Latest news with #KTVT
USA Today
13-05-2025
- USA Today
High school student in critical condition after controversial 'senior assassin' game
High school student in critical condition after controversial 'senior assassin' game A North Texas teenager is in critical condition after falling off a vehicle he reportedly hopped onto while playing a controversial water gun game often played by high school seniors. Isaac Leal, 17, jumped onto the back of a Jeep that began to pull out of a driveway in Arlington on April 20 and later hit the ground, suffering a severe head injury, according to local stations KXAS and KTVT. Raquel Vazquez, the boy's mother, told KXAS she believes Leal fell off after the vehicle hit a bump on the road. She said a young girl driving the Jeep reached high speeds for around five minutes before eventually hitting a dip, the outlet reported. The incident happened while playing prank game known as "senior assassin," commonly played by soon-to-be high school graduates. Participants spray each other with water guns, paintball or airsoft guns until there is a winner who has not been soaked. "Everybody that's playing has to download that app," Isaac Leal's father, Jose Leal, told KTVT. "So, that way, they can tell you what location each person is at." Parents seek criminal investigation in son's injury Leal, a baseball star at South Grand Prairie High School, is on life support after suffering the head injury weeks ahead of his high school graduation, KTVT reported. Both Jose Leal and Vazquez are urging authorities to conduct a criminal investigation into the incident. Jose Leal told KTVT the driver made six turns over five minutes, adding, "that's five minutes of him holding on for his life." "I understand accidents happen, but this was not an accident," Vazquez told the station. "I have not been able to go home because I can't imagine going home without him." The Arlington Police Department said it is investigating the traffic incident that security cameras partly captured but have not confirmed any foul play, KTVT reported. The department reportedly said in a statement that "Mr. Leal was hanging out the back of the vehicle when the accident occurred." USA TODAY has reached out to Vazquez, Jose Leal and the Arlington Police Department for comment. Officials previously warned against 'senior assassin' game The latest injury comes after police agencies, educators and state officials have warned teens across the U.S. not to play "senior assassin," "water wars," "senior splashin" or other similar games. Officials have also warned that their toy guns could be mistaken for a real weapon. Police in Sylvania, Ohio warned in April that students had made their toy guns more realistic and that the department received several calls of concern. "These scenarios present clear risks of tragic outcomes, including the possibility of officers or armed citizens mistaking students for actual threats," the department wrote on April 18. In 2024, a Florida high school principal sent a video to parents warning them of the trend's dangers, asserting that any student participating in it on school grounds would face suspension, reported Florida Today, part of the USA TODAY Network. Police in several Chicago suburbs sent out alerts about the trend last year, WMAQ-TV reported, saying that there have been "concerning incidents," including kids wearing ski masks and carrying fake weapons that look real. Contributing: Emilee Coblentz
9 News
22-04-2025
- General
- 9 News
Viral TikTok "Miracle Tree" draws hundreds seeking healing and hope
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here An olive tree native to Jerusalem grew into a tree from a branch in the ground fertilised with prayer. Twenty-two years later, claims of the miraculous are still rooted near "The Miracle Tree" in Concepcion, Texas. Estella Garcia Cantu can laughingly admits she is just as obsessed with "The Miracle Tree" in her mother's yard as her mother, Estella Palacios Garcia. Palacios Garcia passed away in 2017, but left Garcia Cantu to carry the legacy of miracles connected to her tree. "The Miracle Tree" is an olive tree native to Jerusalem that grew into a tree from a branch in the ground fertilised with prayer, in Concepcion, Texas. (KTVT via CNN) "On June the fourth, the tree will be 23 years old since my mum planted it, and it's a part of the family," Garcia Cantu said. The property is an acre away from FM Road 1329 in Duval County's Concepcion. But its rural location has not stopped miracle seekers from across the globe from coming to the South Texas property, desperate for a miracle. "I've got to see so many and witness so many healings through the years that I've been here," Garcia Cantu said. "Because I've been here from the very beginning since my mum planted the tree." Garcia Cantu said her mother was a Bible-reading Christian who wanted God to give her a miracle source for his people. She recalled her mother going to a nursery in Edinburg that eventually got Palacios Garcia an olive branch from Jerusalem — no roots, she said. Her mother planted it and prayed. Garcia Cantu said the olive tree was 1.8 metres in six months and kept growing. "And a lot of people come here with a lot of faith," she said. People started coming to her mother and the tree for healing. The 24 metre feat of nature, "Árbol Milagroso" (Miracle Tree in Spanish), began changing lives. "I walked in with a ball of stress over my shoulders. And in my head, constant pounding and just so stressed out in life," Michelle Salinas said. The 50-year-old said doctors looked at her prediabetes and hypertension but could not stop her flesh-crushing migraines. No medication, she said, felt like it would work. "Nobody could explain to me why I had such severe migraine headaches," Salinas said. A person who believes in the power of prayer, Salinas said she kept passing the Miracle Tree going to and from work, but did not stop until March. After two visits, she said 13 years of migraines and medication for them were gone. "It just was an ugly feeling. Just an ugly, ugly feeling," Salinas said. "And now I get up, no headaches. I feel so good. I really do." She continues to come to the property for prayer to tackle her hypertension and prediabetes. Garcia Cantu enlists the help of "prayer warriors" who carry out healing services connected to the tree: Prophet Jose Flores, Jose Alaniz and Leticia Lemos. Even with the help of the warriors, Garcia Cantu encourages visitors to make appointments because they are at the tree on the weekends. Irma Rodriguez and Jose Anzaldua drove from Bay City after she heard about the tree on TikTok. The 45-year-old had to ask the love of her life to describe it to her because she had lost her sight. According to the mother and grandmother, her impairment is a side effect of the medicine she was taking. "When I first found out, yes, I was depressed," Rodriguez said. "I just couldn't believe this happened to me." Rodriguez said the life-altering event made her change her life. She found God. "My mum took me to a prayer group that she goes to," she said. "I got saved that day. And the next day, everything was different." Desperate for a chance to take herself to the store or see her grandchild extend open arms to her, Rodriguez said faith gave her a vision of miracles. "A lot of my family and my kids and friends, like, 'Man, Irma, how do you do it?,'" she said. "I said, 'God, I have the faith that one day God is going to heal me.'" Hundreds, if not thousands, of pictures line the walls of a chapel built near the tree, where driver's licences, pictures, letters, testimonies and more cover the wall in gratitude and even ask for healing prayers. "I believe that once the Lord heals you, it's a permanent healing for the rest of your life," Garcia Cantu said. Another reason people come to the tree is to hear the sound that resonates from its wood. For years, miracle-seekers have been able to place an ear to the tree to listen to the sound of rushing water — some claim to hear a whisper that sounds like a heartbeat on a particular side of the tree. "I hear a little like, kss, kss," Rodriguez said. She and Anzaldua are scheduled to return to the tree in late April for additional prayer. It is the same tree where a woman who had cancer put her feet on the tree as warriors prayed. The woman was healed, they said. A picture shows her footprint left on the tree from the intense session. The tree has almost needed a miracle, too. Garcia Cantu was not sure it would survive the deadly freeze of February 2021, but it did. Garcia Cantu plans to pass the torch of the Miracle Tree over to her grandson, Princeton Wood. She said he received a miracle from the tree that doctors could not explain. The trees can live up to 2000 years. So, the miracles may keep happening in the middle of nowhere. CONTACT US
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Yahoo
Police Identify Suspect In G$ Lil Ronnie And Daughter's Murder Case
The Texas community is still reeling from the murder of G$ Lil Ronnie and his five-year-old daughter at a local car wash. Though it may be a while before they attain any peace or closure, the local police have made a huge breakthrough in their investigation. The local police department initially issued a capital murder arrest warrant after conducting their preliminary investigation; however, they have now identified one suspect and issued an individual warrant for their arrest. The suspect remains unnamed, and they are still looking for the second suspect. Law enforcement believes that the Monday morning shooting (Mar. 3) at Sloppy's Car Wash in Forest Hill, Texas was a targeted attack. Ronnie and his daughter were pronounced dead at the scene of the crime. Police believe that the suspects fled from the car wash in a white four-door Kia after shooting the late rapper and his daughter. A witness told KTVT that they heard 20 to 30 gunshots. 'He was a rapper. He didn't bother nobody, he didn't target nobody,' G$ Lil Ronnie's aunt, Stella Houston, told WFAA. 'He was a family man, and he was going around rapping, okay. Why would you target him? […] Cleaning the car out, and somebody came through shooting and killed him and the baby. And a baby. His baby. A baby!' The story gets even sadder when learning, via Houston, that they had just celebrated Ronnie's daughter's fifth birthday over the weekend. Ronnie's devotion to fatherhood was evident in one of his recent Instagram posts. His daughter's school held a Valentine's Day celebration, and he attended, not only to make the day special for her but for one of her friends whose parents could not be present. 'My BabyGirl Couldn't Stand The Fact Her Friend Was Sad,' he wrote in the caption. 'This Morning Her Daddy Couldn't Make it to Donuts With Daddy This Morning So Yu Know We Let Her kno it's Ok 2 Join us & She Can Snap it Up & That Changed her Whole Mood *heart emojis* My Lil Valentines Literally.' More from Texas Rapper G$ Lil Ronnie And 5-Year-Old Daughter Killed In Car Wash Shooting Drake Shows Off New $15 Million Texas Ranch Lil Wayne Named Strategic Advisor For Texas Pickleball Team
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Texas Rapper G$ Lil Ronnie And 5-Year-Old Daughter Killed In Car Wash Shooting
An unfortunate tragedy struck in North Texas this week. Local rapper G$ Lil Ronnie and his five-year-old daughter were killed during a shooting at a car wash. The police reported that two suspects opened fire at a car wash in Forest Hill, a suburb located 30 miles west of Dallas, before 11 a.m. local time on Monday (Mar. 3). Authorities rushed to the scene and attempted to save both victims' lives; they were unsuccessful as both Ronnie, real name Ronnie Smith, and his daughter were pronounced dead at the scene. Upon conducting a preliminary investigation, the Forest Hill Police Department determined that the suspects left the scene of the crime in a white four-door Kia after encroaching upon Ronnie's car and firing shots. A witness claimed that they heard 20 to 30 gunshots, per a report from KTVT. The suspects' names have yet to be shared, but there is a capital murder warrant out for their arrest. 'He was a good kid. He was,' Stella Houston, G$ Lil Ronnie's aunt, told WFAA. 'He didn't bother [nobody].' Weeks ago, the 30-year-old rapper shared an Instagram post showing him attending a Valentine's Day celebration at his daughter's school. They invited her classmate to be their Valentine since her parents could not be there. 'My BabyGirl Couldn't Stand The Fact Her Friend Was Sad,' he wrote in the caption. 'This Morning Her Daddy Couldn't Make it to Donuts With Daddy This Morning So Yu Know We Let Her kno it's Ok 2 Join us & She Can Snap it Up & That Changed her Whole Mood *heart emojis* My Lil Valentines Literally.' Ronnie hadn't released any new music so far in 2025, but had an active 2024 with a slew of singles. VIBE sends its sincerest condolences to G$ Lil Ronnie's family, friends, loved ones, fans, and all who were impacted by this tragedy. More from Angie Stone, Legendary Soul Singer, Dead At 63 Andrew Lester Dies Days After Pleading Guilty To Shooting Ralph Yarl Ye, Ja Rule, And Hip-Hop Community React To Irv Gotti's Death
USA Today
04-03-2025
- USA Today
Texas rapper G$ Lil Ronnie, 5-year-old daughter killed in shooting at car wash: Reports
Texas rapper G$ Lil Ronnie, 5-year-old daughter killed in shooting at car wash: Reports A shooting at a northern Texas car wash Monday killed a 5-year-old girl and a 30-year-old man who was reportedly local rapper G$ Lil Ronnie. Police said two suspects opened fire at the victims shortly before 11 a.m. local time in Forest Hill, a suburb about 30 miles west of Dallas. Officers performed life-saving measures but both victims were pronounced dead at the scene. A preliminary investigation found that the suspects fled the scene in a white four-door Kia after approaching the victim's vehicle, according to the Forest Hill Police Department. There is an active capital murder warrant issued for the arrests of the suspects, whose names have not been shared yet. A witness at the scene said they heard around 20 to 30 gunshots, local station KTVT reported. The shooting marks the fourth and fifth homicides in Forest Hill this year compared to none in 2024, the police department said. Aunt said Smith had no known enemies: Report Friends and family have identified the man killed as rapper Ronnie "LilRonnie" Smith, also known as G$ Lil Ronnie, according to local stations WFAA and KTVT. Smith's aunt, Stella Houston, said her nephew had no known enemies that she knew of, WFAA reported. "He was a good kid. He was," Houston told WFAA. "He didn't bother noody." Smith had around 40,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. His highest streaming track was "Hoodfame Killuminati," off a 2018 collaborative project with Go Yayo, whose real name is Kyrin Xavier Peters. Peters posted a photo of the two on his Instagram story Monday and wrote "Life or death 4 u big brudda." The Forest Hill Police Department is urging anyone with information on the shooting or the suspect's whereabouts to call 817-531-5250 or email policeinvestigations@
