SAN JOSE — A 22-year-old Elk Grove man was arrested in connection with an injury shooting last week in downtown San Jose, police said.
The shooting happened around 12:45 a.m. on Feb. 15 in the 90 block of South Second Street, near East San Fernando Street, San Jose police spokesperson Stacie Shih said in a news release Thursday.
An initial investigation revealed the suspect and the victim were involved in a dispute inside a business when the suspect pulled out a gun and shot the victim multiple times, Shih said.
The victim, also a man, was taken to an area hospital with injuries that were later determined not to be life-threatening.
Employees restrained the suspect until officers arrived at the scene, Shih said. The suspect — identified as Sean James Jr. — was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, as well as other gun-related crimes, and booked into Santa Clara County jail.
A privately made gun that belonged to the suspect was recovered at the scene, Shih said.
Anyone with information related to the case can contact Detective Tien Nguyen at 408-277-4161 or 4431@sanjoseca.gov.
An employee at a Montgomery County, Maryland, senior living facility is charged with first-degree murder in the death of an 87-year-old man who was found dead in his apartment earlier this month.
A medication technician at the Cogir of Potomac senior living facility is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 87-year-old Robert Fuller Jr., who was found dead in his apartment on Feb. 14, with a gunshot wound to his head.
In addition, Maurquise Emillo James, 22, of White Marsh, is charged with the attempted first-degree murder of a Maryland State Police trooper and other charges stemming from a Tuesday traffic stop.
Additional charges against James include felony assault and using a firearm during a crime of violence.
James is charged in the death of Fuller, a millionaire philanthropist. Fuller, a former lawyer, had helped establish a transitional housing facility in Maine for women who are veterans.
At this moment, the motive of the killing is unclear.
Maryland State Police said a trooper attempted to pull over James’ Infiniti sedan at around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday in Baltimore. At a stop sign, as the trooper approached the driver’s side of the vehicle, police said James opened his door and fired two shots at the trooper, before taking off.
Police said the trooper didn’t return fire. He was wounded in the shooting and later released from the hospital.
According to charging documents, testing showed a bullet casing found at the apartment matched the gun used to fire at the trooper Tuesday.
James was arrested in Montgomery County, where he’s being held without bond.
What led investigators to James
Montgomery County police were called to the senior living facility in the 10800 block of Potomac Tennis Lane at around 7:30 a.m. on Valentine’s Day for a reported medical emergency.
That’s when they found Fuller dead inside of the apartment he shared with his partner, who lives in another bedroom.
Investigators said James resembles the person seen on surveillance footage released by Montgomery County police Friday.
The person was only captured from behind, so police initially said they couldn’t make out the person’s gender and race.
But employees said James has worn a similar plaid jacket to the one seen in the video while at work, according to charging documents.
On the surveillance video, a masked person is seen walking up toward the door, which immediately opens.
It’s a side entrance that isn’t often used, even by employees, according to the facility’s director.
Police found a paper towel that was apparently put there to prop the door open.
A sensor on the door wasn’t working the night of the killing. Police said James was the last person to set it off, on Jan. 9, before a battery was apparently removed.
That sensor was reset after the homicide.
More than a week after the shooting, another employee contacted police after an incident involving the same door. James had stuck around past the end of his shift, and the door’s sensor set off an alarm early Monday.
James denied setting the sensor off, according to charging documents.
Other employees told James they needed to contact a supervisor about what was happening — and he left.
Employees who went to check on the situation said a black napkin was propping the door open and a folded paper towel was nearby. The battery had been reversed so the sensor wasn’t working anymore.
James administers medication to residents as part of his job at the senior living facility.
Fuller’s partner said an employee — later identified as James — came by on Feb. 13 to administer her regular dose of Oxycodone. He then came back to ask whether the medication had kicked in, which Fuller’s partner said was unusual.
His partner told investigators they didn’t understand how the sound of the shooting didn’t wake them, and noted they have excellent hearing.
James told investigators he had administered to Fuller as well, the night before the killing, according to charging documents.
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A murder trial is underway for a Utah mother of three who published a children’s book about grief after her husband’s death and was later accused of killing him.Kouri Richins, 35, faces a slew of felony charges for allegedly killing her husband, Eric Richins, with fentanyl in March 2022 at their home just outside the ski town of Park City. The trial began Monday and is slated to run through March 26.Prosecutors say she slipped five times the lethal dose of the synthetic opioid into a Moscow mule cocktail that he drank.She is also accused of trying to poison him a month earlier on Valentine’s Day with a fentanyl-laced sandwich that made him break out in hives and black out, according to court documents.Prosecutors have argued that Richins killed her husband for financial gain while planning a future with another man she was seeing on the side. Richins has vehemently denied the allegations.She faces nearly three dozen counts, including aggravated murder, attempted murder, forgery, mortgage fraud and insurance fraud. The murder charge alone carries a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.Her defense attorneys, Wendy Lewis, Kathy Nester and Alex Ramos, said they are confident the jury will allow Richins to return home to her children after hearing her side of the story.“Kouri has waited nearly three years for this moment: the opportunity to have the facts of this case heard by a jury, free from the prosecution’s narrative that has dominated headlines since her arrest,” her legal team said in a statement, adding, “What the public has been told bears little resemblance to the truth.”As the trial began, Richins sat quietly with her defense team, wearing a black blazer and white blouse.In the months before her arrest in May 2023, Richins self-published the children’s book “Are You with Me?” about a father with angel wings watching over his young son after passing away. The book, which she promoted on a local television station, could play a key role for prosecutors in framing Eric Richins’ death as a calculated killing with an elaborate cover-up attempt.Years before her husband’s death, Richins opened numerous life insurance policies on Eric Richins without his knowledge, with benefits totaling nearly $2 million, prosecutors allege. Court documents also indicate she had a negative bank account balance, owed lenders more than $1.8 million and was being sued by a creditor.Among the witnesses who could be called to testify throughout the trial are a housekeeper who claims to have sold fentanyl to Richins on three occasions and the man with whom Richins was allegedly having an affair.The state’s key witness, housekeeper Carmen Lauber, told a detective she had sold Richins up to 90 blue-green fentanyl pills that she acquired from a dealer. Lauber is not charged with any crimes in connection with the case, and detectives said at an earlier hearing that she had been granted immunity.Defense attorneys are expected to argue that Lauber did not actually give Richins fentanyl and was motivated to lie for legal protection. None was ever found in her house, and the dealer has said he was in jail and detoxing from drug use when he told detectives in 2023 that he had sold fentanyl to Lauber. He later said in a sworn affidavit that he only sold her the opioid OxyContin.Other witnesses could include relatives of the defendant and her late husband, and friends of Eric Richins who have recounted phone conversations from the day prosecutors say he was first poisoned by his wife of nine years.One friend said in written testimony that they noticed fear in Eric Richins’ voice when he called on Valentine’s Day and said, “I think my wife tried to poison me.”
PARK CITY, Utah —
A murder trial is underway for a Utah mother of three who published a children’s book about grief after her husband’s death and was later accused of killing him.
Kouri Richins, 35, faces a slew of felony charges for allegedly killing her husband, Eric Richins, with fentanyl in March 2022 at their home just outside the ski town of Park City. The trial began Monday and is slated to run through March 26.
Prosecutors say she slipped five times the lethal dose of the synthetic opioid into a Moscow mule cocktail that he drank.
She is also accused of trying to poison him a month earlier on Valentine’s Day with a fentanyl-laced sandwich that made him break out in hives and black out, according to court documents.
Prosecutors have argued that Richins killed her husband for financial gain while planning a future with another man she was seeing on the side. Richins has vehemently denied the allegations.
She faces nearly three dozen counts, including aggravated murder, attempted murder, forgery, mortgage fraud and insurance fraud. The murder charge alone carries a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
Her defense attorneys, Wendy Lewis, Kathy Nester and Alex Ramos, said they are confident the jury will allow Richins to return home to her children after hearing her side of the story.
“Kouri has waited nearly three years for this moment: the opportunity to have the facts of this case heard by a jury, free from the prosecution’s narrative that has dominated headlines since her arrest,” her legal team said in a statement, adding, “What the public has been told bears little resemblance to the truth.”
As the trial began, Richins sat quietly with her defense team, wearing a black blazer and white blouse.
In the months before her arrest in May 2023, Richins self-published the children’s book “Are You with Me?” about a father with angel wings watching over his young son after passing away. The book, which she promoted on a local television station, could play a key role for prosecutors in framing Eric Richins’ death as a calculated killing with an elaborate cover-up attempt.
Years before her husband’s death, Richins opened numerous life insurance policies on Eric Richins without his knowledge, with benefits totaling nearly $2 million, prosecutors allege. Court documents also indicate she had a negative bank account balance, owed lenders more than $1.8 million and was being sued by a creditor.
Among the witnesses who could be called to testify throughout the trial are a housekeeper who claims to have sold fentanyl to Richins on three occasions and the man with whom Richins was allegedly having an affair.
The state’s key witness, housekeeper Carmen Lauber, told a detective she had sold Richins up to 90 blue-green fentanyl pills that she acquired from a dealer. Lauber is not charged with any crimes in connection with the case, and detectives said at an earlier hearing that she had been granted immunity.
Defense attorneys are expected to argue that Lauber did not actually give Richins fentanyl and was motivated to lie for legal protection. None was ever found in her house, and the dealer has said he was in jail and detoxing from drug use when he told detectives in 2023 that he had sold fentanyl to Lauber. He later said in a sworn affidavit that he only sold her the opioid OxyContin.
Other witnesses could include relatives of the defendant and her late husband, and friends of Eric Richins who have recounted phone conversations from the day prosecutors say he was first poisoned by his wife of nine years.
One friend said in written testimony that they noticed fear in Eric Richins’ voice when he called on Valentine’s Day and said, “I think my wife tried to poison me.”
SPD asks for the public’s help tracking down Daniel Myers, accused of stabbing a woman on Feb. 10, 2026.
Salem, Ore. – Salem Police ask for the public’s help tracking down a man suspected of attempted murder.
Investigators say 62-year-old Ray Myers and the victim were making food deliveries late Tuesday night, when she says Myers drove her to a secluded area of West Salem, sexually assaulted her and then stabbed her multiple times when she tried to resist. She tried to run, but she says Myers held her in the car. She convinced him to let her go into a Walgreens in Keizer for first aid items, where staff called police. By the time officers arrived, the suspect was gone.
Myers was last seen driving a silver Honda Civic with Oregon plates: 241-NGP. Police believe he has access to firearms, so should not be approached.
Anyone with information on his location is asked to contact Salem Police. You can call the Salem Police Tips Line at 503-588-8477 and reference case #SMP26012142.
Jalin Seabron, 23, died after Douglas County Deputy Nicholas Moore shot at him nine times while responding to reports of an active shooter at Main Event, striking him with seven bullets in the back and side. Seabron was not the shooter, but he was armed.
Seabron had pulled the gun out to defend his friends and family, who were celebrating his birthday with him at the arcade, 64 Centennial Blvd., according to the lawsuit.
A woman can also be heard in the video, crying out for Moore not to shoot.
The warnings to drop the weapon happened over roughly three seconds. When Seabron didn’t immediately respond and turned his head toward Moore, not appearing to raise his weapon from his side, the deputy started shooting.
“At the time Moore opened fire, Mr. Seabron still had his back to the deputy and had just barely started to turn his head in reaction to the yelled commands,” the lawsuit stated.
Moore “wrongly assumed” Seabron was the shooter and shot him without “verifying whether Mr. Seabron actually posed a threat, or providing Mr. Seabron a reasonable opportunity to comply with commands,” the lawsuit alleges. Seabron didn’t have time to process the orders, let alone obey them, the document claims.
George Brauchler, the 23rd Judicial District Attorney, declined to file criminal charges against Moore in April 2025, after a month-long investigation into the police shooting by the district’s critical incident response team, according to a decision letter he sent to Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly.
The deputy gave Seabron several commands to drop his gun, but the commands all happened within three seconds, according to the decision letter. Moore did not verbally identify himself as law enforcement, and did not use his sirens while responding to the scene, the letter confirms.
State law allows a police officer to forgo that announcement if they believe doing so “would unduly place peace officers at risk or would create a risk of death or injury to other persons,” Brauchler said during an April news conference.
The shooting inside the Highlands Ranch arcade started as a fight in the bathroom between Seabron’s stepsister, 23-year-old Nevaeha Crowley-Sanders, and a friend she had known since high school. Authorities said Crowley-Sanders pulled out a handgun and shot at the 22-year-old victim, her friend, eight times.
Crowley-Sanders was assaulted by a group of women in the restroom and fired her gun in self-defense, ending the altercation, according to the lawsuit. The woman shot by Crowley-Sanders survived her injuries, and Crowley-Sanders was charged with attempted murder.
The first calls to 911 about the shooting came in just before midnight on Feb. 8, 2025.
When Moore arrived, roughly 90 seconds later, “no one was running, as the shooting itself was over,” the lawsuit stated. Seabron had his gun in his hand to defend himself and his group against a woman involved in the bathroom fight who had come outside after, also armed with a gun that she pointed at Seabron.
“It was clear there was no active or ongoing threat,” the lawsuit alleges. “It was apparent that the person Deputy Moore killed was not the shooter.”
The civil lawsuit filed Monday in Douglas County District Court is seeking compensation for Moore’s use of excessive force and battery causing wrongful death. Moore is listed as the sole defendant in the complaint.
A 15-year-old will serve seven years in Colorado’s Division of Youth Services after pleading guilty to setting a Lakewood apartment complex on fire, killing Kathleen Payton and her 10-year-old daughter, Jazmine Payton-Aguayo.
The teen and an accomplice, who were 12 and 14 at the time, started the fire in the early hours of Oct. 31, 2022, after they were asked to leave a friend’s apartment at the Tiffany Square Apartments complex, according to the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
Kathleen Payton and her 10-year-old daughter, Jazmine Payton-Aguayo in an undated photo. Payton and Jazmine were killed on Oct. 31, 2022, after two juveniles set their Lakewood apartment complex on fire. (Courtesy of the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office)
Flames spread rapidly from bushes outside the complex at 935 Sheridan Blvd. to the wooden walkway above. Payton, 31, and Jazmine were trapped inside their apartment and died from carbon monoxide poisoning and smoke inhalation, the DA’s office said.
Ten people were also injured in the fire, and everyone who lived at the 32-unit complex was displaced.
Both teens, whose names were not made public under Colorado law, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder and arson, all felonies. The first teen was sentenced to seven years in the Division of Youth Services after pleading guilty in October 2023.
During the second teen’s sentencing hearing on Thursday, court officials noted that Payton died trying to protect her daughter during the fire.
According to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Payton’s family, she followed instructions from an emergency dispatcher and sheltered in the bathroom, covered her daughter with wet towels and held wet towels under the bathroom door to prevent smoke from getting inside.
That lawsuit was dismissed in May at the family’s request, court records show.
“Today’s sentence brings a measure of justice for the many members of our community impacted by this senseless fire,” Deputy District Attorney Riley Gonya said in a statement. “While nothing can restore the lives lost, the homes destroyed, or the sense of safety that was shattered, we hope this outcome provides a sense of closure and allows everyone involved to finally begin the long process of healing.”
Three people were injured after a woman opened fire outside a house party in Brighton overnight, police officials said Saturday.
The shooting happened at 12:26 a.m. near Bridge Street and South Eighth Avenue, the Brighton Police Department said in a news release.
Witnesses told police there was a fight happening when a suspect drew a handgun and started shooting toward the house and people standing in the front yard.
Officers at the scene found a 23-year-old woman, 18-year-old man and 24-year-old woman with gunshot wounds. The man was treated and released from the hospital and the two women are in critical but stable condition, police said.
Witnesses told police the woman who shot at the house sped away from the scene. Officers determined the woman, 19-year-old Casandra Rocha-Martinez, was later involved in a car crash.
A 23-year-old woman in the same vehicle was injured when she was ejected from the car during the crash, Brighton police said.
Rocha-Martinez was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and vehicular assault. Information about her bond and next court appearance were not available Saturday.
Anyone with information about the case can contact the Brighton Police Department tip line at 303-655-8740.
In January 2022, the pain coursing through Hannah Pettey’s body for six months was hitting her harder than ever.
Hannah Pettey: It was unbearable … I was in the bed at this point for probably like a week straight.
Anne Marie Green: Were you even able to care for your kids?
Hannah Pettey: I did as much as I could.
Hannah’s son Lincoln was 3, and her daughter Gracie had just turned 2. But Hannah was too sick to attend Gracie’s birthday party.
Hannah Pettey: I was so weak that I couldn’t hardly walk. I had a little office chair that I would roll around in our house because I really didn’t get out of the house …
Hannah says her husband Brian Mann was there when she needed him the most.
Hannah Pettey: When I really started getting sick is when he was the sweetest to me …
Hannah and Brian Mann
Hannah Pettey
Brian was a chiropractor, but he says he could not diagnose what was wrong with Hannah.
Brian Mann: I had no idea … that’s out of my forte. Um, that’s someone that I would refer out, refer to a specialist, which is what I wanted to do.
On Jan. 18, 2022, Hannah checked in with her mother Nicole Pettey. After they hung up, Nicole says she was haunted by something she heard in her daughter’s voice.
Nicole Pettey: Just know that feeling, I knew something was wrong.
Nicole Pettey: I called and called and called and texted … Hannah called me finally … but she wasn’t able to speak. … So she just kind of gasped … and then she’d asked me, she said, “Mom, can you take me to the hospital?”
What was making Hannah Pettey sick?
Brian was at work, so Nicole rushed over and drove Hannah to UAB, the hospital at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. While there, Nicole took several photos and videos.
Nicole Pettey: The doctor … said, obviously she is very sick … I wanna keep her, but there’s … no way that they’re gonna let me keep her. Her, um, vitals are stable … I said … “if you send her home, she’s gonna die …”
It was right then that Hannah suffered a terrifying seizure, and, in the frenzy, she ripped off her hospital gown. For Nicole, that moment is frozen in time.
Nicole Pettey: … she was skin and bones … they told me that she was actually starving to death when we got there, they said she was, had hours to live …
When Hannah arrived at the hospital, doctors told her mother she had hours to live.
Nicole Pettey
One doctor directed her anger at Nicole.
Nicole Pettey: She’s like, does she live with you? Like obviously someone should have seen that this person was dying, you know. This person was starving to death. … She said, “who is responsible for her?”
Anne-Marie Green: What’d you say?
Nicole Pettey: And I said, she’s married and they said, “she’s married?”
The seizure was so severe Hannah lost consciousness. Doctors wanted to talk with Hannah’s husband, so Nicole says she texted Brian:
“Hey Brian, Hannah had a seizure about 2 hours ago. She still has not come to yet…they said she could be out all day long, so I wanted to let you know if she’s not texting you that is why…”
Nicole Pettey: And I, of course, didn’t get a response from him …
Anne-Marie Green: So you don’t get … a text back — from Brian …
Nicole Pettey: No, never.
It had been that way for years, she said; all through his marriage to Hannah, Brian ignored Nicole.
Nicole Pettey: … never seen him the whole time they were married … never … any interaction with him whatsoever.
Anne-Marie Green: Never for any family gatherings, any holidays, he just never came?
Nicole Pettey: Never.
Anne-Marie Green: Brian didn’t like you.
Nicole Pettey: No.
That night, Brian never got back to Nicole, but he had learned about Hannah’s condition from his mother, who was in touch with Nicole. He arranged for childcare and began driving.
Nicole Pettey: He got to the hospital around 9:30 that night …
Under COVID restrictions, the hospital was allowing only one visitor at a time and with Nicole inside, Brian was kept out.
Brian Mann: I was very irritated that Nicole was not switching out with me, um, letting me in, because I stood outside of that hospital for a long time, trying to get in that room with Hannah.
But eventually, Nicole did come out and Brian was allowed in.
Anne-Marie Green: It must have been shocking to see her in that hospital bed like that?
Brian Mann: Yes … but I was glad that she was there … and — and people were trying to figure something out.
When Mann left to go to work, Nicole went in. Hannah was still unconscious and had been that way for nearly 48 hours. Nurses had just finished checking on her when Nicole bent over her daughter.
Nicole Pettey: I kissed her head, and I said, “I love you” … Her eyes just popped open. And then she said, “I love you too.”
Nicole says nurses were amazed and rushed to her side.
Nicole Pettey: I just started crying and Hannah said, “have I not been talking?”
But Hannah’s ordeal was far from over. Days after Hannah was admitted, Nicole says doctors put her in a medical coma while they drained the excess fluid from within her brain.
Nicole Pettey: … and then they had to paralyze her because even being in a coma, um, there was just so much fluid in her brain that any type of movement … she would’ve died…
Anne-Marie Green: But, Nicole, it’s like things are going from bad to worse.
Nicole Pettey: Yeah, yeah.
Anne Marie Green: Did you ever give up hope?
Nicole Pettey: No. Oh no. No. Never. Not one time …
Brian says he was wondering why Hannah’s health had gone downhill so quickly the day Nicole had picked her up and drove to the hospital.
Brian Mann: … that is curious how bad she got from getting in the car with her mother to being admitted to the hospital.
His dislike and distrust of Nicole boiled over.
Brian Mann: … she is a cruel person … she was not happy with the fact that Hannah seemed happy being with me …
Hannah Pettey’s body was “packed with lead”
Eight days after Hannah was admitted to the hospital, her neurologist told Nicole that doctors had figured out what was causing Hannah’s symptoms.
Nicole Pettey: Her exact words were, “she has an astronomical amount of lead inside of her.”
Lead. It was an unusual finding, and Nicole says doctors told her they had never seen a patient like Hannah.
Nicole Pettey: They said her colon was so packed, full of lead … it was almost 100% lead. … there was no room in her stomach to hold anything. It was just complete lead plus there was lead just in her bones, just everywhere …
An X-ray shows Hannah Pettey’s body filled will lead.
Hartselle Police Department
Doctors told Nicole there was no way Hannah could have ingested all that lead by accident — it had to be deliberate, and they told her exactly what they thought.
Nicole Pettey: They let me know that this is an attempted murder …
The hospital reported Hannah’s case to the Department of Human Resources, the state agency that protects vulnerable adults. Hospital administrators immediately put Hannah in a secluded room with someone at the door to keep all visitors out. Nicole says she and Brian were told to leave and were no longer allowed to see Hannah because they were considered possible suspects.
From left, Brian Mann, Hannah Pettey and Nicole Pettey. “I remember them saying either he’s done it, she’s done it, or you’ve done it … but someone is intentionally trying to kill your daughter,” Nicole Pettey told “48 Hours.”
CBS News
Nicole Pettey: I was beside myself … because I had to leave her … they had to send me away from the hospital.
Brian Mann: I immediately started thinking this is Nicole. … This has to be Nicole pointing fingers … I didn’t really think it would get anywhere because I thought it was, again, just Nicole making waves to make waves.
Brian Mann: Hannah’s mom just caused so many problems and not so much directly at me, but she was just awful to Hannah …
Brian says Hannah told him that Nicole could be critical of her.
Brian Mann: Why don’t you put makeup on, um, are you sure you should eat that? Just stuff like that all the time.
Brian Mann: I would say … why do you want this woman in your life? And it always all she could come back to, “she’s my mom.” … “She’s my mom.” And that’s really the only defense she had for her, “she’s my mom.”
Hannah denies Brian’s allegations. She did move away from Nicole and got her own apartment in June 2017, the month she turned 18 years old. She had just graduated from high school. That’s when she met Brian, a 29-year-old chiropractor with his own business.
Hannah Pettey: He was very, very sweet in the beginning and you know … he’s very charming, good looking. (Laughs) And yeah, I really liked him.
Anne-Marie Green: Sounds like it was almost sort of instant attraction.
Brian Mann: Yes … it was head over heels. … umm everything was just working right.
Within weeks of Brian’s first date with Hannah, his friend Walker Snyder says Brian told him Hannah was “the one.”
Walker Snyder: And I’m like, man, you just met her like a week ago or she’s 18. (laughs) she doesn’t know what she wants. … She doesn’t even know what she doesn’t want. And he was like, “No, we both know what we want” …
It wasn’t long before Hannah told friends she was pregnant.
Anne-Marie Green: How long were you guys dating … before you proposed?
Brian Mann: We started dating in November. I believe I proposed after Valentine’s Day … so not — not too long.
Anne-Marie Green: Were you nervous?
Brian Mann: I was … I take marriage very seriously. And, so, yeah … I was, I was definitely nervous about it.
Hannah was nervous, too. She says she had noticed that Brian could be controlling but she plunged ahead — at least until her wedding day in May 2018. Hannah’s friend, Alyson Holmes.
Alyson Holmes: Right before we were all about to walk down the aisle … Hannah expressed to us that she was, you know … very nervous. She had cold feet …
Nicole Pettey: We told her a hundred times over. You don’t have to do it. … if this is cold feet, you know, it is what it is. But if this is un — uncertainty, walk away, it’s not too late to walk away.
In the end, Hannah smiled through her ceremony, and married Brian.
Anne-Marie Green: When you walked up to the altar and you looked at him, you had no questions?
Hannah Pettey: I mean, I did. … I mean, deep down I did. I was like, I don’t really know if I’m making the right decision and everything …
Hannah and Brian Mann on their wedding day in May 2018.
Chelsea Vaughn Photography
The couple moved into Brian’s home and started their lives together.
Anne-Marie Green: How was he as a husband?
Hannah Pettey: For the most part, he was really good as a husband … I mean, it was good and bad.
Hannah Pettey: We got in a lot of physical fights … so that’s a bad thing, but it wasn’t … all the time though, so …
Anne-Marie Green: You know, like, as I’m listening to you talk, you know, it sounds almost a little bit like —
Hannah Pettey: Mm.
Anne-Marie Green: — you’re explaining away –
Hannah Pettey: Mm-hmm.
Anne-Marie Green: — the bad stuff. Do you think you did that in the marriage a bit?
Hannah Pettey: Uh, yeah, I definitely did, I think …Yeah. Yeah, my mom tells me that, too.
Even their son’s birth was a minefield of emotion.
Hannah Pettey: You know, I was nine months pregnant, and I had started, um, bleeding. And so, I went to the hospital, and he came in and he got so angry at me … and he was yelling at me … and “you shouldn’t have been out walking like in this heat” … like, “that was so stupid and irresponsible”
Alyson Holmes: … he was acting so just outrageous that the nurses … even told her … if you need us to do something, then you say this specific word and we’ll know … that we need to step in and intervene in what’s going on …
Hannah never used that “safe word” but as time went on, Brian says the couple came to an understanding.
Brian Mann: I would say, Hannah, talk to me. I am on your side…. I’m your biggest fan, your biggest supporter … one day she said … I’m going to trust you. And I want to do this with you. And I want to build this with you. … from then on, it just got better and better.
Hannah Pettey: … that’s when I started to really fall in love with him.
The couple had another child, a daughter, and life was good, they say, until Hannah began to feel sick and went to the hospital emergency room in January 2022. She was left fighting for her life, and doctors were trying to help her, but they told Nicole they had to know more.
Anne-Marie Green: They said the only way she gets this much lead in her system —
Nicole Pettey: Is to ingest it. Is to ingest it. They said she had to have ingested it.
Nicole Pettey: I remember them saying, we don’t care if you give her crack … we just want to know about it. We have to know everything she’s taken.
And that’s when Nicole remembered something that she’d completely overlooked: Hannah told her that Brian had given her special supplements – capsules — each and every night.
In search of evidence
Doctors kept asking Nicole what Hannah had been eating in the months leading up to her hospital stay.
Nicole Pettey: From what they can see, it looks like someone has gave her lead every single day for, at least … three months.
Was Hannah eating something that contained lead? Nicole says she had no idea because she hardly ever visited her daughter in the months before the seizure. And neverif Brian was home.
Nicole Pettey: I could only go when he was working … and I would have to leave before he got off work. … I never actually ran into him.
Anne-Marie Green: Whoa.
Nicole Pettey: Yeah, He didn’t come home until I left.
As doctors pressed her for information, Nicole remembered Hannah telling her about special supplement capsules that Brian placed on her nightstand every night. Nicole says it didn’t strike her as unusual because Brian was a chiropractor, but she told doctors anyway.
Nicole Pettey: I told ’em that I know that they were big on supplements.
Nicole says doctors repeatedly asked Brian to bring in the capsules described by Hannah, but he never did. Instead, hegave them a photo of common over-the-counter supplements.
DHR investigators, who were getting information from Hannah’s doctors, contacted Lt. Alan McDearmond of the Hartselle Police Department.
Lt. Alan McDearmond: They said that I needed to go arrest somebody for attempting to kill their wife. And I’m like, well, hold up. I mean, we can’t just go arrest people. What are you talking about?
Investigators told McDearmond that doctors suspected Brian had given Hannah some type of lead-filled capsules over and over again.
Lt. Alan McDearmond: … you can take a capsule and open it up, empty the contents and then put the lead in …
McDearmond told Brian about the hospital’s allegations.
Brian Mann: McDearmond … said … your wife’s been lead poisoned. … And they think it was intentional. And they said, you’re the number one suspect … So, I was kind of dumbfounded … I didn’t know what to think about that.
McDearmond asked Brian if the police could search his house, and he agreed.
Brian Mann: So, I took him all through the house. I let him search my house … And we went through and tried to figure out what she was eating, pills, make-ups and — and things like that.
McDearmond says Brian provided a bottle of supplements and a laxative that he said Hannah had taken.
Anne-Marie Green: Hannah says you made her take supplements.
Brian Mann: That is not true …
Brian blamed all his problems on Nicole.
Brian Mann: I immediately started thinking this is Nicole …This has to be Nicole pointing fingers.
Investigators removed the children from Brian’s home. They were placed with his parents. He had supervised visitation.
Brian Mann: Nicole had just done so much over the years and Hannah had told me so much about her that I just had no doubt … Nicole was somehow stirring this all up.
Brian said he remembered something Hannah had told him that now seemed to hold more significance. In second grade, in a story that Hannah confirms, she recalled being so sick for so long that she visited the school nurse dozens of times.
Brian Mann: … and she eventually got really bad, and her mother took her to UAB. She says she remembers staying there about a week.
Hannah Petty in January 2022. Doctors put her in a medical coma to drain excess fluid from her body.
Hannah Pettey Facebook
Flash forward to 2022. Hannah was back at UAB Hospital. On January 29, McDearmond went to see Hannah for himself, but she was in a coma.
Lt. Alan McDearmond: I had no idea the condition she was in until I went to the hospital and saw her for myself …
Doctors showed him Hannah’s X-rays.
Anne Marie Green: What did you think?
Lt. Alan McDearmond: Oh, gosh, I was just floored. I mean, her whole insides was lit up from the — the lead reacting to the X-ray … I mean It was crazy.
McDearmond asked Brian to come in.
Lt. Alan McDearmond: And at that point is when he refused to further cooperate with the investigation.
On February 1, McDearmond cleared Nicole, and she was once again allowed to visit Hannah.
Anne-Marie Green: How were you able to clear Nicole?
Lt. Alan McDearmond: You know, just through conversations … whether you could tell that she was very concerned about Hannah … she was the person that was caring for Hannah …
Anne-Marie Green: It sounds to me like you just like Nicole’s behavior. She acted the way you expect a concerned mother to act. … And Brian didn’t act the way you expected a concerned husband to act.
Lt. Alan McDearmond: That’s correct.
Anne-Marie Green: Is that evidence?
Lt. Alan McDearmond: That’s not evidence. No … and the problem with this case was there was not a lot of evidence.
Within days, McDearmond received the results of the tests done at Brian and Hannah’s home.
Lt. Alan McDearmond: Everything was negative.
Anne-Marie Green: Did you ever find any capsules?
Lt. Alan McDearmond: Um, no.
Anne-Marie Green: Did you ever find any supplements that were tainted?
Lt. Alan McDearmond: Um, no.
Anne-Marie Green: Did you ever find evidence of lead being ground down or scraped, or turned into little particles that could go into a capsule?
Lt. Alan McDearmond: No.
Anne-Marie Green: So, isn’t that kind of a big hole in the theory?
Lt. Alan McDearmond: Well, he sold supplements.
McDearmond says he kept looking for the source of that lead. In mid-February, Hannah began to rally and McDearmond went to see her again.
Lt. Alan McDearmond: I told her in a very nice way, you know, why she was in the hospital and … asked her, you know, do you have any idea who may have given you some substance? She said, “No.”
Lt. Alan McDearmond: Do you have any thoughts of self-harm? I mean, did you put yourself here? And she said, “No.”
McDearmond said Hannah was coherent one minute and not the next. She said she saw “people coming out of the walls.”
Lt. Alan McDearmond: When I first started talking to the medical staff, I mean, they didn’t give her any hope … they said if she came out of this, that, uh, she would really not have any cognitive functions … they didn’t suspect that, that we would be able to even talk with her.
Anne Marie Green: Wow.
Lt. Alan McDearmond: They basically told us that we needed to do everything that we could, because we didn’t need to rely on her as a witness because they didn’t think she would ever make it to that point.
But Hannah surprised everyone by getting stronger each day with the help of a team of dedicated nurses.
Nicole Pettey: They were all kind of close to her age … they knew she had kids, and they would say to her, “you’ve got your babies, you’ve got your babies.”
Nicole Pettey: And I remember she just always got a life in her when you mentioned the kids. She was like … I’m gonna get better. I’m gonna get out here and get better, you know.
Nicole says Hannah did get better and stronger — strong enough that Hannah’s neurologist told her the whole story.
Hannah Pettey: She grabbed my hand and she just kind of started giving me a heart to heart about why they have strong reasons to believe that it was Brian.
Anne-Marie Green: And what’s the conversation like after that, between you and Hannah?
Nicole Pettey: Oh, it was horrible. That was horrible. Sorry, of everything that she went through, the heartbreak … The heartbreak was terrible … She just would sit there and cry.
On March 3, after nearly two months, Hannah was well enough to leave the hospital. She went to her mom’s house, reunited with her children, and filed for divorce. But friends like Kyle Golden were worried.
Kyle Golden: We did know that Hannah was still in contact with Brian —
Alyson Holmes: Yeah.
Kyle Golden: And that did upset us … It was scary.
Alyson Holmes: Yeah.
Kyle Golden: Knowing that she could potentially go back to this guy that we believe tried to kill her.
Hannah Pettey goes back to Brian Mann; Considers halting her cooperation
In the days after Hannah got out of the hospital, Hannah says she felt vulnerable and confused.
Hannah Pettey: I was on so many different medicines, so many different psych medicines the doctors had me on …
Despite the risks, Hannah had made up her mind to sit down with Brian face to face. Just one week after being discharged, she met him at their former home.
Hannah Pettey: I just had to figure it out for myself. Instead of everyone telling me this is what happened.
Anne-Marie Green: And so you sit down with him.
Hannah Pettey: Mm-hmm.
Anne-Marie Green: And did you ask him outright? Did you do this? Did you try to poison me?
Hannah Pettey: No, I was so emotional. I mean I didn’t stop crying that night. I remember I cried all through the night.
Hannah Pettey: I wanted him to say … like there’s no way that I could have, you know like what … or like, are you crazy? Like this is crazy … And I was expecting him to go out and say that to everybody. I don’t care if he even made a Facebook post about it or just anything.
Hannah says Brian never told her what she needed to hear. But then, incredibly, she changed her mind about the divorce.
Hannah Pettey: I called my attorney. I was like, I don’t want to go through with the divorce … like I don’t think he did it. I said there must be something else.
Anne-Marie Green: Hannah told you not to sign the divorce papers?
Brian Mann: Yes.
Anne-Marie Green: Because why?
Brian Mann: Because she knew her mother had made up this whole thing and it was just another crazy Nicole episode.
When Hannah’s family doctor heard what was going on, Nicole says he wanted to have Hannah involuntarily committed because he feared Brian would kill her. And Hannah’s next move caused even more consternation: she asked McDearmond to drop the investigation.
Hannah Pettey: I said, “he’s a family man.” I said, “he loves me. He loves the kids.” … It just doesn’t make sense.
McDearmond knew without Hannah’s help, the criminal case against Brian would likely collapse. But he understood what Hannah was feeling.
Lt. Alan McDearmond: It’s typical of domestic violence … to forgive your abuser …
McDearmond asked Hannah to sign a specific form that he’d prepared.
Lt. Alan McDearmond: And she said, well, what do I have to sign this for? … And I said, well, if … Brian were to kill you in the future, and somebody from your family … comes and says that we didn’t do our due diligence in the investigation, then I can show them that you didn’t want to pursue it. … So, if you want to go ahead and sign that, then we’ll close it up. And she said, “No, I’m not going to sign that.” … She said, “I want you to keep going.”
Ultimately, she decided to proceed with the divorce and cooperate with the criminal investigation.
Anne Marie Green: What do you learn from Hannah?
Lt. Alan McDearmond: … more than anything insurance policies.
Hannah told McDearmond that Brian had taken out life insurance policies on her while they were still dating. McDearmond learned that when Hannah was in the hospital fighting for her life, Brian tried to take out even more policies. If they were approved, Brian would have collected more than $5 million upon Hannah’s death.
Anne-Marie Green: And that gave you what?
Lt. Alan McDearmond: Well it gives you motive … money’s a motive, money’s a huge motive.
At that point, McDearmond felt he’d collected enough evidence to move ahead and so did prosecutor Garrick Vickery.
Garrick Vickery: We knew Hannah had been poisoned, that it was intentional and that it was ingested.
Anne-Marie Green: You don’t have any capsules with lead. You have a theory, you have a suspect, and you have what you believe is a motive. Why were you confident that this was enough to put in front of a grand jury?
Garrick Vickery: Nothing else made sense … In this case, the evidence was clear that lead was getting into her system. So, then you rewind the tape, you back up, and you see how that lead could have gotten into her system. … And Brian Mann was the only person who had access to Hannah.
Brian Mann was arrested and charged with attempted murder. He pleaded not guilty.
Morgan County Sheriff’s Office
The grand jury agreed and in September 2022, Brian Mann was arrested and pleaded “not guilty” to attempted murder. He was freed on a $500,000 bond but was required to report to jail every weekend.
Anne-Marie Green: Can I see the ankle monitor?
Brian Mann: Sure.
Anne-Marie Green: What’s it like having to wear that?
Brian Mann: … I mean, it’s definitely annoying.
Police still had nothing connecting Brian to any form of lead. But then, they got an unexpected call. Turns out Danny Hill thought he knew exactly where the lead came from.
It all began when Brian asked Hill, a contractor, to line his X-ray room at his chiropractic office with, you guessed it: lead. Hill had recognized Brian from a newspaper article about his arrest and got in touch with McDearmond.
Danny Hill: You do an X-ray room, the walls have to be lined with lead … for the protection of the people outside the room. … We did it with rolls of soft lead that we just covered the walls with and then put drywall all over the top of that.
“48 Hours” asked Hill to obtain a sample of the same type of lead he installed in Brian’s office.
The lead was heavy but surprisingly soft and malleable. Hill showed us how easy it is to scrape the sheet of lead into tiny shavings — just like pencil shavings —and how easy it is to put those shavings into an empty pill capsule.
Contractor Danny Hill showed “48 Hours” how easy it is to scrape the sheet of lead into tiny shavings.
CBS News
Danny Hill: … that’s just the shaving of the lead.
Anne-Marie Green: Oh.
Danny Hill: This soft.
After Hill was done with the V-ray room, he asked Brian if he should dispose of the remaining lead.
Danny Hill: And he said, I’ll take care of it …
Hill’s information sent cops directly to Brian’s office. Prior to Hill’s revelations, the Hartselle Police Department did not have probable cause. Now they did.
Lt. Alan McDearmond: And we got a search warrant. We went in and we took a section of that out …
A thin sheet of lead recovered from inside a section of a wall in the X-ray room of Brian Mann’s chiropractic office.
Hartselle Police Department
Lt. Alan McDearmond: The lead that we recovered from the office was very thin … it would be thin enough that it could be shaved or whatever.
Anne-Marie Green: Tell me about how important that phone call was from the contractor.
Garrick Vickery: It was vitally important. It’s always necessary … to put your murder weapon into the hands of a defendant.
But Brian insists the state’s case is weak, and so he got himself a strong advocate — bodybuilder and defense lawyer Chad Morgan.
Chad Morgan: There’s no reason that any of their evidence should be able to get into a courtroom …
Going into the trial in June 2025, Brian had been forbidden any visitation with his children for more than two years. He says it was just unfair.
Brian Mann: I should have never been separated from my kids. … I’m going to be back in their lives. … I’ve just been waiting for my chance.
The trial of Brian Mann
Anne-Marie Green: How does it feel to know that someone tried to kill you?
Hannah Pettey: … at night I get really creeped out thinking about that someone poisoned me for a long, long time …
BEN HOOVER [ Local news report]: The state started its case today against a Morgan County chiropractor charged with attempting to kill his wife … Mann maintains his innocence …
In June 2025, defendant Brian Mann walks into a Decatur, Alabama, courthouse, facing a possible life sentence. No cameras are permitted inside the courtroom during the trial.
Anne-Marie Green: What was your working theory as to what happened in this case with this crime?
Garrick Vickery: It really begins months before Hannah ever appears at UAB Hospital …
Lead prosecutor Garrick Vickery.
Garrick Vickery: In terms of a — a theory, it mostly was that he made a decision to slowly poison her, to gain this life insurance, to rid himself of a sweet, sweet person …
Brian’s defense attorney Chad Morgan tells the jury that police never found any lead-filled capsules in Brian’s home, office or anywhere else.
Chad Morgan: … they searched the entire house top to bottom, never found one piece of lead.
Garrick Vickery: One of the issues we had was that Brian Mann had months and months … to execute his plan and then to get rid of the evidence. …
But the state does have Hannah, and prosecutors make her the first witness.
Anne-Marie Green: Did you look at Brian when you walked into the courtroom?
Hannah Pettey: I did …
Anne-Marie Green: … was that the man that you had fallen in love with?
Hannah Pettey: No, I mean, I saw someone totally different …
Hannah tells the jury how Brian supplied her with vitamin capsules each night even when her pain was so intense she could barely swallow.
Hannah Pettey: I remember, um, being in bed one night and I was in so much pain, and I was so nauseous … and Brian was like … I put your vitamins on your nightstand. … And he was like, “you need to take ’em.” And I was like, I just can’t tonight. I do not think I can keep anything else down. … and he was like freaking out about it. Like he was like, “you gotta take it” …
Anne-Marie Green: How easy would it have been to put lead in those capsules?
Garrick Vickery: Tremendously easy … Anyone that’s sharpened a pencil could see how easy it is to get lead shavings. … And once you have that and you have two hands to separate a pill and put it back together, you’ve got all the instruments you need to try to murder your spouse.
Brian’s attorney alleges Hannah’s own mother Nicole could have been the one poisoning Hannah.
Chad Morgan: I’m suggesting they’re looking in the wrong place.
He claims Nicole gave Hannah milkshakes that could have been laced with lead.
Chad Morgan: … tell me why her mom was coming to her house every day for almost a year, giving her a milkshake.
Anne-Marie Green: Did you look into her mother?
Kelly Cimino: The thought was considered … you — you don’t want to rule anyone out before.
Assistant District Attorney Kelly Cimino.
Kelly Cimino: And Nicole just didn’t have that kind of access to her daughter.
Anne-Marie Green: Did your mom bring you milkshakes?
Hannah Pettey: No, not that I recall …I don’t even like milkshakes. I really don’t even like milkshakes … I don’t drink milkshakes.
Hannah tells the jury how the pain affected her. Her body, in a sense, the crime scene and her brain scans, blood work and X-rays are discussed in open court. But there’s something she’s been holding back until she takes the stand.
Hannah Pettey: It is kind of emotional to talk about the fact that I can’t have children anymore.
On the day she was discharged, Hannah was smiling but, inside, she was heartbroken. Doctors had just told her she could no longer have children. She was only 22 years old.
When it’s Nicole’s turn to take the stand, she thinks she knows what’s coming from Brian’s defense attorney.
Nicole Pettey: I know … that he was gonna try to say that, possibly say that I had did this. … And I wasn’t really concerned about that because … I didn’t do it …
Cimino explains why prosecutors believe Brian used lead-filled capsules instead of mixing the lead into her food.
Kelly Cimino: … she would have tasted it. … And so that’s where … the … theory of the capsule comes in because it’s the only way that she would’ve willingly put it in her mouth and swallowed it and not noticed anything different …
After a day-and-a-half and seven witnesses, the state rests its case. And then so does the defense. Chad Morgan calls no witnesses.
Hannah Pettey: I was shocked that they’ve had three years to put this together and then it comes out that he has no defense at all.
Brian’s lawyer says he did his job and maintains that the lack of evidence in the state’s case is the best evidence of all.
Chad Morgan: There was a lot of assumptions about this is lead and that’s lead, but there was not one person that testified to anything that they actually saw him do, touch or even begin to believe that … she ingested something he gave her.
The jury gets the case on a Wednesday afternoon, and the next day returns a verdict: guilty.
Jeff Sollee: There was a — about a second of shock … I don’t think he was expecting that.
Juror Jeff Solee.
Jeff Sollee: That guy’s a monster.
Anne-Marie Green: Why do you say that?
Jeff Sollee: The arrogance it takes to essentially watch somebody waste away … And then not only watch during the poisoning, but also watch during, you know, the downfall. … I think that takes a very special person.
Hannah Pettey: … it took me a few seconds for it to — to … sink in that it was a guilty verdict. …I just immediately started feeling the tears well up because it was just this build up and I just had to step out.
Lt. Alan McDearmond: This is a great win for all domestic violence victims, especially those that are scared to come forward.
McDearmond is now chief of the Hartselle Police Department.And after a lot of reflection, Hannah allows herself to consider a hard truth.
Anne-Marie Green: Do you think he ever loved you?
Hannah Pettey: No, I truly don’t think that he did … I just don’t think any of it was real.
Anne-Marie Green: It’s gotta be hard to say.
Hannah Pettey: Yeah.
Anne-Marie Green: Cause it was real for you.
Hannah Pettey: Yes. It was very real for me.
Now it’s very real for Brian who was sentenced to life in prison in August 2025. And Hannah, who was once feared to be so brain-damaged that she would never be able to testify, graduated from college with a teaching degree.
Hannah Pettey
Carly Humphries Photography
Anne-Marie Green: And what does Hannah’s new life look like?
Hannah Pettey: You know I’m a teacher, so I’m starting at a new school this year. So, I’m just gonna focus on being the best teacher that I can be and … being the best mother I can be.
Life got even sweeter for Hannah when she and the children moved back into their old home, the one they used to share with Brian.
Hannah Pettey: I’ve repainted … I redecorated everything, cleaned it up really good. … I got all my stuff moved in there and just pictures of us three all in there. So now it feels like ours.
Hannah and Brian remain married. The next court date for the divorce proceedings is December 2026.
Produced by Paul La Rosa. David Dow and Tamara Weitzman are the development producers. Charlotte Fuller is the field producer. Wini Dini and Greg Kaplan are the editors. Dena Goldstein is the field producer. Nancy Bautista is the associate producer. Peter Schweitzer is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer.
The suspect in a Zebulon bank robbery will be charged with robbery and attempted murder after an altercation with Rocky Mount police.
Willie McGee Jr., 42, of Rocky Mount, is still hospitalized after a shootout with police, Rocky Mount police said in a Saturday afternoon statement. McGee is in stable condition. He will face one robbery charge and two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault on a law enforcement officer with a firearm and one count of discharging a weapon to incite fear.
Zebulon police responded to an armed robbery at First Citizens Bank on 101 Wakelon St. Friday morning, Rocky Mount police said. During the robbery, they said, McGee allegedly gave a written note to the bank employee stating he had explosives in his truck.
A Zebulon police dog, Koda, tracked McGee to his last known location, which was confirmed by surveillance video.
Investigators contacted the trucking company that owned the vehicle McGee used, a white 18-wheeler, to get his location information, Rocky Mount police said. Zebulon police tracked McGee to a Hobby Lobby parking lot at 760 Sutters Creek Blvd. in Rocky Mount and requested help from Rocky Mount police to arrest McGee.
Rocky Mount officers came to the parking lot around 4:15 p.m., Rocky Mount police said. They approached McGee, who got out of the cab of the truck and fired shots at the officers, police said. Officers fired back and struck McGee.
The N.C. State Bureau of Investigation bomb squad came to the scene to search the vehicle for explosives, Rocky Mount police said. The SBI search found no explosives.
Twumasi Duah-Mensah is a Breaking News Reporter for The News & Observer. He began at The N&O as a summer intern on the metro desk. Triangle born and Tar Heel bred, Twumasi has bylines for WUNC, NC Health News and the Center for Innovation and Sustainability in Local Media. Send him tips and good tea places at (919) 283-1187.
Who wanted Nicki Lenway dead? That was the question police were asking on the evening of April 20, 2022. Around 7:30 p.m., Lenway had pulled into the parking lot of FamilyWise parenting center to pick up her 5-year-old son, Callahan. She was halfway between her car and the door when she was ambushed from behind and shot multiple times at point-blank range.
Nicole “Nicki” Lenway, a crime scene investigator for the Minneapolis Police Department, was gunned down in broad daylight and left for dead in a parking lot. The shooting was captured on camera.
Miraculously, Lenway survived, telling “48 Hours” correspondent Erin Moriarty, “I fell to the ground. … And the shooter stands over me and continues to try to shoot.” The mystery of who tried to kill Lenway is unraveled in “Who Wanted Nicki Lenway Dead?” A 30-minute encore airs Saturday, Nov. 22, at a special time — 10:30/9:30c — following the NWSL Championship on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
After firing at Lenway — hitting her in the arm and neck — the shooter fled. Left bleeding and struggling to breathe, Lenway called 911, but when the operator answered Nicki realized she was unable to speak.
Nicki Lenway was no stranger to violence. The 33-year-old worked crime scenes for the Minneapolis Police. But she never imagined she’d find herself on the other side of an investigation. “I knew that this could happen … but I didn’t want to believe it would,” she tells Moriarty.
Across the street from where Lenway was gunned down, Emilie Clancy was in her car at a red light and had witnessed the whole thing. “There was, um, a person who ran up to another person. … I heard two bangs and that other person collapsed,” she said.When the light turned green, Clancy pulled up next to Lenway. Clancy took over the 911 call and had Lenway get into the front seat of her car. She took off her jacket and placed it over Lenway’s neck to try and help stop the bleeding.
As the two women waited for help to arrive, they shared a powerful moment Clancy will never forget. “I just looked her in the eyes. … And I said, ‘Nikki, we’ve got this. We’ve got this. Just stay with me…’ I just wanted her to know that she wasn’t alone in this … And if that was the only thing I can give to this poor girl, like that — that would mean something to me.” Within minutes, first responders arrived, and Lenway was rushed to a local hospital in critical condition.
Police began their investigation into who committed the brazen attack by scouring the area for clues. They learned Lenway had been at FamilyWise to pick up her son who had a scheduled visit with his father, her ex-boyfriend, Tim Amacher. Officers spoke to Amacher in the lobby of FamilyWise and found out he had been inside the building with his son when the shooting took place.
Surveillance cameras captured the shooter targeting Nicki Lenway.
Hennepin County District Court
The first big break in the case came when officers discovered there was security footage from FamilyWise and two surrounding buildings. The first images showed Nicki arriving to pick up her son and someone dressed in all black with a mask over their face running her down from behind. Another camera, from a bank across the street, captured the dramatic moment the shots were fired. The shooter could then be seen fleeing on foot and driving off in a black Dodge Ram truck. But the truck had no license plates, and police couldn’t tell who was behind the wheel.
The next day, police were able to interview Lenway in the hospital. They asked if she had any idea who would want to kill her. Without a second thought, she told them she was convinced Amacher was involved. Amacher was a well-liked local taekwondo instructor. For police, it didn’t make sense that Amacher could have been the shooter. They knew Amacher was inside Family Wise at the time of the shooting and couldn’t have pulled the trigger.
Still, Lenway told police she and Amacher had a long and rocky history that included allegations of abuse — “One night he threw me against the wall holding my neck” — and a bitter custody battle over their son that eventually went to trial in the fall of 2020. When it was over, the judge awarded Lenway sole legal and physical custody. Tim was allowed just one supervised visit a week. For police, it was a clear motive.
But what about Amacher’s alibi? Could police connect him with the shooting? One of the detectives at the crime scene had asked Amacher what cars he owned. Amacher told him he owned the Jeep he was driving and a Dodge Challenger sedan. But the detective didn’t just take his word for it, and when he checked with Driver and Vehicle Services, he made a shocking discovery. Tim Amacher owned another vehicle: a Black Dodge Ram truck, just like the one the shooter was seen driving off in.
If it was Amacher’s truck, who was driving it? Police looked to the FBI for help, and agent Richard Fennern, a technology specialist, was assigned to the case. Amacher’s truck was a newer model and Fennern learned it had Wi-Fi, which, just like a cellphone, creates a digital trail. “We could track it much like we could a cellphone,” said Fennern.
Using data from Tim’s truck and his cellphone records from earlier in the day before the shooting, Fennern concluded the black Dodge Ram truck the shooter drove off in was in fact the same truck Tim Amacher had been driving earlier. It was a huge break. But it still left police with the same question — who was the masked person driving it away from the scene after shooting Nicki?
Police would question Amacher, and he told them the only other person who had access to his truck was Colleen Larson. Larson was younger than Amacher — she had been his taekwondo student since she was an adolescent. When she was 18 years old, she moved in with the taekwondo master and their relationship would eventually become romantic. Neighbor Charlie Dettloff told Moriarty, “She would call him Master … and ultimately kinda became, you know, like a maid or a servant to him.”
Police questioned Larson twice. The first time she denied any involvement, but during the second interview, which was recorded, she broke down and confessed: “I took the truck and I drove over there … and then I shot her.” Even though Larson admitted to pulling the trigger, she said the whole thing was Amacher’s idea.
INVESTIGATOR: So, he asked you, if you felt comfortable would you shoot Nicole for me?
COLLEEN LARSON: Yeah.
INVESTIGATOR: Yes.
Larson told police that after the shooting she got rid of the black clothes she wore to disguise her identity, but Amacher had disposed of the gun.
COLLEEN LARSON: He just said he would take care of it.
INVESTIGATOR: He just said he would take care of it. … So, you have no idea what he did with the gun?
COLLEEN LARSON : Not exactly, no.
Despite what Larson told police, Amacher denied any involvement before or after the shooting. Tim Amacher went on trial on Nov. 3, 2022. He was found guilty of premeditated attempted murder and aiding his accomplice, Colleen Larson, and was sentenced to 18 years in prison. A few days later, Larson pleaded guilty to first-degree premeditated attempted murder. She was sentenced to 16-and-a-half years.
A Miami-Dade correctional officer was stabbed with a contraband shank by an inmate at Dade Correctional Institution; officers intervened and the wounded guard was flown to Jackson South Hospital.
A Miami-Dade corrections officer was stabbed in the chest Monday by an inmate wielding a “shank” who was being held for a murder charge, authorities say. The prison guard was hospitalized.
Jarvis Fortson, 44, is serving a life sentence at the Dade Correctional Institution in Homestead for first-degree murder. The attempted killing of Officer Raj Mitchell has Fortson now facing charges of attempted first-degree murder, resisting an officer with violence and possession of a contraband weapon, his arrest report read.
Around 12:30 a.m., Mitchell noticed Fortson out of his cell. He quickly went to Fortson to return him to his cell as Officer Danel Cottle watched from inside an officer station, the report read.
An argument broke out between Mitchell and Fortson in front of his cell that became violent when the prisoner attacked the officer with a “homemade weapon (shank).” While Mitchell tried to defend himself, Fortson stabbed him multiple times along the side of his torso.
Eventually, other correctional officers descended on them, breaking up the stabbing, the report read. Mitchell was treated by medical staff at the correctional institution before being airlifted to Jackson South Hospital.
He was treated for puncture wounds from the stabbing.
Miami Herald Cops and Breaking News Reporter Devoun Cetoute covers a plethora of Florida topics, from breaking news to crime patterns. He was on the breaking news team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2022. He’s a graduate of the University of Florida, born and raised in Miami-Dade. Theme parks, movies and cars are on his mind in and out of the office.
Antonio Brown, on the screen, appears for his bond hearing via Zoom requesting bail after his attorney, Mark Eiglarsh, right, filed a written plea of “not guilty” to the attempted murder charge in Bond Court (Courtroom 1-5) with Judge Mindy S. Glazer, center, presiding at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building on Wednesday, November 12, 2025, in Miami, Florida.
Carl Juste
cjuste@miamiherald.com
Former NFL star Antonio Brown made his first appearance in a Miami court on Wednesday morning — with a judge granting him a bond in his attempted murder case.
At the hearing, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Mindy Glazer allowed Brown to post a $25,000 bond to get out of jail. Glazer also placed Brown on a low-level house arrest, which allows him to work while wearing an ankle monitor, and ordered him to stay away from the victim.
Brown appeared via Zoom from jail and was quiet throughout the proceeding.
On Tuesday, Brown, 37, was extradited to Miami from Essex County, New Jersey. Law enforcement originally apprehended Brown in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Brown’s Instagram posts show he had been in the Middle East for the last few months.
The former All-Pro wide receiver was wanted on an attempted murder charge stemming from a May 16 dispute at a boxing event hosted by influencer Adin Ross. Brown entered a plea of not guilty, attorney Mark Eiglarsh told the Miami Herald.
At the bond court hearing, prosecutor Kimberly Rivera said the state sought to keep Brown in jail until his trial because he had “fled the country.”
“He was supposed to surrender; he did not,” Rivera said.
Brown, Eiglarsh said, was not on the run. Brown has business in Dubai — and hired Eiglarsh to surrender before he was extradited.
Mark Eiglarsh, right, pleas for bond for Antonio Brown as he challenges the account of the shooting after he filed a written plea of “not guilty” to the attempted murder charge in Bond Court (Courtroom 1-5) with Judge Mindy S. Glazer, center, presiding at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building on Wednesday, November 12, 2025, in Miami, Florida. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com
“He went there in May, before any warrant was issues,” Eiglarsh said. “From the scene, police let him leave.”
Ex-NFL star Antonio Brown was extradited from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to face trial for an attempted murder stemming from shooting in May, Miami police say. Miami-Dade Jail
Video of the incident outside the boxing event showed Brown appearing to hold a gun and running out of frame. Seconds later, gunshots were heard.
Brown allegedly punched Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, a 41-year-old, during the scuffle before the shooting. Detectives interviewed Nantambu, who said he tried to leave after Brown attacked him. But Brown, he asserted, chased him with a gun and fired at him — possibly grazing his neck.
“The actions he was forced to take were solely in self-defense against the alleged victim’s violent behavior. Brown was attacked that night and acted within his legal right to protect himself,” Eiglarsh said in a statement.
Former NFL player Antonio Brown takes a selfie with fans after the fourth quarter of an NBA game between the Miami Heat and the Brooklyn Nets at FTX Arena in Downtown Miami, Florida, on Saturday, March 26, 2022. Daniel A. Varela dvarela@miamiherald.com
Eiglarsh, Brown’s defense attorney, displayed a photo of Nantambu’s injury on his neck — and argued that it was inconsistent with being grazed by a bullet. At the hearing, prosecutors said Nantambu was not hit by a bullet.
Mark Eiglarsh, right, Antonio Brown’s attorney, holds a photo of Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu’s neck as he challenges the account of the shooting after he filed a written plea of “not guilty” to the attempted murder charge in Bond Court (Courtroom 1-5) with Judge Mindy S. Glazer, center, presiding at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building on Wednesday, November 12, 2025, in Miami, Florida. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com
After Rivera and Eiglarsh sparred about the shooting, Judge Glazer said the circumstances around the incident mostly reflect an aggravated assault rather than an attempted murder. The judge, however, did not reduce Brown’s charges.
Brown, the warrant says, was detained and searched. No firearm was found on him, although police found two spent shell casings and a damaged right-handed holster outside the venue. He was released because the man shot, later identified as Nantambu, was no longer at the venue. Nantambu had gone to HCA Florida Aventura Hospital to seek medical care.
After the scuffle, the former All-Pro wide receiver said on X he was jumped by multiple individuals who tried to steal my jewelry and cause physical harm to me.”
Antonio Brown, on the screen, appears for his bond hearing via Zoom requesting bail after his attorney, Mark Eiglarsh, right, filed a written plea of “not guilty” to the attempted murder charge in Bond Court (Courtroom 1-5) with Judge Mindy S. Glazer, center, presiding at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building on Wednesday, November 12, 2025, in Miami, Florida. Carl Juste cjuste@miamiherald.com
When the warrant was issued for the Miami native’s arrest in June, he had an attorney who secured him a $10,000 bond, including house arrest. But as months went by, Brown never turned himself in — and police would not divulge whether they planned on extraditing him.
Attorney Richard Cooper, who is representing Nantambu, told the Herald that Nantambu is grateful to law enforcement “for bringing the defendant back after this dangerous criminal had fled the country.”
“It was Mr. Brown’s intention to kill my client,” Cooper said at the hearing, alleging that Brown fired at Nantambu randomly.
Grethel covers courts and the criminal justice system for the Miami Herald. She graduated from the University of Florida (Go Gators!), speaks Spanish and Arabic and loves animals, traveling, basketball and good storytelling. Grethel also attends law school part time.
Ex-NFL star Antonio Brown was extradited from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to face trial for an attempted murder stemming from shooting in May, Miami police say.
Miami-Dade Jail
Former NFL star Antonio Brown on Tuesday returned to Miami, as he now sits behind the bars of the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, after spending months on the lam in the Middle East to evade an attempted murder case in May.
Brown was extradited to Miami from Essex County, New Jersey, where law enforcement took him Thursday after apprehending him in Dubai.
Mark Eiglarsh, his attorney, told the Miami Herald that he filed a written plea of not guilty to the attempted murder charge. Brown is set to appear in Miami court for a bail hearing at 9 a.m. Wednesday.
“The actions he was forced to take were solely in self-defense against the alleged victim’s violent behavior. Brown was attacked that night and acted within his legal right to protect himself,” Eiglarsh said in a press release.
Ex-NFL star Antonio Brown was extradited from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to face trial for an attempted murder stemming from shooting in May, Miami police say. Essex County Department of Corrections
On May 16, Brown got into a dispute at a boxing event hosted by influencer Adin Ross. The former All-Pro wide receiver said on X he was jumped by multiple individuals who tried to steal my jewelry and cause physical harm to me.” Video posted to social media showed Brown appearing to hold a gun and running out of frame. Seconds later, gunshots were heard.
Brown allegedly punched Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, a 41-year-old, during the scuffle before the shooting. An off-duty lieutenant with the Florida Highway Patrol broke up the fight.
Brown, the warrant says, was detained and searched. No firearm was found on him, although police found two spent shell casings and a damaged right-handed holster outside the venue. He was released because the man shot, later identified as Nantambu, was no longer at the venue.
When the warrant was issued for the Miami native’s arrest in June, he had an attorney who secured him a $10,000 bond, including house arrest. But as months went by, Brown never turned himself in — and police would not divulge whether they planned on extraditing him.
Miami Herald staff writer Grethel Aguila contributed to this report.
Miami Herald Cops and Breaking News Reporter Devoun Cetoute covers a plethora of Florida topics, from breaking news to crime patterns. He was on the breaking news team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2022. He’s a graduate of the University of Florida, born and raised in Miami-Dade. Theme parks, movies and cars are on his mind in and out of the office. Support my work with a digital subscription
Miami-Dade authorities have issued an arrest warrant for ex-NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown, charging him with attempted murder with a firearm following a May altercation outside a celebrity boxing event
Former NFL standout Antonio Brown, 36, is now the subject of a Miami-Dade County arrest warrant on a charge of attempted murder with a firearm stemming from a shooting May 16, outside a celebrity boxing event. According to the warrant, Brown allegedly seized a handgun from a security staffer and fired two shots at a man identified as Zul-Qarnain Kwame Nantambu, after allegedly punching him. One of the bullets is reported to have grazed Nantambu’s neck. Surveillance and cellphone video obtained by investigators show Brown advancing toward Nantambu, holding a weapon, and discharging it while standing just several feet away. Brown was extradited from Dubai back to the United States on Thursday, November 6th. Brown has been vocal about the incident on social media.
#News – Ex-NFL star Antonio Brown was arrested following an altercation that led to gunshots—allegedly fired by Brown—outside Adin Ross’s boxing event last night. He was released shortly after and appeared on Adin Ross’s stream😳| #ONLYinDADEpic.twitter.com/CdDNjdE6vD
The warrant sets Brown’s bond at $10,000 and mandates house arrest upon arrest. Currently, he is listed as “wanted” by authorities.
Brown was temporarily detained by police at the scene of the May incident after officers were alerted to gunfire near the Boxing event hosted by streamer Adin Ross. Although no one was arrested at that time and no weapon was recovered, two shell casings and an empty holster were found. In a social-media post following the event, Brown reportedly claimed he had been “jumped by multiple individuals who tried to steal my jewelry and cause physical harm to me,” and said he was released after providing his statement to police. He added, “I WENT HOME THAT NIGHT AND WAS NOT ARRESTED.”
Credit: Miami-Dade County Circuit Court
Brown took to his X account in June and stated, “That guy (referring to the alleged victim) is a fraud, liar, stalker & criminal He was arrested in 2022 for stealing 6 figures of jewelry from me He then showed up at my show at rolling loud in 2023 trying to assault me Then in May he snuck into a gate at the event and came right up to me trying to steal from me and threaten my life Media hasn’t told this story yet… instead painting a false picture of me That night I was fighting for my life with his intentions.”
That guy is a fraud, liar, stalker & criminal
He was arrested in 2022 for stealing 6 figures of jewelry from me
He then showed up at my show at rolling loud in 2023 trying to assault me
Then in May he snuck into a gate at the event and came right up to me trying to steal from… https://t.co/x6i3PkP50b
Second-degree attempted murder with a firearm carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine under Florida law. Brown’s involvement in this incident adds to a long list of legal controversies following his NFL career. Brown, once a seven-time Pro Bowl receiver who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has faced lawsuits for domestic violence, unpaid child support and other off-field issues.
The Miami-Dade police department declined to comment on the investigation.
Two correctional officers at California State Prison, Sacramento are hospitalized and an attempted murder investigation has been launched following an alleged attack on the officers Saturday night.
According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the correctional officers were escorting an inmate from a cell around 7 p.m. when they were attacked by an improvised weapon. The inmate was being escorted as prison staff were set to conduct a cell search.
Prison staff used physical force and chemical agents to stop the attack. Following the incident, officials said an improvised weapon was found at the scene.
The guards were taken to the prison’s triage and treatment area before taken to an outside medical facility. CDCR officials said both officers are in “fair” condition as of Sunday.
The inmate, identified as 48-year-old Jason Brannigan, was taken into restricted housing pending investigation, officials said.
According to correctional records, Brannigan is from Sacramento County and has been imprisoned since at least March 2011. Brannigan is serving a 17-year, 8-month sentence after being convicted of multiple offenses, including corporal injury to a spouse and criminal threats.
While in prison, officials said Brannigan was sentenced in 2022 to four years for possession / manufacture of a deadly weapon.
Officials said the case will be referred to the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
As of Sunday afternoon, the prison located in Folsom is on “modified programming” to complete a 24-hour threat assessment, officials said. Peer support and other support services are being offered to prison employees.
According to CDCR, the prison houses more than 2,200 medium-, maximum- and high-security inmates.
A woman was convicted of attempted murder for shooting and seriously hurting her 13-year-old daughter during an argument in 2024 in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
A woman was convicted of attempted murder for shooting and seriously hurting her 13-year-old daughter during an argument in 2024 in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
Talecka C. Brown, 33, has been convicted of attempted first-degree murder, first-degree child abuse, first-degree assault, and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, according to a news release.
Brown shot her daughter in the neck during an argument in their Seat Pleasant home in September 2024 shortly after she came home from school. Her daughter told police that she was walking down the stairs when her mom shot her.
She faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
“It is unimaginable that a mother would turn on her own child in such a violent way,” State’s Attorney Tara H. Jackson said in a release.
Brown’s sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 19, 2026.
“A mother has a duty to love, protect, and nurture her child, not cause them harm,” Jackson said.
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In Miami-Dade, a road rage incident led to a shooting where Emilio Rodriguez allegedly shot a man in the face on Friday night.
Two men began arguing after a road rage incident in Miami-Dade on Friday, when one of them pulled out a gun and fired what he claimed was a “warning shot” — but which struck the other man in the face instead, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies say that around 7:45 p.m., the two men got out of their cars and began to argue near Northwest 84th Avenue and Central Park Boulevard in Doral.
As one of the men walked back to his car, deputies say 54-year-old Emilio Rodriguez pulled out a gun and yelled at him. When the man turned around, Rodriguez fired, hitting him in the face, according to the arrest affidavit.
The sheriff’s office didn’t release the name of the man who was shot.
Rodriguez then got back into his car and fled the scene, deputies said.
The wounded man was taken to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital, where his condition was stabilized.
Rodriguez was later detained and admitted to investigators that he fired a “warning shot near the victim’s head,” according to his arrest paperwork.
Deputies said that the entire incident was captured on nearby surveillance footage.
Rodriguez is charged with attempted murder and remains in custody at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center as of Saturday, with his bond still to be set, according to jail records.
Nine alleged members of Oakland-based Sureño street gangs are facing racketeering charges in connection with murders and other related crimes, federal officials said Wednesday.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California announced the indictments on the same day six of the suspects were arrested in coordinated law enforcement operations. Authorities arrested 24-year-old Marvin Bonilla, 24-year-old Edwin Cano-Marida, 31-year-old Walfer Mendoza-Mendoza, 24-year-old Mario Pablo-Matias, 31-year-old Raymundo Pablo-Matias and 28-year-old Carlos Ramiro-Mendoza.
Law enforcement, including the FBI, on the scene of a sweep of alleged Sureño gang members in Oakland on Oct. 29, 2025.
CBS
Two other suspects, 28-year-old Cesar Rolando Lucas-Pablo and 41-year-old Jeronimo Pablo-Carrillo, were already in custody, officials said. The 9th suspect, identified as 25-year-old Gonzalo Pablo, remains at large.
“Like people everywhere, the residents of Oakland deserve safe and peaceful neighborhoods, not ones filled with fear and senseless violence,” said United States Attorney Craig Missakian said in a statement. “My office will continue to partner with local and federal law enforcement to reclaim our streets from the gangs who threaten our residents.”
“These individuals have caused lasting damage to our community for years,” said Assistant Chief James Beere of the Oakland Police Department. “Their violent actions, including shootings and homicides, have left families mourning and communities forever changed.”
According to prosecutors, the suspects belonged to the Oakland Sureños, who are part of the larger Sureños street gang and are subordinate to and allied with the Mexican Mafia prison gang. Members are accused of committing more than a dozen criminal acts, including at least two murders and three attempted murders, along with shootings, firearms trafficking and narcotics trafficking.
Prosecutors said the crimes included committing violence against people perceived as rivals of the Sureños, which led to innocent members of the public being injured or killed.
In addition to the racketeering charges, which carry a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison, six of the suspects are facing additional sentencing factors that could lead to life in prison.
Among those facing a potential life sentence include Gonzalez Pablo for his alleged role in a Nov. 2018 attempted murder, Lucas-Pablo, Pablo-Carillo and Ramiro-Mendoza for their alleged role a Jan. 5, 2019 murder, Ramiro-Mendoza and Pablo-Carillo for their alleged role in a Jan. 18, 2019 murder; along with Cano-Merida and Mario Pablo-Matias for their alleged role in an attempted murder in May 2021.
Prosecutors said the suspects are scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday.
Man angry at judge’s decision threatened to kill her with ax in 2024, New Mexico officials said.
Getty Images/iStockphoto
A man is going to prison after being accused of threatening to kill a judge with an ax, New Mexico officials said.
In April 2024, John Karl O’Brien didn’t agree with Judge Amanda Sanchez Villalobos’ ruling in a civil case, according to an Oct. 23 news release by the New Mexico Department of Justice.
After growing angry, O’Brien went to an Albuquerque law firm and threatened the staff, prosecutors said.
He told the staff he had a gun and that “people were going to die today” before stating he was going to the 13th Judicial District courthouse to “kill” judge Sanchez Villalobos, prosecutors said.
Before driving to the Cibola County courthouse, witnesses saw O’Brien get an ax from the roof of his car, officials said.
An attorney at the law firm reported the threat to the court, and Sanchez Villalobos was kept safe in her chambers by deputies when O’Brien entered the building with the ax, officials said.
He was convicted on felony charges of attempted first-degree murder and threatening a judge Sept. 11, officials said.
He was sentenced to 10½ years in prison and will be required to serve parole following his incarceration, officials said.
Cibola County is about an 80-mile drive west from Albuquerque.
A Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools employee was charged with attempted murder on Friday in a domestic violence case, police said.
Muhammad Farhad
Getty Images/iStockphoto
A Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools employee was charged with attempted murder on Friday in a domestic violence case, police said.
Cheryl Harris Gates, 43, of Charlotte, is also charged with contaminating food or drink to render one mentally incapacitated or physically helpless; stalking; and damage to property.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police provided no information about what they believe happened.
Records in North Carolina’s online court system, eCourts, were not fully available Friday. A message on the system’s website said it was down through Sunday because more counties were being added to the system.
Before the online court system went down Friday, The Charlotte Observer was able to see some of the records. An arrest warrant for misdemeanor stalking was issued for Gates on Sept. 29. The victim in the stalking case was listed as James Gates, and Cheryl Gates was accused of placing a tracking device on his vehicle.
The arrest warrant in the stalking case was returned on Tuesday and a release order was issued. The online court file says an unsecured bond was set at $5,000, which would have meant Cheryl Gates would have been released.
A CMPD news release Friday on the attempted murder charge said detectives found Gates on Friday and arrested her in that case.
Observer public safety editor Patrick Wilson contributed to this report.
This story was originally published October 10, 2025 at 7:16 PM.
Joe Marusak has been a reporter for The Charlotte Observer since 1989 covering the people, municipalities and major news events of the region, and was a news bureau editor for the paper. He currently reports on breaking news. Support my work with a digital subscription
