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Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Yahoo
9-Year-Old Boy Dead, Twin Sister Injured After Pickup Truck Hit Them Outside Elementary School: ‘My Little Angel'
An adult and three children were hit by a pickup truck near Felix Botello Elementary School in Dallas, according to police Police said 9-year-old Jose Garcia Ledesma died Two other children, including Jose's twin sister Keyla, were transported to the hospital in 'critical but stable condition"A boy is dead and two other children are injured after being struck by a vehicle outside a Texas elementary school, according to officials. Dallas Police Department Assistant Chief Catrina Shead said in a press conference, shared by WFAA-TV, that the three children and an adult were struck by a pickup truck near Felix Botello Elementary School in Dallas. She said police responded to the incident at around 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 22. Police shared on X at the time that it was 'investigating a major accident in the 200 block of south Marsalis Avenue.' Shead said that the adult and three children who had been hit by the car on the scene were transported to nearby hospitals by Dallas Fire Rescue. One of the children died from the injuries sustained in the incident and the two other kids were in 'critical but stable condition.' The adult was transported in 'stable condition.' The boy who died is 9-year-old Jose Garcia Ledesma, according to WFAA-TV, which cited the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. The Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment. Shead added that the driver involved in the incident stopped after the incident, and it 'does not appear' that there was 'speeding involved.' Jose's mother Deyaneira Ledesma told KXAS-TV that she had been walking with her twins, Jose and Keyla, and another student back to their apartment complex across from the elementary school when they were struck by a car. She told the outlet that she had looked both ways before crossing but had not been at a crosswalk. Deyaneira told KXAS-TV that her daughter Keyla suffered a broken leg and hip. In a translated post from the outlet, she described her son as her 'little angel,' her 'greatest love' and her 'everything.' The family has also started fundraising for funeral costs on On the website, the family wrote: 'A student at Felix Botello Elementary, Jose found happiness in the simple things—playing soccer, splashing in water, and dancing. Known for his vibrant personality, he will be remembered as an energetic dancer who always brought a smile to those around him. Jose's memory will live on in the hearts of all who knew and loved him.' A vigil was held for Jose on Friday, May 23, at Felix Botello Elementary School, according to WFAA-TV. One of the parents at the school, Cynthia Rocha, described Jose's death as 'very sad" to the outlet, and called for changes to be made to make the area safer. "It's not so much the kids. It's the cars," said Rocha of the traffic on South Marsalis Avenue. "They get off the freeway and they go. Or they're about to get on the freeway and they go fast. We don't have any speed bumps. We have one crossing guard. But we do need some change." Read the original article on People
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Yahoo
Kennedale ISD substitute accused of showing sexual material to students, police say
A Kennedale ISD substitute teacher has been arrested after parents say she showed sexually explicit material to their children. The substitute teacher, identified in court records as 38-year-old Ashley Nicole Evans, was booked at the Tarrant County Jail and released on $50,000 bond on Wednesday. Evans faces two misdemeanor counts of displaying harmful material to a minor, according to court records. According to a search warrant affidavit obtained by the Star-Telegram, multiple students at Kennedale Junior High School reported to school administrators that Evans had talked to them about drug use and pornography and showed them sexually explicit material on her cellphone. Parents Daphne Todd and Ashley Baker told WFAA-TV that they were notified of the April incident via an e-mail from school officials and a phone call from police this week. Baker's 14-year-old daughter and Todd's 14-year-old son were both in the junior high school class that Evans was teaching at the time, the mothers said. 🚨 More top stories from our newsroom: → School closures could save millions. But would they help students? → Student charged in Frisco stabbing will receive diploma → Last TCU-area dive bar is a restaurant with surprises [Get our breaking news alerts.] Baker and Todd said that officials told them Evans showed their children explicit photos and engaged them in inappropriate conversation on April 7, WFAA-TV reported. Court records indicate that a second alleged incident took place in January. 'I'm disturbed because you have to be mentally ill and a very perverted, sick person to be in a classroom full of pre-teens, like teens, and be watching that kind of stuff,' Baker told WFAA-TV. Kennedale ISD issued the following statement to the Star-Telegram: In April, the district received a report regarding inappropriate conversations between a substitute teacher and students. In accordance with district policy, the substitute was immediately removed from access to all campuses and law enforcement was notified. Since that time, additional allegations have been made as part of the ongoing investigation with law enforcement. The District is actively cooperating with appropriate agencies. We remain committed to the safety and well-being of all students and will continue to take appropriate action in accordance with district policy and legal requirements. Kennedale police declined to release additional details, citing the ongoing investigation.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Yahoo
Who Killed Amber Hagerman? What We Know About the Still-Unsolved Case That Inspired AMBER Alerts
It's been almost three decades since Amber Hagerman was abducted and killed in Arlington, Texas. On Jan. 13, 1996, 9-year-old Amber and her younger brother, Ricky, were riding their bicycles around a parking lot. Ricky decided to return to their grandparents' house, but Amber did not make it back with him. Her body was found four days later near a creek roughly six miles from where she had been abducted, per The New York Times. "Finding Amber's body is a sad moment I'll never forget," Tarrant County Sheriff Dee Anderson previously told PEOPLE. Despite efforts by investigators and her family, the case is still unsolved. In response to Amber's heart-wrenching case, a Texas mom named Diana Simone had the idea to create an emergency system for abducted children, similar to a weather or civil defense alert. After the pitch was picked up by the Child Alert Foundation, AMBER (America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) Alerts were created. The system went into development in 1996 and is still used today. "It's a shame my daughter had to be butchered and had to go through what she went through for us to have the AMBER Alert, but I know she would be proud of it," Amber's mother, Donna Williams, told Yahoo News in 2016. On the 25th anniversary of her disappearance, in January 2021, Arlington Police held a news conference in the parking lot where Amber was abducted. They honored the young girl's legacy and assured her family and the public that they were still looking for Amber's killer. 'I miss her voice. I miss her touch. I miss her hugs,' Williams said, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 'I remember everything about her. There's nothing I've forgotten about her." Here's everything to know about Amber Hagerman and how her murder led to the creation of AMBER Alerts. Amber Hagerman was born on Nov. 25, 1986, in Arlington, Texas, to Richard Hagerman and Donna Williams (at the time of Amber's disappearance, Williams went by the name Whitson). Williams left Hagerman in 1994, according to WFAA-TV. Amber was 9 years old when she was abducted. Williams described Amber to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 2021 as an 'innocent and sweet little girl' who loved being like a 'little mommy' to her younger brother, Ricky. She was a Girl Scout who loved writing, Barbies, the Disney princess Pocahontas and her pink bike. Her third-grade classmates at Barry Elementary in Arlington described her as 'pretty' and 'nice," according to a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) blog post. Months before her abduction, Amber, Ricky and Williams, who at the time was a single mother working toward her GED, were interviewed by WFAA-TV for a special on welfare reform. In the piece, Amber showed off her scrapbook, which included awards for good grades and attendance, and Williams said Amber 'loved school.' "Amber was just a very sweet, innocent child, and that's the memory we got to hold onto as we investigate," Arlington Police Sgt. Grant Gildon told PEOPLE in 2022. "That this is someone who was doing something as innocent as riding a bicycle, and evil found her that day." On Jan. 13, 1996, Amber and her 5-year-old brother, Ricky, took their bicycles to a parking lot in Arlington, Texas. After a few minutes, Ricky decided to go back to their grandparents' home, about two blocks away. Before Amber could join her brother, according to one witness, a man in a black pick-up truck pulled into the parking lot, snatched Amber off her bicycle and took off. The abduction took place in broad daylight, at 3:18 p.m. local time. One month after Amber's murder, Williams visited her daughter's elementary school classmates. A boy asked what time Amber left on her bike, and Williams told him 3:10. 'It just took eight minutes,' she said, according to a 2021 NCMEC blog post. 'So you guys stay close to home, okay?' In 2016, 20 years after his sister's murder, Ricky told reporters that at the time, he 'didn't quite understand what was going on," per The Seattle Times. 'I just knew my sister was taken from us,' he said with tears in his eyes. 'She was my best friend, like a second mother.' A man named Jimmie Kevil was the only witness to come forward after Amber's abduction. He claimed to have seen the abduction from his backyard, telling police that a 1980s or 1990s single-cab black truck had been parked earlier at a nearby laundromat. The assailant allegedly drove up in the truck, kidnapped Amber and traveled away from Highway 360 towards the center of Arlington. 'I saw [Amber] riding up and down,' Kevil told CBS Dallas-Fort Worth in January 2016. 'She was by herself. I saw this black pickup. He pulled up, jumped out and grabbed her. When she screamed, I figured the police ought to know about it, so I called them.' Sgt. Ben Lopez, who was a rookie on the Arlington police force when Amber disappeared, acknowledged at a 2021 press conference that police knew there may have been undocumented residents at the laundromat who were afraid to come forward but 'if there is a witness or witnesses who have that concern, we are not interested at all in pursuing any kind of deportation.' Kevil died in May 2016. Four days after her disappearance, Amber's body was found in a drainage ditch with cuts, including to her throat. Amber's body was spotted by a man behind the Forest Ridge apartment complex, about six miles from the parking lot from which she was taken. Dee Anderson, a spokesperson for the Tarrant County police, said at the time that maintenance workers had been near the creek hours earlier, but Amber's body was not found. It was believed that her body 'moved there during a rainstorm,' according to The New York Times, and that she had been alive for 48 hours after her kidnapping. "We will find the person who did this," Anderson said. "We never want another little girl, another family, to go through what this little girl, this family, has been through." Sgt. Gildon described the area where Amber was found as 'very secluded.' "We do believe you'd have to be somewhat familiar with that area to know where that creek is," he told PEOPLE. "Was there a connection with that location? And was it someone who had a reason for turning back to the center of town? The thought has always been that the easiest way to get out of the area would've been to go to Highway 360." Police believe the suspect was a local male. Officials described him as White or Hispanic, in his 20s or 30s, under 6 ft. and with dark hair. "Based on the direction of travel when they left and then based on her being found in Arlington, being abducted in Arlington and just being in that spot, the question has always been, did somebody have a connection with that area where the abduction was?" Sgt. Gildon told PEOPLE. After Amber's murder, a local Texas mother named Diana Simone kept thinking about how Amber disappeared without a trace. "I said, 'I can't get over this child. There has to be something we can do,' " Simone told PEOPLE. There were weather and civil defense alerts so, "why wouldn't they do it for this?" Simone called a local radio station with an idea for an emergency system. The concept was that when a 911 call was placed, radio stations would immediately interrupt programming to broadcast the alert. Fourteen days after Amber's abduction, Simone wrote a letter to the station requesting that if the alert system got put into place, it should be known as Amber's plan. Dallas-Fort Worth broadcasters and local police then teamed up to develop an early warning system, according to the official AMBER Alert website. The system, officially named AMBER (America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response) Alert, began development in 1996. It was first implemented on July 5, 1997, and the first success story came on Nov. 10, 1998, per Nevada's AMBER Alert website. The system, which is used in 'the most serious child-abduction cases,' aims to 'instantly galvanize the community to assist in the search for and safe recovery of a missing child,' according to the NCMEC, which manages the program for the U.S. Department of Justice. The alerts are first issued by law enforcement to broadcasters and state transportation officials. NCMEC is then notified, and they re-distribute the alert to secondary distributors, which include radio, television and road signs. As of 2013, messages are sent to phones through the Wireless Emergency Alerts program (WEA), and alerts are also shared on social media via Facebook, Instagram and X. Today, AMBER Alerts are used in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, parts of Indian country, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and 45 other countries, according to its website. As of Oct. 31, 2024, they have saved at least 1,221 children in the U.S., according to the NCMEC. Despite how far-reaching and impactful Amber's case has been, it is still unsolved. In the three decades since Amber's abduction, police have received over 7,000 tips. Gildon told PEOPLE that they 'continue to have leads' and several that 'we continue to investigate extensively as possible suspects.' 'A lot of people will refer to Amber's case as ... a cold case,' he said. 'But for the Arlington Police Department, it has never been listed as a cold case because we've never gone 180 days without having some lead come in." Gildon also said he believes the killer is still alive. Police remain hopeful that recent advancements in DNA testing, which have been used on evidence collected in Amber's case, and new tips from the public will help solve the case. "I remain optimistic that this case will be solved," Gildon said. "I do believe there's definitely someone out there who has the answers that we're looking for and can help lead us in the right direction. So, that's why we continue to work on it. Our goal has always remained the same, and that's to catch who did this and be able to prosecute them." Williams told Yahoo News that detectives call 'when they get a hot lead or something, but nothing ever comes of it.' 'How can [the killer] get away with this? I can't comprehend how you can't catch someone like that,' she said. In 2021, 25 years after Amber's murder, Arlington Police held a news conference in the parking lot where Amber was abducted. They honored the young girl's legacy and made it clear that they were still looking for Amber's killer. Williams also spoke to the media, then directly to the abductor: 'Please turn yourself in. Give Amber justice.' Amber's mother, Donna Williams, still lives in Texas and is a child safety advocate. In 2016, she did not own a smartphone and avoided spending time online, but she did hear AMBER alerts when they came through the TV or radio. 'Of course I think of my daughter first,' she told Yahoo News. 'I have to accept that the alerts are always going to be there." Williams has faced additional tragedies since losing her daughter, including the death of her fiancé in a car accident two months after Amber's funeral, her older sister's 1998 death from a seizure disorder and, in 2009, both her husband's death from a heart attack and her father's death from cancer. Amber's brother, Ricky Hagerman, is also still in contact with the police and continues to speak out about his sister. 'Every day she's on my mind,' he told reporters in 2016. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Yahoo
Everman deputy fire chief used ‘hook-up app' to hire man to rape woman, affidavits say
A North Texas deputy fire chief is accused of using a 'hook-up app' to hire a man to sexually assault a woman who he claimed agreed to the attack as part of a rape role play fantasy, according to arrest warrant affidavits. The victim told Fort Worth police that she did not know about the plan or consent to the assault, the court documents state. Both men — Everman Deputy Fire Chief Joel Jones and Tobasia Griffiths — were arrested by Fort Worth police last week. Griffiths, 30, is charged with aggravated sexual assault in the case. Jones, 53, is charged with aggravated sexual assault and criminal solicitation of aggravated sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping, according to Tarrant County court records. The victim told investigators that she was in bed at her Fort Worth home on Feb. 21 when Griffiths came into her room and raped her, according to the affidavits. The woman said she was able to escape and run out of the house after she told Griffiths she needed to use the bathroom. Griffiths later found the woman on the street and threatened to kill her if she reported the assault, the affidavits state. The woman went to a hospital, where she filed a report with police. Detectives said they were able to identify Griffiths through security video that showed his car in the victim's driveway and a partial license plate number that she saw. Jones is accused of paying Griffiths $100 via Zelle to commit the assault, according to the court documents. Griffiths told sex crimes detectives that he met Jones through an app called Sniffies, where they exchanged messages to plan the assault, and that Jones told him the woman would consent, the affidavits state. The Sniffies website describes it as a 'map-based cruising app for the curious.' After the first assault, messages between the two suspects show they conspired to commit a second sexual assault involving a kidnapping, but that attack was not carried out, according to the affidavits. Jones was arrested on March 26 and is being held in the Tarrant County Jail on $300,000 bond. Griffiths was released from jail on $25,000 bond. Jones' neighbors told Star-Telegram media partner WFAA-TV that just days before his arrest, the deputy fire chief went door to door in his neighborhood and warned residents that there was a sexual predator in the area. In a statement, Everman Fire Department Chief Landon Whatley said that Jones' arrest is not related to his work with the department and that the deputy chief has been placed on administrative leave. 'The nature of the allegations and charges are deeply concerning,' Whatley said. 'Department command staff is fully cooperating with the Fort Worth Police Department as they investigate this incident. ... We want to assure the public that we take matters such as this extremely seriously.'
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Yahoo
‘I'm not alleged, I did it,' Frisco track meet stabbing suspect told police: affidavit
The 17-year-old suspect accused of fatally stabbing a fellow Frisco high school student during a track meet confessed to the killing and told police that he was trying to protect himself, according to an arrest affidavit. Police wrote in the arrest report obtained by Star-Telegram media partner WFAA-TV that Karmelo Anthony volunteered statements to officers before he was questioned including saying, 'I did it,' and 'I was protecting myself.' Family members identified the victim as 17-year-old Austin Metcalf, a junior at Frisco Memorial High School. Austin was stabbed in the heart and died in the arms of his twin brother, the twins' father said. A witness told police that Metcalf had tried to get Anthony to move out from under the Memorial High School team's tent when the Wednesday morning track meet was delayed because of the weather. Students were supposed to sit with their teams, and Anthony was a student at Centennial High School, the affidavit states. The witness reported that when he was asked to move, Anthony opened his bag and reached inside and said, 'Touch me and see what happens,' according to the affidavit. A witness told police that Metcalf then touched Anthony, who told Metcalf to punch him and see what would happen. Metcalf then grabbed Anthony to try to get him to move, the witness said. Anthony pulled out a black knife, stabbed Metcalf once in the chest and ran away, a witness told police, according to the affidavit. The witness said that Metcalf grabbed his chest and asked people to get help, the affidavit states. Police reported that they interviewed another witness who told the same story of the fight between Metcalf and Anthony. Austin's father, Jeff Metcalf, said that he was told that his son had grabbed Anthony's backpack to move it and that's when the suspect pulled out the knife and stabbed him. Upon his arrest, Anthony told officers that he was protecting himself after Metcalf had 'put his hands on me,' before the officers even questioned him about the stabbing, according to the affidavit. When another officer arrived, the arresting officer said he had the 'alleged suspect' in custody, to which Anthony replied, 'I'm not alleged, I did it,' according to the affidavit. 🚨 More top stories from our newsroom: → Family faces legal fight over services for daughter with Down syndrome → Blue Cross Blue Shield drops coverage at North Texas hospitals → Woman attacked, killed outside Arlington apartment [Get our breaking news alerts.] Anthony had fresh blood on his left middle finger, police reported. While in the back seat of the police car, Anthony asked officers if Metcalf was going to be OK, the affidavit states. Anthony threw the knife away after stabbing Metcalf and the weapon was later found in the bleachers at the track, police wrote in the report. Anthony is being held in the Collin County Jail on a murder charge. His bond has been set at $1 million. It's not clear whether he has retained a defense attorney.
