704 Unfiltered

The trial of Christopher Palmiter, the stepfather of Madalina Cojocari, resumed Tuesday after a break for the holiday weekend.

Madalina was 11 years old when she was last seen getting off a school bus in November 2022 before going missing.  

In court Friday, jurors heard from the school bus driver who was the last person to see Madalina in public. Jurors also heard from a Bailey Middle School counselor who delivered a truancy packet to the family home after noticing the girl's excessive absences.

Jurors Tuesday saw a 2022 police interrogation video of Palmiter, who is charged with not reporting the disappearance of his stepdaughter.

Read more: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/crime/christopher-palmiters-trial-court-updata-madalina-cojocari/275-2c297620-ad9d-4a02-9855-419207684388

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A man has died and a woman is hurt after a shooting involving officers in Newton, police confirmed. The man was firing shots at first responders when officers shot back, according to the police department.

Officers with the Newton Police Department received a report that a woman had been shot around 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday. The woman told authorities she was shot while in the Catawba County Government Center parking lot.  

Read more: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/crime/newton-nc-police-shot-suspect/275-67b379bd-d11f-47bf-b428-6f83fde1133c

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Officials at Charlotte Douglas International Airport told WCNC Charlotte they expect the busiest summer travel season ever and Memorial Day weekend will bring many passengers through Charlotte to usher in its unofficial start.

Passenger numbers are projected to be 14% higher than summer of 2023. 

Read more: https://www.wcnc.com/article/travel/record-travel-charlotte-airport-holiday-summer/275-31519cd1-5061-45fd-8a0b-6f016796084f 

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Officers with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department are investigating a homicide on Wednesday in northeast Charlotte.

The homicide was reported on Ann Elizabeth Drive just east of North Tryon Street on Wednesday. CMPD sent an alert about the incident just before 6 p.m. This was the second homicide reported around North Tryon Street in 24 hours. Conner O’Neil Yancy, 20, was found dead in his car with gunshot wounds around 1 a.m. Wednesday on North Tryon Street.

In just the first five months of the year, Charlotte has seen a 51% jump in homicides compared to this same time last year. By this point in 2023, there had been 33 homicides.

Read more: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/crime/northeast-charlotte-homicide/275-b8d0a309-c1fa-4255-a39f-ae92da6d82e4

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One person was killed and another was hurt after a shooting led to an SUV crashing into a bus in northeast Charlotte early Wednesday morning, police said. Richard DeVayne joins the show with the latest from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police as they begin the investigation. 

FULL STORY: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/crime/deadly-shooting-crash-involving-cats-bus-northeast-charlotte-homicide-investigation/275-cb1f3677-5b5f-4c2d-9d12-2b82367e1a50

Hornets All-Star LaMelo Ball is accused of hitting a child with his car outside Spectrum Center, according to a new lawsuit filed this week. A woman says Ball hit her son while speeding away from the arena during a Hornets fan event in October. The Hornets declined to comment on the lawsuit, which is seeking at least $25,000 in damages for the woman and her son. 

FULL STORY: https://www.wcnc.com/article/sports/nba/hornets/lamelo-ball-lawsuit-hornets/275-07c0b27f-2cba-4d0a-866a-626ff0b60ef9

Jury selection begins Wednesday in the trial for Christopher Palmiter, the stepfather of missing Cornelius girl Madalina Cojocari. The trial begins one day after Diana Cojocari, Madalina's mother, was released from jail. Cojocari pleaded guilty to failing to report her daughter missing in 2022. Palmiter, meanwhile, maintains that he has no information about the girl's whereabouts. Destiny Ricahrds has the latest on the investigation and what we can expect in Wednesday's proceedings. 

FULL STORY: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/crime/true-crime/madalina-cojocari-case-mother-out-of-jail-5-21-2024/275-2a5d4119-71cc-4977-a028-f95c3a366dbe

WCNC Charlotte To Go is a daily news and weather podcast you can listen to so you can start your day with the team at WCNC Charlotte.  
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All of WCNC Charlotte's podcasts are free and available for both streaming and download. You can listen now on Android, iPhone, Amazon, and other internet-connected devices. Join us from North Carolina, South Carolina, or on the go anywhere.

Diana Cojocari, the mother of missing Cornelius girl Madalina Cojocari, pleaded guilty Monday to not reporting her daughter missing back in 2022.  

Diana Cojocari has been in jail since December 2022, about a month after Madalina was last seen leaving her school bus in Cornelius, North Carolina, which is about 20 miles north of Charlotte in northern Mecklenburg County. Diana Cojocari initially pleaded not guilty to the charge of failing to report her daughter's disappearance, which is a Class 1 felony. Monday, in court she changed that plea to guilty without a plea agreement.

The judge told Diana Cojocari, who is not an American citizen and is originally from Moldova, that she was likely to be deported if she changed her plea. 

Read more: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/local/madalina-cojocari-stepfather-mother-in-court/275-bc147443-0e1e-481a-af1a-daf48f1c2888 

The trial for Madalina Cojocari's stepfather was supposed to begin on Monday, but has been delayed. The missing child's mother, Diana Cojocari, is expected to be in court for an arraignment hearing on Monday after refusing to appear at her previous court date in February.  

Madalina had not been seen publicly since the evening of Nov. 21, 2022, when the then-11-year-old was leaving her school bus in Cornelius, North Carolina, which is about 20 miles north of Uptown Charlotte.  

On Dec. 15, 2022, Madalina was reported missing.   

Christopher Palmiter, her stepfather, previously pleaded not guilty on the charge of failing to report a child who disappeared.

Read more: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/local/madalina-cojocari-stepfather-mother-in-court/275-bc147443-0e1e-481a-af1a-daf48f1c2888

Watch WCNC Charlotte each weekday morning from 4:30 to 7 a.m.

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All of WCNC Charlotte's podcasts are free and available for both streaming and download. You can listen now on Android, iPhone, Amazon, and other internet-connected devices. Join us from North Carolina, South Carolina, or on the go anywhere.

A year after one of the worst fires in Charlotte history trapped and then killed two construction workers, the Charlotte Fire Department has yet to finish its "deep dive" of the day's events.

WCNC Charlotte has spent months routinely checking in with the department about the status of its SouthPark fire internal review. In the days after the May 18, 2024 fire, public records reveal Chief Reginald Johnson noted Charlotte Fire would not do a "normal" critique. Emails show the department created a committee last summer, suggesting everyone could "benefit from closely examining the events of that day and learning from it."

FULL STORY: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/local/south-park-fire-one-year-later-policy-review-charlotte-nc/275-e5dd8b53-fa42-40f0-9a0a-46c25e98d92e

Joshua Eyer will have his name added to Charlotte's memorial for fallen police officers during a ceremony Friday in Uptown.

Eyer was one of four law enforcement officers killed during an April 29 shooting in east Charlotte. He was working with a U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force when the suspect shot numerous officers. 

READ MORE: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/local/charlotte-fallen-officer-memorial-police-week/275-bfed5063-aece-4503-9acc-21f8086b33fb

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More youths accused of serious crimes in North Carolina would be automatically tried in adult court in legislation that advanced through the state Senate on Wednesday.

The measure approved 41-4 reworks some of the bipartisan juvenile justice reforms approved by the General Assembly that ended in late 2019 the mandate that 16- and 17-year-olds be tried in the adult criminal justice system.

Read more: https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/politics/north-carolina-politics/north-carolina-youth-justice-reform-senate-changes-teens-tried-as-adults-superior-court/275-fd0159f8-46bc-45dc-9416-e7678dfe179c 

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