Child using computer shocked by electrical current after lightning strikes house: Authorities
Authorities respond to a residence in Harris County, Texas, following a lightning strike, July 7, 2026. (Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office)
(HOUSTON, Texas) — A child was injured after lightning struck his Texas home and the electrical current traveled through the home’s wiring, shocking him while he used a computer, according to authorities.
The incident occurred Tuesday in Cypress, a Houston suburb. The electrical current caused a small fire in the home’s attic, in addition to injuring the boy, according to Harris County Precinct 4 Constable Mark Herman.
The 14-year-old was evaluated by emergency medical services personnel at the scene and was not transported to a hospital, according to the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office.
The Cypress Creek Fire Department also responded, authorities said.
The investigation remains ongoing, Herman said.
The forecast for the Houston area on Tuesday called for isolated thunderstorms and showers.
Herman issued a safety warning following the incident, saying in a statement, “During thunderstorms, avoid using corded electronics and stay away from electrical wiring and plumbing, as lightning can travel through a home’s electrical system.”
(NEW YORK) — Over 800 wildfires are burning through forests in Canada, creating heavy smoke that could potentially affect millions of Americans this week.
Some of the largest blazes are in west-central Ontario province. Those fires are burning through thick forests, releasing significant amounts of smoke.
Ontario has been experiencing a heat wave, with record-breaking temperatures soaring over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, according to forecasts.
There are also at least a dozen wildfires burning in northern Minnesota near the Canadian border.
The wind will begin directing that very heavy smoke into the U.S. Tuesday night, creating dangerous air quality for millions across the upper Midwest and Northeast Wednesday.
By sunset on Wednesday, very heavy smoke may reach New York City and Providence, Rhode Island. It will stream through Green Bay, Milwaukee, Grand Rapids, Detroit and Buffalo before then.
Conditions in New York are not expected to be as intense as they were in June 2023. Hazy skies are expected and air quality will likely become unhealthy.
The fraternity house at the center of a rape allegation stands on the campus of Cornell University on September 30, 2026, in Ithaca, New York. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — One of the Cornell fraternity brothers who allegedly attacked Jane Doe appeared to show remorse days later, writing to her in a text message that was showed to ABC News, “I just wanted to apologize for how things went down the other night.”
She responded, “At the end of the day non [sic] of the sexual stuff was illegal and honestly I really liked being with u.”
Nearly two weeks later, Jane Doe’s view appeared to change, according to the text exchange: “Let’s be clear that 90% of what happened that night was not consensual,” Jane Doe wrote. “All i remember after that was you giving me ket[amine].”
She said it made her feel “like a sex doll/worker.”
Days after those text messages Jane Doe went to campus police. Authorities memorialized her first report: “A female undergraduate student reported that she was recently raped by 8-10 men at the Chi Phi fraternity house.”
Those new details were included in the lengthy confidential investigative report compiled by Cornell and reviewed by ABC News. Newly obtained videos from that probe show the bedroom in the fraternity house where Jane Doe alleged she was gang raped. It was left strewn with garbage, leftover food and discarded furniture after Cornell University suspended the Chi Phi chapter.
On the bedroom floor, there is a composite photo of every member of a sorority class, a fentanyl test, beer cans and liquor bottles littering the space.
ABC News has also obtained an extended version of the Snapchat group chat shared among more than 50 fraternity brothers during the alleged assault.
The frat brother who invited Jane Doe to the house that night sent a photo to the chat that appears to show her in the bedroom.
Another asked, “Are you guys at least naked??”
He replied, “Boys come whip it out.”
On Thursday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she issued an executive order to appoint Attorney General Letitia James as a special prosecutor for the alleged gang rape that took place in 2024.
“Newly released information continues to raise serious questions about the investigation conducted by the Cornell Police Department and the decision by the Tompkins County District Attorney not to prosecute an alleged sexual assault on Cornell University’s campus,” Hochul said in a statement.
Austin Metcalf in a family provided photo. (Metcalf Family)
(FRISCO, Texas) — A Texas judge is hearing arguments Thursday on whether Karmelo Anthony should get a new trial, two months after a jury convicted and sentenced him to 35 years in prison for fatally stabbing a fellow student at a high school track meet.
The hearing comes a day after the Collin County judge who presided over the murder trial was removed from further proceedings in the case.
Prosecutors called the deadly stabbing “unjustified” and “plain and simple murder,” while the defense argued that Anthony acted in self-defense when he stabbed 17-year-old Austin Metcalf at a track meet in Frisco in April 2025.
After hearing four days of testimony, a Collin County jury found Anthony, 19, guilty of murder following three hours of deliberation on June 9. The same jury sentenced him to 35 years in prison after several more hours of deliberation.
Anthony’s attorneys claimed in a motion seeking a new trial that the teen was “coerced” into waiving his right to testify, stemming from a purported dispute between defense attorneys and prosecutors about whether his testimony would be covered by an agreement limiting some character evidence in the trial. Defense attorneys alleged this denied him a “complete defense.”
The defense also alleged that Collin County Judge John Roach improperly instructed the jury and that his courtroom restrictions, which limited public access to the proceedings, denied Anthony a fair trial.
In a statement to ABC Dallas affiliate WFAA ahead of this week’s hearings, Collin County First Assistant District Attorney Bill Wirskye said Anthony’s new, post-trial attorneys “filed a motion containing several inaccurate characterizations of the trial proceedings.”
“I and the entire prosecution team conducted this trial ethically and in full compliance with the Court’s ruling and any agreements with defense counsel,” Wirskye added.
In opening remarks during Thursday’s hearing, defense attorney Russell Wilson said Anthony decided not to testify because he believed the prosecution would not adhere to the agreement not to question him about his past behavior, beyond what happened during the confrontation at the track meet, WFAA reported.
Wirskye, meanwhile, said he offered the agreement to “stay away from historical character and stick to the facts — what happened under the tent” in order to “keep the peace” amid what he said was intense public vitriol over the case that led to threats against both sides, WFAA reported. He said the trial defense attorneys agreed to it, and that the “agreement was held.”
Wirskye also pushed back on defense claims that Anthony had insufficient time to decide whether to testify and noted that prosecutors wanted him to take the stand, saying, “There’s nothing better in my business than a testifying defendant,” WFAA reported.
The hearing is ongoing, with the defense so far calling Derrick Jackson, the former Collin County public information officer, to discuss the courtroom protocols, and Mike Howard, one of Anthony’s trial attorneys.
A new judge is presiding over Thursday’s hearing, after Judge Sid Harle granted the defense’s motion to recuse Roach from any further matters in the Anthony case.
In his order issued Wednesday, Harle wrote that there were grounds for recusal “in that the evidence adduced at the hearing is such that the respondent judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned.”
Retired Kaufman County District Judge Michael Chitty has been assigned to oversee the case.
In the defense motion seeking to recuse the trial judge from the post-trial proceedings, Anthony’s attorneys questioned both Roach’s impartiality in the case and his courtroom restrictions.
The motion cited what it called “problematic comments” Roach made during an interview following the verdict, in which it said the judge “endorsed the jury’s guilty verdict” and defended his courtroom restrictions. It also pointed to a public letter Roach released following the trial, in which he stated that those who worked on the case “contributed to ensuring the process was conducted fairly.”
Anthony’s attorneys said Wednesday that they are “pleased” with Harle’s decision to recuse Roach and “look forward to presenting the merits of Karmelo’s motion for a new trial to a fair and independent judge.”
Ahead of the high-profile trial, Roach imposed a gag order and barred any electronics from the courtroom during the proceedings due to the attention the case had garnered.
“Due to the significant public and media interest in this case, the Court finds that specific procedures are necessary to ensure the Defendant’s right to a fair and impartial trial, the orderly administration of justice, the safety and security of all participants, and reasonable public access consistent with constitutional requirements,” Roach wrote in a May order.
On Wednesday, Chitty ordered that the trial procedures will remain in effect at this time for future proceedings in the case.
