90-year-old Navy veteran killed in Houston carjacking; $15,000 reward issued for information
(HOUSTON) — Texas officials are offering a $15,000 reward for information leading to the identification and arrest of a suspect involved in the fatal carjacking of a 90-year-old veteran over the holiday weekend.
Nelson Beckett, who served in the Navy, was shot dead and run over by his own car on Saturday in Houston, according to police.
Houston patrol officers responded to an assault in progress at an independent living community on Saturday and found Beckett lying in the parking lot with gunshot wounds, according to Houston police.
Paramedics responded to the scene and the man was transported to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Beckett was in his vehicle when he was approached by an unknown man who assaulted him, according to police. The suspect shot Beckett and took his belongings before taking his vehicle and hitting him as he fled the scene, according to Houston police.
The vehicle was later recovered at an apartment complex, according to the Houston Police Department.
“He was always an outgoing person until his very last day,” Nelson Beckett’s son, Tim Beckett, told Houston ABC station KTRK. “We’ll miss him.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to the identification and arrest of the person involved in Beckett’s murder. Crime Stoppers of Houston is offering an additional $5,000.
“Cecilia and I are deeply saddened to hear of the murder of 90-year-old Navy veteran Nelson Beckett in Houston. Our hearts go out to his family and loved ones, and the entire Houston community during this difficult time,” Abbott said in a statement.
“I encourage anyone with information relating to this terrible crime to call the Texas Crime Stoppers hotline or submit an anonymous tip online. Texas will always support the brave men and women who answered the call to serve in our nation’s military, and with the public’s help we will capture the murderer and put them behind bars,” Abbott said.
Houston police are asking anyone with information to contact its homicide department at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
(NEW YORK) — Multiple motorists stranded on flooded roadways in New York and New Jersey had to be rescued from their submerged vehicles Tuesday night as some parts of the region got six inches of rain in about three hours, according to officials.
The super-soaker storm brought torrential rain to New York City, Long Island, New Jersey and Connecticut, dumping two to three inches an hour, meteorologist Bill Goodman of the National Weather Service office in Upton, New York, told ABC News on Wednesday morning.
“Between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. is when it was really the worst. That’s rush hour,” Goodman said of Tuesday night’s storm.
He said some parts of New York City, including northern Manhattan and the Bronx, recorded up to 6 inches of rain Tuesday evening.
New York City Emergency Management officials said multiple motorists were stranded on flooded roadways and had to be pulled from their vehicles by rescue crews.
Six people were rescued from their vehicles when they got stuck in flood waters on the Cross Island Parkway in New York City, emergency management officials said.
Flood water also inundated the Henry Hudson Parkway in the Bronx borough of New York City, where firefighters had to rescue a stranded driver, according to the New York City Fire Department. At the height of the storm, the highway was briefly closed at West 232nd Street in the Bronx, officials said.
On Long Island, police in the Nassau County town of Glen Cove had to rescue two people from a BMW that got stuck in water that authorities said was too high to drive through safely. Port Washington, about 10 miles from Glen Cove, recorded 4.66 inches of rain Tuesday evening, the most of any Long Island city, according to the NWS.
Elsewhere in the region, flooding on the Palisades Parkway in the Bergen County, New Jersey, city of Englewood Cliffs, caused commuter chaos, officials said. The Teterboro Airport in Bergen County recorded nearly four inches of rain Tuesday night, according to the NWS.
One of the hardest areas of New Jersey was Hackensack, which received nearly 3 inches of rain, according to the NWS.
In a Facebook post Tuesday night, the Hackensack Fire Department said multiple trees in the city were down and numerous streets were flooded. In a warning to motorists, the fire department said, “It continues to monsoon, please do not drive into flooded areas.”
“Multiple people stuck, multiple rescues being made by Hackensack fire members,” the Hackensack Fire Department said in the post. “If you’re in an area and cannot go any further, park your car somewhere dry and wait out the storm…. Turn around, don’t drown.”
There were no reports of injuries in the New York City metropolitan area.
The storm system soaked the Northeast after moving in from the eastern Great Lakes, prompting 163 damaging storm reports, including numerous downed trees and flash flooding, from Michigan to New York.
Goodman said the remnants of Hurricane Debby are forecast to reach the Northeast on Friday, bringing more rain to the region. Debby made landfall as a Category 1 hurricane Monday morning in the Big Bend area of the Florida Panhandle and produced heavy amounts of rainfall as it continued as a tropical storm into Georgia and the Carolinas.
The slow-moving Debby dumped more than 17 inches of rain in Summerville, South Carolina, and at least 6 inches in Cary, North Carolina. Another 6 to 10 inches of rain is forecast for South Carolina and North Carolina on Wednesday and Thursday.
On Thursday, Debby is expected to make its second landfall in South Carolina and then move north into inland North Carolina and Virginia Thursday night.
(SPRINGFIELD, Ill.) — The Illinois deputy who fatally shot Sonya Massey in her home while responding to her 911 call was discharged from the U.S. Army for “misconduct (serious offense),” according to documents obtained by ABC News.
Sean Grayson, the former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy, was discharged on February 24, 2016, after beginning service in the U.S. Army on May 5, 2014. He served for a total of one year, nine months and 19 days, Grayson’s certificate of discharge from active duty shows.
The U.S. Army, citing the Privacy Act and Department of Defense policy, said it is prevented from releasing information relating to the misconduct of low-level employees or characterization of service at discharge.
Grayson was a 91B (Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic) in the Regular Army from May 2014 to February 2016. He had no deployments and left the Army in the rank of private first class, according to an Army spokesman.
ABC News has also learned that Grayson, 30, was charged with two DUI offenses in Macoupin County, Illinois, in August 2015 and July 2016, according to court documents.
Grayson pleaded guilty to both charges. He paid over $1,320 in fines and had his vehicle impounded as a result of the 2015 incident. In 2016, Grayson paid over $2,400 in fines, according to court records.
Grayson’s attorney, Dan Fultz, declined to comment.
According to employment records, Grayson was hired for his first known police job at the Pawnee Police Department in August 2020 and was fired from his most recent job as a sheriff’s deputy at the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Department after the July 6 deadly shooting of Massey, a 36-year-old unarmed Black woman and mother of two.
Grayson and a second, unnamed deputy responded to Massey’s 911 call reporting a possible intruder at her Springfield home.
Body camera footage released Monday shows Grayson yelling at Massey to put down a pot of boiling water.
The footage, reviewed by ABC News, shows Massey telling the two responding deputies “please don’t hurt me,” once she answered their knocks on her door.
Grayson responded, “I don’t want to hurt you, you called us.”
Later in the video, while inside Massey’s home as she searched for her ID, Grayson pointed out a pot of boiling water on her stove and said, “we don’t need a fire while we’re in here.”
Massey then poured the water into the sink and told the deputy, “I rebuke you in the name of Jesus.”
Grayson threatened to shoot her, and Massey apologized and ducked down behind a counter, covering her face with what appears to be a red oven mitt. She briefly rose, and Grayson shot her three times in the face.
The footage is from the point of view of Grayson’s partner. Grayson did not turn on his own body camera until after the shooting, according to court documents.
A review by Illinois State Police found that Grayson was not justified in his use of deadly force.
Grayson, who is white, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm and official misconduct in Massey’s death.
The news of his discharge and DUI offenses comes days after it was revealed through Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board (ILETSB) records obtained by ABC News that Grayson worked for six law enforcement agencies over the last four years.
Grayson worked three full-time and three part-time jobs in four police departments and two sheriff’s offices over the past four years, all within the state of Illinois, according to ILETSB records.
Grayson held part-time jobs at the Pawnee Police Department from August 2020 to July 2021, the Kincaid Police Department from February 2021 to May 2021, and the Virden Police Department from May 2021 to December 2021.
He also held full-time jobs at the Auburn Police Department from July 2021 to May 2022, the Logan County Sheriff’s Office from May 2022 to April 2023, and the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office from May 2023 to July 2024, according to IILETSB records. He moved around all six of these agencies between 2020 and 2024.
“It is clear that the deputy did not act as trained or in accordance with our standards. Therefore, Sean Grayson’s employment with the Sheriff’s Office has been terminated,” Sangamon County Sheriff Jack Campbell wrote in a statement last week announcing Grayson’s termination.
The Kincaid Police Department told ABC News that Grayson was let go due to his refusal to live within 10 miles of Kincaid Village. They also said there were no allegations of wrongdoing against Grayson during his time with the department.
According to documents obtained by ABC News, Grayson left his part-time employment at the Pawnee Police Department to pursue a full-time position at the Auburn Police Department. His application to Pawnee Police Department also states that he had previously worked as security guard at Hospital Sisters Health System St. John’s Hospital in Springfield, Illinois.
ABC News has reached out to the other police departments to learn why Grayson left, but has not yet received a response.
(NEW YORK) — A teacher in New York City has been arrested and charged after police say he allegedly put a 5-year-old boy in a headlock on Monday, police said.
The incident occurred at approximately 1:30 p.m. inside of PS 153 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Elementary School in the Hamilton Heights area of Manhattan in New York City, according to ABC News’ New York station WABC-TV.
“46-year-old Anthony Wicks was charged with assault and acting in a manner injurious to a child under 17, according to police,” WABC confirmed.
The 5-year-old child was subsequently taken to NewYork-Presbyterian / Columbia University Irving Medical Center and is expected to survive, WABC said, though no details were given about what injuries the child may have suffered or how severe they might have been.
It is not immediately known what instigated the alleged assault and the investigation remains open.