Connect with us

Published

on

A grieving father has said he feels like he “failed” his family after his twin babies died in the devastating flooding in Tennessee.

At least 22 people were killed and dozens are still missing after record-breaking rainfall and floodwater caused severe damage to homes, buildings, roads and power cables as it rushed through the southeastern part of the US state on Saturday.

The two seven-month-old babies, Ryan and Rileigh Rigney, were swept out of their father’s arms in Waverly on Saturday morning when water surged into their apartment complex as they tried to escape.

Twins Ryan and Rileigh Rigney. Pic: Family handout via NBC
Image:
Twins Ryan and Rileigh Rigney. Pic: Family handout via NBC

Their heartbroken parents, Matthew Rigney and Danielle Hall, have described how the water began to rage through their apartment where they sheltered with their four children.

“We woke up and water was filling our apartment,” Mr Rigney told local news station WTVF-TV.

“Our front door… the glass shattered and water just raged in through our house.”

“I had the twins in my arms, I had (19-month-old) Brayla on my hip and I had (five-year-old) Maleah wrapped around my neck,” he told the news station, his voice trembling.

More on Tennessee

“The water, when it hit us it just pulled us under, all of us and we were trapped underneath a bed.”

Breaking down in tears, he continued: “I wish there was something I could have done, I wish I would have just stayed there – I didn’t know if the whole house was about to collapse on us.”

Ms Hall said she attempted climbing out of the window to go to a nearby store for help, but ended up having to grab onto a tree for her life.

Speaking about his daughter Maleah, who sat with her family on the couch during the interview, Mr Rigney said: “I was trying to find all of them, and Leah came up like a big girl. You swam like a big girl, and I’m so proud of you.”

Flood water rips through apartments in Tennessee
Image:
Flood water rips through apartments in Tennessee

A neighbour helped Mr Rigney and the two children up to the roof, while Hall was rescued from the tree by boat.

Ms Hall said she saw her husband “get on the roof”.

“But I didn’t see my babies, and I was screaming ‘please tell me that they’re alive'”.

Through tears, Mr Rigney said: “I dreaded telling my wife that I didn’t have all four – like I failed them.”

Sheriff Chris Davis told NBC affiliate WSMV that the siblings’ bodies had been found.

Many of the missing live in the neighbourhoods where the water rose the fastest, the sheriff added, who confirmed the 22 deaths in his county.

Some of the damage to property caused by Saturday's flooding in McEwen, Tennessee. Pic: AP
Image:
Some of the damage to property caused by Saturday’s flooding in McEwen, Tennessee. Pic: AP

President Joe Biden offered condolences to the people of Tennessee and directed federal disaster officials to talk to the governor and to offer assistance.

Tennessee governor Bill Lee toured the area, calling it a “devastating picture of loss and heartache”.

Continue Reading

US

Bodycam footage shows prison guards beating handcuffed inmate before his death

Published

on

By

Bodycam footage shows prison guards beating handcuffed inmate before his death

Bodycam footage showing prison officers fatally beating an inmate has been released by New York’s attorney general.

Prison officers at Marcy Correctional Facility in New York punched and kicked 43-year-old Robert Brooks repeatedly while he was handcuffed on an infirmary bed.

He died in hospital on 10 December, a day after the attack.

The incident has drawn outrage from political leaders and was condemned by the prison officers’ union as “incomprehensible”, according to Sky News’ partner newsroom NBC.

It is now being investigated by state attorney general Letitia James, who called the videos “shocking and disturbing” at a virtual news conference.

Prison officers attacked Robert Brooks on the day he was transferred to Marcy Correctional Facility in New York. Pic: The New York Attorney General Office
Image:
Prison officers attacked Robert Brooks while he was handcuffed. Pic: New York Attorney General Office

In the video, Mr Brooks is in handcuffs as he is carried into the infirmary by several prison guards.

They put him on the bed and begin repeatedly punching and kicking him.

He is pulled upright, where his bloodied face is visible on camera, and then yanked from the bed by his shirt collar and pushed up against a window.

One of the fourteen workers involved in the incident has resigned and the rest have been suspended without pay until the process to fire them is complete. The workers include correctional officers, sergeants and a prison nurse.

The officers had not activated their body cameras but they were still on and recorded in standby mode, without audio, during the attack.

Read more from Sky News:
Elon Musk accused of censoring right-wing X accounts
Italian journalist detained by Iranian police
Two sailors die on separate yachts during race

As a result of the incident, all officers will now need to have their cameras activated any time they are engaging directly with prisoners.

Mr Brooks’ family thanked officials for taking action “to hold officers accountable” in a statement this week.

“We cannot understand how this could have happened in the first place,” the family said. “No one should have to lose a family member this way.”

Robert Brooks, who died a day after being attacked by prison officers. Pic: Family handout
Image:
Robert Brooks, who died a day after being attacked by prison officers. Pic: Family handout

The attack happened before 9.30pm on 9 December in a medical exam room after Mr Brooks had been transferred from the Mohawk Correctional Facility to Marcy Correctional Facility.

An autopsy found “preliminary findings show concern for asphyxia due to compression of the neck as the cause of death, as well as the death being due to actions of another,” according to a state corrections office investigative report obtained by an affiliate of Sky News’ partner newsroom WKTV in Utica.

Mr Brooks had been behind bars since 2017 on a 12-year sentence for first-degree assault involving a longtime girlfriend.

Officials declined to say why he had been transferred to the Marcy Correctional Facility, a medium-security prison.

Last year, an independent prison oversight group called The Correctional Association of New York released a report on the Marcy Correctional Facility.

It noted complaints of “rampant” physical abuse by staff members, with 80% of incarcerated people reporting having witnessed or experienced abuse and nearly 70% reporting racial discrimination or bias.

In response to the video, the union that represents workers at the prison said: “What we witnessed is incomprehensible to say the least and is certainly not reflective of the great work that the vast majority of our membership conducts every day.”

It adding what transpired is the “opposite of everything [the union] and its membership stand for.”

Continue Reading

US

Scottie Scheffler: Freak Christmas dinner injury forces world’s best golfer to undergo surgery

Published

on

By

Scottie Scheffler: Freak Christmas dinner injury forces world's best golfer to undergo surgery

The world’s best golfer has suffered a freak injury while cooking Christmas dinner, forcing him to undergo surgery.

Scottie Scheffler sustained a puncture wound after cutting the palm of his right hand on broken glass.

The world number one required surgery as small glass fragments remained in the palm after the accident.

The injury has forced him out of the first tournament of the season, next week’s The Sentry in Hawaii.

Scottie Scheffler. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Pic: Reuters

But the 28-year-old has been told he will recover in three to four weeks, and he hopes to be back in action at The American Express tournament in California on 16 January.

Scheffler won an Olympic gold and seven PGA Tour titles in the last year and was recently named PGA Tour’s Player of the Year for a third season in a row.

In May, he was arrested by police during the US PGA Championship after he was accused of trying to drive around a traffic jam caused by a fatal accident.

More from US

Spectators wore Free Scottie t-shirts and one wore an orange jumpsuit. Pic: Matt Stone-USA TODAY Sports via Reuters
Image:
Scheffler’s arrest became a major story at the US PGA Championship. Pic: Matt Stone-USA TODAY Sports via Reuters

Just hours later, he was released and allowed to return to Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky to play his second round of the tournament.

Criminal charges against Scheffler were later dismissed due to a lack of evidence and a police officer who arrested him was disciplined for not having his bodycam on at the time of the incident.

Continue Reading

US

Man indicted on murder charge after sleeping woman burned to death on New York City subway

Published

on

By

Man indicted on murder charge after sleeping woman burned to death on New York City subway

The man accused of burning a woman to death on a New York subway train has been indicted on murder and arson charges.

Sebastian Zapeta is accused of setting a sleeping woman on fire and then fanning the flames with a shirt, which caused her to be engulfed by the blaze.

He allegedly sat on a platform at Brooklyn’s Coney Island station, opposite the stopped train, and watched as she burned to death.

Authorities are still working to identify the victim.

Zapeta, 33, has been charged with one count of first degree murder, two counts of second degree murder and one count of arson in the first degree.

After a brief hearing in which the indictment was announced, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said: “This was a malicious deed. A sleeping, vulnerable woman on our subway system.”

Mr Gonzalez said police and medical examiners are using fingerprints and advanced DNA techniques to identify the victim, while also retracing her steps before the murder.

“Our hearts go out not only to this victim, but we know that there’s a family,” he said. “Just because someone appears to have been living in the situation of homelessness does not mean that there’s not going to be family devastated by the tragic way she lost her life.”

Police officers patrol the F train platform at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue Station, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Image:
Officers patrol the platform where the woman died. Pic: AP

Zapeta was initially charged with murder and arson in a criminal complaint earlier this week.

Such filings are often a first step in the criminal process because all felony cases in New York require a grand jury indictment to proceed to trial, unless a defendant waives that requirement.

Zapeta was not present at the hearing. The most serious charge he is facing carries a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole and the indictment will be unsealed on 7 January.

More US news:
Pizza delivery woman stabs pregnant customer
Judge warns Jay-Z’s lawyer over rape case

Zapeta is a Guatemalan who entered the US illegally having already been deported in 2018, officials say.

He was taken into custody last Sunday, after three children called 911 when they recognised him from an image shared by police.

During questioning, prosecutors say he claimed not to know what happened, and noted he consumes alcohol – but did identify himself in photos and videos showing the fire being lit.

Continue Reading

Trending