It’s Tuesday, December 14th - and NBC 6 has the top stories for the day.
No. 1 - Family and friends paid tribute Monday in Homestead to a pregnant mother who was abducted and murdered last week allegedly at the hands of the father of her children.
Monday would have been the 28th birthday of Andraea Lloyd, who was honored with the release of dozens of balloons in her memory near where her body was found. Family members told a crowd of supporters how grateful their were and how much they miss Lloyd. Lloyd's boyfriend, 32-year-old Xavier Johnson, was charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and armed burglary with assault or battery, after police said he confessed to abducting and killing Lloyd. Police said Johnson admitted to kidnapping Lloyd from a home where she was working as a caretaker on Dec. 7 and killing her. Her remains were found the next day in a wooded area in Homestead after Lloyd's family tracked Johnson to the area.
No. 2 - An off-duty Miami-Dade Police officer was arrested at a high school wrestling tournament after he allegedly flashed a gun at someone and threatened to kill them, authorities said.
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Guillermo Cuba, 50, was arrested Saturday North Miami Senior High School on charges including aggravated assault with a firearm, battery, and possession of a weapon on school property, according to an arrest report. The report said Cuba was at the tournament when he ran onto the mat during a match and pushed the unidentified victim to the ground. As he was being escorted out of the gym by staff Cuba shouted "I'll f---ing kill you" in the presence of students and spectators, the report said. After being removed from the gym, Cuba approached the victim and lifted up his shirt to show a firearm that was holstered on his belt, the report said. Cuba was booked into jail, and attorney information wasn't available.
No. 3 - Just days before the holidays, a building in Little Havana was deemed unsafe, and now residents have just days to get up and go before the power gets disconnected.
In a few days, the electricity to 1050 SW 5th Street will be cut off before demolition crews move in. The families who live there — including an elderly woman and a small child — said they knew nothing about it and that the owner of the building is nowhere to be found. Over the weekend, the city declared the building uninhabitable and posted a sign notifying residents that they must vacate before the structure gets demolished next Tuesday. Most of the residents, including Nelson Diaz Lugo, had already paid the $750 monthly rent for this month. Click here to find out why they are so frustrated in a report from NBC 6 investigator Phil Prazan.
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No. 4 - There was already a nationwide nursing shortage before the pandemic. Now it’s a full-blown crisis impacting every hospital in South Florida.
Nursing students feel like the cavalry riding in to save the day. A group of health care executives and politicians gathered Monday at Miami-Dade College to discuss solutions to the nursing shortage. There is no magic short-term cure. Local hospitals are relying on schools like Miami-Dade College and Broward College to train as many nurses as possible as fast as possible. There was also talk in the meeting about financial aid to help hospitals cover extra costs. Jackson Health CEO Carlos Migoya said his hospital system is paying about $150 million dollars more in overtime because there aren’t enough nurses to work every shift, and he blames the pandemic. Click here for more in a report from NBC 6’s Ari Odzer.
No. 5 - Deep within the brambles of a marshy plot of land in Dania Beach lies one of South Florida’s most beloved secrets.
A wild monkey colony calls the area home, despite being non-native to the state of Florida. The group of African vervet monkeys arrived in the swampy patch of forest adjacent to the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in the 1940s, after escaping from a breeding facility called the Dania Chimpanzee Farm. Since then, the monkeys have dispersed across Dania Beach, occupying parts of West Lake Park and the mangroves near Port Everglades. But while the monkeys have adjusted to life in the Sunshine State, being so close to urban spaces poses deadly threats to the animals. Click here for a report from NBC6.com on how one group is hoping to change that.
No. 6 - Debt collectors aren’t just calling anymore, they can now contact you through text message, email and on social media sites.
It’s the result of a new rule approved by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The updated standards come with detailed restrictions on what debt collectors can and cannot do. Though debt collectors can contact you on sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, they must clearly identify themselves. They can only send private messages and as a part of the message, they must offer an opt-out option for receiving further messages when reaching out through social media, email or texts. Click here for more on what you need to know in a report from NBC 6 consumer investigator Sasha Jones.
