CONROE, Texas (KTRK) — A 6-year-old and his grandmother remain in the hospital nearly a week after a downed power line during last Tuesday’s severe weather shocked and burned the two.
According to the family, Nathan and Charlotte Winters were at the Lake Conroe campground where she lives when they encountered the energized line.
Morgan Winters, Nathan’s mother and Charlotte’s daughter, said the grandmother was pointing on the downed line to someone else from a distance when they were burned.
On Monday, ABC13 spoke with Morgan Winters, the boy’s mother and the woman’s daughter, as her loved ones were being treated inside the same hospital at the Texas Medical Center. Eighteen percent of the child’s body was covered in second-degree burns. Charlotte Winters’ injuries were considered more severe, with burns covering 55% of her body.
“My mom had actually called me, but she wasn’t making sense,” Morgan Winters said about the moment she learned about what happened.
Morgan Winters doesn’t believe her son and grandmother were close to the downed line.
“Based on what she remembers and what we talked about, it’s not like they were within touching distance. Like, they were far away based on what she has said,” Morgan Winters said.
She added that her mother uses the little energy she can muster to check in on Nathan.
“She’s automatically like, ‘Morgan, how is Nathan? How’s my baby? How’s my baby? And they FaceTime multiple times a day,” Morgan Winters said.
Video calls were also the time when Nathan Winters saw his facial injuries for the first time.
“He immediately was like, ‘Mommy, I am hideous,’ and I was like, ‘No, you’re just injured right now,'” Morgan Winters recalled.
Nathan was in better spirits during ABC13’s visit. He told Eyewitness News that a reunion with his favorite person is the light at the end of the tunnel.
“What are you looking forward to most when you get out of the hospital?” ABC13 asked.
“Seeing my Nana,” he said.
Emergency responders want to remind people that the ground around downed power lines can be energized up to 35 feet away. Authorities didn’t disclose how far the pair were when they got burned.
For updates on this story, follow Alex Bozarjian on Facebook, X and Instagram.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Authorities closed the westbound North Sam Houston Tollway connector ramp to Interstate 45 after they said a motorist was found shot to death on Monday evening.
The Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office said deputies were called to the tollway about a single-vehicle crash into the wall of the connector ramp to the I-45 North Freeway.
According to the constable’s office, deputies found a person dead as they approached the vehicle. They added the person appeared to have had a gunshot wound.
An investigation is getting underway. Deputies urged drivers to avoid the area.
ABC13 is gathering information from the scene. Watch Eyewitness News for updates.
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at age 74 and is undergoing treatment.
“My doctors have confirmed my diagnosis of pancreatic cancer,” SJL wrote in a statement issued on June 2.
“I am currently undergoing treatment to battle this disease that impacts tens of thousands of Americans every year.”
An estimated 66,440 Americans will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year, according to the American Cancer Society. Pancreatic cancer accounts for about 3% of all cancers in the United States and about 7% of all cancer deaths.
Nearly two weeks before her diagnosis went public, SJL appeared to show signs of illness at the FEMA press conference on May 21 by having to be seated before and after speaking.
For the past 30 years, Jackson Lee has served fourteen terms representing Texas’ 18th Congressional District.
She is a key Democratic leader and Chief Deputy Whip in the U.S. House of Representatives. She is the author of significant legislation such as the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act and the Violence Against Women Act, and she has been recognized as one of the most effective and influential members of Congress.
However, she anticipates being absent occasionally from Congress to undergo treatment.
“To the constituents of the 18th Congressional District: Serving as your representative in Congress for 30 years is one of my greatest honors. Your hopes and aspirations inspire my efforts on behalf of our community every day. As I pursue my treatments, it is likely that I will be occasionally absent from Congress, but rest assured my office will continue to deliver the vital constituent services that you deserve and expect.”
Other members of Congress have expressed words of encouragement to the Houston representative. State Rep. Armando Walle of Texas said he is praying for SJL in a post on X.
I have known Congresswoman SJL for two decades. She is immensely loyal to her CD18 constituents. I pray that Jesus Christ gives you strength and resolve to fight this cancer, Congresswoman. Know that @DimasWalle and I are thinking of you and wish you a full recovery. #txlegehttps://t.co/PW9sz33C5D
Despite her diagnosis, SJL said she remains committed to work with Congress ional leadership such as Leader Hakeem Jeffries and the U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson. She hopes to return with “full strength soon.”
“Please keep me and my family in your prayers as you have always done,” SJL said in a statement. “Know that you will remain in mine. As always, God bless you and God bless the United States of America.”
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A mother is mourning the loss of a second child in less than 15 years after her 31-year-old son was murdered at a motel in southeast Houston early Monday, police said.
Veronica Robertson identified her son as Liquorian Robertson — a father of five.
He was killed at about 1:20 a.m. at the Diamond Inn in the 8900 block of the Gulf Freeway near Canniff Street.
Authorities have video of the suspect, who they say was wearing a clown mask and a dark blue hoodie.
Police had limited information about the suspect’s appearance other than he was a man and may have been bald. They did share one surveillance photo.
According to officials, the suspect walked directly to Liquorian, who was sitting inside his vehicle, and fired more than 10 rounds at him. The suspect immediately ran off, heading northbound on the Gulf Freeway service road.
The suspect was behind Liquorian when he started shooting. Liquorian died at the scene.
“Whoever took my son life, I want them to know God is real and justice will be served through God or the justice system. May God deliver them for being unrighteous toward my child and may God bless them all,” Veronica Robertson said.
Veronica told ABC13 her youngest son was killed 13 years ago.
It’s unclear what led up to this shooting, but police are asking anyone with information to call HPD or Crime Stoppers.
Claudia Sheinbaum is set to become Mexico’s first female president in its 200-year history.
Favored to succeed outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Sheinbaum has promised to continue his populist leftist policies. Known for her calm demeanor, the scientist represents a change in style and a break from the male-dominated political culture.
“I promise that I will not let you down,” Sheinbaum told supporters in Mexico City’s Zocalo plaza.
According to the National Electoral Institute, Sheinbaum received between 58.3% and 60.7% of the vote, with opposition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez receiving between 26.6% and 28.6%, and Jorge Álvarez Máynez between 9.9% and 10.8%. Morena, Sheinbaum’s party, is also projected to maintain its majorities in Congress.
Her two main competitors have conceded the election.
Preliminary results show Sheinbaum leading Gálvez by 28 points with nearly 50% of votes counted.
With both leading candidates being women, Mexico was set to make history.
“As I have said on other occasions, I do not arrive alone,” Sheinbaum remarked. “We all arrived, with our heroines who gave us our homeland, with our mothers, our daughters, and our granddaughters.”
Sheinbaum will also be the first person of Jewish heritage to lead the predominantly Catholic country.
She will begin her six-year term on October 1, as Mexico’s constitution prohibits reelection.
Results are expected soon in Mexico’s 2024 presidential election as polls have closed. For the first time in the country’s history, two women lead the polls: Claudia Sheinbaum, a scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, and Xóchitl Gálvez, a senator and tech entrepreneur, are the leading candidates. Both women are far ahead in the polls compared to the only male candidate, Jorge Álvarez Máynez.
Claudia Sheinbaum:
Backed by the outgoing president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Served as mayor of Mexico City (2018-2023).
Part of the Morena party, which boasts about lifting millions out of poverty.
Promises to build on López Obrador’s achievements but faces questions about her independence from him.
Xóchitl Gálvez:
Represents a coalition of opposition parties.
Senator and businesswoman.
Critical of the current administration’s handling of crime and violence.
Promises better pay for police and stronger democratic institutions.
The campaign has been marred by violence, with over 20 local candidates killed, and two people reported dead in attacks on polling stations in Puebla. Voters are also electing members of Congress, governors in eight states, and Mexico City’s head of government. The winning candidate will take office at the end of September.
Results are expected around 10 p.m. Central Time.
Que Onda Magazine brought you coverage of the Mexican voters in Houston, Texas.
Mexican citizens in Houston line up to cast their votes for Mexico’s presidential elections.
FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — Drivers in Fort Bend County may want to prepare for this gridlock alert along the Southwest Freeway starting next week.
The Texas Department of Transportation announced it will close the mainlanes of US-59 northbound from FM-762 and Thompson Road to University Boulevard from Friday, June 7, at 9 p.m. to Monday, June 10, at 5 a.m.
Officials said the planned closure is part of the construction of the county’s bridge extension project over the Brazos River.
To get around this, drivers will have to exit through the northbound mainlanes at exit 105 and re-enter the northbound mainlanes at the entrance ramp south of University Boulevard.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — It was a stormy morning and afternoon in SE Texas but we are drying out heading into Saturday evening. We will be keeping a close eye on new development out in West Texas that could potentially impact us late tonight into early Sunday. It does look like the more likely scenario though is that it will miss us and dive more to the south. Tomorrow will be another day where scattered showers and storms will be at play. Some storms could have the potential to become strong to severe with winds around 60 mph being the main threat. Isolated large hail near quarter size and an isolated tornado also cannot be ruled out but those threats are low.
High pressure starts to build back in next week lowering our rain chances.
Could we see more rain this weekend?
It’s possible we could see more scattered showers and storms Sunday. An few storms could become strong to severe. Coverage shouldn’t be as high as what we saw Saturday.
Hurricane season is right around the corner! Anything I should be aware of now?
For starters, tune in to our ABC13 Hurricane Special Saturday at 6:30 PM!
There’s nothing threatening in the Gulf of Mexico right now. What you need to know is that NOAA released its Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook for the 2024 season this week. They are predicting an extremely active season with 17-25 named storms, 8-13 hurricanes, and 4-7 major hurricanes possible.
Supporters of former President Donald Trump, enraged by his conviction on 34 felony counts by a New York jury, flooded pro-Trump websites with calls for riots, revolution and violent retribution.
After Trump became the first U.S. president to be convicted of a crime, his supporters responded with dozens of violent online posts, according to a Reuters review of comments on three Trump-aligned websites: the former president’s own Truth Social platform, Patriots.Win and the Gateway Pundit.
Some called for attacks on jurors, the execution of the judge, Justice Juan Merchan, or outright civil war and armed insurrection.
“Someone in NY with nothing to lose needs to take care of Merchan,” wrote one commentator on Patriots.Win. “Hopefully he gets met with illegals with a machete,” the post said in reference to illegal immigrants.
On Gateway Pundit, one poster suggested shooting liberals after the verdict. “Time to start capping some leftys,” said the post. “This cannot be fixed by voting.”
Threats of violence and intimidating rhetoric soared after Trump lost the 2020 election and falsely claimed the vote was stolen. As he campaigns for a second White House term, Trump has baselessly cast the judges and prosecutors in his trials as corrupt tools of the Biden administration, intent on sabotaging his White House bid. His loyalists have responded with a campaign of threats and intimidation targeting judges and court officials.
“This was a disgrace, this was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt,” Trump told reporters afterwards, echoing comments he often made during the trial.
A 12-member jury found Trump guilty on Thursday of falsifying documents to cover up a payment to silence a porn star’s account of a sexual encounter ahead of the 2016 election. Sentencing is set for July 11, days before the Republican Party is scheduled to formally nominate Trump for president ahead of the Nov. 5 election. Trump has denied wrongdoing and is expected to appeal.
The seemingly star-crossed Boeing Starliner — within minutes of its long-delayed blastoff on the spacecraft’s first piloted test flight — was grounded again Saturday when one of three redundant computers managing the countdown from the base of the launch pad ran into a problem, triggering a last-minute scrub.
Engineers initially were told to set up for another launch try Sunday, at 12:03 p.m. EDT, assuming the problem could be resolved in time. But NASA later announced the team would pass up a Sunday launch try to give engineers more time to assess the computer issue.
The Starliner’s test flight includes rendezvous and docking with the International Space Station. Based on the station’s orbit and the Starliner’s ability to to catch up, the next two launch opportunities after Sunday are Wednesday, at 10:52 a.m. EDT, and Thursday, at 10:29 a.m. NASA said the agency would provide an update.
The Starliner’s crew, commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and co-pilot Sunita Williams, came within about two hours of launch on May 6, only to be derailed by trouble with a pressure relief valve in their Atlas 5 rocket, and a helium leak in the capsule’s propulsion module.
Those problems were resolved, and after a few minor snags Saturday, the countdown appeared to be ticking smoothly toward a planned launch at 12:25 p.m. EDT. But 10 seconds after the countdown came out of a planned hold at the T-minus 4-minute mark, the clocks suddenly stopped ticking.
Launches to the International Space Station are timed for the moment the Earth’s rotation carries the pad into alignment with the space station’s orbit, a requirement when trying to rendezvous with a target moving at nearly 5 miles per second. An unplanned hold in the countdown for such missions immediately triggers a minimum 24-hour launch delay.
Commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore, right, and co-pilot Sunita Williams strap in for launch aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft.NASA
Tory Bruno, CEO of United Launch Alliance, builder of the Atlas 5 rocket, said the issue Saturday involved one of three networked computer racks in a building at the base of the launch pad. Each rack features multiple systems, including identical circuit boards that operate together as a “ground launch sequencer,” managing the final steps in a countdown.
The GLS computers manage events like the retraction of umbilicals and the firing of explosive bolts that free the rocket from the pad for takeoff, and all three have to be in perfect agreement for a countdown to proceed.
During Saturday’s launch attempt, the countdown ticked down to T-minus 4 minutes and then entered a planned four-hour hold. When the countdown resumed four minutes prior to blastoff, one of the three GLS circuit boards took longer than expected to synch up with the other two. That was enough to trigger an automatic hold at the T-minus 3-minute and 50-second mark.
With the crew strapped into Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, their Atlas 5 rocket stands fueled for launch.NASA
Engineers planned to begin troubleshooting after draining the Atlas 5 of its liquid hydrogen and oxygen propellants and gaining access to the computer room. A decision on how to proceed depended on isolating the problem and replacing and testing any suspect components.
The launch team, while disappointed, took the latest delay in stride.
“You know when you’re playing a game and you get a bad call, you’re a little irritated at first, or a little frustrated at first, but you immediately focus on the next pitch and that’s what our teams do, they’re focused on the next pitch,” said Mark Nappi, Boeing’s Starliner project manager.
“As soon as we went into the launch scrub and launch turnaround, I looked out into the control room and everybody had their heads down, working the procedures to get ready for another attempt tomorrow.”
Said Bruno: “The disappointment lasts for about three seconds. And then you just immediately get busy and do your job. We’ll be back.”
Whenever it takes off, the long-awaited flight will be the first piloted launch of an Atlas 5, and the first for the Atlas family of rockets since astronaut Gordon Cooper took off just a few miles away on the Mercury program’s final flight 61 years ago.
Likewise, it will be the first piloted flight of the Starliner, Boeing’s answer to SpaceX’s Crew Dragon, an already operational, less expensive spacecraft that has carried 50 astronauts, cosmonauts and civilians into orbit in 13 flights, 12 of them to the space station, since an initial piloted test flight in May 2020.
NASA funded development of both spacecraft to ensure the agency would be able to launch crews to the outpost even if one company’s ferry ship was grounded for any reason.
Already running years behind schedule because of budget shortfalls and a variety of technical problems that cost Boeing some $1.4 billion to correct, NASA had hoped to get the Starliner into orbit on May 6. But the launch was scrubbed when United Launch Alliance engineers detected trouble with a pressure-relief valve in the rocket’s Centaur upper stage.
The Atlas 5 was hauled off the pad and back to ULA’s Vertical Integration Facility, where the Centaur valve was quickly replaced. But in the wake of the launch scrub, Boeing engineers saw signs of a small helium leak in the Starliner’s propulsion system.
The leak was traced to a flange in plumbing that delivered pressurized helium to drive one specific reaction control system jet in the Starliner’s service module. The leak was characterized as “very small,” but engineers needed to show it would not drastically worsen in flight and cause problems for other thrusters.
After extensive analysis and testing, mission managers concluded the spacecraft could be safely launched as is, saying that even if the leak rate was a hundred times worse than so far observed, it would not pose a risk to the crew or the mission. As it turned out, the leak rate remained within acceptable limits Saturday.
