It’s Monday, June 13th – and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - A Pompano Beach man was arrested in the disappearance and death of his wife, and now faces one count of first-degree murder.
Detectives with the Broward Sheriff's Office Homicide Unit, in conjunction with BSO Missing Persons Unit, arrested Ian Lanning, 54, in connection with the incident. According to investigators, a missing person alert was issued for Lanning's wife, Irene Lanning Xeniti, 53, on Monday, May 30 after she was reported missing by her daughter. Prior to the alert, BSO says detectives responded to Xeniti's home located at 32 N.E. 23rd Avenue in Pompano Beach, where she lived with Lanning. Lanning told the detectives that his wife had left home on May 14 following a verbal dispute, according to officials. Lanning also said Xeniti had not returned to the residence since and that she had not made contact with him.
No. 2 - An off-duty Miami-Dade police officer was arrested Sunday for driving under the influence and feeling and eluding in the Florida Keys, the Monroe County Sheriff's office said in a statement.
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Deputies observed a Chrysler 300 speeding northbound on U.S-1 near Mile Marker 101 at around 3:57 a.m. Sunday. Deputies activated their lights and sirens but Donovan William Rojas, 26, continued driving reaching speeds greater than 110 mph, the statement said. Roja's car swerved and nearly hit other cars during the pursuing, deputies said in the statement. Once Rojas stopped, he had difficulty standing and appeared to be intoxicated, the statement said. Monroe County Sheriff, Rick Ramsay, said the suspect's behavior put innocent civilian lives in danger.
No. 3 - Senate bargainers announced a bipartisan framework Sunday responding to last month’s mass shootings, a noteworthy though limited breakthrough offering modest gun curbs and bolstered efforts to improve school safety and mental health programs.
The proposal falls far short of tougher steps long sought by President Joe Biden and many Democrats. Even so, the accord was embraced by Biden and enactment would signal a significant turnabout after years of gun massacres that have yielded little but stalemate in Congress. Biden said in a statement that the framework “does not do everything that I think is needed, but it reflects important steps in the right direction, and would be the most significant gun safety legislation to pass Congress in decades.” Given the bipartisan support, “there are no excuses for delay, and no reason why it should not quickly move through the Senate and the House,” he said.
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No. 4 - Pride is a month to celebrate diversity, but it's also a time to raise awareness of social issues that impact the LGBTQ community such as mental health.
“It was a difficult process," said 17-year-old Ray. "I was very deep in the Mormon church for the first 13 years until I came out, and I realized there wasn’t really a place for myself to identify who I was and still be in that church." Ray is pansexual and is using Pride month to share their story. Ray started questioning their gender identity in the 3rd or 4th grade. Unlike many LGBTQ youth, Ray had a supportive family, but still also had depression and anxiety from shame. According to the Trevor Project, 58% of LGBTQ youth last year reported experiencing depression. Another 73% reported symptoms of anxiety. Nearly half had seriously considered attempting suicide. And an alarming 60% who wanted mental health care weren’t able to get it. Click here for more in a report from NBC 6’s Jamie Guirola.
No. 5 - A woman was able to fight off an alligator after she found it with her pet dog in its mouth outside her Plantation home.
Stephany Pineda said she walked outside her home Wednesday to find her 2-year-old Frencie Gloria caught under a fence with its head in the gator's mouth. Pineda said she started screaming and pulling on the dog until the gator let go, leaving the Frenchie with just a few bite marks. "She was being dragged by a gator," Pineda said. "I started screaming like crazy, 'It's killing her!' Pineda and her husband believe heavy rain last week washed out some of the dirt under her fence, creating a hole big enough for the gator to grab the dog. Click here for the story from NBC 6 reporter Marissa /Bagg you’ll see Only on 6.
No. 6 - You may have seen the viral video of a Miami-Dade County bus driver getting off her bus to walk a passenger across the street.
The act of kindness shared by Only in Dade on Instagram is making a big impact, but the driver says she had no idea she was being recorded. “When my job called me and told me, 'hey you went viral,' I’m like what,” said Miami-Dade County bus driver Ciji Crawford. “I didn’t even think about the incident because it was something that you know was natural to me.” It was a typical Thursday for Crawford when she says she noticed a new passenger who needed some assistance. She says she noticed the man was blind. Click here to see what she did next in a report from NBC 6’s Heather Walker.
