your child."
Officers began breaking up the attacks by ushering teens to the Red Line. Chaos continued underground but many attackers reportedly left the area.
"I just saw a cluster run down to the Red Line," said Red Line passenger Amanda Dobson. "I didn't know what was going on. I just kind of stepped back and let the police do what they needed to do."
Police continued to patrol the area on bikes, horses and on foot as smaller groups wandered around the Loop.
It is not clear if the attacks are related to a similar mobbing of Ford City Mall last month.
Residents were concerned that this could be the first in a long line of attacks after warm weather brought on a string of similar instances last year.
"It's been happening a lot around here," said Eric Baldinger, who works along the Mag Mile. "Just keep your wallet close and your purse closer."
Others said the attacks were disappointing and feared for the future of the city.
"I think it's very childish," said resident Angelica Wilson. "That's what wrong with the generation today because there's always petty fights going on down here and everybody getting hurt. We don't need more problems."
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