Thornton Police arrested three suspects on Jan. 14 after a burglary in the 9600 block of Huron Street resulted in a shooting that killed one person, according to Thornton police.
The case was presented to the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, which filed the following charges:
Vincent Rios was charged with possession with intent to manufacture or distribute a controlled substance. Leo Bonavich was charged with first-degree burglary and a crime of violence. Richard Hernandez was charged with first-degree burglary, vehicular eluding and a crime of violence.
Police responded to the situation after a 911 call came in about gunshots in the 9600 block of Huron Street around 4:30 a.m.
The caller described a “suspect vehicle. Police saw the vehicle leaving the area and started chasing it. Police stopped the vehicle by hitting it near West 56th Avenue and Federal Boulevard, just off of Interstate 76
Four people were inside the vehicle, including one man who had been fatally shot. The remaining three suspects were arrested, including one who tried to flee the scene on foot.
Officers also found a 35-year-old man near the scene of the shooting who had also been shot and was taken to the hospital, but did not have life-threatening injuries, police said.
Investigators believe the group of suspects was trying to break into a home when they were confronted by people living there, which is when the shooting happened.
As the man accused of killing a Raleigh teacher sits in jail, one
past victim says more should have been done to keep the alleged murderer off
the streets.
36-year-old Ryan Camacho is facing multiple charges in the killing
of Zoe Welsh, a long-time science teacher at the private Ravencroft School.
Police say Camacho attacked Welsh while she was on the phone with 911, after he broke into her home.
For Wes Phillips, the killing hits far too close to home.
“It’s not like there weren’t signs,” said Phillips, a long-time
Raleigh resident and father. “We were really adamant about the danger that we
felt we were in, and perhaps other people were in, and it just wasn’t taken
seriously.”
According to Phillips, nearly a decade ago, Ryan Camacho stalked,
harassed and terrified his family for more than a year. Camacho’s actions,
Phillips said, forced his family to move twice, and pleas that something be
done went unanswered.
Phillips said one of the scariest moments came on October 8, 2016, during
Hurricane Matthew. Phillips said he was with his son at their then-home in
Mordecai when he looked outside and saw Camacho.
“It was like a horror movie, like he was standing there in a black
jacket, staring at us in front of our house during a hurricane. Not talking,
like making sure that we knew who he was,” Phillips said.
Phillips had already moved his family once that year, he says, to
get away from Camacho, who had lived next door to the family in the Five Points
area. Phillips said the move came after property damage and disturbing
behavior from Camacho.
On October 8, Phillips called the police and then jumped in his
car, shooting video on his cell phone. At one point in the video, Camacho can
be seen trying to open the driver’s side door.
“I had locked the car, and he was pulling on the door, trying to
get in,” Phillips said.
Phillips said Camacho eventually disappeared, returning several
days later. Phillips said he and his son were out when his wife looked outside
to see Camacho walk up and grab a large rock.
Security video taken that day shows a man throwing a rock into the
windshield of Phillip’s car, and then through the sunroof, before punching and
kicking the car several times.
Phillips moved his family again after that, trying to put as much
distance between his family and Camacho as he could.
Two years later, Camacho returned to the Phillips’ now former
Mordecai townhome, this time with a gun.
“He shot into our building where he thought that, I can only
assume, where he thought that we lived,” Phillips said. “That’s something that
stays with us.”
No one was injured in the shooting. Court documents show Camacho
did face multiple charges for shooting into an occupied dwelling, ultimately
spending two years in prison.
Phillips says that wasn’t enough.
He said he called the police three
to four times about Camacho before that, and attempted to have a no-contact
order served. He said Camacho ultimately faced no charges for harassing his
family.
“Part of the reason I’m here is it makes me really angry. It makes
me angry that it feels like there was a complete institutional, just failure
here that led to, you know, a woman being killed,” said Phillips.
WRAL has been asking prosecutors and judges why Camacho hadn’t
faced more serious consequences sooner.
In an interview on Monday, Wake County District Attorney Lorrin
Freeman did point out that Camacho has spent a significant amount of time behind
bars, much of that time for shooting into Phillips’ former home.
“He has spent a lot of time bouncing between the prison system and
the local jails over the last few years and has really been in custody all but
maybe a total of 12 months within the past 6 years,” Freeman said.
Freeman also pointed out that in December, Camacho faced breaking and
entering charges, and prosecutors did push to have Camacho involuntarily
committed. That request was ultimately denied by Judge Louis Meyer.
WRAL has reached out to Judge Meyer for comment. So far, we’re
still waiting for a reply.
“The judge has to make a decision based on the evidence available
to them at that point in time. They don’t have the benefit of course of a
crystal ball and look and see what’s going to happen,” said Freeman. “Based on
the evidence that was available to the court at the time, the court did not
find that he met the threshold for involuntary commitment. For involuntary
commitment, the judge has to make a finding that they are a danger to
themselves or others. And when we talk about danger in that context, it’s an
imminent danger to themselves or others.”
For his part, Wes Phillips said he doesn’t know what needs to
change to keep dangerous people off the streets. But he is now haunted by a new
question.
“My wife and I are asking ourselves right now as we think about
what happened this past week,” said Phillips, “how close did we come to being
that person, and could that have been prevented?”
Grief counselors will be on hand Monday at Ravenscroft School to help students and faculty deal with the loss of a teacher.
Zoe Welsh, a science teacher at the school and chair of the science department, was killed after police say a man broke into her home on Saturday.
According to the Raleigh Police Department, Welsh called 911 around 6:33 a.m. from her home on Clay Street to report that a man was inside her home. While Welsh was on the phone, the suspect began assaulting her.
In a statement, the school said Welsh was a cornerstone of the school’s science department and the Ravenscroft community for years.
“Her loss is deeply felt by all of us who had the privilege of working with her and learning in her classroom,” the school said.
Ryan Camacho, 36, is charged with Welsh’s murder and felony burglary. He is expected to be in court on Monday.
There is no indication if Camacho and Welsh knew each other.
Ryan Camacho
According to court documents, Camacho has a lengthy criminal history going back more than a decade in both Wake and Durham counties. Court records show Camacho has been arrested more than 20 times.
In many of those cases, Camacho was either charged with a misdemeanor or the cases were dropped altogether.
However, Camacho was arrested in 2021 after he escaped from state prison in Salisbury. Two years earlier, he pleaded guilty to shooting into occupied property.
In December, breaking or entering charges against Camacho in a separate case were dismissed following a mental competency examination. During the hearing, prosecutors asked to have Camacho involuntarily committed but that request was denied by a judge, according to District Attorney Lorrin Freeman, who spoke with WRAL News over the phone Sunday.
A Wendell man accused of breaking into a Four Oaks home
and assaulting a couple appeared in court Friday.
A judge ordered that Thomas Wright be held without bond at the Johnston County Detention Center. Before Friday, Wright had a
$250,000 bond.
Wright, 39, is charged with:
Two counts of felony breaking and entering to terrorize or injure
Two counts of assault with serious bodily injury
Two counts of attempted larceny
A court document states Wright assaulted 74-year-old Teresa
Rhodes and 81-year-old James Rhodes who were living in the home along Devils Race Track
Road north of Stewart Road in Four Oaks. He is accused of hitting both in the face. Both the
woman and man received treatment at the hospital, according to the document.
Johnston County District Attorney Jason Waller said it’s the
state’s intent to upgrade the charges to two counts of burglary, which he said
are more serious charges as Class D felonies.
Waller said during the daytime on New Year’s Eve, Wright was
trespassing in Ronnie’s Country Store.
“Mr. Wright then proceeded down Devils Racetrack Road where
he came into contact with the Rhodes family,” Waller said. “James Rhodes will
tell you he was outside, he heard his dogs barking, at that point he saw this
individual, Mr. Wright [went] to his screen door, started yanking on it, and
then he kicked in the screen door, at which time, James [Rhodes] followed Mr. Wright
inside, and saw Mr. Wright assault his wife, Teresa, then ransacked the home
and started to assault Mr. Rhodes, himself.”
Waller said Wright then tried entering a neighbor’s house.
However, Waller said the neighbor was able to stop him.
Wright is also accused of trying to steal a 2016 Honda CRV
and a 2016 Chevrolet Cruze, according to the court documents.
According to Waller, a family member of the Rhodes saw
Wright walking down the street and detained him until law enforcement arrived.
Teresa Rhodes is still in ICU at WakeMed, according to Waller.
“She has a broken eye socket, a concussion, a CT scan showed
multiple brain bleeding, hematoma and suspected eye damage,” Waller said.
James Rhodes was discharged from ICU on New Year’s Day,
Waller said.
“He suffered a broken nose, a broken eye socket, laceration
to his ear, trace bleeding in his brain, multiple hematomas, and he had just
had open heart surgery,” Waller said.
Waller said Wright had three prior convictions, two of which
are assaults and an indecent exposure charge.
“Having your house broken into on New Year’s Day on broad
daylight and being assaulted certainly shows that someone is a danger to the
public,” Waller said.
Moore was arraigned today on felony charges after prosecutors said he entered the home of a woman who worked for him and with whom he had a personal relationship, allegedly making disturbing and threatening statements
The now former University of Michigan head football coach Sherrone Moore was charged Friday with three criminal offenses -including a felony home invasion count- just hours after being fired amid allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a staff member, authorities said.
NEW: Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore charged with home invasion and stalking following his alleged “attack” at his mistress’s apartment.
The married former coach could face up to six years behind bars.
Moore, 39, faces a third-degree home invasion felony and two misdemeanor counts of stalking in a domestic relationship and breaking and entering, according to court records. Prosecutors allege that Wednesday evening, he unlawfully entered the home of a woman with whom he had an intimate relationship after she ended their relationship earlier in the week. And again, just hours after Moore was fired by the Wolverines for having an inappropriate relationship with the woman, who reportedly worked for him directly.
Pittsfield Township police responded to a call from the woman, who told dispatchers that a man had been stalking her for months and was attacking her in her home, according to the criminal complaint. The woman had ended the relationship, and prosecutors said Moore continued to contact her with unwanted calls and messages. A prosecutor said today in Ann Arbor District Court, that Moore pulled knives from the woman’s kitchen drawer and made threatening statements.
Washtenaw County Prosecutor Kati Rezmierski revealed shocking statements allegedly made by the defendant to the woman while inside her home
“I’m going to kill myself, I’m going to make you watch. My blood is on your hands,” Rezmierski relayed to the judge. Moore was arrested and booked into the Washtenaw County Jail, where he remained until his arraignment today. In court, he appeared virtually wearing a white jumpsuit and was ordered to post a $25,000 surety bond with conditions that include GPS monitoring, avoiding contact with the victim and continued mental health treatment. His attorney insisted he was not a threat to the public and has no criminal record.
After the internal investigation found that Moore was involved with a staffer, a violation of school policy, the remainder of his contract was voided. Moore served as Michigan’s head coach for two seasons, leading the Wolverines to a 9-3 record in 2025. He had been promoted to the position in 2024 following the departure of Jim Harbaugh. Associate head coach Biff Poggi has been named interim coach for the team’s upcoming bowl game. Moore’s next hearing is in January of 2026.
Lillie Davidson is a breaking news reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She graduated from TCU in 2025 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, is fluent in Spanish, and can complete a crossword in five minutes.
One person has been arrested and authorities are looking for a second suspect following a home invasion robbery and shooting in a Vacaville neighborhood Thursday afternoon.
According to a police statement, officers were called to a home on Chateau Way around 2 p.m. A resident told police that two suspects entered the home and committed an armed robbery. During the home invasion, police said an adult victim sustained at least one gunshot wound to an extremity.
Officers and detectives arrived at the home within minutes, along with emergency personnel. The victim was taken to a local hospital and was listed in “stable condition”, according to police.
With help from the California Highway Patrol’s Air Support Unit and the Fairfield Police Department, authorities located the suspect vehicle in Fairfield. One of the suspects, identified as 29-year-old Dandre Wilson of Sacramento, was taken into custody without further incident.
According to jail records, Wilson is being held at the Solano County Jail on suspicion of 1st degree robbery, assault with a firearm, carrying a concealed weapon, carrying a loaded firearm and conspiracy, along with a bench warrant. Wilson is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.
The second suspect remained at large as of Thursday evening, but police said detectives are investigating leads in the case.
Police said there is no ongoing threat to the public and that they believe the incident was isolated.
Anyone with additional information about the case is asked to contact the department’s -non-emergency line at 707-449-5200.
Two suspects were arrested last week in connection with an armed home invasion near Tampa, Florida, that occurred back in August in which an Apple AirTag was used to track the victims’ SUV, authorities said.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office released surveillance video Monday that showed the attempted armed robbery of a couple after they pulled into the driveway of their home in Odessa, a community north of Tampa, on the night of Aug. 19.
Deputies said the suspects had taped an AirTag under the bumper of the victims’ vehicle and then tracked it to the home and lay in wait.
The video showed two men forcing the couple into their garage.
“The wife opens her door, and she’s immediately attacked by one of our suspects,” Hillsborough County Chief Deputy Joseph Maurer told CBS News. “He physically grabs her and pulls her out of the car. Almost simultaneously, the driver and husband gets pulled out of the car with a gun into his waist.”
However, after entering the garage, the house alarm was triggered, prompting the two suspects to flee, the sheriff’s office said. The AirTag was later found by investigators taped beneath the vehicle.
Deputies arrested 26-year-old Luis Charles in Tampa on Oct. 8, and, two days later, 32-year-old Omardy Maldonado-Rodriguez was apprehended in Pasco County, where Odessa is located, the sheriff’s office said. Both were booked on charges including armed kidnapping and armed burglary.
Maurer said that while the AirTag allowed the suspects to track their victims, it also helped investigators track the suspects because “they used their name to purchase” the AirTag, he alleged.
“They used their name to register it, and their phone number, and their email address,” Maurer said. “So that was the big break in the case, because we were able to identify through video surveillance who these suspects were.”
Roberto Larreal, who owns a Miami-based home security company, told CBS News people should be aware that their iPhone will show them if there is an AirTag near them, even if it is not theirs.
“The iPhone can let you know whether an AirTag was found near you,” Larreal said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s yours or not. And then if you have an Android, there’s apps that you can download, and the app can do the search for you. So it keeps you aware.”
Apple says it works closely with law enforcement and safety groups. The company says that each AirTag is tied to a specific Apple ID and serial number.
A Fort Lauderdale homeowner was stabbed in his sleep, fought off the intruder and chased him until police K-9s and a sheriff’s helicopter tracked and arrested the suspect.
MH
A Fort Lauderdale homeowner was sleeping peacefully early Monday morning when he was suddenly awakened by a man stabbing him repeatedly. After an adrenaline-fueled scuffle, he fought the intruder off, who was later hunted down by police.
Around 4:30 a.m., the unidentified homeowner was sleeping in his house in the 600 block of Northeast Eight Avenue. He awoke to Joseph Defex, 31, striking him several times with a “sharp object,” Fort Lauderdale police said.
Defex then ran from the house, but the homeowner gave chase and fought the man in an effort to restrain him until police arrived. However, when the victim saw Defex still had a “sharp object” in his hand, he let him go.
Fort Lauderdale police K-9s and a Broward Sheriff’s Office helicopter tracked Defex down, police said. He was arrested and charged with burglary with assault or battery and giving a false name to law enforcement.
The homeowner was rushed to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
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.
After a man is accused of breaking into her home, a woman tracked her stolen AirPods using the “Find My” app, helping investigators locate the alleged intruder, police say.
Unsplash via Daniel Romero
A woman used the “Find My” feature on her phone to help investigators find her AirPods stolen during a home invasion, Pennsylvania authorities say.
It also helped officers locate the 33-year-old man accused of breaking into the Upper Southampton Township home Oct. 7 and taking them, according to police.
The Upper Southampton Township Police Department said the man broke into a home around 2:45 a.m. and fled when he was “confronted by residents.”
He left behind a knife and an extension cord, which investigators said were brought into a bedroom.
The accused invader took the resident’s AirPods, and she tracked their movements through the “Find My” app on her phone, police said.
Apple’s “Find My” app allows users to track their Apple devices, including iPhones, iPads and AirPods. Users can see on a map exactly where their devices are.
The app led investigators to nearby Philadelphia, where they found the AirPods in a Kia Forte that matched the description of the vehicle from the home invasion, according to an Oct. 8 news release.
The 33-year-old suspect, from Philadelphia, was located in the vehicle and was taken into custody, police said. Interviewed by officers, he “made statements linking himself to the crime,” according to investigators.
His charges include burglary, aggravated assault, criminal trespassing and simple assault, court records show.
Upper Southampton Township is about a 25-mile drive northeast from downtown Philadelphia.
Mike Stunson covers real-time news for McClatchy. He is a 2011 Western Kentucky University graduate who has previously worked at the Paducah Sun and Madisonville Messenger as a sports reporter and the Lexington Herald-Leader as a breaking news reporter.
Two Texas brothers have each been charged with seven felonies for an incident in an eastern Twin Cities suburb that prompted law enforcement activity near Mahtomedi High School late last week.
Charges filed Wednesday show the men, ages 24 and 23, each face three counts of using a firearm to kidnap a person, three counts of first-degree assault during a burglary with a firearm and one count of first-degree robbery using a firearm.
According to the complaints, a man called 911 around 4:45 p.m. on Friday, saying he and his family had been kidnapped and were being held at gunpoint in their Grant, Minnesota, home. There, the caller’s father was forced at gunpoint to transfer at least $36,000 to an unknown cyberwallet from his accounts.
The caller’s father was then forced to drive to a family cabin about three hours away from their home, where another crypto wallet was kept. There, he was forced to transfer at least another $36,000 to an unknown account, the complaint states.
The father later told investigators he believed some of his account information had been leaked during a data breach.
Charging documents say police searched an area around the home and found a suitcase in a tree line. Inside, the complaint says an AR-15 style rifle, as well as clothing, liquid bottles and cans plus a receipt for a Wendy’s restaurant, were found. That receipt helped track down the vehicle used at the time of purchase, leading investigators to discover it had been rented near Houston, Texas, on Sept. 16.
Security footage showed the same vehicle parked outside a home in Waller, Texas, where the man who rented the car lives with his brother. That same car was found parked at a motel in Roseville, Minnesota, where rooms were rented on Sept. 17 for multiple days.
According to the charges, the two suspects ran up to one of the victims around 7:45 a.m. on Sept. 19 as he brought a garbage can out to the street. He said both men were dressed in dark clothing, had masks on and were armed — one with a shotgun and another with an AR-15 style rifle. He was brought back to the garage, where he was tied up.
Then, the men entered the home and woke the other victims up and bound them, before one of the suspects held them at gunpoint in a bedroom for nine hours. That room’s door was tied shut with a wire, which had to be cut before they were freed later in the day.
During this time, the man who was tied up in the garage was forced to log into his cryptocurrency accounts and transfer money before driving to the cabin to transfer more funds. The 911 call was placed as the victim and suspect arrived back at the home, and the complaint says police passed the vehicle they were traveling in. The suspect, who was driving the vehicle, turned it around and parked it before running off and leaving his gun in a nearby field.
Meanwhile, the suspect who was inside the home left about 10 minutes before squads arrived at the scene and is caught on camera running out a back door to a nearby hiking trail.
One of the brothers is seen driving up to the hotel they were staying at shortly after. The vehicle was tracked through GPS data, and investigators say it traveled to and from Minnesota and Texas between Sept. 16-20, and that it was near the victim’s home and near the Roseville motel.
The vehicle was stopped on Sept. 20 in Oklahoma, the charges say, and one of the brothers said his AR-15 had been reported as stolen on Sept. 22. The serial number on the gun’s box, found during a search of his home, matched the one found in Minnesota. The other gun used during the incident is registered to the same brother, according to the complaint.
The documents say both men are in custody on a 48-hour hold in Texas. The complaints filed for each man ask that they be brought back to Minnesota for a court appearance.
Oakland police warned the public on Wednesday against robbers posing as police officers before entering residences.
According to the Oakland Police Department, there were two recent residential robberies in East Oakland where suspects dressed in plain clothes verbally identified themselves as police officers.
“In several recent cases, one to four unknown suspects have broken into residences, searched, and demanded items from the victims. When confronted or questioned about their identity, the suspects announce ‘OPD,’ and another incident announces ‘police’ as they enter the residence,” the police department said.
Investigators are looking into this trend while additional officers have been deployed to areas around the city, according to police.
The following are tips from the Oakland Police Department:
OPD officers will knock and announce their presence.
OPD officers will be in clothing that identifies them as law enforcement officers.
OPD plainclothes officers do not force entry into residences.
Don’t resist.
Trust your instincts. If in doubt, call 911.
Anyone who has been victimized similarly or has information regarding any of these cases is asked to call Oakland police at (510) 238-3326.
BEVERLY — A man who was serving a life sentence for a 1987 execution-style murder in Salem has been granted parole, despite the objections of the victim’s family and the Essex District Attorney’s office.
Charles “Chucky” Doucette, who pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of Raymond Bufalino, was granted parole by the state parole board on May 13.
Doucette, who is now 64, shot Bufalino twice in the head as they were sitting in Bufalino’s car near Harmony Grove Cemetery on the Salem-Peabody line in 1987. He was also convicted of two violent home invasions while on bail awaiting trial, and was arrested when he was out on parole on two previous occasions.
In its unanimous decision, the parole board said Doucette “has demonstrated a level of rehabilitation that would make his release compatible with the welfare of society.”
In testimony before the parole board in March, Bufalino’s wife, Shauna O’Sullivan, pleaded with the board not to release Doucette.
“With his tendency for violence I fear that he will reoffend,” she said in a video of the hearing. “I would hate to hear of another person having to live through the anguish and emotional turmoil that I went through. I believe he made his choice all those years ago and that he should be held accountable for his crimes.”
O’Sullivan said her son was 9½ months old at the time his father was murdered.
“I’m not angry or bitter,” she told the board. “I’m past that now, some 38 years later.
“I feel I owe it to my husband’s memory to say something.”
Bufalino’s sister and brother also spoke against giving Doucette parole. In a statement read by a victim service advocate at the parole hearing, Suzanne Maynard and Anthony Bufalino called Doucette a “menace to society and a true threat to society.
“Look at what happened the first time he got paroled,” they said. “Nothing but trouble. So tell me, since being back in prison has he changed? I doubt it.”
Essex County Assistant District Attorney Kayla Burns also spoke against parole, saying Doucette has continued to minimize his culpability and deflect blame.
“He puts the blame on other people being in his life,” Burns said.
During the hearing, Doucette, who has lived in Beverly and Peabody, said he has changed in his years in prison thanks to counseling and programs on subjects such as domestic violence and anger management.
“I’ve always been bigger and stronger than most people. I always got my way through intimidation and being a total ass,” he told the parole board. “I’m not that person today. I have children. I have grandchildren. I have great-grandchildren. I don’t want them to make the mistakes I made. I want them to learn from the mistakes I made.”
Doucette’s mother and sister spoke in favor of his release. His sister, Kim Malick, said Doucette has remained close to her children, who are now in their 20s.
“He met my oldest daughter when she fit into the palm of his hand in prison,” Malik said. “I would love for him to have the opportunity to come home and see her.”
Doucette had been granted parole twice previously and was arrested both times — once on a rape charge that was later dropped, and another on a domestic assault charge of which he was acquitted — and sent back to prison.
In total, Doucette was serving seven life sentences for the murder, two counts of home invasion, two counts of armed robbery, and two counts of stealing by confining or putting a person in fear.
He was denied parole in his last three attempts before the board granted parole in May.
According to the board’s decision, Doucette has invested in his rehabilitation, including participating in domestic violence programs and counseling, and working and volunteering in the prison law library. “He has strong vocational skills and work ethic,” the board said.
Doucette has maintained stable relationships with his family and has been sober since 1990, according to the board.
He told the board he wanted to get his commercial driving license and move to Texas to be near his family.
Bufalino, of Salem, worked for Doucette’s father at a Salem gas station and was considering a lawsuit after getting injured while working. Doucette was also angry that Bufalino owed him money, according to the parole board’s statement of the case.
While seated together in Bufalino’s car, Doucette shot him once behind the right ear and once in the mouth. Bufalino’s body was found by his wife, who had gone to search for him. He was 30 years old.
At the hearing, Doucette apologized to Bufalino’s family. At one point he broke down crying when he said that his own daughter no longer talks to him.
“I know how bad it hurt me with my own daughter not being part of my life,” Doucette said. “I can’t put into words what I must have cost Ray’s family and his son especially.”
After gaining parole, Doucette was scheduled to be released to a long-term residential program. Conditions included a 10 p.m. curfew, electronic monitoring at the parole officer’s discretion, a substance abuse treatment plan, domestic violence counseling, counseling for intimate partner/co-dependence relations, and no contact with the victim’s family.
Staff Writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2535, by email at pleighton@salemnews.com, or on Twitter at @heardinbeverly.
While responding to a reported stabbing and home invasion in District Heights, Maryland, a Prince George’s County police officer shot a person who was armed with a block of wood.
Prince George’s County Police Chief Malik Aziz speaks to reporters at the scene of the shooting and stabbing on April 14, 2024.(Courtesy Prince George’s County Police Department)
Prince George’s County Police Chief Malik Aziz speaks to reporters at the scene of the shooting and stabbing on April 14, 2024.(Courtesy Prince George’s County Police Department)
While responding to a reported stabbing and home invasion in District Heights, Maryland, a Prince George’s County police officer shot a person who was holding a block of wood.
Two people are in critical condition: the person who was shot by police and a victim who was stabbed, Prince George’s County Police Chief Malik Aziz told reporters at a news conference.
The incident occurred around 9:55 a.m. Sunday morning when officers responded to the 1800 block of Addison Road South for a 911 call reporting a home invasion and stabbing, Aziz said.
On arrival, officers observed two individuals at the scene. One had been stabbed and the other was holding a 2X4 block of wood.
After repeated calls for the person holding the block of wood to drop it, an officer discharged their weapon, striking that person in the lower body. That person was sent to the hospital in critical, but stable condition, according to Aziz.
The stabbing victim is currently in critical condition with life-threatening injuries, he said.
Aziz said the police department is undergoing an preliminary investigation of the stabbing, the home invasion and the officer involved shooting. The officer involved, who Aziz said is a 30 year veteran of the force, has been placed on administrative leave, which is customary following a shooting.
This is a developing story. Stick with WTOP for the latest.
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A father was shot to death in front of his wife and children during a home invasion in Houston, Texas, police say.
Getty Images/iStockphoto
A Texas father was shot and killed in front of his family during an overnight home invasion, Houston police told news outlets.
The deadly break-in happened at a home on Houston’s southwest side at about 3 a.m. Feb. 25, police told KPRC.
Investigators say multiple people made their way into the house while the man was home with his wife and children, KTRK reported.
The man told his wife to stay hidden in their bedroom and, as he stood up, an intruder in the hallway opened fire, police told the station. His wife and children were not hurt but witnessed their father be shot to death, according to officials.
Police said there were three intruders, believed to be male, all wearing ski masks, KHOU reported.
Police don’t have a description of the suspects or a suspect vehicle, but “it’s early on in the investigation,” Detective David Higgs told KPRC.
Officials have not said why the intruders targeted the home.
Mitchell Willetts is a real-time news reporter covering the central U.S. for McClatchy. He is a University of Oklahoma graduate and outdoors enthusiast living in Texas.
A man was arrested early Wednesday morning after allegedly attempting to break into a Studio City home and reportedly threatening the Jewish occupants — an incident authorities say is being investigated as a possible hate crime.
The home invasion was reported around 5 a.m. in the 3000 block of Laurel Canyon Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The suspect, identified only as a man in his 30s, is accused of entering the home’s backyard and trying to kick in a door; he was held at bay by an occupant who then contacted the police.
KTTV-TV Channel 11 reported that the person who called police said the suspect had “threatened to kill them because they were Israeli,” and that the home’s occupants were Jewish.
Footage captured by the television station showed the suspect yelling, “Free Palestine” several times after being placed into the back of an LAPD vehicle.
In additional footage taken by a neighbor, the man can be heard yelling incoherent responses to police and stating that he was not armed.
LAPD officials said the incident is being investigated as a possible hate crime. In a statement, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass called it a “vile act of hate.”
“In the wake of the terror and violence inflicted over the previous weeks, this is one of the worst fears of Jewish families across our country — hatred spilling across the threshold, destroying the sense of safety and sanctuary in a home,” Bass said. “We remain steadfast in support of the Jewish people. The people of Los Angeles will not cower to hate.”
Bass said the LAPD would continue to conduct increased patrols and called on officials “to take action to ensure the person responsible for this heinous act is held fully accountable.”
Tiny Colts Neck, New Jersey, sits just 50 miles from New York City. But it might as well be a world away. In July 2013, this quiet community was rocked by news of a violent home invasion where the victim was stabbed repeatedly. The only thing more shocking: the victim survived.
Donna Ongsiako: My name is Donna Ongsiako. …I lost in total, close to three quarters of the blood in my body. There’s no earthly reason why I’m alive. None.
Jim Axelrod: If I had asked you at the time to give me a list of 100 things you’re worried about, where would have home invasion been?
Donna Ongsiako: Oh, no. Never.
Donna worked for a company that brokered fuel for ships on the nearby Jersey shore. She and her daughter Kiersten lived in a farmhouse on the edge of flower fields.
Kiersten Ongsiako: She was 20 when she had me. So, we’re only 20 years and one day apart.
Friend Sharon Sharpe hired Donna decades ago.
Jim Axelrod: Kiersten had just been born?
Sharon Sharpe: Yeah, Kiersten was a baby. … I thought she was really brave … being a single mom … very young.
Kiersten Ongsiako: I was by her side all the time.
Donna Ongsiako, left, lived with her adult daughter, Kiersten. But on the night of her attack, she was home alone. Her daughter was out at a party.
Kiersten Ongsiako
Kiersten, who now works as a welder, recalls what life was like just prior to her mother’s attack.
Kiersten Ongsiako: We were going to the gym multiple times a week. … Not only was she, like, mentally strong, but she was physically strong.
Sharon Sharpe: She was so fit. She did Tough Mudders with Kiersten.
Donna Ongsiako: I like that competition … I like to show strength, physical strength …
Donna Ongsiako: Things couldn’t have been any better at that time.
That’s when Saturday of July Fourth weekend rolled around. Monmouth County Detective Andrea Tozzi says they were having a heatwave.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: It was … humid. … But we had no … rain or anything like that. … I mean it was a dry night.
Jim Axelrod: So, Donna — had her windows open.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Yes. … She had her windows open … just to obviously to circulate air.
Donna Ongsiako: Kiersten was out at a party. … So, I was home doing laundry. … I’d say about 11:00, 11:30. I decide … I’m going to get ready for bed. … I let the cat out. I went and brushed my teeth.
But just as she was drifting off to sleep —
Donna Ongsiako: I heard what I thought was the cat. I heard something, and I remembered, oh, I forgot to let the cat in.
Without turning on any lights, Donna headed downstairs to open the front door for her cat.
Donna Ongsiako: But instead, when I opened the door, I saw someone standing there. … In the split second … after seeing this person on my porch, I saw the knife. … He was trying to cut into the screen of the window that was right next to the front door.
When she opened the door, Donna Ongsiako says she saw a stranger on her porch. He had a knife and was attempting to cut her window screen.
Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office
She says she didn’t recognize the young white male standing right in front of her, holding a large knife.
Donna Ongsiako: I tried to slam and shut the door. … My fingers were protruding out. He stuck the knife through the opening and … cut my finger so that I immediately let go of the door. And then he pushed his way in.[…]
Donna Ongsiako: I’m backing into my kitchen. We’re face to face. … It didn’t register to me that he was actually going to stab me.
But without a word, that’s exactly what the stranger did.
Donna Ongsiako: He slashed my cheek. And you can see that here. And actually, it starts back here (points to the right side of her face and ear). … There was no way to process that that happened.
Donna’s attacker came at her with the knife again.
Donna Ongsiako: He then slashed three times on this side of my neck.
She tried grabbing the knife but only cut her own hand in the process.
Jim Axelrod: Did you feel like you were dealing with somebody who was really strong?
Donna Ongsiako: No. But I felt like he was very sure, like he was very in control of himself.
Donna was starting to weaken from the injuries.
Donna Ongsiako: I felt like … my legs were going to give out. … So, I braced myself against the corner of my bathroom … right next to the front door.
Sure enough, she slid down to the floor.
Donna Ongsiako points to one of her scars from the attack.
CBS News
Donna Ongsiako: I was in fetal position … and I’m bleeding. And he came over and … it was kind of like he was playing, you know, with the knife and just started jabbing at me. So, that’s when he caught me here (points to a scar near the left side of her mouth). Um, and he got me in the back of my neck here (point to the back left side of her neck).
Finally, Donna’s attacker spoke to her.
Donna Ongsiako: This was when he decided … to ask me for my car keys and if I had a lighter …
Jim Axelrod: A lighter?
Donna Ongsiako: I just answered him. There’s a lighter in my purse. And my purse was on the table back in the kitchen. … So, he went over and was rummaging through my purse and got the keys, got the lighter.
Donna’s assailant ended up taking her entire purse with him, but not before returning one last time to Donna, still bleeding on the floor.
Donna Ongsiako: He said … “you dead bitch” and plunged the knife into my chest.
Jim Axelrod: Once he plunges the knife in and then removes it? What does he do then?
Donna Ongsiako: He just walked out the door.
With no neighbors in ear shot, Donna knew she must get help — somehow.
Jim Axelrod: Your phone isn’t in reach?
Donna Ongsiako: No, my phone was upstairs in my bedroom charging.
Donna had no landline in the house. But even as the blood was draining rapidly from her body, she had one pressing concern above her own survival.
Donna Ongsiako: Kiersten could come home and find me. … I just didn’t want her to have to experience … any level of the horror that I had just gone through or any other levels in finding me there dead.
Jim Axelrod: So, this is a mother’s instinct as pure as it gets.
Donna Ongsiako: Yes, absolutely. Yeah.
Jim Axelrod: You know you have to get upstairs if you’re going to be able to make a call for help.
Donna Ongsiako: Right.
Jim Axelrod: How do you get up those stairs?
Donna Ongsiako: That I don’t know. … There was divine intervention that helped me up those stairs. No doubt. No doubt in my mind.
AN INSPIRED CLIMB
Laurie Gerhardt: She’s a tiny little woman. … You have to imagine … that many stab wounds. And she just willed it. She was not going to die there.
Former Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Laurie Gerhardt says Donna Ongsiako was determined her daughter, Kiersten, would not come home to find her dead. She knew she had to get to her cellphone upstairs.
Donna says thinking about her daughter finding her dead motivated her to climb these stairs despite her serious injuries.
Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office
Donna Ongsiako: I don’t remember … my feet or my hands actually touching the stairs. … The energy that it took for me to get up off the ground and up those stairs. … I was definitely guided.
Kiersten Ongsiako: The amount of strength that goes into that is just unimaginable.
Jim Axelrod: But the motivation was you.
Kiersten Ongsiako: Yeah, yeah. Maybe I was there guiding her in spirit.
Once Donna made it upstairs, she faced a new challenge after peering out her bedroom window.
Jim Axelrod (outside Donna’s house): She had a car sitting right here?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: She had a car sitting right in this area.
Donna Ongsiako: I could still see the car was there and I could see the car was on and he was in it. … If I take my phone off the charger, it’s going to light up. … He’s going to see the light.
Afraid her attacker would come back for her, Donna did her best to hide the light of the phone. Then, just getting it to work became the next hurdle.
Donna Ongsiako: My hands are covered in blood. My touch screen … I was trying to swipe and swipe. … I ended up having to … wipe my hands off, wipe the phone off, wipe it down … on the bed. … And then I was able to do the touch screen and get through to 911.
DONNA ONGSIAKO TO 911: Uh, my name is Donna Ongsiako. I just got stabbed really bad. … Some kid just came in and stabbed me. He stole my car.
911 OPERATOR: OK, OK, OK. Just stay on the phone with me, OK? Where did you get stabbed?
DONNA ONGSIAKO: In the neck. Blood is gushing out. And in the chest.
Detective Andrea Tozzi says Donna’s ability to place that call despite her injuries was amazing, but then Donna did something even more extraordinary. She gave a detailed description of her attacker.
911 OPERATOR: OK. Do you know what he looked like?
DONNA ONGSIAKO: Yeah, he was probably about 17. White, real skinny, curly hair. Blonde, dirty blonde hair. … Backpack.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: It was pretty chilling to … listen to Donna and be able to hear her accurately … talk about “this is what happened. This is what he looks like.”
DONNA ONGSIAKO TO 911: I’m losing consciousness.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: And then hear her fade out.
911 OPERATOR: Donna? Donna? Hello, Donna? Donna?
DONNA ONGSIAKO: Yes, ma’am. … I think I just passed out for a minute.
Police and paramedics arrived less than eight minutes after Donna dialed 911, but her attacker had already fled. Donna was rushed to Jersey Shore University Medical Center and into trauma surgery. It would be a few more hours before Kiersten arrived home from her party to a house surrounded by flashing lights.
Donna Ongsiako’s house was on the edge of a flower farm in Colts Neck, N.J., with no neighbors in earshot.
Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office
Kiersten Ongsiako: I saw the caution tape and that her car was gone.
Police told Kiersten what happened to her mother.
Jim Axelrod: You were deeply shaken.
Kiersten Ongsiako: Oh, yeah. I remember at one point … my knees buckled … they had the SUV, the undercover cop car. The trunk was open. So, I was like, can I sit here because I feel like I’m going to pass out.
As Kiersten was processing the news, an all-out manhunt had already begun for Donna’s assailant. Detective Tozzi says another 911 call had come in shortly before Donna’s attack from a driver who saw someone walking along the road near Donna’s house.
911 CALLER: I was going to pick up my daughter and there was a kid hitchhiking.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: They saw a young man … with a backpack and khaki pants. … He was walking close to the fog line and kind of stepping into traffic. … She felt that he was kind of a hitchhiker.
911 CALLER: He was on the north bound side, walking south bound, and I’m afraid he’s gonna get hit by a car …
911 OPERATOR: How old about? Caller: I’m gonna say like 18,19, 20. Something like that.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: She was concerned because she just thought that maybe he needed help in some way.
Jim Axelrod: And was a car dispatched?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Yes. Yes. They didn’t find him, though.
Still, the Good Samaritan driver had inadvertently given the investigation its first lead.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: I felt like the hitchhiker was my person. … It was too coincidental … for that time of the night in that area, for somebody to be walking … and then 15 minutes later … Donna’s calling to say that she was stabbed.
And there was about to be another tip — not long after Donna’s 911 call — from a fast-food restaurant five miles from her house.
Not long after Ongsiako’s 911 call, police got a call from a fast-food restaurant five miles from her home. Employees reported seeing a young, blonde man with a backpack. They said he was walking through their drive-thru, knocking on windows and was carrying a knife.
Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office/Surveillance video
Det. Andrea Tozzi: They saw a subject walking through their drive-thru, knocking on windows, carrying a knife and it looked like it had blood on it.
Employees from the Taco Bell quickly called police.
OPERATOR: Do you have any description of him?
CALLER: Yeah, he was wearing um, you know, like those Army pants? And he had no shirt. … He’s White. With, like, really, like, bushy hair, but it was, like, long. Like the skater-type hair.
OPERATOR: How old was he?
CALLER: I don’t know. He looked like he was like 18.
Police rushed to the Taco Bell and started canvassing the nearby shopping center. They didn’t find their suspect, but they did find something else.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: So, there had been a BOLO put out on — on Donna’s vehicle.
Jim Axelrod: Be on the lookout.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Right. And … in the process of looking for this person here … they found the car.
While searching for the young man who had been spotted at the Taco Bell, police found Donna Ongsiako’s stolen vehicle. It had been ditched behind a movie theater, in the same shopping center as the fast-food restaurant. The lights of the vehicle were on, and it was still running.
Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office
Donna’s stolen car had been ditched behind a movie theater.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: It was lights on … and it was running. So, it clearly was an abandoned vehicle.
Tozzi says the car would become crucial.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: There was blood all over it. And so, we were hoping that we would get some kind of DNA evidence of our suspect.
Jim Axelrod: Did you?
Det.Andrea Tozzi: We did.
A SUSPECT EMERGES
Sharon Sharpe will never forget the dread she felt when she arrived at the hospital to see her friend Donna Ongsiako only to be told she wasn’t there.
Jim Axelrod: I’m picturing the color draining from your face and the air, leaving your lungs, like —
Sharon Sharpe: Totally … no, this cannot be. There’s no way, she has to be here.
Jim Axelrod: Did you think maybe she had died?
Sharon Sharpe: Yes. Yes.
It turned out, with her attacker still on the loose, the hospital had admitted Donna under an alias to protect her. Sharon was allowed to see Donna the next day.
Sharon Sharpe: An intensive care room I’ve never seen before. … It looked like an enlarged, massively enlarged cockpit wall because there were tons of machines behind her. And she looked almost like a puppet.
Donna Ongsiako: Surgery was seven hours, I believe.
Despite losing three quarters of the blood in her body, trauma surgeons had saved Donna’s life, but at a tremendous cost.
Donna Ongsiako: I pretty much looked like a living cadaver. … I had 37 stitches on my face and neck, 38 staples in my chest, seven stitches in my hand. And now internally, my sternum is wired shut.
“I lost in total close to three quarters of the blood in my body,” Donna Ongsiako told “48 Hours.” “There’s no earthly reason why I’m alive.”
Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office
And as for that final stab to Donna’s chest just before her assailant left —
Donna Ongsiako: It missed my heart by the edge of a dime is what I remember them telling me.
The edge of a dime.
Jim Axelrod: When she talks about the margin that the knife missed her heart by.
Kiersten Ongsiako: Yeah … if she was any slouched over … anymore, that would have been it.
Kiersten says as soon as her mother was able to talk, she had one simple request.
Kiersten Ongsiako: I remember her saying, all I smell is this blood in my hair. Can somebody please wash my hair?
Sharon says they got permission, and then she and two of Donna’s family members did their best to wash Donna’s hair as she lay in her hospital bed.
Sharon Sharpe: We were determined to see if we could make her smile. So, we turned it into a ridiculous idiot session with three of us … like a factory line. … We laughed through our tears. … and any time … anybody would get too serious we would make it funny.
But her hair was far from Donna’s biggest concern. She was sure her attacker would find her and finish the job.
Sharon Sharpe: She was convinced that he was in the hospital. And we kept telling her, no, you’re here under an alias.
Donna Ongsiako: I survived. I stood face to face with him. I could 100 percent positively identify him. He’s coming back for me.
Detective Tozzi says they were pretty sure the young man knocking on windows at the Taco Bell drive-thru shortly after Donna’s attack was their suspect. Within two days, a customer who saw him met with a police sketch artist.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: And … was able to provide pretty great details on the person she saw that night.
Investigators then took the sketch to the hospital.
Jim Axelrod: What did Donna say when she saw that sketch?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: She said, yeah, that was incredibly accurate. … She tweaked it a little bit. … She said that … yes, that looks like the person who stabbed me.
Donna Ongsiako: His … curly blonde hair. … He was like a surfer kid … or a skateboarder or something like that.
Within two days, a customer who saw the young man at the Taco Bell met with a police sketch artist. After making a few tweaks, Ongsiako said the sketch looked like the person who had stabbed her.
Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office
Former Assistant Prosecutor Laurie Gerhardt says the sketch of the suspect was soon plastered all over Monmouth County and on law enforcement social media.
Laurie Gerhardt: So, people are obviously talking and trying to figure out, do we know where is he from? Who is this kid?… And it’s scary because you like to have a sense of security in your community.
Investigators reviewed the cameras of stores in the shopping center near the Taco Bell to see if they’d get lucky and spot their suspect, hoping the more images they had, the more likely the chance of identifying him.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: We were … trying to go back and look at video … from various businesses to see the description and … really to put out the BOLO like this is who we’re looking for.
Security cameras had captured the suspect once again.
Det.Andrea Tozzi: The surveillance we got from the store over there … was from the inside the store, but it was pointing outwards.
Investigators reviewed the cameras of stores in the shopping center near the Taco Bell to see if they’d get lucky and spot their suspect. Their suspect was caught again on security footage, this time walking outside a Verizon store.
Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office
Jim Axelrod: I see. And it definitely caught him.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Oh, yeah. You could see him walking.
Jim Axelrod: Wow.
As police kept looking for the suspect, Donna Ongsiako was turning a corner, at least physically. Amazingly, after just four days, Donna was released from the hospital. Sharon says that was all due to the training Donna had done prior to the attack.
Sharon Sharpe: Clearly, she’s very physically fit. … She wouldn’t have survived this if she wasn’t.
Jim Axelrod: It’s an amazing thing. You were out in four days. But as you leave the hospital, you are also walking back into a world where whoever did this to you is still out there.
Donna Ongsiako: Right. But also … I wasn’t going back to the farm. I wasn’t going back to my house. No, there was no way.
In fact, Donna would never step foot in her house again. She and Kiersten moved in with family living in New Jersey. Then, just eight days after the attack, not long after the police sketch began circulating, Detective Tozzi’s phone rang.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: I take the call and the woman on the other end … says that she’s calling about the stabbing in Colts Neck. I said, “OK.” I said … “How can I help you?” And she said, “I … think … my cousin Brennan Doyle may have something to do with that.”
It was the first time Tozzi had heard the name Brennan Doyle. He was just 16. His cousin told Tozzi word was going around her family that Brennan was involved in the Colts Neck stabbing. The cousin had seen Brennan just days prior to Donna’s attack.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Between July 3rd and 6th, because he was up in Connecticut for her wedding with his family.
Jim Axelrod: He had attended her wedding?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: He attended her wedding, and she was able to provide us a picture of what he looked like during the time he was up there for the wedding.
Laurie Gerhardt: The photo she sends is Brennan with long, curly hair, wearing camouflage shorts. Looking very much like the kid in the sketch and more importantly on the videotapes.
Brennan’s resemblance to the sketch all around town was about to become even more important because of what the cousin told Detective Tozzi happened a few days later.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: She was staying at … Brennan’s family’s lake house in New Hampshire as a wedding gift. And Brennan, his brother and the mother showed up there unexpected.
Jim Axelrod: Hang on. This woman is in Lake Winnipesaukee. She’s on her honeymoon?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Yes.
Jim Axelrod: And all of a sudden there’s Brennan, Brennan’s mother, Brennan’s brother, crashing her honeymoon?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Yes. And the dog.
But what was even more surprising was Brennan’s appearance.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Brennan’s hair was cut.
Jim Axelrod: The next time she sees him, he’s cut his hair?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Yes.
Jim Axelrod: So that’s a big red flag.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Yes.
AN UNLIKELY SUSPECT
Brennan Doyle’s cousin told investigators that Brennan showed up just days after Donna’s attack, hundreds of miles from home, with his hair suddenly cut short. Like Donna, the Doyle family resided in Colts Neck.
Laurie Gerhardt | Former Assistant Prosecutor: They lived in a very nice house, two sons, a mom and a dad. … The life of a typical Colts Neck’s teenager. It’s a life of wealth. It’s a life of privilege.
Brennan was a student athlete on wrestling and hockey teams. Detective Tozzi started digging into his background.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: He had never been arrested. … There was never any charges filed against him prior to … our … investigation.
According to the prosecutor’s records, police had been called to the Doyle house for what they refer to as “family conflicts.” The location of the home would turn out to be very important.
Jim Axelrod: Where did Brennan live?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: So, if you make a right up here, um, and you go up maybe a quarter of a mile, uh, on the left.
Jim Axelrod: So, that’s close.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Yeah.
The teen and his family lived within walking distance of Donna’s house — up the very road that driver had reported seeing someone she described as a young hitchhiker just prior to Donna’s attack.
Jim Axelrod: When does the Doyle family return to Colts Neck?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Later in July.
With Brennan and his family back in town, Tozzi reached out to the family, saying investigators were canvassing the neighborhood.
Jim Axelrod: What happened when you went to the house?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: We spoke with Mrs. Doyle. … She was … nervous. … Her voice was cracking.
Jim Axelrod: Did this raise an eyebrow for you?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: It did.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: We asked if Brennan and his brother could come and look at the composite sketch … if they had any idea who that person might be on the sketch.
Jim Axelrod: Did Brennan come out?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: He did.
Tozzi says she wanted to see Brennan’s hair to confirm what his cousin had told her: that it had been cut much shorter. It seemed the teen tried to stay a step ahead when he came out to greet the detective.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: He was wearing a hat. He was wearing a baseball hat.
Laurie Gerhardt: I think wearing a baseball cap … was a calculated move.
It might have been, but it didn’t work.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: You could tell his hair was cut short.
Next, Tozzi showed Brennan the police sketch of the suspect — the same one Donna helped tweak to look just like her attacker.
Jim Axelrod: How did he react?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: He … looked away. He looked at it, looked away. And said,” “I don’t know. I don’t know.” … He was nervous, and he was scared. … And he got very quiet.
Matt Troiano: There is a reaction. Eyes are down. … No eye contact. People are nervous. Mom starts redirecting the conversation.
Brennan Doyle’s family and his attorney denied “48 Hours”‘ request for an interview. We asked Matt Troiano, a defense attorney and CBS News consultant, to study the case file.
Matt Troiano: And I think that that probably confirms what they believe going in.
Brennan’s odd behavior and resemblance to the sketch and video evidence may have been striking, but with nothing else to go on yet, Tozzi thanked the Doyles for their time and left.
Jim Axelrod: Did you know that was your guy?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: I was pretty confident … that we were on the right track with him. But we also have a duty … we had other leads that were coming in. … So, we were doing a lot of … follow ups.
As investigators worked the case, Donna was struggling. Weeks after the attack, the reality of what had happened to her had taken hold.
Donna Ongsiako: I lost everything that night. I lost my home, had nowhere to go. I lost my car. They took it into evidence.
Jim Axelrod: Donna, you lost more than half your blood.
Donna Ongsiako: Exactly. I lost — I lost a lot.
Donna says that’s when, in addition to her physical recovery, she faced a new challenge.
Donna Ongsiako: Symptoms of PTSD started to show up. … I’m not eating. I’m not sleeping. I don’t care about anything. I’m angry. I’m sad. I’m happy. You know, every emotion under the sun at any minute.
Donna Ongsiako: I felt like I was going crazy. … I was … always thinking … “I don’t know who this kid is, but he climbed through the window in that second that I fell asleep and now he’s hiding in the closet.” You know, kind of crazy thoughts.
Sharon Sharpe says Donna’s fear meant even friendly visits required a new protocol. –including announcing her arrival every step of the way so as not to trigger Donna.
Sharon Sharpe: “I’m going to come around the hedges now and I’m going to enter the backyard. I’m going to be touching the gate in three, two, one.” … I would shake my keys first, which had bells on them … Say, “It’s me, Sharon. I’m coming.”
The investigation lasted through the summer of 2013. Brennan Doyle remained the only likely suspect. Detective Tozzi says investigators took the next step in September.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: We got a warrant to obtain his DNA … his fingerprints, photographs of him, just things that are personal to him.
When the results came back —
Matt Troiano: There’s a fingerprint match, then ultimately there’s a DNA match.
Brennan Doyle’s DNA was a spot-on match to unknown DNA found in Donna’s car — in a number of places.
Matt Troiano: Eleven different DNA samples and pieces of evidence found in that vehicle. And really, there’s no reason why Brennan Doyle’s DNA should be in this woman’s vehicle. … He’s a stranger to her.
One more crucial piece of evidence was found in early October in the most unexpected spot.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Repairmen were servicing an air conditioning unit that was on the top of the strip mall. … They found the knife … on the roof right near the air conditioning unit.
In early October, police got a call that a knife had been found on the roof of a bowling alley in the same strip mall where Donna Ongsiako’s car had been ditched. Repairmen were servicing an air conditioning unit when they found it.
Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office
A knife, looking weathered, as though it had been there for months was found on a bowling alley roof in the very same shopping center where the Taco Bell was located and where Donna’s car had been abandoned.
Jim Axelrod: How important was the knife?
Det. Andrea Tozzi: It ended up being very important because … the knife was from a set. … We determined that that knife matched another knife that we knew came from the Doyle household that had been taken months earlier.
Through a twist of timing and fate, the Colts Neck police already had another knife from the Doyle home, taken after police were called to the house a few weeks prior to Donna’s attack, following an altercation between Brennan and his brother.
Matt Troiano: There’s a knife that’s apparently used by the younger brother … in a threatening manner. Police are called. Police take the knife… and the situation ends.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: There was no charges or anything that came of it, but … they secured the knife in their evidence vault. … It was the same … brand name, the same look. … It was a silver knife.
Jim Axelrod: It was from the same collection.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: Correct.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: That was kind of the icing on the cake to get … a search warrant. … They had moved during the course of this investigation. So, we got a search warrant for their new home.
The search of the new Doyle residence, also in Colts Neck, turned up the rest of the knife set matching the one found atop the shopping center. In late October 2013, Brennan Doyle was arrested.
Jim Axelrod: What kinds of charges was he facing?
Matt Troiano: Serious ones. Attempted murder, carjacking, weapons possession. These are the most serious of crimes that we have.
THE STRENGTH TO MOVE FORWARD
Months after Donna’s brush with death, her alleged attacker Brennan Doyle was in custody, facing six counts including attempted murder and carjacking. He pleaded not guilty.
Laurie Gerhardt: You have to look at the seriousness of the offense.
Brennan Doyle
NJ Department of Corrections
The prosecution felt the crime warranted trying Brennan as an adult — even though he was 16 at the time.
Laurie Gerhardt: in juvenile court, Brennan is looking at four years maximum in … a youth detention facility … In adult court … he’s looking at up to 30 years.
A judge would rule in Assistant Prosecutor Gerhardt’s favor, but there was a catch. Brennan would now be entitled to post bail, set at $760,000, which he did.
Jim Axelrod: When you heard he was out, did all of the fear come rushing back?
Donna Ongsiako: It wasn’t so much fear as it was anger that he was even allowed to be bailed out.
The thought of running into Brennan terrified Kiersten. She says he even haunted her dreams.
Kiersten Ongsiako: I didn’t realize how much it was affecting me … I had no idea until I was, like, falling asleep. And all I see is his face.
As prosecutors developed their case, the details of what happened that horrific night began to emerge.
Jim Axelrod: What does Brennan Doyle say happened the night of July 6th, heading into the morning of July 7th, 2013?
According to investigative reports he examined, Matt Troiano says that on the night of Donna’s attack, Doyle claimed he was losing touch with reality and had gotten into a fight with his father.
Matt Troiano: He has a knife in his hand. … Dad kicks him out. … And … he kind of loses his mind, makes bad decisions.
Police thought it likely that Brennan, who lived a short distance away, approached Donna’s home looking to steal her car.
Det. Andrea Tozzi: I don’t know if his intent was to kill Donna. … certainly, when he started stabbing her, that became his intent.
Laurie Gerhardt: To me, what he’s doing is he’s getting rid of the witness.
Gerhardt believes Brennan did not act like someone incapacitated by drugs. Brennan drove five miles to that shopping center after leaving Donna’s house.
Laurie Gerhardt: This kid … manages to ditch a knife … He abandons the car … That’s not a kid who’s so high on mushrooms, he doesn’t know what he’s doing.
Troiano says while a lot of the evidence against Brennan Doyle was strong — the knife, the security camera videos — one thing put this case over the top.
Matt Troiano: What is going to seal the fate of this boy, this kid, is that there’s DNA in her vehicle that links to him. … It’s indefensible.
But as it turned out, there would be no need for a defense. In August 2015, Brennan Doyle agreed to a plea deal. In return, the prosecution dropped all but the two most serious charges — carjacking and attempted murder.
Donna Ongsiako: It was very important for me that he admit his guilt … If he took the plea, he would have to confess his guilt to the court.
In October 2015, Brennan Doyle, now 18 years old, appeared in Monmouth County Superior Court for sentencing. Donna, who’d attended every court appearance, was there to face him one last time.
Donna Ongsiako: Even though I felt overpowered by fear … I wanted him to see me as strong and as a survivor.
It was an emotional day for Kiersten, there to support her mother.
Jim Axelrod: When you would look at him in court? What do you remember feeling?
Kiersten Ongsiako: Anger. Very angry. Sorry (cries).
Brennan was permitted to address the court.
BRENNAN DOYLE (in court): The drugs turned me into a monster that night. … I pray and hope her wounds will lessen, and she will recover eventually. I am asking you to forgive me.
BRENNAN DOYLE (in court): Going to prison will be the hardest thing I will ever have to face in my life and I’m afraid.
“Brennan Doyle later sent “48 Hours” this statement:
“The only thing I can say is an apology to the victim. My actions have altered her life cruelly. She should never have had to take on the pain and suffering I inflicted. She did not deserve what happened to her, and it was entirely my fault. All I can do is wake up each day guided by my unforgiveable actions, and act with the dignity my 16 year old self did not possess. I am sorry for everything.”
Brennan Doyle was sentenced to 15 years in state prison. The law requires him to serve at least 85 percent of that time.
Laurie Gerhardt: Justice has to be done on both sides, and we have to be sensitive to that. We have a 16-year-old kid who for the most part had absolutely no prior history. … The court has a balancing act to do.
Jim Axelrod: Did it feel like justice?
Donna Ongsiako: It did not.
Jim Axelrod: What would have felt like justice to you?
Donna Ongsiako: More like 30 years. 40 years. 50 years. If not longer.
Donna Ongsiako, pictured at right, had found PTSD and domestic violence support groups, but says there were none for victims of random attacks. So, in 2015, she decided to create her own: Survivors of Violent Crimes.
Dana Richards
Even with Brennan off the streets, Donna was still struggling. She had found PTSD and domestic violence support groups but says there were none for victims of random attacks. So, in 2015, she decided to create her own: Survivors of Violent Crimes.
Tiffany Ott: [The] reason … we took to the support group … was … to help each other cope.
Donna connected with fellow survivors Tiffany Ott and Dana Richards. Together they held meetings and felt gratified they could help when more survivors joined.
Dana Richards: They’re finding relief in knowing that they’re not alone.
But Donna says her work isn’t done. Her future plans include helping victims connect with trauma therapists and offering self-defense classes.
As she grows her support group, she’s also educating others. She travels to prisons, meeting with inmates and addresses police cadets so they can understand the victim’s point of view.
DONNA ONGSIAKO (speaking to police cadets in 2019): I got up and made it up the stairs to my bedroom where my cellphone was … but I got through to 911.
Sharon Sharpe: She survives. And she’s building a life. … How could anyone not applaud that?
Donna Ongsiako says the physical scars that remain are a reminder of the surgeons who saved her life. “This is artwork, their beautiful artwork.”
CBS News
Donna says the physical scars that remain are a reminder of the surgeons who saved her life.
Donna Ongsiako: You could either get sucked into the darkness … or you just keep going. … I did what I had to do to — to be here today … and go another day.
Donna Ongsiako filed a civil suit against Brennan Doyle and his father. She was awarded $5 million. She has yet to receive payment.
Brennan Doyle will be eligible for parole in 2027. He will be 30 years old.
Produced by Susan Mallie and Kat Teurfs. Marcus Balsam, Michelle Harris and Jud Johnston are the editors. Lourdes Aguiar is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer.
Jim Axelrod is the chief investigative correspondent and senior national correspondent for CBS News, reporting for “CBS This Morning,” “CBS Evening News,” “CBS Sunday Morning” and other CBS News broadcasts.
ST. CHARLES, Mich. (WNEM) – Two St. Charles neighbors, who are concealed pistol holders, are being credited with detaining a home invasion suspect until law enforcement arrived at the scene.
The incident unfolded about 7:30 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 25 when the Saginaw County Sheriff’s Office received a call about a disorderly suspect who was jumping on a car and yelling.
While deputies were being dispatched to the scene, the suspect broke into a house on Sanderson Street in the village of St. Charles, Undersheriff Miguel Gomez said.
Two neighbors saw the incident unfold and they believed the house the suspect had broken into was occupied so they rushed to help.
The neighbors entered the house about 7:50 a.m. and detained the suspect until the deputies arrived a couple minutes later, Gomez said.
The suspect, a 32-year-old St. Charles man, was then taken into custody.
A 41-year-old woman and her two children, ages 13 and 9, were home at the time of the incident, Gomez said.
No one was injured and the sheriff’s office credits that due to the “quick action” of the two neighbors.
It is unclear what the suspect’s intentions were, but he appeared to be under the influence of drugs, Gomez said.
The suspect has been charged with first-degree home invasion, and malicious destruction of personal property more than $1,000 but less than $20,000.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi opened up to CNN about the brutal attack on her husband, saying it will have an impact on her decision whether or not to retire. She also revealed how she found out about the attack.
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