A child was hit by a vehicle Monday night in Worcester, Massachusetts, according to police.
Officers responded shortly after 9:30 p.m. to the 200 block of Lincoln Street, where police say a pedestrian crash occurred involving a small child.
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Massachusetts
‘Demoralizing’: Firefighters’ vehicles damaged during Celtics parade
On a day the city came together to celebrate, Boston firefighters who work at the Back Bay station found little to cheer about after their cars were damaged and vandalized at Friday’s Celtics parade.
“Pretty demoralizing and just frustrating and disappointing,” said Sam Dillon, president of Boston Firefighters Local 718. “They worked the parade all day, they get back to the fire house and they found their personal vehicles had been damaged and vandalized.”
Photos taken by the union show dozens of fans standing and sitting on these vehicles while the parade passed by on Friday. Other pictures show those same vehicles with damage to their hoods, roofs buckled in, and in one case, an apparent apology left on one vehicle.
“If you are truly sorry, reach out, make this right, and everyone can go their separate ways,” Dillon said.
“We were discouraged to learn of the damage to our firefighters’ vehicles during the parade,” Boston Fire Commissioner Paul Burke said in a statement. “Any personal property damage, not just to the firefighters’ property but any property, is unfortunate during a celebration such as the Celtics victory parade.”
Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn said these firefighters deserve better.
“It was outrageous what happened, it was disrespectful to the Boston firefighters,” Flynn said. “When you come into Boston for an event you should behave, and act as if it is your own neighborhood, that didn’t happen with some people.”
At an event on Monday afternoon, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said Boston Police are investigating.
“These are hard-working public servants of the city who were there to make sure everyone else was safe,” Wu said. “There is an ongoing investigation.”
Reward offered for information on man wanted in 2017 Boston murder
U.S. Marshals are offering a $5,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of a man wanted in a 2017 murder investigation.
Alan Lewis, 38, of Brockton, is wanted on a murder charge for the fatal shooting of Brent Stevenson, 37, of Boston, on November 6, 2017.
Investigators say Boston police responded to the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Boylston Street on that date for a report of shots fired. As they responded a car crashed; its driver, Stevenson, was suffering from gunshot wounds. He was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Lewis was identified as the suspect. His last known address is on Reservoir Street in Brockton, Massachusetts. He was described as 6-foot-1, 210 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair. He has a stocky built, with tattoos on both arms that read “KILLER” and “BEES.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Boston Police Fugitive Unit at (617) 343-5059. Anonymous tips can be made by calling the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1 (800) 494-TIPS or by texting the word ‘TIP’ to CRIME (27463).
Now’s your chance to see a rare corpse flower bloom in Boston
A rare plant has begun its even rarer bloom this week at Boston’s Arnold Arboretum, the Harvard institution says, and locals only have a limited time to see it.
The titan arum, or otherwise known as the corpse flower, blooms once every seven to 12 years and smells like rotting meat. The bloom lasts just a few days.
The arboretum said Sunday that the bloom — the first to happen at the institution — was underway, but only Arnold members can see it in person, with a reservation. But for everyone else, the arboretum is streaming the bloom live on YouTube:
Scientists have determined that the plant’s strong scent occurs because of a combination of chemicals that create flagrant odors, like rotting cabbage, onions and garlic, as well as spoiled fish and sweaty gym socks, according to the arboretum.
It has at least two corpse plants. The staff named this one Dame Judi Stench and the other Pepe le Pew.
“The titan arums we grow are part of a global conservation effort for a threatened species—but they are also truly magnificent organisms that manage one of the most audacious and spectacular feats of the botanical world. We hope that by connecting people to remarkable plants like this titan arum that they come away with a better idea of why all biodiversity is valuable and worth protecting,” said William Friedman, the Arnold Arboretum’s director.
Corpse flower blooms have become popular events and attract viewership in the botanical world. This marks the first time a corpse flower has bloomed at the Arnold Arboretum.
Originally from Sumatra, Indonesia, the plant may grow up to 8 feet tall. Its odor might repel humans but it attracts carrion-feeding beetles that pollinate the plant.
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DNA testing in Ana Walshe murder case nearing completion at state lab
Key questions in the Ana Walshe murder case could be answered in the coming weeks, with the state DNA lab expected to finish testing on about a dozen items in the case at the month’s end.
Brian Walshe, Ana’s husband who is accused of dismembering and discarding her body in early 2023, had his appearance waived for a short hearing on Monday afternoon. The hearing was held in Suffolk Superior Court after the Karen Read defense team rested their case. Judge Beverly Cannone is presiding over both cases.
During Monday’s hearing, Commonwealth prosecutors offered an update on the discovery process that is still ongoing.
Norfolk County Assistant District Attorney Greg Connor told the court that he’s received all the crime lab materials, and plans to file a notice of discovery, with the exception of the state DNA lab testing. He said the DNA lab expects to finish testing on their items at the end of this month, and he will file another notice of discovery afterwards.
Bode, a private crime lab in Virginia, has items that are exhaustive, Connor said, adding that “decisions may need to be made” about an expert perhaps being sent there or possibly a waiver.
A spokesperson for the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office that the term “exhaustive” essentially means that there is such a small amount of the sample, that there will only be one opportunity to test it. In these cases, the testing must be done jointly by the state and defense.
Defense attorney Larry Tipton said that given the amount of discovery to sift through, setting a trial date wouldn’t be a good idea at this point.
The court ended up setting Oct. 2 as the next hearing date for evidentiary motions. Walshe is expected to attend that hearing.
The Walshe case is one of the most high-profile murder cases in the area in recent years. Ana Walshe was first reported missing just a few days into 2023, and as the search for her grew more desperate, her husband Brian began facing charges. He was first charged with misleading police, and eventually murder. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The 39-year-old mom of three’s body was never recovered. Prosecutors alleged that Brian killed her in their Cohasset home early New Year’s Day, dismembered her body and discarded it into the trash.
Walshe allegedly made a series of Google searches on their son’s iPad that centered around discarding of a body.
Prosecutors will likely need to lean on digital evidence — including DNA lab testing and internet searches — to try and secure a conviction from a jury, since Ana’s body was never found, criminal justice experts have told NBC10 Boston.
During the search for Ana, law enforcement eventually found in a dumpster near Brian’s mother’s house pieces of clothes and jewelry that Brian Walshe said she was wearing when she left their house early New Year’s Day, along with a hacksaw that had a bone fragment in, prosecutors have said.
The case officer in the Walshe murder investigation is Massachusetts State Trooper Michael Proctor — the trooper who also managed the John O’Keefe murder investigation, and is now under fire for his unprofessional conduct that has come to light in Karen Read’s trial.
Earlier this month, Tipton told NBC10 Boston that he has not yet concluded there is any investigator bias involving his client, but what he’s heard in the Karen Read case has raised his suspicions. This matter did not come up during Monday’s hearing.
One person killed, second suffers life-threatening injuries in western Mass. crash
One person was killed and a second suffered critical injuries in a crash in western Massachusetts on Sunday.
The two-vehicle crash occurred around 5:55 p.m. Sunday on Route 9 near Anderson Road, according to the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office.
A 21-year-old man from Monson died at the scene, authorities said, and a second person in the vehicle, a 20-year-old Warren resident, was taken by medical helicopter to the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester with life-threatening injuries.
Two people in the other vehicle — both Ware residents — were taken to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield and are expected to survive.
None of the names of those involved in the crash have been released.
No charges have been filed, the district attorney’s office said.
The crash remains under investigation by Ware police and state police assigned to the district attorney’s office.
