It’s Thursday, July 28th – and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - Family and friends of Gladys Borcela, 28, held a vigil Wednesday in downtown Miami where the mother of three was shot while inside an Uber Saturday.
Borcela was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital after the shooting, where she was pronounced dead. Loved ones brought dozens of purple balloons to Wednesday’s vigil. Purple was Borcela’s favorite color, her mother, Yvette Rivera, told NBC 6. “She was loved! It’s so many people here showing it right here in this spot right now,” said Rivera. “Her kids do miss her. This is what hurts me the most too.” A woman who investigators say the victim knew personally, 24-year-old Natalia Harrell, is now in the Miami-Dade County Jail, charged with second-degree murder.
No. 2 - In response to circulating video of children partaking in a Wynwood bar's drag show brunches, Gov. Ron DeSantis has filed a state complaint against the business.
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The complaint accuses the establishment of disorderly conduct, stating that the shows are conducted in the presence of minors and "corrupts the public morals and outrages the sense of public decency." DeSantis said an investigation by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation was conducted following the release of the video showing an exposed drag queen and young girl hand-in-hand at an R House show. In the clip, the drag queen is seen wearing lingerie as she parades the girl around the restaurant. The investigation, in which agents visited the business, revealed that minors were present at many shows and a children's menu is offered at the bar. In response, the investigators initiated a procedure that would challenge R House's liquor license and would consequently put the establishment out of business, according to DeSantis.
No. 3 - Jurors got to see nearly 200 online comments and search histories that convicted killer Nikolas Cruz made in the months leading up to the Parkland school shooting.
Broward Sheriff’s Detective Nicholas Masters explained Wednesday afternoon how investigators tracked and compiled Cruz’s online activities using browser cookies from Google and YouTube accounts dating back to July 2017. Cruz repeatedly searched for information and videos of other mass shootings in Columbine, Charlottesville, Aurora, and Las Vegas, among others. One search included: "How to Become Evil in Society." Records showed Cruz also sought information on weaponry, ammunition, police response times, mass shootings, and a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School map and school hours.
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No. 4 - You can see them in the gallery every day. Since the penalty phase of the Parkland shooter’s trial began a week and a half ago, family members of those killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre have been there in the courtroom, absorbing the horrors as they are described by witness after witness.
Tony and Jennifer Montalto come to the courthouse to represent their daughter, Gina, who was among the 17 gunned down inside the 1200 building. On Tuesday, mom and dad listened to the medical examiner being questioned by prosecutor Mike Satz. “Dr. Osbourne, are you able to tell the order of the shots that hit Gina Montalto?” Satz asked. “No, I can’t specifically say the specific order in which they occurred,” replied Dr. Marlon Osbourne. Some families choose absence. They avoid the torture of being in the vicinity of the murderer. The Montalto’s go because they feel a profound responsibility. Click here for their emotional words in a report from NBC 6’s Ari Odzer you’ll see Only on 6.
No. 5 - The Federal Reserve on Wednesday enacted its second consecutive 0.75 percentage point interest rate increase as it seeks to tamp down runaway inflation without creating a recession.
In taking the benchmark overnight borrowing rate up to a range of 2.25%-2.5%, the moves in June and July represent the most stringent consecutive action since the Fed began using the overnight funds rate as the principal tool of monetary policy in the early 1990s. While the fed funds rate most directly impacts what banks charge each other for short-term loans, it feeds into a multitude of consumer products such as adjustable mortgages, auto loans and credit cards. The increase takes the funds rate to its highest level since December 2018.
No. 6 - Quinn Reitz said her company, Nursing Queen, ships items across the country daily. But recently, she has noticed a trend after she got an online purchase with a shipping address in Doral.
“It was just for one dress and the customer opened a chargeback which means they disputed it on their credit card, so it was a stolen credit card,” Reitz said. She said she ran into the same issue again. “I got another fraudulent order from Doral, Florida for $260. We shipped it and a chargeback was opened,” Reitz said. Reitz quickly discovered she isn’t the only online seller running into issues with shipments headed to Doral. NBC 6 Responds wanted to know what was behind these fraudulent shipments, so we went to the shipping addresses from Quinn’s orders and they took us to several freight forwarding companies in Doral. Click here for the report from consumer investigator Sasha Jones.
