Blog

A 78-year-old man set out on a routine morning drive through his local neighborhood, unaware those quiet moments behind the wheel would be his last. Willie H. Smith Jr. died Thursday morning after a sudden loss of control ended in a crash nobody on the block could have expected.

It was just before 10 a.m. when the morning calm along Waverland Drive was broken. Smith was driving his white Chevrolet Equinox heading east toward the Woodland Drive intersection.

Investigators say Smith lost control of the SUV as he approached the turn. What caused the vehicle to veer off course remains under investigation, but the SUV left the street at high speed.

The white Equinox traveled off the roadway and slammed directly onto the rooftop of a residential home located in the 1900 block of Woodland Drive.

First responders rushed to the scene after neighbors called in the unusual crash. Emergency crews found the SUV lodged into the roof structure of the house.

Deputies confirmed that Smith did not survive the impact. Remarkably, despite the heavy damage to the roof, no one inside the home or anywhere nearby suffered injuries.

The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office is handling the ongoing investigation. Officers are looking into whether a medical emergency or a mechanical problem led to the crash off Waverland Drive.

On Friday morning, Aug. 21, a 14-year-old girl in Canton missed her school bus. Wanting to make it to class on time, she decided to walk along Hickory Road by herself.

As she walked down the road, a man driving a large truck pulled up beside her. He rolled down his window and asked if she needed a ride to school. The driver talked her into getting into the truck, convincing her he was just trying to help.

Instead of taking her to campus, the driver headed down unfamiliar streets in Canton. He drove to a separate location, where the teenager reported he sexually assaulted her inside the truck.

After the assault, the driver drove back toward her school. He dropped her off near the campus property and drove away. The girl managed to reach safety and tell her family what happened.

Later that day, the victim’s family reported the assault to the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office. Detectives took on the case right away, but they started with very little information about the driver or his vehicle.

Investigators turned to the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office Real Time Intelligence Center for assistance. Using automated license plate reader technology placed on local roads, detectives searched for trucks that passed through Hickory Road during the time of the girl’s walk.

The camera system identified a vehicle that matched the girl’s description. That electronic lead helped detectives confirm key parts of her account and pointed them directly to a suspect.

On Thursday morning, deputies served a search warrant at the Canton home of 42-year-old Raymond Sookram. Officers arrested Sookram at the scene and charged him with aggravated child molestation, trafficking a person for sexual servitude, and interference with custody. He remains held without bond at the Cherokee County Adult Detention Center.

Family errand turned into an unimaginable nightmare in Polk County when a 17-month-old girl died inside a parked car. The toddler fell asleep during a short drive across town, and her 74-year-old grandmother walked into her house and took a nap, completely unaware the little girl was still strapped in the back seat. By the time anyone realized what happened, it was already too late.

The tragic sequence began on the afternoon of March 31 in Lake Wales. Karen Denise Benyard drove out to pick up her young granddaughter and another family member who had been babysitting the girl while her mother was working. The babysitter secured the toddler into her car seat, hopped into the front passenger seat, and they headed out toward Winter Haven.

During the drive, the tired toddler quietly drifted off to sleep in the back seat. Benyard made her first stop in Winter Haven to drop off the family member at work. From there, the 74-year-old grandmother pulled out and made the short trip back to her own home along Avenue N SW.

Benyard pulled into her driveway just after 2:00 p.m. Thinking she was alone, she turned off the engine, went inside her house, and lay down to take an afternoon nap. Outside, the Florida afternoon sun beat down on the closed vehicle, quickly turning the interior into a deadly chamber.

Around 3:45 p.m., Benyard woke up to get ready to pick up the child’s mother from work. Walking out to her car, she opened the door and discovered her granddaughter unresponsive in the back seat. Panic took over as police and emergency crews rushed to the home, but life-saving efforts failed. Doctors pronounced the 17-month-old dead at the hospital shortly after 4:30 p.m.

The sudden loss crushed the family and devastated Benyard, who was admitted to the hospital for several days due to extreme grief and distress. Investigators conducted a months-long probe, examining phone records, neighborhood Ring camera clips, and state toxicology reports. Tests confirmed Benyard had no drugs or alcohol in her system, and her timeline matched every piece of physical evidence.

Despite the clear lack of malice or bad intent, law enforcement officers arrested Benyard on August 26. She was booked into the Polk County Jail on a charge of aggravated manslaughter of a child. Under Florida law, caretakers face severe criminal charges when a child dies unattended in a hot car, even if the deadly mistake was an honest, tragic memory lapse.

A Covington police officer ended up on the wrong side of the law Wednesday night after an internal audit caught him improperly digging through license plate reader records. State agents arrested former officer Michael Canty just before 10 p.m. and brought him straight to the Newton County Jail.

Canty faces ten criminal counts, starting with five felonies for violating his oath as a public officer. On top of that, investigators hit him with five misdemeanor charges for illegally obtaining or using license plate data collected by law enforcement cameras.

The trouble started inside the Covington Police Department when routine monitoring flagged unusual activity on the network. Supervisors noticed a spike in system searches coming from Canty’s account, showing usage far higher than what a typical officer needs on shift.

Department leaders called Canty in for an interview to explain why he was running so many queries. Supervisors immediately put him on administrative leave while internal investigators launched a full review of every search logged under his credentials.

That detailed check confirmed the department’s suspicions. After seeing the full scope of his technology usage, police leadership moved to terminate Canty’s employment on July 27, 2026.

Canty had worked for the department for less than four years, having joined the Covington force in October 2022. Following his firing, Covington police handed their findings over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which led directly to his arrest.

Covington police publicly stated that they will not tolerate employees misusing technology or breaking trust with the community. Canty remains booked in Newton County, while local authorities note his mugshot has not been made public as of 11:01 a.m.

A normal Monday night in Seneca turned into a family’s worst nightmare when 17-year-old Kaden Kimbrell was shot in the back of the head while sitting behind the wheel of his car. The gunfire shattered the quiet routine along Goddard Avenue in the Utica Mill Hill neighborhood just after 8 p.m. Now, a high schooler who had his whole life ahead of him is lying in a hospital bed, facing the devastating reality that he will likely be paralyzed from the neck down.

Kaden was driving his 2014 Dodge Dart near Sirrine Street when another car, a 2012 Hyundai Elantra, pulled up right behind him. Out of nowhere, gunshots rang out into the night air. Bullets ripped through the back of Kaden’s car, striking the teenager before he even knew what was happening. The shooter did not stop to check on him, speeding away into the darkness and leaving Kaden severely wounded.

Emergency responders rushed to the scene on Goddard Avenue after frantic calls came into dispatch. Seeing the severity of Kaden’s head injury, medics called in a helicopter to airlift him directly to a regional hospital. Family members and friends gathered in shock as doctors worked endlessly to stabilize the young man, whose life was drastically changed in a single split second.

Local law enforcement acted fast to piece together what triggered the violence. Using automated FLOCK license plate cameras stationed around town, investigators spotted the suspect vehicle heading away from the neighborhood. Officers pulled over the Hyundai Elantra at a business near the East End Intersection in Seneca later that same evening. While the occupants in the car at that moment were cleared of direct involvement, evidence gathered inside gave detectives the breaks they desperately needed.

By Wednesday, deputies booked two 18-year-old local men into the Oconee County Detention Center. Javon Gaylin O’Neal Leonard was taken into custody mid-afternoon, followed hours later by Damajion Sincere Patton. Both young men now face heavy charges, including attempted murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and discharging a firearm into a vehicle. Both are currently held without bond as the community struggles to grasp how everything went wrong so fast.

Despite these arrests, the painful ordeal for Kaden’s family is far from over. Authorities are still actively hunting for a third suspect, 18-year-old Nevada Jaziah Normia Jones of Seneca. Warrants have been issued for Jones on identical attempted murder charges, but he remains on the run, leaving a grieving town on edge while justice remains partially unserved.

For the people of Seneca, the incident has left a deep scar and a heavy cloud over Goddard Avenue. A bright 17-year-old kid now faces a long road of rehabilitation and medical care, surrounded by a heartbroken family praying for strength. Detectives are urging anyone with information on Nevada Jones to call Crimestoppers at 1-844-712-7463 immediately, hoping a simple phone tip will bring final closure to this crime.

Monday afternoon started like any other across the east side of town. Traffic rolled down the sun-baked asphalt, and pedestrians walked past strip malls without a second thought. Inside an apartment unit near the intersection of South Nellis Boulevard and Tropicana Avenue, a quiet tension hung heavy. It was a space shared by a couple whose marriage had recently dissolved.

Jack Novelo and Ashley Avila were navigating the messy reality of separation. According to investigators with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Novelo arrived at the residence hours before anyone else. He allegedly forced his way inside, waiting in the stillness for his estranged wife to return home. It was a calculated move that left no room for peaceful resolution.

When officers received the emergency call around 3:40 p.m., the gravity of the situation was immediately apparent. Police units rushed to the multi-family complex, sirens cutting through the heavy desert air. They breached the apartment and found both adults suffering from severe gunshot wounds. Medical personnel arrived quickly, but there was nothing left to do.

Both individuals were pronounced dead right there at the scene. Investigators quickly pieced together the grim sequence of events, classifying the incident as an apparent murder-suicide. The preliminary findings suggested that Novelo shot Avila before turning the weapon on himself. The sudden violence shattered a family in a matter of minutes.

The most heartbreaking chapter of this tragedy unfolded outside the control of any adult. The couple’s two teenage daughters returned home from school, expecting a normal afternoon of homework and routine. Instead, they walked straight into a horrific scene that no child should ever witness. One of the girls made the frantic call to emergency services.

Neighbors and nearby residents struggled to comprehend how such violence could erupt behind ordinary apartment walls. Friends and colleagues later remembered Avila as a dedicated mother and a talented culinary professional who spent her days crafting pastries and baking goods for local kitchens. Her life was entirely centered around her two children.

Today, the investigation remains open under the homicide section, though the primary narrative of domestic conflict has deeply shaken the community. The surviving daughters have been placed in the care of a legal guardian, surrounded by extended family members. They face a daunting journey ahead, trying to heal from a loss that defies easy explanation.

Folks around Carrollton, Missouri, usually spend their Sunday afternoons taking things easy. That quiet routine shattered when deputies pulled up to a farm home near Route MM and County Road 250, about six miles east of town. Inside, officers found 49-year-old Donald Horine and 46-year-old Bobbie Munson dead from gunshot wounds.

Donald Horine was a familiar face to almost everyone in this rural corner of Missouri. Friends knew him as a steady guy who worked hard, kept to his routine, and built his life around family and local connections. He was the kind of neighbor who always said hello at the gas pump or stopped to chat along country roads.

Bobbie Munson had spent years building her own life in the area alongside her family. Court records show she divorced her ex-husband, Ryan Munson, back in September 2024. People in town knew the couple had gone their separate ways, but nobody imagined that past history would end in crime scene tape along a gravel highway.

Word of the double shooting spread quickly through Carrollton as police cruisers locked down the scene. The Missouri State Highway Patrol brought in its Rural Major Case Squad to assist local deputies. Detectives worked through the evening, gathering spent shell casings, interviewing neighbors, and trying to reconstruct the exact timeline of the crime.

By Monday morning, physical evidence collected from the home pointed squarely at 48-year-old Ryan Munson. Prosecutors stepped in and issued formal charges against him for two counts of first-degree murder. Authorities immediately put out an all-points alert for his black 2017 Dodge Ram truck, warning the public that he was armed and dangerous.

As state troopers searched highways across Missouri, family members and friends gathered to support each other and remember Donald and Bobbie. Neighbors focused on keeping Donald’s memory alive, speaking about his quiet humor, his willingness to lend a hand, and the genuine care he showed to the people around him every single day.

The intense search came to a grim end on Wednesday afternoon over two hundred miles away in Decatur, Illinois, where law enforcement found Ryan Munson dead inside a parked recreational vehicle from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The suspect’s death closed the multi-state manhunt, but folks back in Carrollton are left carrying the heavy weight of a loss that simple answers cannot fix.

Two teenagers lost their lives on a stretch of highway in southwest Louisiana when their car crossed the center line and slammed head-on into an oncoming charter bus. State troopers identified the two young men as 19-year-old Kylar Scott and 19-year-old Jordan Smith. Both died at the scene before emergency crews could transport them to a hospital.

The wreck happened along Louisiana Highway 27 near Shawnee Lane, right around the border between Cameron Parish and Calcasieu Parish. Scott was behind the wheel heading northbound with Smith riding in the front passenger seat. State Police said the car drifted out of its lane and directly into the path of the bus.

The impact left a third person sitting in the back seat of the car with severe injuries. First responders pulled the rear passenger out of the wreckage and rushed them to a local hospital for emergency medical treatment.

Inside the charter bus, the collision threw passengers and the driver off balance as the heavy vehicle came to a sudden halt. In total, emergency crews transported the bus driver and 21 passengers to regional hospitals. Authorities confirmed their injuries ranged from minor cuts to serious conditions, though nobody on the bus died.

First responders from several surrounding local agencies rushed to the scene on Highway 27 shortly after the calls came in. Traffic stopped completely while state troopers blocked off the road, gathered physical evidence, and cleared the debris scattered across the lanes.

The company operating the charter bus released an official statement shortly after the crash. A spokesperson expressed deep condolences to the families of Scott and Smith, confirming that the company is cooperating fully with the Louisiana State Police as the investigation moves forward.

Investigators from the Louisiana State Police are still looking into all possible factors behind the collision, including road conditions and vehicle damage. As part of routine procedure, toxicology samples were collected and sent over to the Louisiana State Police Crime Laboratory for testing.

Across southwest Louisiana, friends and neighbors continue to mourn the sudden loss of two 19-year-olds whose lives ended far too early. Local residents have filled social media pages with memories, photos, and prayers for the families facing the difficult days ahead.

Tuesday evening started like any other shift change, but it ended in tragedy on a quiet stretch of road in Colbert County. Emmalee Paytlin “Emma” Mizell was driving near the intersection of Highway 72 and Barton Road around 6 p.m. when her vehicle collided with an 18-wheeler. Emergency crews rushed to the scene in Barton, but there was nothing they could do. Emma died at the scene, leaving a community stunned by the sudden loss.

Emma was a Mississippi resident who commuted across state lines to work in Tuscumbia, Alabama. She was not just passing through the area. She was a familiar face to dozens of people who relied on steady care during some of the hardest days of their lives.

As a nurse employed through a healthcare contractor, Emma worked inside the walls of the Colbert County Jail. It is a tough job that many healthcare workers avoid. She took care of medical needs for inmates housed at the facility, handling everything from daily medications to sudden health issues with patience and steady hands.

When word of the crash reached the jail Tuesday night, the mood inside the building shifted instantly. Sheriff Eric Balentine confirmed her identity early Wednesday, noting that news of her death hit everyone in the building hard. Deputies, administrative staff, and correctional officers all felt the weight of her absence right away.

What stood out most about Emma was how she treated the people around her. In an environment that can easily feel cold and routine, she brought a genuine sense of warmth. Coworkers remembered her as someone who walked in every day ready to listen and help, no matter how busy the medical floor got.

That kindness reached the inmates as well. Sheriff Balentine mentioned that several people incarcerated at the jail were visibly shaken by the news. Emma treated every patient who walked into her clinic room with basic human dignity, never judging them by their charges or circumstances.

Local law enforcement officers are still working to figure out exactly what caused the collision at Highway 72 and Barton Road. For now, family members, friends, and the entire Colbert County Jail community are left holding onto memories of a nurse who gave her best to a place that needed it most.

A family in Myrtle Beach is living through every relative’s worst nightmare right now. Thomas French is missing, and nobody seems to know where he went. Every passing hour without a word makes the waiting harder on those who love him. They just want him back home where he belongs.

His family is asking everyone in the area to keep their eyes wide open. If you saw Thomas recently or know anything about where he might be, they need you to speak up. Even a tiny detail that seems small to you could end up being the missing piece investigators need.

People across Horry County are starting to share his story, hoping to get the word out fast. Relatives believe that getting more eyes on this case is their best shot at getting a real lead. The main goal right now is keeping his name out there so people do not forget.

Law enforcement is actively working the case, but key details are still being verified. Police want to make sure the public gets solid, accurate facts regarding when he was last seen, what he was wearing, and what kind of car he might be driving. Spreading false info only slows down the actual search.

Investigators are also giving folks a quick heads-up on how to handle any tips. If you think you spotted Thomas or someone connected to the case, do not try to approach them yourself. Let the professionals handle it. Call the police right away and give them the location.

Friends and neighbors around Myrtle Beach are stepping up to help pass along verified updates. The neighborhood talk is focused on keeping rumors out of the picture so officers can focus on real clues. Staying focused on the facts gives the family their best chance at answers.

If you have any information about where Thomas French might be, call the Horry County Police Department right away. If you see something urgent or feel someone is in immediate danger, hit 911 immediately. Every call counts when someone is missing.