A dying baby's parents were so desperate to cure her leukemia that they turned to a team of doctors with a completely untried, highly experimental treatment.

And it worked – for now. One-year-old Layla Richards is better, NBC News reported, and while it's too soon to say the gene editing they performed on her – modifying the body's cells in a very precise way – will keep her cancer in remission for long, the experiment did not make her any worse, they reported late Thursday.

The team at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London wasn't sure if their approach would work at all, but Layla's leukemia was very aggressive. She was so ill that her parents, Ashleigh and Lisa Richards, were ready to try anything.

"We asked the doctors to try anything for our daughter, even if it hadn't been tried before," Lisa Richards said.

Now, the team is preparing to tell a meeting of the American Society of Hematology next month about what appears to be a very successful surgery.

The Federal Communications Commission said Friday that it can't force Internet companies like Google, Facebook and ad providers from tracking users online. The commission had been petitioned by the privacy advocacy group Consumer Watchdog to make the "Do Not Track" setting in many browsers illegal to ignore.

Though the FCC enacted strong Net Neutrality rules earlier this year, which also provide consumer protections, it explained in a written decision that enforcing "Do Not Track" falls outside its jurisdiction.

"The Commission has been unequivocal in declaring that it has no intent to regulate edge providers," reads the order. Edge providers are companies like Microsoft and Twitter that provide Internet-related services but not actual Internet connections. "We therefore find that the Consumer Watchdog Petition plainly does not warrant consideration by the Commission."

Wildfires in Southern California are unfortunately a part of nature. North County students are making the best out of an area of devastation.

California State University San Marcos students majoring in biology are stepping out of the classroom for a hands-on learning experience.

Biology professor George Vourlitis says students don't have to go very far.

"It's an ecosystem that has a periodic disturbance and so it's a wonderful opportunity to show the process of disturbance and recovery to students," said professor Vourlitis.

The disturbance is that devastating Cocos Fire which burned the acreage around the university in May 2014.

Senior biology major Nikki Gordon says she remembers being worried about the college during the fire, but was more concerned about the surrounding homes; some of which burned to the ground. Gordon says she never imagined the fire-blackened hillside would turn into an outdoor learning laboratory.

"I didn't know how plants responded to it. I always kind of assumed that fire was harmful all the time. I didn't realize that plants have adaptations."

Students cataloged the plant species in their growth and their geographical position on the blackened hillside.

Comparing the areas that were left naturally to grow back, and the areas that were hydroseeded, a plant seed and mulch mixture that promotes growth.

They also compared a north facing slope versus a south facing slope to see how weather elements affect the plants' regrowth.

Students collected plant and soil samples to test in the campus lab for various things such as Nitrogen and Oxygen levels.

The Cocos Fire will provide education to students for years to come as the hillside chaparral continues to grow over the next 5 to 10 years.

The San Diego Police Department (SDPD) has identified the officer who shot and killed a felon considered armed and dangerous in a Pacific Beach neighborhood earlier this week.

According to officials, the officer involved in the fatal shooting of suspect Timothy Gene Smith, 47, is Sgt. Scott Holslag, a 19-year veteran of the department who works with the SDPD’s Canine Unit.

On Wednesday, just before 3 p.m., SDPD officers were on patrol in the 1700 block of Garnet Avenue when they spotted Smith in the area. The officers recognized Smith as a suspect wanted for several felony warrants out of Missouri. The SDPD said Smith was considered dangerous and was believed to be armed with a handgun.

The department said officers tried to make contact with Smith, but he allegedly fled from police, running southbound through an apartment complex. Cops chased Smith on foot for about two blocks before losing sight of him.

A police helicopter soon spotted Smith hiding in a shed between two apartment buildings in the 1600 block of Thomas Avenue.

Police officers, including Sgt. Holslag with the Canine Unit, surrounded the shed. Sgt. Holslag ordered Smith to surrender, but police said Smith suddenly bolted from the shed, running towards a fence.

A police dog was deployed. The dog bit the suspect on the foot before Smith broke free and jumped over the fence.

Police said Smith then climbed onto a ledge on a neighboring apartment building and turned towards Sgt. Holslag, while allegedly reaching into his pockets. The officer demanded Smith show his hands, but he refused to comply and continued to reach into his pockets.

The SDPD said Sgt. Holslag believed Smith was trying to retrieve a weapon from his pockets, and the officer feared for his safety. That’s when the officer discharged his service gun, critically shooting Smith in the torso.

Smith died at the scene, police said. He was not armed, and no weapon was recovered from the suspect, police confirmed. It is unclear if the officer involved in this shooting was wearing a body camera.

This deadly shooting came just one hour after a separate, unrelated shooting and standoff in Bankers Hill kept SDPD officers busy and on edge for more than five hours. In that case, a man armed with a long-range rifle sprayed bullets for hours, narrowly missing officers. Eventually, that suspect was arrested.

In "utterly" adorable news of the day, a calf that was rescued by a Bay Area family in Danville is convinced that he's a dog.

The baby cow, named Goliath, was recently rescued from a dairy farm where he was going to be slaughtered, according to his new owner, Shaylee Hubbs, 17. She told Country Living that little Goliath was hardly "strong enough to suck on a milk bottle," and that "the journey to health wasn't an easy one."

Now, Goliath is doing better than ever, but he seems to be in the midst of an identity crisis: The bovine pet has been eating Kibble, dozing off on comfy couches and sitting on dog beds.

The family attributes the case of mistaken identity to the family dog, Leonidas, who took Goliath in when the baby calf came home. Apparently, the Great Dane became a bit of a mother figure to the tiny cow.

"Leonidas would lay down with the sick little cow for hours just to keep him company," Hubbs told Country Living. "They've become best friends."

The story of Leonidas and Goliath has been a hit on social media, where Hubbs first posted a picture of her pets. Since then, the story has garnerned national attention. People just can't seem to get enough.

Days after the announcement that Fox Lake, Ill.,  Lt. Charles Joseph Gliniewicz staged his own suicide, investigators are detailing how they came to that conclusion.

Investigators struggled with the case partly because of Lt. Gliniewicz’s extensive training with the military and law enforcement.

“You have a 30-year police vet with unbelievable training he’s gone through himself and he’s been through,” Detective Chris Covelli of the Lake County Sheriff’s Department said. “In fact he was in the military and went through military training. He has experience leading the Explorer Post and staging crime scenes for them. So this is an experienced police officer who knows what the investigators are going to be looking at.”

Covelli said the investigation was like “dumping a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle on a table without a map on how to put it together, and putting it together piece by piece by piece."

According to investigators, some of the most important evidence was gather not at the crime scene, but from the trail of texts and electronic messages Gliniewicz believed he had destroyed.

“When pieces started being put together and things started to sway, it wasn't until last week we definitively said this was a staged suicide,” Det. Covelli said.

This week, investigators revealed after the months-long investigation, the officer had “carefully staged” his suicide to make it seem like a homicide committed by three suspects.

Officials said his death came after approximately seven years of stealing and laundering money from the Village of Fox Lake’s Police Explorer Post. Detectives later disclosed Gliniewicz also tried to hire a hit-man to kill the village administrator who was looking into the program’s finances.

Investigators are now using the evidence gathered in Gliniewicz’ suicide for the investigation surrounding his wife Melodie, and son D.J. Neither have been charged with any crime.

A convicted murderer who escaped from an Ohio prison in 1978 by cutting through cell bars and a fence was captured in Minnesota's capital, where he had a job delivering newspapers, the U.S. Marshals Service said Friday. 

Oscar Juarez, 66, was among Ohio's most wanted fugitives and evaded being caught while on the run despite being arrested but let go at least seven times in the 1980s, NBC News reported.

He was taken into custody Thursday night in St. Paul, Minnesota, at an apartment building on a tree-lined street, said Pete Elliott, the U.S. marshal for northern Ohio. It wasn't clear how long he had been in Minnesota.
 

San Diego County Sheriff’s Department arrested a Spring Valley man for possession of child pornography Friday night.

69-year Gary Alan Dallmann was booked at the San Diego Central Jail.

Deputies were called to his home on the 300 block of Kempton Street on Oct. 27 after a caregiver found what appeared to be child pornography in the residence.

On Nov. 4th, detectives from the Rancho San Diego Station served an arrest warrant at his home.

According to the Sheriff’s department, detectives from the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Taskforce found child porn on electronic devices inside Dallmann’s home.

Dallmann was a volunteer tutor for the La Mesa-Spring Valley School District. He worked at La Presa Middle School and Kempton Elementary School but was let go after the district was alerted of the investigation.

His bail is set at $25,000.

President Barack Obama announced Friday morning that he is rejecting the Keystone XL pipeline proposal, NBC News reported.

The president, citing concerns about the impact on the environment and a political climate that overly-hyped the pipeline's benefit, said the effort "would not serve the interests of the United States."

"While our politics have been consumed with whether this pipeline would increase jobs and lower gas prices, we have increased jobs and lowered gas prices," Obama said.

The pipeline would transport oil from heavy tar sands in Alberta, Canada to the Gulf Coast. The 875-mile northern portion has been projected to cost an estimated $8 billion to build and has faced serious contention from the likes of environmentalists, Democrats and landowners in its path. 

A hospital mix-up leaves a military newborn baby without a legal identity.

According to official medical records, baby Alexis does not exist.

Now, her mom is struggling to fix the mess and get a birth certificate for her child.

Navy Veteran Autumn Macias and her boyfriend Jake Farmer had Alexis at The Naval Medical Center San Diego in July.

Macias says she signed all of the proper forms to get a birth certificate, but somehow that information never got to the county. As of today, according medical records, baby Alexis was never born.

“She wasn't even in the database as an existing person, which blew my mind,” says Macias.

Macias recently became unemployed.

When she went to get the baby's birth certificate and social security card to apply for aid, she was told there was no record of Alexis’ birth on file.

“I was very shocked, I was very upset because I'm in a position right now where I need a little help and I can't even get it because of an error that was made a few months ago,” she said.

The Birth Clerk at the hospital is in charge of sending records to the county. Now, the hospital admits something went wrong but they’re not sure where.

Macias says she needs to pay her rent, her groceries and buy formula and waiting a couple of weeks to get baby Alexis’ identification isn’t an option.

Intelligence intercepts picked up chatter between ISIS operatives boasting about taking down an airliner after the Russian Metrojet passenger plane crashed in the Sinai last weekend, killing all 224 aboard, U.S. officials told NBC News Friday. 

ISIS operatives in the Sinai and ISIS leadership in Raqqa, Syria, were "clearly celebrating" the takedown of the commercial airliner, one official said. Details about how the plane was brought down were also intercepted, but the officials wouldn't specify what information was shared between the militants, NBC News reported.

Another intercept picked up a signal from an ISIS-affiliated group in the Sinai Peninsula before Metrojet Flight 9268 went down. The communications warned of "something big in the area," but didn't specifically mention a plane, officials said.

A Georgia ex-deputy was sentenced Friday to the equivalent of a month in jail and another former deputy and nurse got probation in the death of a mentally ill man who died after being shocked with a stun gun while restrained and then left unattended, NBC News reported. 

Chris Oladapo, Ajibade's cousin, did not attend Friday's sentencing in protest of what he called a "stillborn prosecution."

"There were more than a dozen people fired because they contributed to Mathew's death. Only three were charged with crimes," he said in a statement to be read at the sentencing.

The voice recorder recovered from a Russian passenger jet that crashed last weekend in the Sinai Peninsula is working, an Egyptian official said Friday, which means it could offer some insight into what brought the plane down.

U.S. and British officials, including President Barack Obama, have indicated there's evidence that a bomb exploded on the plane, but Egypt has refused to speculate on the cause of the crash until they complete their official investigation, NBC News reported.

Mohamed Rahma, a spokesman for Egypt's ministry of aviation, said on Friday that the voice recorder on is functional.

All 224 people aboard Russian Metrojet Flight 9268 died. Also on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered all Russian flights to Egypt suspended.

A senior at San Ysidro High School was in the running to be the first transgender in San Diego County to be crowned homecoming queen.

Violet Ri was among five voted onto the school’s homecoming court. The results were announced on Friday night.

Violet was not crowned as Homecoming Queen but she won the hearts of her classmates.

Friday afternoon, classmates and members of the marching band cheered Ri on during a pep rally.

Homecoming queen is chosen by seniors after the school’s clubs vote in the five finalists.

“Honestly, I’m pretty impressed by the huge amount of support I’ve gotten,” she said.

Ri said she especially wanted to win the crown to be an example to other teens.

“I really want to be an advocate because trans youth (number) is growing,” she said.

Ri said some of her classmates are still confused by her gender, as she was born a boy and remained one up until a year ago. During the ongoing transition, she started taking hormones in July.

She feels fortunate she has a bevy of support from her family.

She has a motto and a message for other teens: “Be different and embrace it.”

Pamela Guadiana was crowned homecoming queen.

The body of a 43-year-old man was found Friday morning in the backyard of a home in the Rolando area, just west of La Mesa.

The body was found buried beneath a "bunch of stuff," like clothes and boxes, in the 6800 block of Waite Drive, officials said. Police were called to the house just after 9 a.m. and have launched a homicide investigation.

The area in front of the home was cordoned off Friday morning, as police conducted a full investigation.

Police said the man had suffered blunt force trauma, though they weren't sure if the case was a homicide.

Several people were inside the home when police responded and were being questioned by authorities.

No arrests were made and police are continuing their investigation.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

Two Louisiana police officers were arrested Friday in the shooting death of a 6-year-old boy with autism, which occurred during a chase as both officers were working side jobs as city marshals, authorities said.

Derrick Stafford and Norris Greenhouse Jr. were arrested on charges of second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder in the death the boy and the wounding of his father in Marksville Tuesday, state police Col. Michael Edmonson told reporters, NBC News reported. 

Jeremy Davis Mardis, was killed and his father, Chris Few, was wounded in the gunfire that occurred at around 9:30 p.m. that night, after what officials described as a vehicle chase.

Applause erupted from the gallery of a San Diego courtroom Friday as a man was sentenced to 247 years behind bars for the murder of a Linda Vista man killed in his home two years ago.

“You’re a criminal. You’ll never see the light of day again,” a judge said to Joseph Anthony Hill, 46, the man found guilty in the murder of Sean O’Toole.

As Hill was given the maximum sentence for the murder -- 199 years to life, plus an extra 48 years -- claps filled the courtroom. Hill smirked as the judge revealed his fate.

More than a dozen of the victim’s loved ones attended the sentencing, witnessing justice firsthand. This included the mother and brother of the murder victim, who both addressed the courtroom.

Hill did not sit quietly through the family’s comments.

After O’Toole’s brother called Hill a coward, Hill responded by yelling expletives about the victim, claiming the victim was a bully.

While speaking before the judge, O’Toole’s brother and mother talked about how their lives have been impacted by the murder. O’Toole’s mother said the victim was a father, and now his son has to live his life without a dad.

“Sean was not perfect. He never claimed to be perfect. He made some pretty poor choices in his life, and he paid the ultimate price,” the mother said. “But he did not deserve to be murdered.”

At one point, a prosecutor said Hill had showed no remorse in this case.

Hill yelled out that he agreed, saying he had no remorse at all.

The victim’s family asked the judge to enforce the maximum sentence in this case. The judge agreed, also ruling that Hill will not be eligible for parole as he spends the rest of his life behind bars.

Hill, a parolee with a long criminal history, killed O’Toole and wounded another victim, Travis Bondurant, on Dec. 29, 2013. The next day, Hill was injured in a shootout in Point Loma after more than 10 rounds were fired between him and officials from the U.S. Marshal’s Violent Crimes Task Force, who were trying to take him into custody.

At Hill’s trial this past April, Deputy District Attorney Joe McLaughlin told a jury that Hill “went on a rampage” that began with the slaying of O’Toole. The prosecutor said Hill shot O’Toole because he had allegedly “disrespected” Hill’s girlfriend.

The victim was fatally shot on Drescher Street and dropped off at a local hospital where he later died. Hours later, Hill shot and injured Bondurant at the La Jolla Biltmore Motel.

As officers prepared to arrest Hill on Dec. 30, 2013, he struck an officer with his car. Then, the gunfight ensued. Hill was injured in the exchange, but was booked into jail a few days later.

Hill was found guilty of first-degree murder in April 2015.

The man accused of terrorizing a San Diego neighborhood, bringing air traffic to a halt and shooting at police officers with a high-powered rifle, spurring a lengthy standoff, had his first court appearance Friday, but it didn't last long after he began yelling in the courtroom.

"May 1, 1776. May 1, 1776. I stand for new world order!" the suspect, Titus Nathan Colbert, 33, repeated as a judge attempted to read him his rights. "Benjamin Alex Franklin."

"New world order. So there will be no more mistakes in the world," he continued, interrupting the judge. "I will not be subject to criminal abuse!"

A judge asked Colbert to be quiet and asked if he wanted to see a psychiatrist. More outbursts followed, and the defendant was quickly removed from the courtroom.

Colbert's attorney pleaded not guilty on his behalf. A judge said Colbert would be held in jail without bail, based on his bizarre behavior and attitude.

Colbert, a documented gang member from San Diego’s Skyline area, was arraigned Friday on multiple felony charges including three counts of attempted murder. If convicted on all charges, he faces a maximum of 105 years in prison.

On Wednesday morning, officers with the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) were called to 2445 Brant Street in the Bankers Hill community to investigate a report of domestic violence involving Colbert.

That disturbance call escalated into a SWAT standoff between law enforcement and Colbert, who was armed with a long-range assault rifle. Holed up inside an apartment unit, Colbert began spraying bullets, narrowly missing SDPD officers.

At Friday's arraignment, Deputy District Attorney Michael Runyon said Colbert fired shots at three officers during the standoff, hence the three counts of attempted murder.

Throughout the standoff, Colbert also allegedly fired random shots into the approach path used by pilots landing aircraft at San Diego’s Lindbergh Field, which is less than two miles from Brant Street.

The threat to public safety was so great that police shut down traffic in the area, blocking off multiple streets, and ordered residents to shelter in place. At the same time, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a ground stop for arrivals into Lindbergh Field, which ultimately caused 140 flights to be impacted or delayed.

At around 2:40 p.m., more than five hours into the dangerous standoff, Colbert was taken into police custody. Although the community was badly shaken, no one was hurt in the ordeal.

On Thursday, SDPD officers continued their investigation at the apartment in Bankers Hill where broken glass and shell casings where left behind.

Runyon said 17 shell casings had been recovered by SDPD investigators at the scene of the Bankers Hill shooting, though he did not know exactly how many total rounds were fired during the standoff, as the investigation is ongoing. Runyon said the suspect was in possession of three firearms.

Colbert is no stranger to the criminal justice system. Court documents obtained by NBC 7 Investigates show he is a documented gang member with an extensive criminal history dating back to his teenage years. His record includes arrests in San Diego, as well as arrests in San Bernardino, Calif., and Arizona.

Most recently, Colbert was charged with five felonies, including selling the party drug Ecstasy to an undercover officer in a drug deal outside a Black Angus restaurant on Friars Road. Colbert was also implicated in another drug deal at the drive-thru of an In-N-Out restaurant in Mission Valley.

In 2012, Colbert pleaded guilty to selling narcotics and served one year behind bars.

An NBC 7 source in the legal community says Colbert is the brother of convicted killer Tecumseh Colbert, a man currently on death row for two 2004 murders.

Runyon said he had no comment on Colbert's courtroom outburst. NBC 7 did not speak with with Colbert's attorney following the quick arraignment.

D.C. Transit Police want your help identifying a man who beat a Metrobus driver in Northwest D.C. early Friday after the driver asked the man to pay his fare. 

A man boarded the bus at North Capitol and P streets NW and tried to ride without paying, police say. The driver asked for the man's fare and the man then punched the driver repeatedly, disturbing surveillance video footage shows. 

As the attacker pummeled the driver, a good Samaritan intervened. He grabbed the attacker, wrestled him away and pushed him off the bus, the video shows.

The attack left the driver with a black eye, and his glasses were broken. It occurred about 7:50 a.m. on a 90 bus headed westbound on Florida Avenue NW, a Metro spokesman said.

The incident is the 69th attack on a bus driver this year, Metro Transit Police Chief Ron Pavlik said. 

"It's very alarming and this is something unfortunately our bus operators have to deal with," he said.

Anyone convicted of assaulting a bus driver can be hit with an enhanced penalty, under D.C. law. At least 170 Metrobus drivers were assaulted on the job between early 2011 and early 2014, the News4 I-Team reported.

All new buses purchased by Metro will be equipped with plastic shields to protect drivers. 

"The shields definitely protect our operators, this type of personal protective equipment, no different than a hard sole shoe, protective gloves," Pavlik said. "It's another type of equipment to protect our operators."

Anyone who is able to identify the attacker is asked to call Transit Police at 202-962-2121 and reference case no. 2015-58069. Tips also can be sent via text message to MyMTPD.

There were celebrations in Sierra Leone Saturday as the World Health Organization declared the country free of Ebola transmissions - but it remains under heightened surveillance for a further 90 days.

Nearly 4,000 people have died in Sierra Leone in the worst Ebola outbreak in history, NBC News reported.

Weak leadership, shoddy supplies and infighting worsened the battle against this outbreak of the virus that has killed some 11,000 people mainly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, and WHO has been criticized for its response.

The organization said that 42 days have passed — twice the maximum incubation period — since the last confirmed Ebola patient was discharged Sept. 25.