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  • Jack Steele, Newport, NH: Gunshot to head kills 27-year-old local in double shooting on Putnam Road

    Folks in Newport are still trying to process the violent night on Putnam Road that took the life of 27-year-old Jack Steele. What started as a regular evening ended in gunfire, leaving one young man dead and a small town searching for answers. News of the shooting spread fast through the neighborhood, leaving folks stunned by the sudden violence on their back roads.

    State medical examiners completed an autopsy on September 23, 2026, officially identifying the victim as Jack Steele of Newport. The report confirmed he died from a gunshot wound to the head. Pathologists officially ruled the death a homicide, turning the quiet stretch of road into an active crime scene investigation.

    Jack was not the only person caught in the gunfire that night. An adult woman was also struck multiple times during the incident on Putnam Road. Paramedics rushed her to a nearby hospital, where she remains in stable condition as doctors work on her recovery.

    Police have kept the woman’s identity private while detectives work the case. Because she survived, her account could give investigators their clearest picture yet of what happened right before the triggers were pulled. Right now, officers are guarding her privacy as she continues to heal from several gunshot wounds.

    For those who knew Jack, the news hits hard. He was just 27, a local guy with deep ties to the area and years of life ahead of him. Friends and family are left holding onto simple memories—late-night talks, shared laughs, and everyday moments that suddenly mean everything.

    Small towns like Newport do not see violence like this very often. The news has left local streets quieter than usual as people check in on their neighbors and wait for updates from law enforcement. The sudden loss has turned everyday routines into painful reminders of how quickly things can change.

    Detectives from the Newport Police Department are asking anyone who saw or heard anything unusual around Putnam Road to step forward. Even the smallest detail could help bring closure to Jack’s family. Anyone with information is asked to call the Newport Police Department directly.

  • Dedrick Hay, Union, SC: Man Charged With Murder After Teen Girl Found Dead In Apartment

    Dedrick Hay, Union, SC: Man Charged With Murder After Teen Girl Found Dead In Apartment

    Union police officers placed a suspect in custody following a death investigation at a local residence. Dedrick Hay is now facing a murder charge in South Carolina.

    The case began when emergency dispatchers received an urgent call from an apartment along Chambers Avenue. A mother had just discovered her 17-year-old daughter unresponsive inside the home.

    Responding officers arrived at the scene and located the teenage girl lying face down. Police noted blood on the girl’s body and immediately called for medical and investigative backup.

    The county coroner arrived at the apartment a short time later. Officials formally confirmed that the teenage girl was deceased at the scene.

    Because the case involved a minor, state law enforcement agents stepped in to assist local authorities. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division brought in its Child Fatality Unit alongside its Crime Scene Unit.

    Investigators worked through the scene on Chambers Avenue to gather evidence and build a timeline of events. Their findings quickly led officers to single out Dedrick Hay during the investigation.

    Police took Hay into custody and transported him directly to the Union County Jail. He remains held on a murder charge as state and local investigators continue working the ongoing case.

  • Zer’Real Hinds, Cahokia Heights, Illinois: Multiple teens hurt and baby trapped after fatal three-vehicle crash on Route 15.

    A tragic morning commute turned into a scene of chaos Wednesday in Cahokia Heights when a three-vehicle crash left one teenager dead, multiple students injured, and an infant trapped inside a wrecked car. The collision happened around 8:20 a.m. at the intersection of Illinois Route 15 and Pocket Avenue, bringing local traffic to a complete standstill.

    The fatal victim was identified as 17-year-old Zer’Real B. Hinds, a Belleville West High School student from East St. Louis. He was riding in a school transport van carrying six students and two adults when the collision occurred. St. Clair County Coroner Calvin Dye Sr. reported that Zer’Real died from blunt force trauma at the scene.

    Emergency crews arriving at Route 15 were confronted with an intense, chaotic scene. The school van had caught fire shortly after impact, forcing responders to work quickly to extinguish the flames. First responders found that several passengers had been thrown from the vehicles during the collision.

    Firefighters and paramedics rushed to free a baby who was trapped inside one of the other vehicles involved in the wreck. Rescuers successfully pulled the infant out, while paramedics treated multiple injured passengers along the roadway. Ambulances transported the injured students and adults to area hospitals for immediate care.

    Police immediately shut down the intersection and secured the area as an active crime scene. Investigators from the Illinois State Police Traffic Crash Reconstruction Unit were called in to work alongside Cahokia Heights police officers. Reconstruction teams spent hours measuring skid marks, analyzing vehicle damage, and mapping out the crash trajectory.

    Belleville Township High School District 201 confirmed that district officials were cooperating fully with law enforcement agencies. District leaders spent the day making direct contact with the families of all students who were inside the van. Officials urged community members to keep the families in their thoughts while investigations continue.

    Route 15 near Pocket Avenue has long been a heavily traveled corridor through St. Clair County, making the morning collision all the more shocking for local residents. As state troopers work to determine whether speed or road conditions played a role, the local community remains focused on supporting the surviving victims and honoring the young life lost.

  • Zer’Real Hinds, Cahokia Heights, Illinois: 17-year-old student killed after Belleville West High van crashes and catches fire.

    Zer’Real B. Hinds was on his way to school Wednesday morning like any other teenager in East St. Louis. He was 17 years old and attended Belleville West High School. Shortly after 8:20 a.m., the school van he was riding in crashed into two other vehicles at Illinois Route 15 and Pocket Avenue in Cahokia Heights. The impact killed him and sent several of his classmates to nearby hospitals.

    St. Clair County Coroner Calvin Dye Sr. officially identified Zer’Real as the sole fatality from the morning wreck. Authorities confirmed that he died from blunt force trauma sustained during the violent collision. For his family and friends, the official confirmation turned a tense wait into absolute grief.

    Zer’Real was one of six students riding inside the Belleville West High School transport van alongside two adults. The morning commute turned catastrophic when the van collided with two other vehicles at the busy intersection. Witnesses reported seeing flames quickly engulfing the transport van moments after the crash.

    Classmates and teachers at Belleville West High School woke up to devastating news on Wednesday. School administrators immediately reached out to the families of all eight people who were on board the vehicle. School District 201 released a statement asking the public to give Zer’Real’s family space and respect as they deal with the loss.

    Those who knew Zer’Real described him as a young man with a full future ahead of him. He was a familiar face in the school hallways and around his neighborhood in East St. Louis. Friends and family members spent Wednesday evening gathering to support one another, sharing memories of his laughter and everyday presence.

    The sudden loss of a teenager leaves a deep wound across an entire school district. Counselors were made available to students and staff at Belleville West High School to help them process the shock. For many of Zer’Real’s peers, stepping back into the building without him marked the hardest day of their young lives.

    While investigators continue to piece together what caused the crash on Route 15, Zer’Real’s loved ones are focused entirely on remembering who he was. A 17-year-old life cannot be measured only by how it ended. For those who loved him, Zer’Real will be remembered for the ordinary, bright moments he brought into their lives every single day.

  • Dedrick Hay, Union, SC: Mother Finds 17-Year-Old Daughter Dead Face Down In Apartment

    Dedrick Hay, Union, SC: Mother Finds 17-Year-Old Daughter Dead Face Down In Apartment

    A mother walking into an apartment expected a normal visit with her child. Instead, she walked straight into a horrifying discovery along Chambers Avenue.

    Inside the residence, the mother found her 17-year-old daughter lying completely motionless on the floor. The teenage girl was face down and unresponsive.

    Blood was visible on the young girl’s body when her mother made the discovery. The panicked mother called 911 right away to get emergency help to the scene.

    Officers with the Union Public Safety Department rushed to the Chambers Avenue address. First responders checked on the teenager as soon as they entered the home.

    The local coroner was called to the scene shortly after police secured the apartment. Officials confirmed the 17-year-old girl had died before help could arrive.

    State law enforcement officers joined local police at the apartment to assist with the gathering of evidence. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division sent its Child Fatality Unit and Crime Scene Unit to help lead the inquiry.

    During the course of the investigation, police identified and arrested Dedrick Hay. Authorities charged Hay with murder and booked him into the Union County Jail as the investigation remains ongoing.

  • Tomasz Kosowski, Clearwater, FL: Plastic Surgeon Convicted Of Murder After Courtroom Strategy Collapses

    Tomasz Kosowski, Clearwater, FL: Plastic Surgeon Convicted Of Murder After Courtroom Strategy Collapses

    A former plastic surgeon who tried to defend himself in a high-stakes murder trial was found guilty on Wednesday afternoon. Tomasz Kosowski was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of attorney Steven Cozzi. The bench trial ended after seven days of intense testimony in a Pinellas County courtroom.

    Kosowski made the unusual choice to waive a jury trial and serve as his own attorney throughout the case. He stood alone before Judge Joseph Bulone, arguing that it was physically impossible for him to have committed the crime. He insisted that the state’s entire theory lacked solid proof because officers never found a body.

    The motive stemmed from a contentious legal feud between the doctor and the lawyer. Cozzi was representing defendants in a lawsuit filed by Kosowski over a medical billing dispute and bad online reviews. Prosecutors argued that Kosowski developed a personal obsession with Cozzi and methodically planned his murder to settle the score.

    The state presented a long chain of forensic evidence linking Kosowski to the crime scene on March 21, 2023. Surveillance footage caught a man walking into the law office with a Gorilla cart box on the morning Cozzi vanished. Hours later, the same camera showed the man pulling a heavily loaded wagon back out to a Toyota Tundra truck.

    Investigators found extensive blood spatters in the law firm’s restroom that matched Cozzi’s DNA profile. Detectives also found traces of Cozzi’s blood inside Kosowski’s truck, on his garage floor, and in another vehicle he drove. Prosecutors told the court that Kosowski used the wagon to transport the victim’s body to a landfill.

    In court, Kosowski attempted to challenge the physical details of the state’s case during cross-examination. He asked a lead detective to lift a weighted cart onto a desk to prove a person could not lift it alone, but the judge denied the request. Kosowski maintained that reasonable doubt existed, but he offered no witnesses or personal testimony to counter the evidence.

    Assistant State Attorney Nathan Vonderheide told the judge that the total weight of the evidence left no room for doubt. Judge Bulone agreed and found Kosowski guilty of first-degree murder. Kosowski now faces the death penalty or life in prison without parole as the penalty phase begins.

  • Nekmurat Nurov, Pepper Pike, Ohio: Wrong-Way Highway Driver Kills 39-Year-Old in Late-Night Drunk Driving Wreck

    A suspended license, alcohol, and a vehicle heading at high speeds in the wrong direction turned Interstate 271 into a death trap early Tuesday morning. When the headlights finally cleared near Shaker Boulevard in Pepper Pike, a 39-year-old Lakewood man was mortally wounded, and another driver was on his way to jail to face severe felony charges.

    Police say the disaster unfolded around 2:26 a.m. in the northbound express lanes. A suspect behind the wheel of a 2025 Subaru Impreza was speeding south against traffic. Coming from the opposite direction was Nekmurat Nurov in his 2025 Toyota Corolla Cross, completely unaware that a vehicle was charging directly toward him in the dark.

    The violent impact crushed both front ends, trapping the occupants inside. Paramedics pulled Nurov, his passenger, and the Subaru driver from the wreckage, rushing all three directly to Hillcrest Hospital. Despite the efforts of the medical staff, Nurov succumbed to his injuries shortly after arriving. His passenger survived, though with injuries that required immediate medical treatment.

    While emergency crews cleared the wreckage off the highway, police began piecing together the suspect’s actions leading up to the crash. It did not take long for officers to place the wrong-way driver under arrest right at the hospital. Investigators determined that alcohol was a major factor in the crash, along with a driver who should not have been behind the wheel in the first place.

    The suspect now faces heavy charges, including aggravated vehicular homicide, aggravated vehicular assault, OVI, driving under suspension, and going the wrong way on a highway. Under state law, these counts carry severe penalties, including mandatory prison time if convicted, but that offers little instant comfort to those who knew the victim.

    People throughout the Lakewood community are grieving the sudden loss of Nurov, remembering him as a valued friend, co-worker, and family member. Neighbors and local residents are once again left demanding answers about how wrong-way drivers manage to slip past highway signage and onto express lanes undetected.

    A single terrible decision by an impaired driver took Nurov’s life in an instant. As court proceedings get underway for the suspect, a grieving family is left picking up the pieces from a tragedy that never should have happened.

  • Nekmurat Nurov, Pepper Pike, Ohio: Head-On Crash on I-271 Leaves Lakewood Man Dead as Suspect Faces OVI Charges

    It was around 2:30 on a Tuesday morning when standard highway driving turned into an absolute nightmare on I-271 North. Nekmurat Nurov, a 39-year-old resident of Lakewood, was heading down the express lanes near the Shaker Boulevard underpass in his Toyota Corolla Cross. Riding alongside him was a passenger, just going through what should have been an ordinary late-night trip through the suburbs of Cleveland.

    Out of nowhere came a 2025 Subaru Impreza barreling South down the Northbound lanes. There was no time to react, no room to swerve, and no second chances. The head-on collision slammed both vehicles to a stop in the dark, scattering debris across the highway and prompting immediate calls to emergency dispatchers.

    First responders rushed to the scene, quickly hauling both drivers and Nurov’s passenger out of the twisted metal. All three were transported to nearby Hillcrest Hospital. Doctors worked to save Nurov, but his injuries were simply too severe. He was pronounced dead at the hospital, turning an ordinary morning commute route into the scene of a devastating local tragedy.

    For the folks living around Lakewood and Pepper Pike, news of Nurov’s death hit hard. Friends, co-workers, and family members were left trying to make sense of a sudden, senseless loss. He was a guy minding his own business, driving home, whose life was cut short in a fraction of a second because someone else made a catastrophic decision behind the wheel.

    It did not take long for law enforcement to figure out what went down. Police quickly arrested the driver of the Subaru, who ended up facing a laundry list of serious criminal charges. The list includes aggravated vehicular homicide, aggravated vehicular assault, operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, driving under suspension, and driving the wrong way on a one-way street.

    Local officials in Pepper Pike issued statements offering their deepest condolences to Nurov’s family and everyone impacted by the crash. But for many locals, the tragedy brings up familiar frustrations. Wrong-way wrecks remain a terrifying issue on Northeast Ohio highways, where high speeds leave virtually zero margin for error when an impaired driver gets onto an exit ramp the wrong way.

    Now, as prosecutors build their case against the driver who crossed into oncoming traffic, Nurov’s loved ones are left dealing with an irreplaceable loss. A quiet ride down I-271 shattered a family forever, leaving a community mourning a man who was just trying to get home.

  • Steven Cozzi, Clearwater, FL: Family Left Waiting For Answers After Doctor Murdered Lawyer Without Leaving A Trace

    Steven Cozzi, Clearwater, FL: Family Left Waiting For Answers After Doctor Murdered Lawyer Without Leaving A Trace

    A forty-one-year-old attorney went to work one spring morning and never walked back out. Steven Cozzi was handling a routine civil lawsuit at his law office in Largo when he vanished without a trace on March 21, 2023. He left his car keys, wallet, and cell phone sitting right on his desk.

    For over three years, Cozzi’s family lived in a nightmare of unanswered questions. His parents called and texted every few days, but the quiet phone calls only grew heavier as time passed. His mother and father testified in court that they never heard from their son again after that fateful Tuesday afternoon.

    On Wednesday, a judge in Clearwater delivered the verdict that brought a grim closure to the family. Judge Joseph Bulone found former plastic surgeon Tomasz Kosowski guilty of first-degree murder. Even though police never recovered Cozzi’s body, the judge ruled that the evidence proved beyond a doubt that the attorney was killed.

    Prosecutors built their entire case around the physical clues left behind in the law firm’s bathroom. Investigators found significant amounts of Cozzi’s blood inside the restroom, pointing to a violent encounter. Surveillance video showed a man wheeling a heavy cart out of the building shortly after Cozzi disappeared.

    Crime scene technicians later tracked Cozzi’s blood to Kosowski’s personal pickup truck and his home garage. Prosecutors argued that Kosowski planned the attack out of a bitter obsession over a medical billing lawsuit where Cozzi represented the opposing side. They alleged that Kosowski hauled the body away in the cart and dumped it in a remote landfill.

    During the weeklong trial, the courtroom sat in silence as prosecutors laid out the sequence of events. Kosowski represented himself during the proceedings and chose not to call any witnesses or take the stand. He argued that the state could not prove Cozzi died that day and pointed to post-disappearance credit card charges, but the judge rejected those arguments.

    With the conviction handed down, the case now moves into the penalty phase where Kosowski faces life in prison or the death penalty. For Cozzi’s loved ones, no courtroom verdict can fill the empty space left in their lives. They are left remembering a dedicated lawyer whose life was cut short far too soon.

  • Huseyin Ozkok, Edgewater Park, New Jersey: Suspended driver charged after fatal morning pedestrian collision on Route 130

    A fatal weekend crash on a South Jersey highway led to criminal charges against a Burlington County driver who should not have been behind the wheel. The incident happened early Sunday morning near the intersection of Route 130 South and Pennypacker Drive in Edgewater Park Township. Officers arrived at the scene to find a pedestrian down in the roadway and a vehicle parked nearby. The victim, identified as 51-year-old Willingboro resident Welther Briggs, suffered catastrophic injuries from the collision and passed away at the scene.

    The driver of the vehicle remained at the location following the crash and identified himself to responding emergency personnel. Police identified the operator as 51-year-old Huseyin Ozkok of Pemberton, New Jersey. Ozkok spoke with patrol officers on site while traffic investigators marked off the crash scene with yellow tape and set up emergency flares along the southern lanes of Route 130.

    Following an initial review of state driving records, law enforcement officers discovered that Ozkok was operating the vehicle with a suspended or invalid license. Edgewater Park Township Police Chief John Harris confirmed that officers formally charged Ozkok with driving while suspended or unlicensed and causing death or injury. Under New Jersey law, operating a motor vehicle with a revoked or suspended license that results in a fatality carries significant legal penalties.

    The stretch of Route 130 where the crash occurred is known locally as a busy commercial artery with multiple lane divisions and signalized intersections. Investigators from the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office Fatal Accident Investigation Unit joined local police to analyze tire marks, vehicle damage, and visibility factors present during the early morning hours. Officials are attempting to pinpoint exactly where Briggs was standing or walking when Ozkok’s vehicle hit him.

    While Ozkok stayed on scene and cooperated with law enforcement during the initial questioning, the investigation into his driving history and the mechanics of the collision continues. Prosecutors are assessing whether additional traffic summonses or elevated criminal charges will be filed as forensic reports and collision reconstruction data become finalized.

    News of the charges against Ozkok brought intense frustration to community members in Edgewater Park and Willingboro. Local residents expressed concern over unlicensed drivers operating vehicles on public highways, highlighting the dangerous risk it poses to pedestrians walking near major roadways. Highway safety advocates in Burlington County point to this incident as another warning about the need for strict enforcement of license suspensions across New Jersey.

    The legal case against Ozkok will proceed through the Burlington County court system while police complete their final crash investigation report. Authorities ask anyone with additional information, roadside video footage, or details regarding the vehicles traveling along Route 130 South on Sunday morning to contact the Edgewater Park Township Police Department. Meanwhile, the family of Welther Briggs continues to prepare memorial plans while awaiting further updates from local prosecutors.

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